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Sex & Gender. What is Sex? . Sex: biological identity of being female or male Primary & secondary sex characteristics Issue of biological determinism Social behavior explained by sex characteristics . So What is Gender?.
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What is Sex? • Sex: biological identity of being female or male • Primary & secondary sex characteristics • Issue of biological determinism • Social behavior explained by sex characteristics
So What is Gender? • Socially, culturally defined attitudes, behaviors, activities appropriate for each sex • gender socialization • gender roles: expected behavior for being female or male • normative • femininity, masculinity • stereotypes • gender identity: how individual comes to see self as woman or man
Sexuality • Sexuality: constructing and negotiating erotic relationships • Normative behavior based on gender role expectations • Sexual orientation: preference for emotional-sexual relationship • Heterosexual • Homosexual • Bisexual • Heteronormative society
Are Men Genderless? • Addressing consciousness of masculinity • Hegemonic masculinity: ideology that asserts dominant pattern of masculinity as: • White, male, middle class, heterosexual, intelligent, athletic, able-bodied, successful • Subversive masculinity • Multiple masculinities
The Social Construction of Gender (Lorber, 1996) • “Gender is a human invention…gender organizes social relations in everyday life as well as the major social institutions, such as social class and the hierarchies of bureaucratic organizations.” • Gender IS a social institution • Gender is a continuous process • “doing gender”
Gender Stratification • Unequal access to wealth, power, prestige based on gender • Differential distribution of economic, political, social resources • All societies stratified by gender • Historically, men have benefited • Men: dominant (majority) • Women: minority