1. Chapter 10
Sexuality and Gender

2. Chapter Outline Sex Versus Gender Theories of Gender Homosexuality
Gender Inequality
Toward 2050
The Women’s Movement

3. Sex Versus Gender
Sociologists distinguish biological sex from sociological gender.
Gender is the feelings, attitudes, and behaviors associated with being male or female.
Gender identity is identification with a particular sex.
When you behave according to expectations about how males or females are supposed to act, you adopt a gender role.

4. Polling Question
Do you approve or disapprove of a married woman earning money in business or industry if she has a husband capable of supporting her?
Approve
Disapprove
No opinion

5. Theories of Gender
Essentialism - gender differences reflect naturally evolved dispositions.
Social constructionism - gender differences reflect the different social positions occupied by women and men.

6. Essentialist Theories
Freud - differences in anatomy account for the development of distinct masculine and feminine gender roles.
Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology
Gender differences in behavior are based in biological differences between men and women.
These differences evolved to ensure the survival of the species.

7. 4 Criticisms of Essentialism
They ignore historical and cultural variability of gender and sexuality.
They generalize from the average, ignoring variations within gender groups.
No evidence directly supports their major claims.
Their explanations for gender differences ignore the role of power.

8. Distribution of Aggressiveness among Men and Women

9. Leading Occupations of Employed Women 16 Years and Older
Median Weekly Earnings
Managers and administrators
31.0
762
Secretaries
98.4
475
Cashiers
76.9
292
Registered nurses
93.1
820
Sales supervisors and proprietors
41.1
502

10. Leading Occupations of Employed Women 16 Years and Older
Median Weekly Earnings
Nursing aides and orderlies,
90.0
356
Elementary teachers
82.5
731
Bookkeepers, accounting clerks
92.9
474
Waitresses
76.4
317
Sales workers, retail and personal services
44.3
n.c.

11. Body Dissatisfaction

12. Influence of Fashion Models on Feelings about Appearance
I always or often:
Men
Women
Extremely
Dissatisfied
Compare myself to models in magazines 12 27 43
Carefully study the shape of models 19 28 47

13. Influence of Fashion Models on Feelings about Appearance
Very thin or muscular models make me:
Men
Women
Extremely
Dissatisfied
Feel insecure about my weight 15 29 67
Want to lose weight 18 30

14. Polling Question
How comfortable are you with the gender roles our society defines as appropriate for males and females?
Very comfortable
Somewhat comfortable
Unsure
Somewhat uncomfortable
Very uncomfortable

15. Transgender and Transsexual
Transgendered people defy gender norms and blur accepted gender roles.
1 in every 5000 to 10,000 people.
Transsexuals want to alter their gender by changing their appearance or medical intervention.
1 in every 30,000 people.

16. Homosexuality Homosexuals prefer sexual partners of the same sex.
Bisexuals enjoy sexual partners of either sex.
Approximately 2.8% of American men and 1.4% of American women think of themselves as homosexual or bisexual.

17. Homosexuality In the U.S.
Men
Women
Identified as homosexual or bisexual.
2.8
1.4
Had sex with person of same sex in past 12 months.
3.4
0.6
Had sex with person of same sex at least once since puberty.
5.3
3.5

18. Homosexuality In the U.S.
Men
Women
Felt desire for sex with person of same sex.
7.7
7.5
Had some same-sex desire or experience or identified as homosexual or bisexual.
10.1
8.6

19. Aggression to Homosexuals
1998 study of 500 young adults in the San Francisco Bay area found:
1 in 10 admitted attacking or threatening people they believed were homosexuals.
1/3 of those who had not engaged in antigay aggression said they would do so if a homosexual flirted with, or propositioned, them.

20. Homophobia
Research suggests that some antigay crimes may result from repressed homosexual urges on the part of the aggressor.
Aggressors are homophobic, or afraid of homosexuals, because they cannot cope with their own, possibly subconscious, homosexual impulses.

21. Social Policy: What Do You Think?
Hate Crime Law
and Homophobia

22. The Earnings Gap
In 2001, women over the age of 15 working full-time in the paid labor force earned 76% of what men earned.

23. The Earnings Gap: Four Factors
Gender discrimination.
Heavy domestic responsibilities reduce women’s earnings.
Women tend to be concentrated in low-wage occupations and industries.
Work done by women is commonly considered less valuable than work done by men because it is viewed as involving fewer skills.

24. Male Aggression against Women
The majority of acts of aggression between men and women are committed by men against women.
In 2001, 90,491 rapes of women were reported to the police in the U.S.

25. Male Aggression against Women
In a survey of acquaintance and date rape in American colleges, 7% of men admitted they attempted or committed rape in the past year.
11% percent of women said they were victims of attempted or successful rape.

26. Labor Force Participation Rate

27. U.S. and Top and Bottom Five Countries Ranked by Gender Empowerment Measure

28. Attitudes To Women’s Issues, U.S.
1972–82
1983–87
1996
1998
Women suited for politics 54 63 78 77
Women’s rights issue one of the most important — 58 64
Think of self as a feminist 22

29. Eliminating the Gender gap
Among major reforms that could help eliminate the gender gap in earnings and reduce overall gender inequality are:
Development of an affordable, accessible system of high-quality day care.
Remuneration of men and women on the basis of their work’s actual worth.

30. Quick Quiz

31. Which of the following is not a determinant of one's sex?
whether one is born with male or female genitalia
feelings and attitudes associated with being a man or a woman
behaviors associated with being a man or a woman
the feelings and attitudes associated with being a man or a woman, and the behaviors associated with being a man or a woman

32. Answer: d
The feelings and attitudes associated with being a man or a woman, and the behaviors associated with being a man or a woman are not a determinant of one's sex.

33. 2. Essentialism is a school of thought that sees gender differences:
as a reflection of the different social positions occupied by women and men
resulting from widely shared expectations about how males or females are expected to act
resulting from identification with, or a sense of belonging to, a particular sex
as a reflection of biological differences between women and men

34. Answer: d
Essentialism is a school of thought that sees gender differences as a reflection of biological differences between women and men.

35. 3. Social constructionism is a school of thought that sees gender differences:
as a reflection of the different social positions occupied by women and men
as a reflection of the different strategies men and women use to achieve reproductive success
resulting from identification with, or a sense of belonging to, a particular sex
as a reflection of biological differences between women and men

36. Answer: a
Social constructionism is a school of thought that sees gender differences as a reflection of the different social positions occupied by women and men.

37. 4. Sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists argue that male-female differences are rooted in:
different reproductive strategies that women and men use to maximize the chance that their offspring will survive
differences between men and women regarding physical strength
anatomical differences between women and men
hormonal differences between women and men

38. Answer: a
Sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists argue that male-female differences are rooted in different reproductive strategies that women and men use to maximize the chance that their offspring will survive.

39. 5. Surveys of body image show that:
a great majority of people who are dissatisfied with their weight - both men and women - want to lose weight
men are more concerned about their stomachs than women are
women are more concerned about their breasts than men are about their chests
all of these choices

40. Answer: a
5, Surveys of body image show that a great majority of people who are dissatisfied with their weight - both men and women - want to lose weigh.

41. 6. Transgendered people are:
people who prefer sexual partners of both sexes
people who identify with, and want to live fully as, members of the "opposite" sex, and who resort to medical intervention
people who break society's gender norms by defying the rigid distinction between male and female
people born with ambiguous genitals

42. Answer: c
Transgendered people are people who break society's gender norms by defying the rigid distinction between male and female.

43. 7. American women do between two-thirds and three-quarters of all unpaid childcare, housework, and care for the elderly.
True
False

44. Answer: a
American women do between two-thirds and three-quarters of all unpaid childcare, housework, and care for the elderly.