Notes on Sex, Gender, and Sexuality for Sociology

Defining Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: The Case of Caster Semenya

• The 2009 case of Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old South African athlete, serves as a primary example for distinguishing between sex, gender, and sexuality.

• Semenya won the world championship in the women's 800-meter Track and Field event with a time of $1:55:45$.

• This was a significant improvement from her 2008 time of $2:08:00$, leading the International Association of Athletics Foundation (IAAF) to question the legitimacy of her win.

• While typical sports controversies involve substance abuse (e.g., steroid use allegations against Roger Clemens, Mark McGuire, or Marion Jones), the probe into Semenya was based on allegations that she was biologically male, regardless of her gender identity.

Biological Sex and Intersexuality

• Sex: Refers to the physical or physiological differences between males and females.

  • Primary sex characteristics: The reproductive system.

  • Secondary sex characteristics: Physical traits like height and muscularity.

• Characteristics of sex generally do not vary across human societies because they are biological. For example:

  • A baby born with male genitalia is identified as male.

  • The female sex develops breasts capable of lactation.

• Intersex Research: Fausto-Sterling's research indicates that $1.7\%$ of children are born with a mixture of male and female sexual organs (intersex). This research suggests there are at least five different sexes:

  1. Male

  2. Female

  3. Herms: True hermaphrodites possessing both male and female gonads (testes and ovaries).

  4. Merms: Male pseudo-hermaphrodites with testes and a mixture of sexual organs.

  5. Ferms: Female pseudo-hermaphrodites with ovaries and a mixture of sexual organs.

Gender Identity and Cultural Fluidity

• Gender: This refers to social or cultural distinctions and roles associated with being male or female. It is often a core status regarding identity, socialization, and life chances. Gender is not determined by biology.

• Cultural Variations:

  • In the Philippines, dresses or skirts are feminine.

  • In certain Middle Eastern, Asian, and African cultures, similar garments (sarongs, robes, gowns) are masculine.

  • The Scottish kilt is a masculine garment.

• Non-dichotomous Views: Not all cultures view gender as a simple male/female split.

  • Fa’afafine (Samoa): Individuals born biologically male who embody both masculine and feminine traits. Translated as "the way of the woman," they are a recognized third gender and are often mislabeled as homosexuals by outside societies.

• Gender Identity Categories:

  • Cisgendered: Individuals whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

  • Transgendered: Individuals who identify with the gender opposite to their biological sex.

  • Transsexuals: Transgendered individuals who utilize medical intervention (surgery, hormone therapy) to align their physical being with their gender identity.

Sexuality and Sexual Orientation

• Sexuality: A person's capacity for sexual feelings and their emotional/sexual attraction to a specific sex.

• Awareness of sexual orientation often develops between middle childhood and early adolescence, even without sexual activity.

• Four Categories of Sexuality:

  1. Heterosexuality: Attraction to the opposite sex.

  2. Homosexuality: Attraction to one’s own sex.

  3. Bisexuality: Attraction to either sex.

  4. Asexuality: Lack of sexual attraction to either sex.

• Alfred Kinsey: Conceptualized sexuality as a continuum rather than a dichotomy. He developed a six-point rating scale ranging from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual.

• Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick: Coined "homosocial" to describe nonsexual same-sex relations, opposing the term "homosexual."

• Etiology: There is no evidence linking sexual orientation to one single factor, though studies explore genetic, hormonal, developmental, and cultural influences.

Non-Dichotomous Cultural Perspectives

• North American First Nations (Two-Spirit): Traditionally used to describe individuals who are not simply men or women.

  • Terms include berdaches (European term), nádleehí (Navajo), or lhamana (Zuni).

  • Male berdaches often performed women's tasks, dressed in mixed styles, and had relations with men.

  • Some performed both roles simultaneously (e.g., being a medicine man while weaving).

• Navajo (Four Genders):

  1. Asdzaan: Feminine woman (biological female acting as woman).

  2. Hastiin: Masculine man (biological male acting as man).

  3. Nádleehí: Feminine man (biological male acting as woman).

  4. Dilbaa: Masculine woman (biological female acting as man).

• India (Hijras): A third gender following the goddess Bahuchara Mata. They are often men who undergo castration due to sexual impotence and adopt feminine roles/clothing.

The Socialization of Gender

• Socialization: The process by which people learn attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for their culture.

• John Watson Quote: "Give me a dozen healthy infants… and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select… regardless of his talents…"

• Status:

  • Ascribed Status: Assigned at birth (e.g., female, African American, 17 years old).

  • Achieved Status: Attained through effort (e.g., student, team member, worker).

  • Master Status: A status that dominates all others and determines a person's general social position.

• Role Dynamics:

  • Role Strain: Conflicting expectations within a single status (e.g., an athlete told to be the best but not make teammates look bad).

  • Role Conflict: Conflicting expectations from two or more statuses (e.g., being a student athlete with a practice that conflicts with homework time).

  • Role Exit: Disengaging from a central role to establish a new identity (e.g., retirees, ex-nuns, transsexuals). Term by Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh.

• Institutional Structures:

  • Patriarchy: Institutional structures based on the belief that men and women are unequal.

  • Sexism: Prejudiced beliefs valuing one sex over another.

  • Institutional Discrimination: Discrimination built into the social structure (e.g., historical legal differences between adultery and concubinage).

Agents of Gender Socialization

1. Family: The primary agent; reinforces stereotypes and passes on cultural values.

2. School: Schools produce gender-differentiated behaviors; teaching social skills and time management.

3. Peer Group: Influences interests, speech, and beliefs; can involve positive skill building or negative bullying.

4. Mass Media: Can broaden horizons and connect families but risks exposure to violence, media bias, and stereotypes.

Sociological Theories on Gender

• Structural Functionalism:

  • Views gender roles as functional for society. Pre-industrial roles where women were expressive (domestic/nursing) and men were instrumental were seen as necessary for stability.

  • Division of labor is viewed as maintaining social balance.

• Critical Sociology:

  • Views society as a power struggle. Dominant groups (men) create rules for success that oppress subordinate groups (women).

  • Women are "doubly exploited" in capitalism when they work both inside and outside the home.

• Feminist Theory:

  • A subset of critical sociology focusing on gender inequality.

  • Bifurcation of Consciousness (Dorothy Smith): The disconnect experienced by women between their personal reality and the masculine-defined societal representation.

• Symbolic Interactionism:

  • Focuses on symbols and social creation of meaning. Meanings are fluid (e.g., the shifting meaning of the word "gay" from "cheerful" to a neutral or positive term for a homosexual).

  • Looking-Glass Self (C. H. Cooley): Self-determination based on how society perceives us.

  • Doing Gender (Zimmerman and West): Gender is a performance of tasks and characteristics assigned to a role, not an innate state of being.

Psychological Theories on Gender

• Psychoanalytic Theory (Sigmund Freud): Gender development occurs through psychosexual stages involving erogenous zones:

  1. Oral Stage (Birth to $1$ year): Focus on mouth/eating.

  2. Anal Stage ($1-3$ years): Focus on toilet training; fixation leads to stringiness.

  3. Phallic Stage ($3-6$ years): Gender development diverges. Boys experience the Oedipus Complex (desiring mother, fearing father's castration) and identify with the father. Girls experience the Electra Complex and "penis envy."

  4. Latency Stage ($6-11$ years): Social composure and interest in outsiders.

  5. Genital Stage: Preparation for adult responsibilities and opposite-sex partners.

• Social Learning Theory: Development through reinforcement, punishment, and imitation.

• Cognitive-Developmental Theory (Piaget and Kohlberg): Self-motivated learning where "gender constancy" (knowing gender is stable despite appearance changes) is the key milestone.

• Gender Schema Theory (Sandra Bem): Children learn gender typing by gradually internalizing their culture's gender-linked associations.

• Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology:

  • Parental Investment: Females invest more (one egg, gestation) than males (cheap sperm).

  • Sexual Selection: Males compete for females, explaining aggression.

  • Sexual Strategies Theory: Men seek short-term mating (young, fertile) while women seek long-term mating (committed providers) to ensure offspring survival.

Questions & Discussion

• Question: What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?

• Discussion Prompt: Of the four primary agents of socialization, which has been most influential to you? Cite one specific way it has shaped your perception of gender role and identity.

• Closing Inquiry: Which theory offers the most logical explanation for a gender issue you are interested in? (To be discussed in the FLUX session).