Chapter 1 - Introducing Gender

Biosocial approach

an approach to the relationship between gender and sex category that views only gender as socially constructed

Cultural genitalia

the outward performance of gender that is assumed to match up with biological genitalia

Gender assignment

the gender category assigned, usually at birth and usually by a doctor

Gender attribution

the interactional process of reading the many different cues people present in order to decide whether someone is a woman, a man, or some other gender

Gender binary

the belief in two and only two natural, discrete gender categories into which all individuals fit

Gender variant categories

systems that institutionalize social roles and identities that extend beyond a binary, allowing for the existence of more than two gender categories

Intersectionality

an approach to the study of gender that draws our attention to variations and contradictions in the way people in different social categories experience gender

Sexual dimorphism

the belief that there are two discrete, biological, and objectively real categories called male and female

Strong social constructionist approach

the representation of group interests, or the extent to which the members of the particular group represent the interest of that group when they are elected

Thomas principle

the principle that what people believe to be real is real in its consequences

Transgender

umbrella term for individuals whose biological gender or sex category does not match with some other aspect of their gender expression