Semester 2 Gender Studies Dual Credit Final Study Guide

Cisgender

relating to a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex registered for them at birth

Gender Binary

system of gender classification in which all people are categorized as being either male or female

Non Binary

a gender identity that does not fit within the traditional male and female categories, representing a spectrum of gender identities.

Gender Non-conforming

describes a person whose gender expression differs from societal expectations associated with their assigned gender.

Patriarchal System

a social system in which men hold primary power and dominance in roles of leadership, moral authority, and control over property.

Heteronormativity

belief that heterosexuality, or a romantic and sexual attraction to the opposite sex, is the only normal sexual orientation

Gender Stereotypes

preconceived ideas about how individuals should behave based on their gender. These stereotypes often dictate expectations regarding traits, roles, and activities deemed appropriate for men and women.

Gender Privilege

societal advantages that individuals receive based on their gender, often benefitting men over women, special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group

Oppression

systematic and pervasive mistreatment of a group based on characteristics such as gender, race, or class, leading to disadvantages and inequalities in society, prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control

Marginalization

treatment of a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral, the act of treating someone or something as if they are not important

Explicit Bias

the attitudes or beliefs that one consciously endorses and is aware of, often leading to discrimination based on gender, race, or other characteristics, expressed directly, aware of bias, operates consciously

Implicit Bias

the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner, often leading to unintentional discrimination

Intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, creating overlapping systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Cisnormativity

the assumption that all individuals are cisgender, leading to the marginalization of transgender and non-binary identities,  a discourse based on assumption that cisgender is the norm and privileges this over any other form of gender identity

Intersex

people who are born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sec hormones, or genitals that “do not fit the typical definition for male or female bodies

Mindbugs

ingrained habits of thought that lead to errors in how we perceive, remember, reason, and make decisions

ex. two tables where one looks bigger than the other but they are actually the same size.

Unconscious Interference

The mind creates from physical data the conscious perceptions that define our ordinary and subjective experiences of “seeing” automatic mental processes that influence how we perceive the world, even though we aren’t aware of them happening

Ex. squares a and b being the same color on the checkerboard, cylinder checkerboard illusion. Biased opinions without being aware.

False Alarm Memory

mistakenly remember something that actually did not occur

Ex. insect word not being in a list of words although it was the main topic

Retroactive Interference

an influence of after-the-experience information on memory. A small change in language that can produce consequential change in what is remembered often resulting in mistaken testimony by eyewitnesses who relied on mistaken information

Ex. there was a car accident and the news (misinformed) said that the driver is speeding, the viewer may later remember the driver speeding even if they never saw it.

Availability Hueristic

instances of one type of event come more easily to mind than those of another type, we tend to assume that the first event also must occur more frequently in the world.

ex. the news/media tend to bring up deaths by murder than deaths by suicide causing people to think suicide is less common and is seen as lesser in conversations.

Anchoring

capture the idea that the mind doesn’t search for information in a vacuum. Rather, it starts by using whatever information is immediately available as a reference point or “anchor” and then adjusting. 

ex. an item selling at a higher price initially which makes people think that the lower price is a better deal even if it is still expensive.

Valence

 categories that can be linked to each other via shared goodness or badness, a characteristic of emotions that determines their emotional affect, positive valence attract, negative valence repels

Mental Association

mental glue that can allow 2 categorizes to combine into one, a mental connection or link between concepts, ideas, or mental states that arises from experiences or the way the mind organizes information

Dissociation

 the occurrence, in one and the same mind, of mutually inconsistent ideas that remain isolated from one another, a feeling of detachment from oneself, one's surroundings, or one's memories

2 Facets of mind: Reflective & Automatic

a reflective system for conscious, deliberate thinking, and an automatic system for unconscious, rapid processing

Cognitive Dissonance

becoming aware of conflicts between our beliefs and actions, or between two simultaneously coexisting beliefs, violates the natural human striving for mental harmony or consonance, the discomfort you feel when your beliefs don't line up with your actions

8 Core Cultural Identifiers

Race/Ethnicity, family structure, sexual orientation, age, gender, identity, socio-economic status, ability, religion