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Learning Gender

Learning Gender . Definitions (Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Sex: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures (primarily biological)

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Learning Gender

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  1. Learning Gender

  2. Definitions (Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary) • Sex: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures (primarily biological) • Gender: the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex (primarily socially constructed)

  3. Sex • Biological • Categories – Male or female, man or woman • Markers • Genitalia • Reproductive organs or capacities • Chromosomes (XY –male or XX-female) • Exceptions • Intersex persons • Different chromosomal patterns (XXY or XXXY)

  4. Gender • Sociological • Categories – masculine or feminine • Markers • Behavior • Appearance • Exceptions • Androgyny • Changing social patterns • Fluidity of performances

  5. More About Gender • Gender Assignment: usually given to us at birth, determined by our physical body type to be male or female • Gender Identity: how one feels internally about one’s own gender, may or may not match gender assignment • Gender Expression: how we express our gender does not always match our gender identity or our gender assignment • Gender Socialization: learn the appropriate behaviors associated with being a boy or girl in a given society

  6. Still more about gender • Transgender: claiming a gender identity or expression different from the one assigned at birth by family and community • Cisgender: someone comfortable in the gender assigned at birth (conformity between gender assignment, identity, or expression) • Androgyny: lack of gender differentiation, or a balance of both traits • Genderqueer: nonconformist in challenging existing constructions and identities (historically used as both an umbrella term and individual description)

  7. What is Gender? • Gender is a product of culture and socialization • Gendering is done from birth • Gender is performed • Gender, as a social institution, is one of the major ways that society is organized (division of labor, allocation of scarce goods, responsibility for care giving, transmission of norms, etc.) • Gender is assigned personality characteristics, feelings, motivations, and ambitions • Gender is hierarchical (gender ranking) • Gender is legitimated by religion, law, science, and societal values • Gender is enforced • As a product of culture, it may differ among groups

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