Psych of Gender: Ch 1

Introduction

Social Primacy of Sex

Sex is one of the earliest social categories learned by children because it is typically viewed as having only two categories. The categories are mutually exclusive; individuals are immediately exposed to members of both categories from birth.

Why We Categorize

Gives you information and makes it easier to interact with the world, ex. You see a chair and know what to do with it and how to interact with it correctly by sitting on it. It's human nature; it's how our mind works.

Most schemas are not based on personal experience or are not accurate, and it's hard to update them even if you see something that opposes them

Social vs. Biological Default

Biologically, the human embryonic default is female (embryos become female unless exposed to male hormones). Socially, however, the default assumption when a baby's gender cues are ambiguous is male. Misgendering a baby as a boy is socially far less offensive than misgendering a boy as a girl.

Anecdotal vs. Scientific Observation

Personal anecdotal observations are prone to bias because differences between men and women are more noticeable than similarities, and existing beliefs shape perception. Scientific methodology is required to evaluate actual similarities and differences objectively. Sex differences are complex and depend on factors such as place, time, audience, and observer characteristics.

Sex

The biological category of female or male, defined by genes, chromosomes (e.g., Y chromosome), and hormones. It is relatively stable and uninfluenced by culture.

Gender

The social and psychological category of female or male. It consists of psychological features and role attributes assigned by society to the biological category. Fluid and varies across cultures and historical time.

Sex-Related Differences (Etiology)

"Sex differences" refers to biological differences, whereas "gender differences" refers to social/psychological differences. However, because authors and editors frequently use them interchangeably, the text recommends the term sex-related behaviour to describe behaviours that correspond to biological sex without making assumptions about their biological or social cause.

Social Role

A social position accompanied by a set of societal norms or expectations (daughter, mother, sister, friend, professor, student).

Gender Role

The expectations that go along with being male versus female.

Many act according to their roles, ex. what their religion says, their parents’ expectations, their job, etc)

Masculinity

The traits, behaviours, and interests assigned to the male gender role (e.g., self-confidence, aggression, sports).

Femininity

The traits, behaviours, and interests assigned to the female gender role (e.g., emotionality, nurturance, cooking).

Intrarole Conflict

Conflict that occurs when expectations within a single role clash.

• Ex. (Women): Expectation to express emotions vs. expectation to be sensitive to others' feelings (expressing marital unhappiness hurts the spouse).

• Ex. (Men): Expectation to achieve vs. expectation to be independent and not ask for help.

Interrole Conflict

Conflict that occurs when expectations of two or more separate roles held simultaneously clash.

• Ex. Student role (passive listening or collaborative teamwork) vs. male gender role (active dominance or independence).

• Ex. Women are expected to be pure virgins but are also always sexualized and promiscuous

Asymmetry in Repercussions

Violating gender norms is not allowed, even if people do it — it's to keep everyone in line. BUT violating them results in harsher social penalties for men than for women. A female acting like a male is called a tomboy (often applauded), whereas a male acting like a female is called a sissy (heavily stigmatized).

Status Explanation

Because men hold higher status in society, women taking on male characteristics are moving "up" in status, whereas men taking on female characteristics are perceived as moving "down".

Precarious Manhood Hypothesis

Manhood is socially defined as a tenuous state that is "hard won and easily lost" and requires constant public validation. Men experience higher anxiety than women when their gender role identity is threatened.

Gender Nonconforming

Individuals who do not accept prescribed gender norms and behave in ways contradicting traditional roles.

Gender Identity

An individual's internal psychological perception of self as female or male.

Cisgender

Gender identity aligns with biological sex assigned at birth.

Transgender

Gender identity does not align with biological sex.

Transsexual

Transgender individuals who undergo medical treatment (hormonal therapy or surgery) to alter biological sex to match their gender identity. Male-to-female transsexuals outnumber female-to-male by 2/1 to 3/1.

Gender Fluid

Individuals who reject the binary concept of gender and see gender as a continuum.

Gender Hybrid

Individuals who perceive themselves as a combination of male and female categories.

Intersex

Individuals born with ambiguous biological genitalia or not the typical male or female chromosomes, often assigned a sex surgically at birth.

DSM-5 Transition

Gender Identity Disorder was replaced in the DSM-5 (2013) with Gender Dysphoria. Removing the diagnosis entirely would prevent insurance coverage for medical treatments; maintaining the old label stigmatized gender variance as a mental illness. The new diagnosis shifts focus away from identity itself and onto the distress resulting from incongruence between biological sex and psychological gender.

Diagnostic Requirements for Gender Dysphoria

• (1) Incompatibility between psychological gender and biological sex, and

• (2) distress/impairment in daily functioning.

Sexual Orientation

Preference for sexual/romantic partners. Heterosexual (other-sex), Homosexual (same-sex), or Bisexual (both sexes). Note--conceptually distinct from gender identity.

Sex Typing (Gender Typing)

The process by which individuals acquire sex-appropriate preferences, behaviours, skills, and self-concepts.

Sex-Typed

Adheres strictly to societal gender roles (e.g., male acting masculine, female acting feminine).

Cross-Sex-Typed

Exhibits traits/behaviors assigned to the other sex (e.g., feminine male, masculine female).

Androgynous

Incorporates high levels of both masculine and feminine qualities.

Traditional (Gender-Role Attitudes)

Believes men and women should occupy distinct, separate spheres (men as breadwinners/assertive; women as homemakers/nurturing).

Egalitarian (Gender-Role Attitudes)

Believes men and women should share equal responsibilities across work and domestic spheres.

Transitional (Gender-Role Attitudes)

Fits between traditional and egalitarian (e.g., endorsed by Hochschild; believes both should work, but women should prioritize home while men prioritize career).

Sexism

• Affective (the feeling).

• Prejudice or an emotional reaction toward people based on sex (e.g., disliking a male nanny purely because he is male).

Sex / Gender Stereotype

• Cognitive (the belief).

• Beliefs regarding features/attributes of male/female categories (e.g., believing men lack nurturance).

Sex Discrimination

• Behavioural (the action).

• Differential treatment of people based on biological sex (e.g., refusing to hire or firing a male nanny).

Feminism

The fundamental belief that women and men should be treated equally. There should be no prejudice or discrimination, especially against the sex that has suffered the most unequal treatment.

Attitudinal Paradox of Feminism

While a vast majority endorse gender equality, many are reluctant to label themselves as "feminist" due to negative stereotypes (e.g., "man-haters") or fear of political activism.

Denial of Disadvantage (Crosby)

The phenomenon where individual women recognize that women as a group experience discrimination, but deny experiencing discrimination personally in their own lives.

Gender Culture

A society's shared understanding of what is possible, proper, and perverse regarding gendered behaviour (Ramet).

Berdache (Two-Spirit / Lakota Native Americans)

Third and fourth genders. Usually biological males taking on female/male dress and roles; historically held high spiritual status.

Balkans “Sworn Virgins”

Biological females raised as social males to fulfill male labor/societal roles due to family/community need; sworn to virginity and highly respected.

Muxe (Juchitan, Mexico)

A respected third gender consisting of biological males who dress and act as females. They care for aging parents and are often the initial se*ual partners of heterosexual men.

Morocco

Strict gender binary organized around physical space — Private Space (inside the home) is female; Public Space (outside) is male. Women use the hijab (head covering) and djellaba (loose robe) to enter public space safely without violating modesty norms or inciting male temptation.

Agta Negrito (Philippines)

Challenges biological determinism in hunter-gatherer societies; women hunt big game and fish alongside men throughout their childbearing years (except late pregnancy/early nursing), supported by shared community childcare and equal decision-making power.

Tahiti (Truly Androgynous Society)

Men and women share identical social roles, status, and personality traits. The language contains no gender words or gendered pronouns, and society emphasizes cooperation over competition.

Manifestations of Male Status Inequality Worldwide

Global status indices demonstrating higher male privilege include higher female illiteracy rates, lower access to medical care, wage gaps, physical abuse tolerance, and forced educational suppression (e.g., Boko Haram kidnapping Nigerian schoolgirls).

Sex-Selective Abortion

Strong preference for sons in China and India leads to skewed sex ratios (e.g., peaking at 121.2 males per 100 females in China in 2004). Gallup polls in the U.S. also demonstrate a persistent slight historical preference for male offspring among prospective fathers.

Male Privilege

Historical and contemporary institutional advantages granted to men (e.g., voting restrictions, exclusive military academies like Citadel/VMI, exclusion from Boston Marathon until 1972, Augusta National Golf Club until 2012, and underrepresentation in executive/political office).

Minimalists (Sex Difference Debate)

Believe the two sexes are fundamentally identical. Any observed differences are small, context-dependent, and would vanish if social context were equalized. They warn against "essentializing" gender categories.

Maximalists (Sex Difference Debate)

Believe fundamental, important differences exist between men and women. They argue that "different" does not mean "inferior" (e.g., Carol Gilligan’s In a Different Voice regarding female moral reasoning).

Standpoint Feminists

A maximalist position asserting that female perspectives and competencies are not only distinct, but offer distinct advantages over male perspectives.

Social Constructionism

Researchers who hold that gender is created by the observer and cannot be separated from context.

It cannot be studied objectively because facts about gender do not exist independently of context and interpretation. Gender is a dynamic, ever-changing social construct created by the perceiver.

Intersectionality

The theoretical framework stating that gender cannot be understood in isolation from other social categories such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and sexual orientation (Cole). Focuses on how power structures overlap across social identities.

Women's Movements: First Wave

The Suffrage movement in the 1800s to the early 1900s. Focused on domestic respect, abolition, temperance, child labour laws, culminating in the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote in 1920.

Women's Movements: Second Wave

In the 1960s to 1970s. Sparked by Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique ("the problem that has no name"). Friedan co-founded NOW (National Organization for Women) in 1966 to seek equal rights, challenge sex-segregated job ads, promote the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and expand reproductive rights.

Women's Movements: Third Wave

Global, contemporary, non-cohesive movement emphasizing intersectionality, rejecting the exclusive framing of White middle-class Western women, and recognizing diverse cultural needs.

Men's Movements: NOMAS (National Organization for Men Against Sexism)

Supports equal rights for women, ending patriarchy, embracing LGBTQ+ rights, and dismantling rigid male role expectations (reducing competitiveness/homophobia).

Pro-Masculinist/Reactionary: Mythopoetic Movement

Iron John; seeks to reconnect men with ancient tribal rituals, emotional awareness, and mature masculinity through retreats (ManKind Project) to counteract the "feminization of men".

Pro-Masculinist/Reactionary: Promise Keepers

Christian fundamentalist movement; uses biblical doctrine to support traditional male authority/headship within the nuclear family and rejects homosexuality.

The Generic He (Sexist Language)

Research shows using masculine generics (e.g., he, mankind) leads individuals to visualize male figures rather than gender-neutral images.

Psychological Impact of Sexist Language

Gender-exclusive language causes women to feel significantly more ostracized, perceive work environments as sexist, and express lower career interest. Sexist athletic team naming conventions (e.g., Panthers vs. Lady Panthers) reflect and reinforce unequal opportunities.

Nonsexist Writing Alternatives

• Convert sentences to plural (they/their).

• Omit pronouns entirely.

• Replace gendered nouns with inclusive terms (humanity, chair, flight attendant).

Deaux’s (1984) Three Approaches to Studying Gender

• Sex as a Subject Variable: Compares biological males and females as a demographic attribute (traditional sex-comparison research).

• Psychological Differences (Gender Roles): Examines how psychological attributes (femininity/masculinity) predict behaviour, regardless of biological sex.

• Sex as a Stimulus / Target Variable: Investigates how others perceive and react to an individual based on their assigned/perceived sex (allows true experimental random assignment).