GNS: Chapter 1 and 2

Sex

Pertains to the physical aspect of the human body

Sex of an indiviual

Is determined by their respective reproductive organs and hormones, the biological spectrum of the individual.

Gender

Is “psychological,” “social,” or “cultural.”

Gender

Is thus “socially constructed”

Gender

Comes from the Latin word genus, meaning kind or race

Genus

Meaning kind or race

Sex

From the Latin word sexus, is defined by the gonads, or potential gonads, either phenotypically or genotypically

Sexus

Latin word for sex

Gender

Refers to socially learned behavior and expectations that distinguish between masculinity and femininity.

Functionalism Perspective

Emphasizes the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts.

Conflict Perspective

Argues that society is a struggle for dominance among social groups (like women versus men) that compete for scarce resources.

Symbolic Interactionist

Aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction.

Functionalist Perspective

Explores the “what oath to be” of a particular individual.

Functionalist Perspective

Sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability

functional and dysfunctional

Functionalists use the terms _____ to describe the effects of social elements on society

functional

Elements of society are _____ if they contribute to social stability

dysfunctional

_____ if they disrupt social stability

Manifest

Latent

Sociologists have identified two types of functions

Manifest Functions

Are consequences that are intended and commonly recognized

Latent Functions

Are consequences that are unintended and often hidden

The Feminist Movement

Takes the position that functionalism neglects the suppression of women within the family structure.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The origins of the conflict perspective can be traced to the classic works of

Bourgeoisie

Proletariat

Industrialization leads to the development of two classes of people

Bourgeoisie

The owners of the means of production

Proletariat

The workers who earn wages

Social Problems

Are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups

Friedrich Engels

Discusses that the same owner-worker relationship seen in the labor force is also seen in the household, with women assuming the role of the proletariat.

Gay

Once meant “cheerful,” but by the 1960s it carried the primary meaning of “homosexual.”

Gay

In transition, it was even known to mean “careless” or “bright and showing”

West and Zimmerman (1987).

When people perform tasks, or possess characteristics based on the gender role assigned to them, they are said to be doing gender. This notion is based on the work of _____

Doing Gender

Gender is something we do or perform, not something we are.

social interaction

Symbolic interactionism also suggests that our identity or sense of self is shaped by _____.

looking glass self

By observing how others view us, we see a reflection ourselves that Cooley calls the _____

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Sometimes called the interactionist perspective, or simply the micro view

Hormones

Play a huge role in gender differences and the DNA is one of the main predictors of behavior as men and women

brain structures

Men and women have different _____

Women

Have evolved to be the carriers of children

Men

Have evolved to be the providers for their families

Women

Have predetermined characteristics like being more caring, protective and loyal

Men

Have predetermined characteristics like being more aggressive, competitive and dominant

DNA

The fundamental cause of our gender differences is our genetic makeup, more specifically, the _____ found in our two 23rd chromosomes - the chromosomes that dictate which sex we are.

Gender Identity

Defined as a personal conception of oneself as male or female (or rarely, both or neither)

Gender Role

Refers to the outward expression of gender identity based on cultural and social expectations

Gender Development

Means the maturation of gender identity

Testosterone

Largely male hormone

Estrogen

Largely female hormone

Newborn Girls

Were more interested in faces

Newborn Boys

Were more excited by mechanical items

23

Humans typically have _____ pairs of chromosomes

Zygote

The name given to an egg that has just been fertilized

boy

If the sperm that fertilized the ovum is carrying a Y chromosome, then the zygote will contain both an X and a Y chromosome and the baby will be a _____

girl

If the sperm carried an X chromosome, then the zygote will have two X chromosomes (XX) and become a _____

Embryo

The name given to a zygote that has started to develop

all men were once women

This idea that both males and females start off with the same sex organs is where the common 'fact' that _____ comes from.

gender identity

An individual's personal sense of maleness or femaleness is his or her _____

gender role

Outward expression of gender identity, according to cultural and social expectations, is a _____

4

Gender identity appears to form very early in life and is most likely irreversible by age _____

Gender Socialization

The process whereby a child learns the norms and roles that society has created for his or her gender, plays a significant role in the establishment of her or his sense of femaleness or maleness.

Gender Roles

Are both cultural and personal.

Gender Roles

These roles determine how males and females think, speak, dress, and interact within the context of society

Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychological development

Explained that children satisfy their basic biological motivations which were discovered through a treatment

Psychoanalysis

The examining of the unconscious

Psychoanalysis

Was the first comprehensive personality theory that attempted to explain the origins of what we now call gender

Id

Ego

Superego

Primary aspects of the psychoanalytic theory

Id

Basic instincts such as, hunger, desires and aggression/personality

Ego

Reality testing and rationalization/psychological

Superego

Conscience, moral judgment/social

erogenous zone

The stages of psychosexual development were developed and based upon an _____

First Stage: Oral Stage

Second Stage: Anal Stage

Third Stage: Phallic Stage

Stages of psychosexual development

oral stage

The first stage called the _____ takes place between birth and two years old where pleasure and self-gratification is centered on the mouth through the erotic, rooting energy of sucking

Anal Stage

The child must learn to control the id and meet the demand of society and parents by becoming toilet trained.

phallic stage

Sexual identity is formed in the third early stage called the _____

phallic stage

According to Freud, gender role development occurs during this stage at about five or six years old where identification takes place with the same sex parent.

phallic stage

It is during this stage that patterns were seen in males and were considered the norm, yet female patterns were somehow deviant.

Oedipal Conflict

It is at this age when castration anxiety creates fear resulting in _____.

phallic stage

During this stage, the child’s libido is focused on his or her genitals.

Oedipus complex

Boys experience the _____ and identify with their father and take on a male gender role

Electra complex

Girls experience the ______ and identify with their mother and take on a female gender role.

Social Learning Theory

Was proposed by Bandura as a way of explaining how children acquire their gender identity based on the influence of other people

Attention

Memory

Imitation

Motivation

Four stages that a child goes through when develop gender behavior

Attention

This is merely where the behavior is noticed and observed.

Memory

This is when the behavior is memorized and committed to memory.

Imitation

The behavior is performed or 'reproduced' based on Imitating what they see around them.

Motivation

Their behavior is based on the desired consequences or what will be gained by the behavior, either immediately or in the near future.

outward motivational factors

Social Learning theory is based on

Cognitive Developmental Theory

This theory gives importance to the internal states of the person as well as the environmental events; however, it is the thinking and perception that is the key factor.

Cognitive Developmental Theory

The theory proposes the interaction of mental schema and social experience in directing gender role behavior.

Cognitive Learning

States that children develop gender at their own levels

Kohlberg

The model, formulated by _____, asserts that children recognize their gender identity around age three but do not see it as relatively fixed until the ages of five to seven

Gender Identity

Children develop a concept of what sex category they belong to

Gender Consistency

Children realize that their gender and that of other do not change with age, dress, or behavior appropriate female or male activities identified and imitated