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Lesson 10: Sex and Gender
Robert Wonser
Introduction to Sociology
Lesson Outline
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Differentiating ‘sex’ and ‘gender’
What about intersex people?
Constructionist approach
Gender inequality
Theories to explain gender
Gender role socialization
Sex, gender and life chances
Women and men’s movement
Sexual orientation
Homophobia and heterosexism
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What is sex? What is gender?
 Although the terms “sex” and “gender” are
often used interchangeably, sociologists
differentiate between the two.
 Sex refers to an individual’s membership in
one of two biologically distinct categories—
male or female.
 Gender refers to the physical, behavioral,
and personality traits that a group
considers normal for its male and female
members.
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Intersex
 About 1 babies in 1,000 are born
intersexed, or hermaphroditic,
which means having an abnormal
chromosomal makeup and mixed
or indeterminate male and female
sex characteristics.
 This is a function of biological sex.
 Gender is different because it
relates to the way that a person
behaves based on their biological
sex.
 In other words, we learn how to
act manly or womanly based on
the sex that we’re born into and
society’s expectations of that sex.
Introduction to Sociology: Sex and
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Hijras embracing at a
wedding.
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As nature made him
 David Reimer
was subjected
to gender
reassignment
surgery at 18
months old.
What does his
story tell us
about the
relationship
between
biological sex
and gender
identity?
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Constructionist Approach
to Gender Identity
 Most sociologists use a constructionist approach
and see gender as a social construction and
acknowledge the possibility that the male–female
categories are not the only way of classifying
individuals.
 Constructionists believe that gender is constructed,
or created, through our interactions with other
members of society.
 In the United States we tend to classify people as
being male or female, but other societies have
different classification systems (hijras and
berdaches for example) and people are treated
differently based on the norms associated with that
system.
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Who is this child?
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Gender Inequality
 Gender inequality can be found in all past and
present societies.
 The activities that women could participate in
were limited because they had less physical
strength and because of the demands of bearing
and raising children.
 Men delivered the most important resources to
the group, such as food from hunting or land
from warfare, and became powerful by
controlling the distribution of these resources.
 There are several sociological theories that
attempt to explain why this inequality has
persisted in contemporary societies. We’re going
to discuss several of these theories now.
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Theories on Gender Inequality
 Functionalists:
 Believe that there are social roles better
suited to one gender than the other, and
that societies are more stable when
certain tasks are fulfilled by the
appropriate sex.
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Theories on Gender Inequality
(cont’d)
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In the 1950s, Talcott Parsons
advanced the idea that the
nuclear family effectively
reared children to meet the
labor demands of a capitalist
system.
According to Parsons:
 Men were more suited for
an instrumental role (the
person who provides the
family’s material support
and is often an authority
figure).
 Women were more suited
for an expressive role
(the person who provides
the family’s emotional
support and nurturing).
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Theories on Gender Inequality
(cont’d)
 Conflict theorists:
 Believe men have historically had access
to most of society’s material resources
and privileges.
 Therefore, it is in their interest to try to
maintain their dominant position.
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Theories on Gender Inequality
(cont’d)
 Symbolic
Interactionists
emphasize how the
concept of gender is
socially constructed,
maintained, and
reproduced in our
everyday lives.
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Gender Role Socialization
 Gender role
socialization is the
lifelong process of
learning to be
masculine or feminine,
primarily through four
main agents of
socialization: families,
schools, peers, and the
media.
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Gender Role Socialization
(cont’d)
 Families are usually the primary
source of socialization and greatly
impact gender role socialization.
 Social learning theory suggests
that the babies and children learn
behaviors and meanings through
social interaction and internalize the
expectations of those around them.
 remember: we learn gender, we are not
born knowing who wears pink
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Gender Role Socialization
(cont’d)
 Schools also socialize children into
their gender roles.
 For instance, research shows that
teachers treat boys and girls
differently.
 This may teach children that there
are different expectations of them,
based on their sex.
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Gender Role Socialization
(cont’d)
 In Western societies, peer groups
are an important agent of
socialization.
 Teens are rewarded by peers when
they conform to gender norms and
stigmatized when they do not.
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Gender Role Socialization
(cont’d)
 Finally, there is no question that sexrole behavior is portrayed in a highly
stereotypical manner in all forms of
the media: television, movies,
magazines, books, video games, and
so on.
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A 1975 survey of children’s books
found that boys played active roles
but girls were frequently passive.
What messages about gender roles
might readers learn from this Dick
and Jane book?
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Sex, Gender, and Life Chances
(cont’d)
 Sex and gender affect almost every
significant aspect of our lives.
 Even lifespan is different by gender!
 Women are disadvantaged in institutional
settings in our society. Women tend to:
 Do a disproportionate amount of housework
 Earn less on average than their male peers at
work
 Remain more likely to live in poverty
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U.S. Life Expectancy by Gender,
1900–2007
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Male and Female Median Earnings,
1959–2008
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Sex, Gender, and Life Chances
(cont’d)
 This has led to a situation called the
feminization of poverty, which is
the economic trend showing that
women are more likely than men to
live in poverty, due in part to:
 the gendered gap in wages,
 the higher proportion of single mothers
compared to single fathers,
 and the increasing cost of childcare.
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Sex, Gender, and Life Chances
(cont’d)
 Even our language and vocabulary
tend to reflect a hierarchal system of
gender inequality.
 What’s the difference between a stud
and slut?
 Mankind, mailman, guys
 Did I tell you the riddle about the doctor?
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Feminism and the Women’s
Movement
 Who considers themselves to be a feminist?
 Do you know what feminism is?
 Feminism is the belief in the social,
political, and economic equality of the
sexes and the social movements organized
around that belief.
 In the United States, the history of the
women’s movement can be divided into
three historical waves.
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The Women’s Movement
(cont’d)
 The first wave was the earliest
period of feminist activism and
included the period from the midnineteenth century until American
women won the right to vote in 1920.
The campaign organized around
gaining voting rights for women was
called the suffrage movement.
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The Women’s Movement
(cont’d)
 The second wave was the period of
feminist activity during the 1960s and
1970s often associated with the
issues of women’s equal access to
employment and education.
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The Women’s Movement
(cont’d)
 The third wave is the most recent
period of feminist activity and focuses
on issues of diversity and the variety
of identities that women can possess.
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Sexual Orientation
 Sexual orientation is the inclination
to be heterosexual (attracted to the
opposite sex), homosexual (attracted
to the same sex), or bisexual
(attracted to either sex).
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Sexual Orientation
(cont’d)
 Is sexual orientation a continuum
rather than a few simple categories?
 Those who are asexual may simply
reject any sexual identity at all.
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Homophobia
 Homophobia is a fear of or discrimination
toward homosexuals or toward individuals
who display purportedly genderinappropriate behavior.
 Some argue that the term “homophobia”
represents a biased attitude because the
term “phobia” implies a psychological
condition, thus excusing intolerance.
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Heterosexism
 Homophobia refers to individual beliefs and
behaviors, not institutionalized
discrimination.
 Heterosexism refers to the antihomosexual
beliefs and practices embedded in social
institutions.
 Similar to “white privilege”; we’re not taught
to see how racism puts some in a position of
privilege but rather view it as something that
puts racial ethnic minorities at a
disadvantage.
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Examples of Heterosexism
 Hospitals do not recognize spousal rights for samesex partners sick or dying or for same-sex parents
with children in the hospital
 Gay, bisexual and lesbian issues are not included in
school curricula
 School rules about name-calling, harassment or
bullying are not enforced for anti-gay incidents
 Student rights laws or policies do not include sexual
orientation as a protected category
 School social events are organized around
assumptions of heterosexuality (dances, dating)
 Lesbians and gay men are assumed to be a threat
to children in some professions: teaching, coaching,
pediatric medicine
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Examples of Heterosexual Privilege
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You can go wherever you want and know that you will not be
harassed, beaten, or killed because of your sexuality
You do not have to worry about being mistreated by the police
or victimized by the criminal justice system because of your
sexuality
You can express affection (kissing, hugging, and holding
hands) in most social situations and not expect hostile or
violent reactions from others
You can discuss your relationships and publicly acknowledge
your partner (such as by having a picture of your lover on your
desk) without fearing that people will automatically disapprove
or think that you are being “blatant”
You can legally marry the person whom you love in all 50
states
You can receive tax breaks, health insurance coverage, and
spousal legal rights through being in a long-term relationship
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Lesson Quiz
1. True or False: Sociologists believe that sex
and gender are essentially the same thing.
a. True
b. False
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Lesson Quiz
2. Which theoretical perspective generally
believes that there are still social roles
better suited to one gender than the other?
a. Conflict theory
b. Functionalism
c. Labeling theory
d. Symbolic interactionism
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Lesson Quiz
3. The physical, behavioral, and personality
traits that a group considers normal for its
male and female members is referring to:
a. sex
b. gender
c. sexual orientation
d. the functionalist theory of gender
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Lesson Quiz
4. The economic trend showing that women
are more likely than men to live in poverty
is called:
a. gender inequity
b. the suffrage movement
c. gender role socialization
d. the feminization of poverty
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Lesson Quiz
5. What was the cause most identified with
the first wave of the women’s movement?
a. Equal pay for women
b. Equal access to education for women
c. The right to vote for women
d. The celebration of diversity
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For Next Time:
 Life at home and the family.
 Why do we choose the mates we do?
 Don’t forget to Read! (check your
syllabus for assigned readings!)
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