Gender Roles, Masculinity, and Sexuality: Key Concepts and Theories

Patriarchy

a set of systems; the control of female and younger male family members by select adult men/patriarchs

Sexism

the favoring of one sex over the other, both ideologically and in practice

Androcentrism

granting of higher status, respect, value, reward, and power to the masculine compared to the feminine

Subordination

the placing of women into positions that make them subservient to or dependent on men

Male flight

phenomenon where men abandon fields/spaces as they become dominated by women

Hegemonic masculinity

an ideology that privileges a specific form of masculinity; EX: breadwinner, stoicism, strong, sexual; includes a power structure; agreement that this is how things are meant to be so we don't question it; naturalizes hierarchies & masculinity

Exculpatory chauvinism

people in society draw on negative stereotypes on men to make decisions in our own lives; EX: we say men are bad with children, but they're not inherently bad with them; simple definition: weaponized incompetence

Masculinities

different ways of doing masculinity-arrayed in a hierarchy-that are more or less available to people with different social positions, intersectional identities, and contexts of interaction

Precarious masculinity

idea that manhood is more difficult to earn and easier to lose than femininity

Compensatory masculinity

acts undertaken to reassert one's manliness in the face of a threat

Hypermasculinity

extreme conformity to the more aggressive rules of masculinity

Toxic masculinity

enactments of masculinities that are harmful both to the men who enact them and to the people around them

Patriarchal bargain

a deal in which an individual/group accepts/legitimates some of the costs of patriarchy in exchange for receiving some of its rewards

Hybrid masculinities

a collection of gender strategies that selectively incorporate symbols, performances, and identities that society associates with women or low-status men

Feminine apologetic

a requirement that women balance their appropriation of masculine interests, traits, and activities with feminine performances

Pariah femininities

ways of being a woman that—by virtue of directly challenging men's dominance and embodying masculine traits—are widely and aggressively policed

Benevolent sexism

reinforcement positive stereotypes about women, usually by men, that end up hurting them later on in life; EX: men will go "let me help you with this", but this holds them back since women don't gain the experience they need to further succeed

Hostile sexism

harassment, threats, or violence used to enforce women's subordination to men (benevolent sexism = Plan A, hostile sexism = Plan B)

Aggrieved entitlement

a sense of anger felt by dominant groups (white, heterosexual men) when they perceive their social, economic, or political advantages are being lost/threatened (EX: blaming minorities/women for career failures)

Misogyny

hostility towards women, especially when they challenge male dominance or claim power

Emphasized femininity

an exaggerated form of femininity "oriented to accommodate the interests and desires of men" (EX: prioritizing attractiveness and agreeableness to gain approval)

Emphatic sameness

a strategy by which women try to be "one of the guys" (EX: rejecting girly interests)

Gender equivocation

the use of both emphasized femininity and emphatic sameness when they're useful and culturally expected (EX: being assertive and "tough" at work but performing traditional femininity in romantic settings)

Double bind

a situation in which cultural expectations are contradictory (EX: women are seen as too weak if they are too kind, or too aggressive if they are assertive)

Hookup culture

an environment in which casual sexual contact is held up as ideal, encouraged with rules for interaction, and institutionalized

Sexual violence

any sexual act, or attempt, directed against a person's sexuality using coercion, force, or manipulation rooted in the gender hierarchy and power imbalances

Rape culture

an environment that justifies, naturalizes, and even glorifies sexual pressure, coercion, and violence

Victim blaming

identifying something done by a victim as a cause of their victimization

Sexual liberation

gendered social construct that advocates for the emancipation of sexual expression, practices, and identities from traditional constraints like marriage, reproduction, societal, etc. restrictions

Mononormative

designed on the assumption that everyone is monogamous

Heteronormative

designed on the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, with individuals presuming so unless there are culturally recognizable signs indicating otherwise

Coital imperative

the idea that any fully sexually active couple must be having penile-vaginal intercourse (aka "coitus") and any fully completed sexual activity will include it

Orgasm gap

phenomenon in which women who have sex with men report fewer orgasms than men who have sex with women

Heterosexual male gaze

a way of looking at society from the perspective of a hypothetical heterosexual man

Sexual subjectification

when men are exposed to certain cultural narratives that are deemed "erotic," they also internalize that script (experienced by men)

Sexual objectification

the reduction of a person to their sex appeal (experienced by women)

Self-objectify

process by which people internalize the idea that their value is heavily dependent on their physical attractiveness

Spectating

watching one's sexual performance from the outside

Erotic marketplace

an intersectional ranking of people according to their perceived sexual desirability

Sexual racism

individuals are prioritized/excluded as romantic/sexual partners based on racial stereotypes or hierarchies, rather than personal preferences

Sexual script

the rules that guide sexual interaction

Push-and-resist dynamic

a situation in which it is normal for men to press sexual activity and consistently in the direction of increasing intimacy (whether he wants to or not) and for women to stop/slow down the accelerating intimacy when he's going "too far" (whether she wants to or not)

Second shift

work that greets us when we come home from paid work (like childcare)

Mental load

the intellectual and emotional work of parenting and household maintenance; invisible kind of work that's never finished

Concerted cultivation

an active and organized effort to develop in children a wide range of skills and talents

Intensive mothering

assumes that mothers should be the primary caretaker of their children, child-rearing should include copious amounts of time, energy, and material resources, and giving children these things should take priority over all other interests, desires, and demands

Traditionalists

people who believe in the values of the breadwinner/housewife marriage that emerged with industrialization

Neo-traditionalists

people who embrace a modified version of traditionalism: that a woman should be able to work if she desires, but only if it doesn't interfere with her "real" duty to take care of her husband and children

Egalitarians

mostly young adults; people who prefer relationships in which both partners do their fair share of breadwinning, housekeeping, and child-rearing

Specialization

occurs when couples split up unpaid and paid work so that each partner does more of one than the other

Greedy institutions

those institutions, such as work and family, that take up an incredible amount of time and energy

Dual nurturers

families in which both partners disinvest in work together and turn their energy toward the home

Domestic outsourcing

paying nonfamily members to do family-related tasks

Care chain

a series of nurturing relationships in which the care of children, older adults, or people with disabilities are displaced onto increasingly disadvantaged paid or unpaid caregivers; push low wages and poor working conditions down the chain while pushing love up the chain (nanny?)

Superspouses

work full or part-time and still take on most of the second-shift labor, including the mental load

Families of choice

often in LGBTQ+ communities, an intentional, self-defined networks of friends, partners, and chosen kin—rather than biologically or legally related individuals—who promote emotional support and commitment

Motherwork

the unpaid labor of caregiving, child-rearing, and community-sustaining work often performed by women, particularly Black women, as a mechanism for survival and empowerment; includes racial socialization and preparing children for bias

Intensive Motherwork

Brantley 2023; the exhaustive efforts and effects of Black mothers protecting and empowering their children and themselves in the face of anti-Black racism; 3 broad themes (1) protective mothering (2) resistance mothering (3) encumbered mothering

Feminization of poverty

a trend in which the poor are increasingly female

Diverse family forms

acknowledge numerous familial structures, including single-parent, same-sex, extended, and other families

Cult of domesticity

defines a woman's proper role as confined to the private, domestic sphere; positions women as guardians of the home distinct from the outside world

Gender pay gap

the difference between the incomes of the average man and woman who work full-time

Gendered job segregation

the practice of filing occupations with mostly men or mostly women workers

Socialization hypothesis

a theory that suggests men and women respond to gender stereotypes when planning, training, and applying for jobs

Employer selection hypothesis

a theory that proposes that employers tend to prefer men for masculine jobs and women for feminine jobs, slotting applicants into gender-consistent roles during hiring and promotion

Selective exit hypothesis

an explanation for job segregation that emphasizes workers' abandonment of counter-stereotypical occupations (EX: female engineer leaving the field because she constantly feels the need to prove herself)

Androcentric pay scale

a strong correlation between wages and the gender composition of the job

Masculinization of wealth

the concentration of men in high-earning occupations

Emotional Labor

the act of controlling one's own emotions and managing the emotions of others

Care work

work that involves face-to-face caretaking of the physical, emotional, and educational needs of others

Symbolic threat

a presence that potentially degrades the identity of the dominant group

Glass ceiling

idea that there is an invisible barrier between women and top positions in masculine occupations

Glass closet

an invisible place in which sexual minorities hide their identities in order to avoid stigma, suspicion, or censure at work

Glass cliff

a heightened risk of failing by women who break through the glass ceiling

Sticky floor

a metaphorical barrier to advancement describing jobs with no or low opportunity for promotion

Glass escalator

an invisible ride to the top offered to certain men in women-dominated professions

Ideal worker norm

idea that an employee should have the ability to devote themselves to their job without the distraction of family responsibilities (pairs with intensive mothering to shape women's work experiences)

Overwork

working 50+ hours a week

Mommy track

a workplace euphemism that refers to expecting less from mothers, with the understanding that they are sacrificing the right to expect equal pay, regular raises, or promotions

Motherhood penalty

a loss in wages associated with becoming a mother

Fatherhood premium

a wage increase that accrues to married men who become fathers