The Concepts

1. The Concepts

2. What do these mean? • Sex of a person • Gender of a person • Sexual identity • Gender identity *Give examples/ characteristics of each

3. Sex What is sex of a person? • Biological and physiological characteristics that define a human being • Male, female, intersex (hermaphrodite, androgynous) • About 1/10,000 born intersex • Sex characteristics • Women menstruate, men do not • Men have testicles, women do not • Women have developed breasts that are usually capable of lactating, men have not • Men generally have more massive bones than women

4. Intersex Adrenogenitalsyndrome (AGS) • What does ‘syndrome’ indicate? • Binary categories; abnormal to have both M/F organs If someone is born intersex, what issue does this present? • Social norms pressure parents • More difficult to develop male organs • Have surgery? • Delaying surgery • What do you tell people?

5. Intersex • What happens if someone’s ‘assigned’ the wrong sex? • Intersex support groups, organizations • Some places starting to recognize this status issue • Court in New South Wales, Australia recent ruling • ‘Sex doesn’t bear a binary meaning of ‘male’ or ‘female’’ • Birth, death, or marriage forms- sex identification not mandatory • Benefits people who are intersex, with gender reassignment surgery, gender neutral

6. Gender What is gender of a person? • Socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, attributes for males and females • Masculine, feminine • Binary construct of biological sex • ‘Male’ and ‘female’ are sex categories; ‘masculine and ‘feminine’ are gender categories • Aspects of sex don’t vary a lot bt. societies • Aspects of gender may vary greatly • What about transgendered, androgynous? • Don’t fit? = Deviant

7. Gender (cont.) • Socioculturallydetermined characteristics: • Baby boys = blue; baby girls = pink • Boys wear pants; girls wear skirts • Boys play with guns; girls play with dolls • Boys become doctors; girls become nurses What is gender identity? • How a person defines their perception of being masculine, feminine, androgynous • Can challenge society’s construction of gender norms

8. Gender (cont.) • Socialization into these roles • Embedded in public and private institutions • Economic, political, educational, religious, etc. • Familial, domestic realm • Boys hang out with dads; girls with moms • Society dictates appropriate roles of men/women  what is masculine/feminine • Society dictates acceptable relationships between men/women • Heterosexual is the norm = what is ‘right’

9. Gender (cont.) Gender characteristics: • In most countries, women earn significantly less money than men for similar work • In many Asian and African countries, women smoking is a taboo • In Saudi Arabia, women are banned from driving • In most of the world, women do more housework than men

10. Sexual Identity What is sexual identity? • How a person defines their sexual orientation/ partner preference • Heterosexual, homosexual (gay, lesbian), bisexual, transsexual (FTM, MTF), transgender, androgynous • Transsexual- identifies with opposite biological sex, may want to change physical attributes • Transgender- personal characteristics that transcend traditional gender boundaries, corresponding sexual norms • Androgynous- both biological and identity meanings

11. Labels Why do we use labels? • Easier to communicate • Easier to process information • Create the ‘other’ • Evolve out of social norms