CHAPTER 11: GENDER04.20.2020Social Construction of GenderIn order to fully understand how society and biology are combined in a social order, it isimportant to define concepts: Sex The biological aspects of an individual, differences between males and femalesby chromosomal, anatomical, reproductive, hormonal characteristics.Sex status is biologically determined but socially constructed. All humansocieties make distinctions based on inborn (ascribed) characteristics of sex, thephysicological distinctions based on biology and reporductve anatomy thatdistinguished male from female.GenderGender is a status designation derived from the physiological aspects link tomales and females to regulate how individuals should function within particularsocial contexts.At the societal level, gender differentiation is critical in understanding thedifferentiation is critical in understanding the differential distributions of:● Roles● Tasks● Resources● Privileges and disadvantages bestowed upon males andfemales.Gender refers to the social characteristics that a society considers proper for itsmales and females. Although human beings are born male and female, theylearn how to be masculine and feminine.Gender as a ContinuumGender 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 MediaKilling Us Softly 4The “cult of thinness” presented in advertisingThe 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 makethem appear thinner.The body type that we see in advertisements as acceptable or desirable is one that fewer than5% of women have.Some ads today seem to encourage unhealthy attitudes - even eating disorders.Gender as PerformanceGender is fluidThere 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 SocializationMen and women learn the expecations of their sex,Socialization affects one’s self-concepts, social and political attitudes, perceptions about otherpeople, and feelings about relationships with others.Not everyone conforms to gender expectations.Gendered InstitutionsThe total pattern of gender relations that structure social institutions, including:Stereotypical expectationsInterpersonal relationshipsThe different placement of men/women found in institutionsNature or Nurture?Sociologist Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, supporting the dominant sociological position linking genderdifferences in behavior to social factors, points out the following:A re-examination of the anthropological record shows greater equality between thesexes in the past than commonly thought, demonstrating that hunting and gatheringsocieties existed in which women are not subordinate to men.The types of work that men and women do in each society are determined by socialarrangements, not biology.Sociologist Stephen Goldberg, challenging the dominant sociological position, argues:● The anthropological records show that all societies for which evidence exists areor 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 rewardsof 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, dorefute “the physiological roots of behavior.”Some sociologists, while not abandoning “nurture,” acknowledge that biological factors areinvolved in some human behavior other than reproduction and childbearing.● Sociologist Alice Rossi, for example, suggests that women are better preparedbiologically for “mothering” than men; they are more sensitive to the infant’s softskin and to their nonverbal communications.● Rossi stresses that the issue is not necessarily either biology or culture; rather itit that nature provides biological predispositions, which are then overlaid withculture.Case histories provide some support for the proposition that differences in male and femalebehavior are attributable to both culture and biology.● Supporting earlier studies on the relationship between male testosterone andaggression, a health study of Vietnam veterans found that men who have higherlevels of testosterone are more aggressive and have more social problems as aconsequence.● Although this tend to support the biological position for gender differences inbehavior, researchers also found that, in addition to testosterone, social classalso makes a difference. High-testosterone men from higher social classes areless likely to be involved in anti-social behaviors than high-testosterone menfrom lower social class. This suggests that social factors, as well as biologicalfactors, affect the relationship between male testosterone and aggression.04.27.2020Gender ApartheidExtreme 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 oversubordinates.Sexism emerges in patriarchies, societies in which men have power over women.Gender Stratification and EducationToday, 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 increasedsharply in recent years.Despite these gains,
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