Unit 6: Gender, Sexuality, and Identity

1. Aim: To what extent are conceptions of gender a social construct? How do we ‘do’ gender everyday of our lives? Unit 6: Gender, Sexuality, and Identity Topic 1 - The Social Construction of Gender

2. The ‘Slap Her’ Video: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2OcKQ_mbiQ What’s your reaction to this video?

3. How we ‘do’ Gender… Gender: Social agreement as to what is ‘male’ or ‘female’ - helps construct social meaning. This agreement is vastly different in different cultures and different historical times. -Signifies relationships of power -Most likely to be accepted as natural (biological)

5. Sociological Perspectives on Gender

6. The Interactionist Approach We ‘do gender’ everyday with our common interactions with one another - we can either confirm or go against gender roles, but our actions dictate messages about gender. Interactionsts study language, dress, actions. E.g., men interrupt women more than the converse

7. Functionalist Perspective Maintains that gender differentiation has contributed to social stability. In particular, family functions most effectively when adults specialize in particular roles (Parsons & Bales, 1955). They argued that women take expressive, emotionally supportive role, while men take the instrumental, practical roles.

8. Conflict Theorists say that… Gender roles contribute to the subjugation of women - Marx/Engles argued this began with capitalist industrialization - prior to that it was more egalitarian.

9. The Feminist Perspective Similar to conflict theorist viewpoint - however feminists noted that the female voice was missing in most scholarship on gender (including Sociology). Contemporary feminists recognize subjugation for women not just by gender, but by race, class, and other social factors as well (this is called ‘intersectionality’)

10. Theories of Gender: nature versus nurture/nature and nurture Nature: Biology determines our action. In other words, boys are simply born with male characteristics, and vice-versa, or… Nurture: Society and our environment determine our actions. In other words, we are taught what is ‘male’ or ‘female’

11. Binary Gender System: Idea that only 2 genders exist – male and female Rejected by the gender queer/gender neutral community Further complicated by biological factors- chromosomal disorders and physiological birth defects (i.e.-hermaphrodites)

12. The David Reimer Story:

13. Gender Socialization: How we learn our gender

14. What are some genuine physical/physiological differences between men and women?

15. Gender Development: Children develop a concrete understanding of gender by age 7, but this develops in stages from birth: 7 months – distinguish male/females faces 1 year – distinguishes male/female voices 2 years – understands gender stereotypes (dress, behavior, etc) 2-3 – develop a sense of gender identity By 7, children believe that gender is a constant, permanent thing that cannot change (if mommy wears pants, she’s still a girl!)

16. Men’s brains 8-10% larger - section linked to arithmetic abilities larger in men (however, women are better at straightforward math like addition/subtraction, men better at reasoning problems) Women’s brains mature sooner - 2 key language centers larger in women Women process pain signals in the parts of their brains that handle emotion, while men process same signals in the analytic regions

17. Women: Has 70% more body fat, possesses 40% less muscle and are 5 inches shorter Enter puberty 2 yrs. sooner More likely to smell faint odors, express emotions freely, speak more words per day 2x more vulnerable to depression & anxiety, and 10X for eating disorders Men: 4X more likely to be diagnosed with autism, color-blindness, hyperactivity, and antisocial personality disorder More likely to offer opinions, speak assertively, interrupt, smile less, and stare more; while women are more likely to express support.

19. How would you define a ‘gender role’? Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females - these expectations exist largely unrelated to biological differences.Where do we learn these?

20. Pottery Barn Kids Christmas Catalog

27. Gender-Role Socialization in the United States: Homophobia is a key element of rigid gender-role socialization since many associate male homosexuality with femininity and lesbianism with masculinity.

28. Masculinity is gendered - women are supposed to attract - men to be attracted - when this ‘predator/prey’ model is shifted men often feel threatened by it. What point is this making?

31. Activity: We will split into male/female groups It will then be your task to come up with TEN terms/phrases that you associate with: A.) Your own gender (so female if you’re female) B.) The opposite gender (so male if you’re female)

33. Multiple Masculinities (Connell, 1987): men play a variety of gender roles, including a nurturing-care role and an effeminate gay role, in addition to their traditional gender roles of domination - society nonetheless reinforces traditional roles… • Interviewed 400 men – mostly white, from the East Coast, and college educated -“Guyland” – social space where guys live by ‘guy code’ – emphasis on drinking, hooking up, and other behaviors. Very tied to video games, sports, and frequent (but disconnected) sexual conquests • “Bitch or Babe” - Women in ‘Guyland’ must drink, be thin, and willing to hook up.

34. Gender Role Activity - Describe the rituals of dating/engagement/marriage from start to finish…

36. Now, consider how these gender roles/stereotypes contribute to global and domestic gender discrimination and stratification…

37. Gender Transgressions: engaging in actions, behaviors, or feelings that seem to transgress from defined gender social norms…examples?

38. Terms defined - ‘trans’ mean across…differentiate the following terms which are often used interchangeably Someone who dresses in opposite gender of their (not ‘cross dresser’) Transvestite Someone who believes they are born into the wrong body Transgender A transgendered person who has undergone gender reassignment surgery Transsexual

39. The Transgendered Community: General term for those whose behaviors deviate extremely from traditional gender roles Feel they were ‘born in the wrong body’ Diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder Gender Reassignment: surgery & hormone treatment to change biological sex

40. Trans-Man: Someone who is born physiologically female, but identifies as male

41. Trans-woman: a person who is born physiologically male, but identifies as female (e.g, Lavern Cox of “Orange is the New Black”)

42. The Gender Queer Community: Think of themselves as both male and female, neither male or female, or outside the gender binary completely (androgyny) Challenges traditional views on both gender and sexuality

43. Gender in other cultures: Bugis people of Indonesian island of Sulawesi have 5 gender categrories: Oroane (masculine male) Makkunrai (feminine female) Calalai (masculine female) Calalai (feminine male) Bissu (embodying qualities of both male and female) Calalai are anatomical males who adhere to responsibilities of women. They engage in homosexuality and dress as women, yet they don’t follow all cultural suggestions http://interactive.fusion.net/meet-the-muxes/

44. “I consider myself gay and muxe. I’m gay the moment I’m behaving as a boy, and I’m a muxe the moment I’m behaving as a girl. It’s a duality I have inside me. It’s two in one and that’s the only way I don’t lose my essence,” Marluu says. http://interactive.fusion.net/meet-the-muxes/

45. Gender Stratification: differences in societal treatment (so, in other words, at the Macro level) between males and females… Does anyone know what this type of undershirt for males is referred to?

46. Access to Power: Patriarchy: Society in which men dominate Matriarchy: Society in which women dominate Quick Activity - list 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of being the opposite gender than you are (anything, from social to political…)

47. A Thought Experiment… Politically: Women hold the highest political offices (including the presidency- there hasn’t been a male president in 30 years). Women have better access to jobs, and are generally thought of as controlling the course of national events. Socially: women always ask men out, propose marriage to men, and make higher salaries than men in every state. Men are primarily responsible for the raising of children (they stay home and the woman goes back to work after childbirth). Men do dishes, clean, and cook every night for their wives. When couples go out, women drive the cars, pay for things, and make all major decisions about the family. Imagine that you wake up tomorrow and the United States Is now a Matriarchy (not a patriarchy)…so,

48. Sex-Typed Activities: Associating activities or forms of work as being either “male” or “female” in nature. Finish the following prompts and explain your answers:[ “Because of my gender I would never ________” “Because of my gender I would never do ______ for a living” “Because of my gender I would never wear _________”

49. What do you think are some theories as to why and now patriarchies came to be the dominant societal arrangement?

50. Theories of Patriarchy: Because women gave birth to children, early in human societies women were bogged down with child birthing/rearing, while men hunted and gathered Subsequently, men came to dominate society