Sex, Power, Culture Midterm

Sex

a socially constructed classification system used to differentiate organisms on the basis of actual or perceived reproductive capacities

socially constructed classification system

group or classify that which they find meaningful, important and useful. they are based on observable similarities and differences and influence how we think and relate to the world around us

human sex classifications are based on...

external genitalia, secondary sex characteristics, chromosomes, and hormonal systems

sex assignment

the process of being put into one of the predominant legal categories of male or female; also known as being "sexed"

intersex

people who are born with physical characteristics that cannot clearly be catergorized as either male or female with binary medical classification systems

sex binary system

a type of classification which all bodies must fit into one of two oppositional catergories male or female in order to gain access in educational, legal economic, health and social affairs

gender

the meanings, norms, and values ascribed by society to sexed bodies (classified reproductive capacities) as well as to inanimate objects, dynamics, feelings, language, etc., ascribed to one's self to which may or may not be related to one's sex assignment

gender is activated or deployed via...

sex assignment, socialization, performativity, embodiment, identity development, and gender expression

socialization

how we learn our places in social systems

performativity

"doing" gender in out social systems. process by which individuals enact social norms and values consciously and uncosciously, by routinely repeating them in bodily and nonverbal behaviors

gender performativity

enact gender norms and rules consciously and unconsciously, repeating them in bodily and verbal ways

embodiment

describes the ways in which gender norms of a particular society come to reside in a body, shaping its sensations, emotions, movements, size and form of the body

identity development

self placement in the system. develops as we start to match our embodied sense of gender with the existing classifications of our society

gender expression

the conscious act of using clothing, behavior and mannerisms as a means of communicating a gender

lordian sense of "the erotic"

feelings; connection; pleasure; intimacy; power politics

the erotic

a dimension of human experience that encompasses the capacity, experience and power of intimacy. doesn't have to equal sex

sex

physical activity for a variety of purposes such as pleasure, romance, reproduction

sexuality

umbrella term to describe the aggregate of all out sexual attractions, behaviors, fantasies and relations

sexual orientation

classification of our sexual attractions, fantasies, behaviors, and relations into narrow range of social catagories

norms

rules that prescribe particular social behavior, norms often have coercive power over us

normative

the expectation that people abide norms

heteronormativity

when people are expected to abide by heterosexual norms

sexual normativity

when people are expected to engage in sex, regardless of how they feel

mononormativity

when people are expected to only have one sexual partner

discourse

a disparte amalgamation of language, symbols, aesthetics, speech, writings, etc. that address a subject of significance

sex discourse consists of...

medical discourse, religious discourse, commercial discourse, legal discourse, and cultures of resillience

dominant discourse

emerges from a confluence of other discourses or 'truths' and derives power from this confluence

sexual scripts

the criteria or guidelines that we can either fail, achieve, or violate; guidelines for how we are supposed to feel and act as sexual persons, who we are supposed to desire, if/how we are supposed to initiate or receive expressions of desire, the expected trajectory of sexual encounters

social scripts

series of behaviors and verbal exchanges that serve as the default in a given setting and context

patriarchy

a way of organizing society in which value and power derives from (1) being sexed male at birth (2) ones place in the birth order (3) adherence to dominant norms of masculinity

exoticization

to sexually objectify and racialize a group as "other" for one's own benefit

intersectionality

an integrative mode of analysis that elucidates how race, gender, class, sexuality, dis/ability and citizenship mutually constitute one another

misogynoir

racialized misogyny directed toward Black women and femmes

reproductive rights

a legal and advocacy based approach to reproductive politics

reproductive justice

human rights and movement building approach to reproductive politics; it brings intersectional lens to bear on reproductive rights activism and discourse

centering

placing oneself in the center of the lens in order to discover new ways of describing reality from a particular standpoint

male gaze

a patriarchial mode of watching that positions all viewers of all gender and sexualities as a voyeristic heterosexual cis man

feminism

feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitations, and oppression

post-feminism

an ideology (not specific to media) that asserts that feminism was an important perspective and social movement but that it has accomplished its goal of ending sexism and its therefore of the past

enlightened sexism

a mediated post-feminist discourse that insists women have made planty of progress because of feminism so now its okay and even amusing to resurrect sexist stereotypes of women and girls