Chapter 2 Gender in Relationships Key Terms

Sex –The biological distinction between females and males. Gender –The social and psychological characteristics associated with being female or male.

Hermaphrodites (Intersexed individuals) –Individuals with mixed or ambiguous genitals. Gender identity –The psychological state of viewing oneself as a girl or a boy, and later as a woman or a man.

Transgendered –Expressing characteristic different from one’s biological sex. Cross-dresser –A broad term for individuals who may dress or present themselves in the gender of the other sex.

Transvestite –Another term for crossdresser; commonly associated with homosexual men who dress provocatively as women to attract men. Transsexual –Persons with the biological/anatomical sex of one gender but the self-concept of the other sex.

Transgenderist –An individual who lives in a gender role that does not match his or her biological sex but who has no desire to surgically alter his or her genitalia. Transgenderism –A political movement seeking to challenge the belief that very person can be categorized simply as a woman or as a man.

Gender roles –Social norms that dictate what is socially regarded as appropriate female and male behavior. Sex roles –Sex roles are defined by biological constraints and can be enacted by members of one biological sex only—for example, wet nurse, sperm donor, child bearer.

Gender role ideology –Refers to beliefs about the proper role relationships between women and men in any given society. Biosocial theory – Emphasizes that social behaviors (e.g., gender roles) are biologically based and have an evolutionary survival function.

Parental investment –Any investment by a parent that increases the offspring’s chance of surviving and thus increases reproductive success.

Androgyny –Refers to a blend of traits that are stereotypically associated with both masculinity and femininity. Positive androgyny –Devoid of the negative traits associated with masculinity and femininity.

Female circumcision –Encompasses a wide range of procedures, ranging in severity from a nick on the clitoral hood to cutting off all the external genitals and sewing up the vaginal opening.

Female genital mutilation –Comprises all surgical procedures involving partial or total removal of the external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons.

Gender role transcendence –Involves abandoning gender schema so that personality traits, social/occupational roles, and other aspects of our lives become divorced from gender categories.

Feminization of poverty –Refers to the disproportionate percentage of poverty experienced by women living alone or with their children.