SEX & GENDER

 Sex  Largely defined in biological terms  Male – Female  Gender  Largely defined in social/cultural terms  Masculine – Feminine “Being female may be biological and thus unavoidable, but being woman is cultural and therefore changeable”. – Ricki Wilchins SEX AND GENDER

 Gender role: The patterns of socially defined behaviors and expectations, associated with being female or male  Gender Theorists:  West & Zimmerman: “doing gender”  Butler: “performativity”  CU040Hqbas&feature=related CU040Hqbas&feature=related  ROLES AND PERFORMANCE

 Attire  Language  Interests  Gender is realized through interaction!  It’s not what we are, it’s what we do. HOW DO WE PERFORM GENDER?

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES ON GENDER  Structural functionalism suggests social roles are better suited to one gender than the other; divisions and differences lead to stability.  Conflict theory suggests that men have historically had access to most of society’s material resources and privileges.  Patriarchy refers to male domination over women in all aspects of a society.  Symbolic interactionism suggests that gender identities arise through our everyday interactions, such as performativity.

ESSENTIALIST FRAMEWORK  The essentialist framework suggests that sex is permanent and purely biological; our gender is directly related to our sex.  It proposes that there are no social or cultural influences on either sex or gender.  It frames only two categories of sex, gender, and gender expression: male and female, boy/man and girl/woman, and masculine and feminine.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST FRAMEWORK  Sex and gender are framed as separate components of our identity.  Gender roles/identities are socially determined.  They vary by time, culture, and even individuals.  Sex and gender labels are points on a spectrum rather than halves of a dichotomy.  We have the agency to choose our gender identities.  “Sex is between the thighs, gender is behind the eyes”.

 L.G.B.T. = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans(gender/sexual).  Identity related to our sexual desires WHAT IS SEXUALITY?

 “Gender-Normative”  Transgender –no surgery/hormones  Transsexual –surgery/hormones  Transvestite –“Drag Queen”  Intersex –“hermaphrodite”  Genderqueer  family-ryland-transgender- son_n_ html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg family-ryland-transgender- son_n_ html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg FORMS OF IDENTITY

DRAG  “ We’re born naked and the rest is drag”.

 Multiple-sexed organisms (fish)  Difference in body size  Who gives birth (geese)  Chromosomal Diversity (chickens)  Multiple-gendered species (primates)  Lack of appearance differentiation  Who lactates (bats)  Homosexuality in nature  Females with penises?!?! SEXUAL DIVERSITY IN NATURE

 Sexism: the belief that there are innate psychological, behavioral, and/or intellectual differences between women and men and that these differences connote the superiority of one group and the inferiority of the other   SEXISM

GENDER & WORK  The second shift refers to the unpaid housework and childcare often expected of women after they complete a day of paid labor.  There is a definitive gender pay gap in the U.S. where the average full-time female worker earns only 77% of what a full-time male worker makes.  The feminization of poverty refers to the economic trend that women are more likely than men to live in poverty.  There is a sharp division of gendered jobs; those jobs that are labeled as strictly for women are referred to as pink-collar jobs.

FEMINISM  A feminist is a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality between the sexes.  The concept of intersectionality suggests that our race, class, gender, and sexuality are interconnected aspects of our identities.

 Matrix of domination  Identity conflict INTERSECTIONALITY

 Institutionalized discrimination  Glass ceiling: invisible barrier that prevents women from moving up the corporate ladder  Laws  Religion  Double standards  A standard that is used to measure one gender and/or sex differently than another  Sexual activity  Female authority INEQUALITIES

 Masculinity is largely defined in opposition to femininity.  R.W. Connell- one of the original founders of the social construction of Masculinities and related theories.  Hegemonic  Subordinated  Complicit  Marginalized  MASCULINITY/FEMININITY

 Boys and men must continuously distance themselves from anything considered feminine and follow a heterosexual imperative.  Homosexuality is framed as the antithesis of masculinity, thus Homophobia not just anti-gay but also anti-woman.  MASCULINITY/FEMININITY

 If the worst insult you can call someone is a woman or feminine, how are we supposed to be equal!?!? CLASS DISCUSSION

CLASS ACTIVITIES  In 2 minutes, write down 5 things you did to gender yourself before you left your house this morning. The WALK: 1.One male-bodied and man-identified individual and one female- bodied and woman-identified individual needs to volunteer. 1.The woman is going to “walk like a man” and the man is going to “walk like a woman”. The rest of the class will “coach” the person walking, giving them instructions and suggestions to “improve” their performance and and make it more believable.