Download Gender Roles in the United States

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MONDA LISA
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Books http://youtu.be/lJZk9izakuM
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HYoY&feature=youtu.be - choose gay
http://youtu.be/IVdqdbNtg40 - aggressives
http://youtu.be/pZxRDAREjD4 - no homo
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READING RESPONSE
Your reading for today, “Night to His Day,” dealt
with the social construction of gender, that is,
society’s expectations regarding the behavior,
attitudes, and activities of males and females.
In your reading response, discuss how Lorber
describes Gender as (1) a Process, (2) as part
of a Stratification system, and (3) as a Structure.
READING RESPONSE
In our last class we discussed the social construction of
gender and we highlighted some aspects of gender roles.
Your reading for today [“Dude, You’re a Fag!”] largely
focused on the policing of gender roles via homophobia; it
also discussed various aspects of the sociology of
sexualities.
To prepare for discussion of the reading (which will be
most of the class), I want you to think about how the boys
in Pascoe’s study used the word ‘fag.’ How is the word
used to discipline boys' gender performance? Was the
deployment of the word different between racial groups?
What about the girls in Pascoe’s study, did they use this or
other slurs in a similar way?
Social Construction
of Gender
SEX ≠ GENDER ≠ SEXUALITY
• Anthropologists have documented
highly diverse constructions of gender
• 3rd Genders: ‘Berdaches,’ ‘Hijras,’
‘Xaniths;’ Lorber describes them, in
Western terms, as “Male Women” or
“Female Men” (p.56)
Social Construction
of Gender
█
Gender roles: Expectations
regarding proper behavior, attitudes,
and activities of males and females
– Most people do not display strictly
“masculine” or “feminine” qualities all the
time
– Construct behavior socially so as to
create or exaggerate male/female differences
Gender Roles in
the United States
█
Gender Role Socialization
– Boys must be
masculine:
•
•
•
•
•
Active
Aggressive
Tough
Daring
Dominant
– Girls must be
feminine:
•
•
•
•
Soft
Emotional
Sweet
Submissive
Gender Socialization
█
Gender stratification requires:
– Individual socialization into
traditional gender roles within family
– Promotion and support of traditional
roles by other social institutions
Where/How are we socialized into gender roles?
• Family
• Media
• Education/Schooling
• Peer Groups
“Gender as a Process”
(Lorber)
– Interactionist Sociology is particularly
interested in how gender is ‘performed.’
– We “do gender” by reinforcing traditionally
masculine and feminine actions
– We “perform gender” via self-presentation:
E.g. Fashion & style as well as behavior
– Gendered Expectations are recreated over
and over again: “We neither make up gender
as we go along nor exactly replicate what
was done before”
“Gender as a Stratification
System” (Lorber)
█
Gender and Stratification
█ Ranks Men above Women
█ Stratification requires:
█ Individual socialization into
traditional gender roles within family
█ Promotion and support of traditional
roles by other social institutions
█ ”A” and “Not-A” in a binary gender
order
Gender Roles and Stratification
█
Conflict & Feminist Theory
– Naturalizing gender roles (e.g. women are
naturally more nuturing) masks underlying
power relations between men and women
– Relationship between females and males
is traditionally one of unequal power
A
Normal
Dominant
Valuable, “Hard”
Work
Not-A
Ab-Normal
Dominated
Less valuable,
“Easy” Work
Women in the Workforce
█
Gender bias limits women’s opportunities
for employment outside of home and forces
them to carry disproportionate burden inside
the home
Glass ceiling: invisible
barrier blocking promotion
of qualified individuals in
work environment because
of gender, race, or
ethnicity
Women in the
Workforce of the U.S.
█
Labor force participation
– Women in paid labor force increased
steadily throughout 20th century
█
Compensation
– Disparity in pay between men and women
not explained by women’s career choices
The Status of
Women Worldwide
█
In too many nations women are denied
equal pay, sexually harassed at work, or
dismissed from job because of pregnancy
– Women everywhere
suffer from
second-class status
– Women not
responding passively
Gender and Social Structure
█
Sorting people and tasks:
• At Home
• At Work
• In Emotional Life and Sexuality
█
Sexism: ideology that one
sex is superior to the other
– Institutional Discrimination: denial
of opportunities and equal rights as
a result of normal operations of society
Women, Work, and Family
– Women face challenge of juggling work and
family due to traditional gender roles
• Double Burden: Workload of people who work to
earn money AND are responsible for significant
about of unpaid domestic labor.
– “The Second Shift”
• In heterosexual couples, greater amounts of time
women put into caring for children and housework
take toll on women pursuing careers, mental
health due do lack o leisure time, ability to pursue
educational goals.
• Women more likely to have to pay someone else
to do domestic work and care, meaning working is
costing them money in ways men are less likely to
have to pay for.
Gender and Social Structure
█
Sorting people and tasks:
• At Home
• At Work
• In Emotional Life and Sexuality
• Street Harassment / Catcalling
• Expectations regarding Sexual Behavior
• Sexual Violence
Gender Roles in
the United States
█
Men’s Gender Roles
– Attitudes toward parenting changing, but
little change in traditional male gender role
– Boys who adapt to cultural standards of
masculinity may grow up unable to share their
feelings
– Terms like metrosexual and bromance hint at
the constricting dynamics of cultural standards
of masculinity
Sexual Orientation
█
█
A person’s sexual orientation refers to their emotional
and sexual attraction to others.
Orientation has traditionally divided into four categories:
– heterosexuality, the attraction to individuals of the
opposite sex;
– homosexuality, the attraction to individuals of one’s
own sex;
– bisexuality, the attraction to individuals of either sex;
– asexuality, no attraction to either sex.
Sexual Orientation
█
█
Heterosexuals and homosexuals may also be referred
to informally as “straight” and “gay,” respectively. The
United States is a heteronormative society, meaning it
supports heterosexuality as the norm.
Consider that homosexuals are often asked, “When
did you know you were gay?” but heterosexuals are
rarely asked, “When did you know that you were
straight?”
Gender Roles in
the United States
█
█
Homophobia: Fear of, and
prejudice against, homosexuality
Adults, older siblings, mass media,
religious institutions, and educational
institutions exert important influence
Parents normally first and
most crucial agents of socialization
Pascoe’s ‘Dude You’re a Fag’
█
Homophobia: Fear of, and
prejudice against, homosexuality
– Pascoe says that explaining the use of ’fag’
among her subjects as simple homophobia
“obscures the gendered nature of sexualized
insults” (p.330)
– “This framing naturalizes the relationship
between masculinity and homophobia, thus
obscuring the centrality of such insults in the
formation of a gendered identity for boys in a
way that it is not for girls” (p.330)
Pascoe’s ‘Dude You’re a Fag’
█
Queer Theory
•
•
Examines sexual power dynamics in
areas of social world not usually
associated with sexuality
Destabilizes the assumed naturalness of
the social order via insights about the
relationships between gender, sexuality,
identities, and power.
Genderqueer & Queer Sexuality
█
█
Queer a term to describe certain radical academic disciplines and is
gaining use as a descriptor of non-normative (i.e. antiheteronormativity and anti-homonormativity) identities and
politics. Academic disciplines such as queer theory and queer
studies share a general opposition to binarism, normativity, and a
perceived lack of intersectionality within the mainstream LGBT
movement.
Genderqueer: A term which refers to individuals or groups who
“queer” or problematize the hegemonic notions of sex, gender and
desire in a given society. Genderqueer people possess identities
which fall outside of the widely accepted sexual binary (i.e. "men" and
"women"). Genderqueer may also refer to people who identify as
both transgendered AND queer, i.e. individuals who challenge both
gender and sexuality regimes and see gender identity and sexual
orientation as overlapping and interconnected.
Genderqueer & Queer Sexuality
█
Queer Sexualities:
– 1) An umbrella term sometimes used by LGBTQA
people to refer to the entire LGBT community.
– 2) An alternative that some people use to "queer" the
idea of the labels and categories such as lesbian, gay,
bisexual, etc. Similar to the concept of genderqueer.
█
It is important to note that the word queer is an in-group
term, and a word that can be considered offensive to
some people, depending on their generation, geographic
location, and relationship with the word.
Pascoe’s ‘Dude You’re a Fag’
Gendered Homophobia: Lesbian vs. Gay
█ “Fag” as ’unmasculine’ male
█ “It doesn’t even have anything to do with
being gay” (p336)
█ What kinds of things do guys get called a
‘fag’ for? (p337)
█
Pascoe’s ‘Dude You’re a Fag’
Is it possible to be both Gay and Masculine
in these boys view?
█ Thus, ‘Fag’= not masculine; opposite of it
█ Boys use jokes and imitation to indicate
‘they know what a fag is - and that they are
not fags. This joking cements bonds
between boys as they assure themselves
and each other of their masculinity through
repeated repudiations of a non-masculine
position of the abject, outsider ‘fag.’
█ “Racing the Fag:” Clothes and Dancing
(p340)
█
Gender and Human Sexuality
█
Over time, social norms regarding sexual
behavior have changed as roles changed
█
█
Society beginning to accept same-sex
couples, bisexuals, and transgendered
people
However…