Transcript Ch 8- 2 ed - HCC Learning Web

You May
Ask Yourself
An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist
Dalton Conley
SECOND EDITION
Chapter 8
Gender
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Sex, Sexuality, and Gender
• Sex refers to the natural or
biological differences that
distinguish males and females.
• Sexuality refers to desire, sexual
preference, sexual identity, and
behavior.
• Gender is a social construct that
consists of a set of social
arrangements that are built around
sex.
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Sex:
A Process in the Making
• Many believe that there are only
two sexes — male and female — and
that all people fall into one group
or the other.
• However, evidence suggests that we
need to embrace a more expansive
definition of sex that goes beyond
two rigid and distinct categories.
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Gender: What Does It Take to
Be a Woman (or a Man)?
• Gender roles are sets
of behavioral norms
assumed to accompany
one’s status as a
male or female.
• Evidence shows that
gender roles have
more to do with
social status than
biology.
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Feminism
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• Feminism is an intellectual,
consciousness-raising movement
based on the idea that women and
men should be accorded equal
opportunities and respect.
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Feminism
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• Feminism seeks to get people to
understand that gender is an
organizing principle of life.
• Gender structures social relations
on unequal ground, and thus power
is fundamentally at play when we
talk about gender differences.
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The Woman Question
• A wide range of theories and
approaches have been applied to the
study of gender, including
structural functionalism,
psychoanalytic theory, conflict
theory, microinteractionist theory,
postmodern theory, middle-range
theories, and ideas from black
feminists.
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The Woman Question
• Structural Functionalist Approach of
studying gender:
– Assumes that gender differences
exist to fulfill necessary
functions in society
– Doesn’t allow for the possibility
that other structures could
fulfill the same function or for
the fact that structures change
throughout history
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The Woman Question
• Psychoanalytic theories of studying
gender:
– focus on individualistic
explanations for gender
differences as opposed to
societal ones.
– Inherent in these theories is the
notion that there are natural
differences between men and women
that dictate how they behave.
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The Woman Question
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• Conflict theories argue that
patriarchal capitalists benefit
through systems that subordinate
women.
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The Woman Question
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• Socialist feminists argue that all
social relations, including
relations between workers and the
owners of the means of production,
stem from unequal gender relations.
• Social constructionists argue that
gender is a process that people
participate in with every social
interaction they have.
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The Woman Question
• Black feminists
– pointed out that gender doesn’t
function in a vacuum and that
gender studies must take into
account that there is no single
category of women or men
– They also pointed out that some
women are not only more
privileged than other women but
also more privileged than some
men.
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The Woman Question
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• Postmodern theorists question the
whole notion of “woman” as a
separate, stable category and
question the value and
appropriateness of Western scholars
applying their cultural logic to
the study of non-Western societies.
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The Woman Question
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• Middle-range theories may be the
most useful in addressing the
complicated subject of gender
because they connect people’s dayto-day experiences to larger social
forces.
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Sociology in the Bedroom
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• Much like gender differences,
sexual practices vary across time
and place, supporting the notion
that sexuality is as much a social
construct as gender.
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Sociology in the Bedroom
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• Homosexuality, which refers to the
social identity of a person who has
sexual attraction to and/or
relations with people of the same
sex, is a concept or identity that
emerged in the mid-nineteenth
century.
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Sociology in the Bedroom
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Interview, Paula England
Paula England discusses her research on
hooking up and romantic relationships
among college students.
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Growing Up, Getting Ahead, and
Falling Behind
• Studies show that gender inequality
is rampant in schools.
• Boys and girls are treated
differently by teachers, and there
are different expectations for
their behavior and performance.
• The textbooks and other materials
used in schools often reinforce
gender stereotypes.
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Gender in the Workplace
• Women still face
many challenges in
the working world
today, including
unequal pay, sexual
harassment, sexism,
tracking to certain
kinds of jobs, the
“feminization” of
jobs, the glass
ceiling, and more.
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Gender in the Workplace
• “Opting out” refers to a perceived
trend among mostly middle-class
women of leaving the workforce to
be full-time wives and mothers, in
large part because of frustrations
with the many obstacles they face
on the job and the sense that they
can find fulfillment in the home.
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Concept Quiz
1. Gender studies can be said to focus
on the relationship between _______.
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a)
b)
c)
d)
nature and nurture
sex and sexuality
men and women
sexual preference and social
environment
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Concept Quiz
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2. _______ is a nearly universal
system involving the subordination
of femininity to masculinity.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Patriarchy
Sexism
Matriarchy
Hegemonic masculinity
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Concept Quiz
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3. Michel Foucault argued that the
development of homosexuality as a social
identity was related to ________.
a) changes in the nineteenth century with
regard to the notion of the ideal man
b) the development of scientific disciplines
and a desire to monitor and categorize
people and their behavior
c) the development of the field of
psychoanalysis in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries
d) society’s need to establish cohesion by
identifying “others” who exhibit “deviant”
behavior
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Concept Quiz
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4. Sexual harassment is an illegal form of
discrimination that can be manifested
through ___________, with the intent of
making a person, usually a woman, feel
uncomfortable or unsafe, particularly in a
work setting.
a)
b)
c)
d)
inappropriate jokes
sexual assault
requests for sexual favors
all of the above
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Concept Quiz
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5.
Women working in male-dominated
professions often find that there are
________ opportunities for advancement,
and men working in female-dominated
professions often advance _________ their
female colleagues.
a)
b)
c)
d)
limited; more slowly than
limited; as quickly as
ample; as quickly as
limited; more quickly than
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Discussion Questions
1. Which do you identify as?
a) male
b) female
2. Which are you better at?
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a) math
b) English
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Discussion Questions
3. Which do you identify as?
a) male
b) female
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4. Let’s say you are on a first date with a
person of the opposite sex. Who should
pay?
a)
b)
c)
d)
the
the
The
The
man
woman
person who did the inviting should pay.
man and woman should split the bill.
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Why does Egyptian feminist Nawal el Saadawi argue that
makeup is a “postmodern veil”? How have gender norms
changed throughout history and across cultures?
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Why would a sociologist disagree with the arguments
about gender that John Gray poses in Men Are from Mars,
Women Are from Venus?
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David Reimer was subjected to gender reassignment
surgery at 18 months old. What does his story tell
us about the relationship between biological sex and
gender identity?
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A Greek statue from the fifth century BCE. How is
the premodern “one-sex” model a good example of
the ways that we socially construct gender?
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Elizabeth Grosz uses a Möbius strip, such as this one drawn
by M. C. Escher, as a model for sex and gender. Even though
the ants appear to be above or below each other, they are really You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
on the same side of the strip.
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Hijras embracing at a wedding.
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The Toilette of Venus by Peter Paul Rubens. What
explanations do sociologists offer for changing
ideals of beauty?
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In the 1950s, Talcott Parsons advanced the idea that the
nuclear family effectively reared children to meet the
labor demands of a capitalist system.
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What did sociologist Janet Lever observe about the
difference between the types of games that boys play
versus those favored by girls?
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Many conflict theorists argue that patriarchal capitalists benefit
through systems that subordinate women. For instance, many
cotton mills in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries hired
young, unmarried women and required them to live in company You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
boarding houses so that they could regulate their behavior.
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Patricia Hill Collins criticized feminist leaders such as Betty
Friedan (pictured above in the red dress), Billie Jean King (in tan
pants and a blue shirt on the left), or Bella Abzug (in gray dress,
with the hat) for ignoring the experiences of thousands of workingYou May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
class and nonwhite women.
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An ancient Greek image of two male lovers. How can
comparing social patterns of sexuality across cultures
and throughout history help sociologists understand
modern sexuality?
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A cartoon illustrating Oscar Wilde’s sodomy trial from the
May 1895 issue of Police News. Wilde was convicted of
gross indecency for his homosexual relationship with Lord
Alfred Douglas. He served two years of hard labor in prison.
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Thousands participate in a 2003 gay pride parade.
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How do travesti challenge common binary models
of understanding gender and sexuality?
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Paula England. To see an interview with England about
hook-up culture, go to wwnorton.com/studyspace.
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Figure 8.1 Percentage of High School Students
Who Have Had Sex, 1991–2007
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Teenagers at Silver Ring Thing, a faith-based abstinence-only
program held at a church in Canton, Ohio. According
to research by social scientists, what are the results of
abstinence-only programs?
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Figure 8.2 College Enrollment by Gender, 1965–2006
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A 1975 survey of children’s books found that boys played
active roles but girls were frequently passive. What messages
about gender roles might readers learn from this
Dick and Jane book?
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Figure 8.3 Increase of Women in the Workforce
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Figure 8.4 Pay Discrepancy Based on Gender
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Fourth-grade teacher Ryan Fittje is the only male
teacher at his Fremont, Nebraska, school.
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A U.S. soldier prepares to distribute water to
Iraqis in Al Faw, Iraq.
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Molly Pitcher at the battle at Monmouth.
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A World War II poster featuring Rosie the Riveter.
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This concludes the Lecture
PowerPoint Presentation for
Chapter 8: Gender
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