gender

sex

biological differences between males and females including chromosomes, hormones and anatomy

sex determined by one pair of sex chromosomes either XX for females or XY for males

these influence hormonal differences + differences in anatomy eg. reproductive organs, body shape, hair growth etc.

result of nature

gender

refers to a person’s psychosocial status as either masculine or feminine

includes all the attitudes, roles and behaviours we associated with being a man/woman - heavily influenced by social norms + cultural expectations

result of nurture

sex/gender at birth

argument is that because an individuals sex is innate + not assigned at birth so it cant be changed

gender is assigned as its a social construct rather than a biological fact so is more fluid to change

gender dysphoria

• for most people their biological sex and gender identity correspond - most biological males/females feel masculine/feminine and identify themselves as such

• but some feel that their biologically prescribed sex doesn’t reflect how they feel inside + the gender they identify themselves as being

• some may choose to have gender reassignment surgery in order to bring their sexual identity in line with their gender identity

sex-role stereotypes

• set of shared expectations that people within a society or culture hold about what is acceptable/usual behaviour for men and women

• these are communicated/transmitted throughout society + reinforced by parents, peers, the media + institutions such as school

• some may have a grain of truth, but some dont do lead to sexist assumptions being formed

androgyny

• have the appearance of someone who cant be clearly identified as a man or woman

• in psychology - refers to a personality type that is characterised by a balance of masculine/feminine traits, attitudes and behaviours

• individuals who are psychologically masculine + feminine in roughly equal measure are better equipped to adapt to a range of situations as they have a broader range of traits

• men and women can both be androgynous

• androgyny is not just over-representation of opposite gender characteristics

androgyny measurement

• Bem developed a method of measuring androgyny + suggested that high androgyny is associated with psychological well being

• Bem Sex Role Inventory - presents 20 masculine characteristics, 20 feminine ones and 20 neutral traits

• respondent rant themselves on a 7 point rating scale for each item

• scores then classified on 2 dimensions: masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated

androgyny/Bem’s research strength - quantitative

• androgyny is measured quantitatively - useful for research purposed when necessary eg to quantify a dependent variable in a research study

• Spence - argues there is more to gender than set of typical behaviours, so qualitative methods would be better

• a compromise is combined the scaled eg. Personal attribute questionnaire adds dimension of instrumentality + expressivity to Bem’s masculine-feminine dimension

• therefore this suggests that both qualitative and quantitative methods used together may be useful for studying androgyny

BSRI strength - valid + reliable

• Bem created list of characteristics that were masculine, feminine or gender neutral - 200 in total

• asked 100 undergraduate student (half men, half women) to rate whether the characteristics were more desirable for a man or woman, on a 7 point scale, in American society

• the top 20 highest rates characteristics for each category was selected and used for the BSRI