Chapter 10:

Sex and Gender

Melanie Hatfield
Soc 100
 Sex and Gender
 Sex: An aspect of one’s biological makeup that depends
on whether one is born with distinct male or female
genitals and a genetic program that releases either male
or female hormones to stimulate the development of
one’s reproductive system.
 Gender: One’s sense of being male or female and
playing masculine or feminine roles in ways defined as
appropriate by one’s culture and society.
 The Social Learning of Gender
 The case of Bruce/Brenda/David suggests that unlike
sex, gender is not determined just by biology.
 Research shows that babies first develop a vague sense
of gender identity between the ages of 2 and 3.
 Once the social learning of gender takes hold, it is
apparently very difficult to undo, even by means of
reconstructive surgery, hormones, and parental and
professional pressure.
 Theories of Gender Differences
 Essentialism: A school of thought that sees
gender differences as a reflection of biological
differences between women and men.
 Functionalist theory
 Social Constructionism: A school of thought
that sees gender differences as a reflection of
the different social positions occupied by
women and men.
 Conflict, feminist, and symbolic interactionist
theories
 Functionalists and Essentialism
 Functionalists reinforce the essentialist
viewpoint when they claim that traditional
gender roles help to integrate society.
 In the family women traditionally specialize in
raising children and managing the household.
 Men traditionally work in the paid labor force.
 Each generation learns to perform these
complimentary roles by means of gender role
socialization.
 4 Criticisms of Essentialism
1. They ignore historical and cultural variability
of gender and sexuality.
2. They generalize from the average, ignoring
variations within gender groups.
3. No evidence directly supports their major
claims.
4. Their explanations for gender differences
ignore the role of power.
Conflict Theorists and Gender Inequality

 Conflict theorists believe that:

 The root of male domination in class inequality.
 Men gained substantial power over women when
preliterate societies were first able to produce more
than their members needed for survival – some men
gained control over the economic surplus.
 They soon devised means of ensuring that their
offspring would inherit the surplus.
 As industrial capitalism developed male domination
increased.
 Feminist Theorists and Gender
Inequality
 Feminist theorists believe that ender inequality is
rooted in patriarchal authority relations, family
structures, and patterns of socialization and
culture that exists in most societies.
 Gender Socialization
 Barbie v. GI Joe
 Research conducted in the early 70s showed that from
birth, infant boys and girls who are matched in length,
weight, and general health are treated differently by
parents – fathers in particular.
 Girls tend to identified as delicate, weak, beautiful, and
cute.
 Boys tend to be identified as strong, alert, and well-
coordinated.
 The Mass Media and Body Image
 Outside school, children, adolescents, and adults
negotiate gender roles as they interact with the
mass media.
 The Mass Media and Body Image
 The effect of these messages is to reinforce the
normality of traditional gender roles.
 Many people even try to shape their bodies after
the body images portrayed in the mass media.
 The Earnings Gap: Four Factors
1. Gender discrimination.
2. Heavy domestic responsibilities reduce
women’s earnings.
3. Women tend to be concentrated in low-wage
occupations and industries.
4. Work done by women is commonly considered
less valuable than work done by men because
it is viewed as involving fewer skills.
Male Aggression against Women
 Serious acts of aggression between men and women
are common, with the great majority of them being
committed by men against
 Greater physical power is more likely to be used to
commit acts of aggression only when norms justify
male domination and men have much more social
power than women.
 When women and men are more equal socially, and
norms justify gender inequality, then the rate of male
aggression against women is lower.
 Equality Progress
 The 20th century witnessed growing equality
between wm and men in many countries.
 Many forces have brought about a massive
cultural shift, a fundamental reorientation of
thinking on the part of many Americans about
what women could and should do in society.
 One indicator of the progress of women is the
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM).
GEM, 2005