CHAPTER 11 GENDER 04 20 2020 Social Construction of Gender In order to fully understand how society and biology are combined in a social order it is important to define concepts Sex The biological aspects of an individual differences between males and females by chromosomal anatomical reproductive hormonal characteristics Sex status is biologically determined but socially constructed All human societies make distinctions based on inborn ascribed characteristics of sex the physicological distinctions based on biology and reporductve anatomy that distinguished male from female Gender Gender is a status designation derived from the physiological aspects link to males and females to regulate how individuals should function within particular social contexts At the societal level gender differentiation is critical in understanding the differentiation is critical in understanding the differential distributions of Roles Tasks Resources Privileges and disadvantages bestowed upon males and females Gender refers to the social characteristics that a society considers proper for its males and females Although human beings are born male and female they learn how to be masculine and feminine Gender as a Continuum Gender identity one s definition of oneself in relation to societal expectations of gender Basic to our self concept Shapes our self expectations Shapes how we interact with others Gender identity influences numerous behaviors Gender The Media Killing Us Softly 4 The cult of thinness presented in advertising The obsession with thinness is about cutting girls down to size to aspire to become nothing Yesterday s sex symbols would be considered fat by today s standards Models keep getting thinner and thinner If they are not thin enough Photoshop is used to make them appear thinner The body type that we see in advertisements as acceptable or desirable is one that fewer than 5 of women have Some ads today seem to encourage unhealthy attitudes even eating disorders Gender as Performance Gender is fluid There is more than one defining point to what is gender Identity of women is not contingent upon gender Sexuality is not the underlying definition of gender Culture does not assume gender identity A binary view of gender is false Gender Socialization Men and women learn the expecations of their sex Socialization affects one s self concepts social and political attitudes perceptions about other people and feelings about relationships with others Not everyone conforms to gender expectations Gendered Institutions The total pattern of gender relations that structure social institutions including Stereotypical expectations Interpersonal relationships The different placement of men women found in institutions Nature or Nurture Sociologist Cynthia Fuchs Epstein supporting the dominant sociological position linking gender differences in behavior to social factors points out the following A re examination of the anthropological record shows greater equality between the sexes in the past than commonly thought demonstrating that hunting and gathering societies existed in which women are not subordinate to men The types of work that men and women do in each society are determined by social arrangements not biology Sociologist Stephen Goldberg challenging the dominant sociological position argues The anthropological records show that all societies for which evidence exists are or were patriarchies societies in which men dominate women In all societies past and present the highest statuses are associated with men and men overwhelmingly dominate the highest political positions Men dominate societies because they are more willing to sacrifice the rewards of other motivations the desire for affection health family life safety relaxation vacation and the like in order to attain dominance and status Exceptional individuals such as highly achieving and dominant women do refute the physiological roots of behavior Some sociologists while not abandoning nurture acknowledge that biological factors are involved in some human behavior other than reproduction and childbearing Sociologist Alice Rossi for example suggests that women are better prepared biologically for mothering than men they are more sensitive to the infant s soft skin and to their nonverbal communications Rossi stresses that the issue is not necessarily either biology or culture rather it it that nature provides biological predispositions which are then overlaid with culture Case histories provide some support for the proposition that differences in male and female behavior are attributable to both culture and biology Supporting earlier studies on the relationship between male testosterone and aggression a health study of Vietnam veterans found that men who have higher levels of testosterone are more aggressive and have more social problems as a consequence Although this tend to support the biological position for gender differences in behavior researchers also found that in addition to testosterone social class also makes a difference High testosterone men from higher social classes are less likely to be involved in anti social behaviors than high testosterone men from lower social class This suggests that social factors as well as biological factors affect the relationship between male testosterone and aggression 04 27 2020 Gender Apartheid Extreme segregation and exclusion of women from public life Gender stratification is supported by beliefs that treat gender inequality as natural Sexism generates social myths that have no basis but support the dominant groups over subordinates Sexism emerges in patriarchies societies in which men have power over women Gender Stratification and Education Today women earn 56 of all bachelor s degrees and 58 of all master s degrees Furthermore the proportion of professional degrees earned by women has increased sharply in recent years Despite these gains gender inequalities remain For example women s sports at both the grade school and collegiate level are often underfunded because these are not considered as important as men s sports Gender segregation in college degree programs continues with men dominating programs in computer sciences engineering mathematics and physical sciences The proportion of women in the various degree programs decreases with each passing year of graduate school Women who enroll in doctoral programs are less likely to complete the doctorate than men Gender Stratification and Employment