SOC chapter 10

Gender

Refers to behaviors, personality traits, and social positions that society attributes to being female or male.

sex

term that denotes the presence of physical or physiological differences between males and females. includes characteristics such as reproduction, body hair, enlargement of certain organs, musculature and so on

sex and gender are not interchangeable.

because they do not align and they mean different things.

gender identity

a persons deeply held internal perception of ones gender.

heteronormative society

assumes sexual orientation is biologically determined and unambiguous

heterosexism

an ideology and set of institutional practices that privilege heterosexuals and heterosexuality over other sexual orientation

socialization of gender roles

children are aware of gender roles by age two and three. by four and five they are firmly entrenched in culturally appropriate gender roles (Kane 1996)

sexism

the prejudiced belief that one sex should be valued over the other.

gender role

societys concept of how men and women are expected to look and how they should behave

social stratification and inequality

refers to a system in which groups of people experience unequal access to basic, yet highly valuable social resources

gender inequity in work

in some cultures, women do all household chores with no help from men, as doing housework is a sign of weakness considered by society as a feminine trait. The idea that women are unable to reach the executive suite is known as the glass ceiling.

Feminism

the belief that women should possess the same political and economic rights as men

sexual orientation

refers to a persons physical, mental, emotional and sexual attraction to a particular sex (male or female)

aromantic

person who does not experience romantic attraction

demisexual

refers to someone who feels a sexual attraction to someone only after they form an emotional bond

intersex

term to describe people whose sex traits, reproductive anatomy, hormones, or chromosomes are different from the usual two ways human bodies develop

cisgender

those who identify with sex they were assigned at birth are often referred to cisgender

gender identity

a persons deeply held internal perception of their gender

transgender

people who identify with behaviors and characteristics that are other than the gender assigned at birth

doing gender

performance of tasks based upon the gender assigned to us by society and in turn, ourselves

social construction of sexuality

refers to socially created definitions about the cultural appropriateness of sex-linked behavior which shape how people see and experience sexuality

biological determinism

the belief that men and women behave differently due to inherent sex differences related to their biology