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Sociology of Gender Conference Gender and Socialization. The Basics. Conferences 8:35 – 9:25 Arts 150 9:35 – 10:25 Burnside 1B23 Attendance & participation Contact E-mail: andrew@carvajal.ca Office hours: Mondays 10-11:30 in Leacock 822A, or by appointment
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The Basics • Conferences • 8:35 – 9:25 Arts 150 • 9:35 – 10:25 Burnside 1B23 • Attendance & participation • Contact • E-mail: andrew@carvajal.ca • Office hours: Mondays 10-11:30 in Leacock 822A, or by appointment • Site: www.soci270.carvajal.ca • E-mail picture and/or blurb about yourself
The Basics • A bit about my self • My teaching style • I’m here to help! • Become as involved as you want in the topic of gender • Gentle Socratic method • The importance of your time • You PAY for my pay cheques
Gender Construction and Socialization Discussion (2 Qs to think about) 1. Should gender matter in our society? 2. Can we raise gender-neutral children? “We don’t believe in pressuring the children. When the time is right, they’ll choose the appropriate gender?”
Can we raise gender-neutral children? Yes: Sandra Lipsitz • Our culture distinguishes our identity on the basis of sex from the moment of birth, not our nature • Ways to retard gender education: • Alternate between spouses traditional female/male roles around the house • Introduce kids to both male and female experiences (e.g. male/female toys) • Monitor and censor TV and books • Treat sex as merely a physical trait • Focus on other sources of diversity
No: Nancy Chodorow • Mothering capacities and desire to mother built into women (object-relational experiences): • Girls have a longer attachment with their mothers past their first 2-3 years • Stronger mother-daughter identification • Girls maintain a more affective connection with familial objects and others past their adolescence • Femininity develops as a sense of connection and relationship; masculinity as its rejection • Nurturing, empathy and parenting is curtailed in boys, while it is emphasized on women • While these characteristics are not innate, we develop them so early and so “naturally” that they are unavoidable
Gender as Ideology • Gender as a belief that one’s sex at birth determines who we are, what we like, how we behave, etc. • Gender differences may be strong today and important in analyzing our social reality • BUT: Is it because men and women are naturally or inevitably different? • Or because we believe in gender, we care about it and thus reinforce the binary
Sex: also a contested domain? • Sex is something we more often take for granted, but: • Determining someone’s sex at birth by observing physical traits is sometimes impossible • Sex-assingment may also be an arbitrary imposition • Based on the belief of a bipolar system of sex Phallometer NormalNormal ClitorisPenis 0 0.9 2.5 GIRLBOY ??? (Up to the Doc or others)
