Sex
the biological and anatomical difference between females and males
Sexuality
"erotic desires, practices and identities" or "aspects of personal and social life which have erotic significance (Jackson and Scott 1996)
Gender
Conception of yourself as a male or female, your physical presentation. Person presentation
Essentialism
A school of thought that views gender differences as a reflection of biological differences between women and men. (Functionalists thinking)
Biological determinism
The belief that gender differences are shaped by biological characteristics
Hegemonic masculinity
Type of masculinity with the dominant position of men and the subordinate position of women. The culturally dominant ideal of man; authority physical toughness/strength heterosexual, and paid work AKA White heterosexual male that recognizes his power and wealth and uses it to keep his status
Gender roles
roles assigned by society to people of each gender
Patriarchy
a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line
Sexism
any attitude, belief, behavior, or social arrangement that has the intent or the ultimate effect of favoring members of one sex or gender over others.
Includes concepts of prejudgist and discrimmination, indivisual sexism, and instututional sexism
sexual harassment
The making of repeated, unwanted sexual advances
Glass ceiling
an invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the individual's gender, mostly women
Glass escalator
the process by which men in ,traditionally female professions, benefit from an unfair rapid rise within an organization
Men rise quicker and have higher wage in women's "pink collar" jobs
-Women do not have this in male predominate jobs
Feminism includes the understanding that "gender is an organizing principle of life". What does that mean?
chief goal is to get people to understand that gender is an organizing principle of life
Gender organizes the work we do, ex nurse mostly women
what is feminism's underlying belief regarding women, men, opportunities and respect?
women do not have as much respect and opportunities as men do
Does the concept of sex refer to biological or social characteristics?
Biological
Does the concept of gender refer to biological or social characteristics?
social characteristics
Which of the following is the correct answer for why, according to intersex activists, parents and surgeons push to assign a sex to a genetically ambiguous child?
a)
the government requires a sex on the birth certificate
b) psychological studies show that mothers require children with definite sexes
c) the need to assign a gender-appropriate name
d) social discomfort and fear of difference
social discomfort and fear of difference
Do sociologists believe that sex is an either/or situation (either male or female)?
no bc intersex babies are Born all the time
If not, do sociologists believe that pure categories are biological, distinctly different, or more of an ideal than an absolute?
No more of an ideal than an absolute.
Have understandings of what it means to be a man or a woman changed throughout history?
yes. 1920s women were not able to inherit money
sociologists view gender as a social construction or as a biological given?
social construction
Which of the following situations provides an example of how the social categories of gender influence the biology of sex?
c. the decision to raise a male infant born with a "small" penis (e.g., a phallus measuring less than 2 cm in length) as a female
An essentialist would argue which of the following for why women outnumber men in occupations that involve caring?
How we are is determined by nature-essentialism
C) women find care giving jobs bc it's in their nature
In Navajo tribes, there are three genders. What is the name of their third gender category?
"Hijra" "Nadle"
What is the main reason for why a Navajo person would identify as this third gender category?
Third gender could be considered parallel to transsexual, but it is significant to note that people of the third gender did not take any measures to physically become a member of the opposite sex.
freedom from the gender binary,
According to Sociologist Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, what are "deceptive distinctions"?
are those sex differences that arise out of the roles individuals occupy, rather than some innate force.
They are the distinctions that we see between men and women that are thought of as due to gender. but really it is because of the roles they take in However, "it turns out that many of the differences between women and men that we observe in our everyday lives are actually not gender differences at all, but differences that are the result of being in different positions or in different arenas" (119).
Which of the following is an example of deceptive distinctions?
b) A boy who is a football player and acts fearless and bold
Which of the following would be considered a positive trait or characteristic for a man within today's hegemonic masculinity?
heterosexuality; strong jawline and muscular body; a love of sports
What is the "woman question"?
At the start of the second wave of the feminist movement in the 1960s, theorists scrambled to find an answer to the "woman question": What explains the nearly universal dominance of men over women?
What is the functional perspective of it? What is the feminist perspective of it?
Functional perspective : every society has a social construction to fill necessary functions. Women became house wifes, became a functional way to live in society
Socialist feminists, also known as radical feminists, claimed that the root of all social relations, including relations of production, stemmed from unequal gender relations.
According to psychoanalyst Nancy Chodorow, what would have to happen for egalitarian relations between the sexes to be possible?
Chodorow argued that egalitarian relations between the sexes would be possible if men shared the mothering.
Which of the following aligns with the arguments of black feminism?
a) The experiences of women are universal, regardless of race.
b)
Black women face unique oppressions that white women, and even black men, do not.
c) All women face oppression in the same ways.
d) Black women deserve more help from the white feminist movement.
Black women face unique oppressions that white women, and even black men, do not
Has there been little or enormous variation in how humans have sex across times and places?
yes: by exposing different social patterns of sexuality, throughout history and across cultures, the sociologist can trace unequal power relations and show how sexuality expresses, represses, and elucidates those relations.
Your textbook says that "before 1850, there was no such thing as a homosexual"—does this mean that before 1850, people did not engage in homosexual behaviors?
If not, what does this statement mean?
no it does not mean that before 1850, people did not engage in homosexual behaviors, it was just private and not out there
the homosexual identity was born after the 1850s
Why is Alfred Kinsey's 1948 study, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male important?
a) It viewed sexuality as falling on a continuum, thus challenging the psychiatric claim of homosexuality as abnormal.
b) It viewed the sexual behavior of men as more deviant than what was
initially thought, lending support to the psychiatric diagnosis of homosexuality as perverse.
c) Sexual topics became taboo for the first time in history.
d) It increased funding to researchers interested in studying the sexual practices of other deviant subcultures.
a
It viewed sexuality as falling on a continuum, thus challenging the psychiatric claim of homosexuality as abnormal.
Although women now outnumber men in terms of college enrollment, men still dominate in which fields?
math and physics
In the classroom, who is expected to be better at reading—boys or girls?
girls
With regards to the advantages society gives to men, which of the following is LEAST likely to happen?
a) When women enter male-dominated
occupations, they may hit a glass ceiling.
b) When men enter female-dominated occupations, they are encouraged to advance on the glass escalator.
c) When men enter female-dominated occupations, they often become victims of sexual harassment.
d) When women enter male-dominated occupations, they often become victims of sexual harassment.
c
When men enter female-dominated occupations, they often become victims of sexual harassment.
What are pink-collar jobs?
working class jobs traditionallly held by women (clerical, secretary, maid, waitress, cook, beautician)