1. Let’s Talk About Gender
Lesson 10b:
Gender as a Socially
Constructed Status

2. Gender
A socially constructed status that is a key dimension of a person’s identity
Influences how others perceive you and interact with you
A key part of our social relationships
Can also be seen in our social institutions
We are often unaware of how much gender impacts us
Cross-societal variation suggests that gender roles are learned

3. The Hua of Papua New Guinea
Focus on male-female difference
But believe gender can change over one’s lifetime
Believe the body contains “nu”
A life giving substance
Females born with it, men without
Men want to avoid nu, but acquire it from women
At middle age:
Men have so much nu they become Figapa
Women have lost so much, they become Kakora

4. How many genders are there?
It depends
Though two in the US, more in other groups
Gender crossing
When one adopts the roles of the opposite sex
In the US, seen as a part of sexual orientation, but there is more to this social phenomenon
Individuals in these societies are not ostracized or stigmatized
Instead are valuable members of the group

5. Males who Act like Women
Berdache or “two spirits”
Native American males who act like women
Not part man/part woman; rather carrying both male and female spirit
They are a separate third gender
Perform valuable functions in birth and marriage

6. Males who Act like Women
Hijras of India
Religious community of males who are seen as neither man nor woman
Undergo a voluntary surgery
Dress as women, but are more coarse and aggressive in their speech
Also have ritual importance

7. Females who Act like Men
Sworn Virgins of Albania
In a heavily patriarchal group, women can be powerless if they are unmarried and their father dies
Women who take an oath of virginity can be recognized as men
Dress like men, can head the family, carry weapons, own property and move freely in public

8. We are Taught Gender Begins at birth
What do we do with children after they are born in the hospital? Why?
Continues with those who nurture children
Can you think of behaviors that are encouraged of one sex and discouraged from the other?
Toys R’ Us
What toys do little boys play with? Little girls?

9. The Beauty Myth Mass media also teaches us gender The beauty myth
How are women and women portrayed on television, in movies, and in advertisements?
The beauty myth
Naomi Wolf
Femininity entails maintaining aesthetic beauty
Objectifies women, encourages discipline, and creates an added financial burden

10. Gender Stratification
Differences in wealth and power between men and women
Patriarchy
Form of social organization where men dominate women
Sexism
The belief that males are biologically superior to females
Deeply embedded in society

11. Naturalization of Sexism
When something is naturalized, a social reality is reframed as biological
Women are view as being biologically inferior to men
What are some arguments for this view?
What is the difference between men and women?
Stratification and sexism has led to the feminization of poverty
Where more women exist in poverty than men
Women make up roughly 70% of the world’s poor

12. Exam Review Questions What is the difference between sex and gender?
How do males and females differ biologically?
Is sexual behavior universal? Are there any universal sexual taboos?
How many genders are there?
When did the first and second waves of feminism begin?
What is the belief that males are biologically superior to females?
What is it called when males socially dominate females?
How are ideas of gender institutionalized?
What did the tea part show K. Anne Pyburn in “Worthless Women”?
What did Blueboy tell us about gender in “Sitting on the Outters”?