SOCI 124 Comprehensive Study Guide: Sex, Gender, and Social Structure

Socio-Ecological Model and Sociological Levels

The Socio-Ecological Model provides a framework for understanding human behavior and social structures through varying scales of influence. These are categorized into three primary sociological levels: Macro, Meso, and Micro. The Macro level includes the broadest influences, such as supranational and international forces, overarching culture, and large-scale policy. The Meso level refers to intermediate structures, specifically the community and organizational settings. The Micro level focuses on the most granular interactions, including interpersonal relationships and the individual person. Comparing these models allows for a comprehensive analysis of how large-scale social forces manifest in individual lives.

Biological Classifications and the Construction of Sex

Sex is commonly understood as the biological classification of "male" or "female," though this binary often erases individuals who do not fit clearly into one category. The sex binary is the classification of people based on specific biological criteria, including chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia. Biological variations include Aneuploidy, which refers to having any number other than $2$ sex chromosomes; this includes trisomies such as $XXX$, $XXY$ (Klinefelter syndrome), and $XYY$, as well as tetrasomies, pentasomies, and monosomies. Another variation is Mosaicism, occurring when different cells in the same person carry different chromosomal sets, such as some cells being $XX$ and others being $XY$.

Hormones play a critical role in these classifications. Testosterone is the hormone associated with male physical development but is also required for female physical development. Conversely, estrogens and progesterone are hormones associated with female physical development that are also required for male physical development. The relationship between biology and the environment is captured by the term Gene-environment interaction, which describes how the environment impacts gene expression. Additionally, hormonal feedback refers to how environmental and social situations influence internal hormone levels.

Intersexuality and Biological Variations

Intersex is recognized as part of the natural variations in human biology, associated with different combinations of chromosomes and genitalia. Despite being a natural occurrence, many intersex individuals experience unwanted or unknown surgeries and medical interventions. These procedures are often performed to "normalize" or "correct" their bodies to fit the established sex binary, frequently without the individual's informed consent.

Critiques of Biological Determinism: Udry (2000) vs. Miller and Yang Costello (2001)

Richard Udry (2000) attempted to predict "gendered adult behavior" using biological markers. His research utilized a score based on survey results compared against maternal testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin (a testosterone binding protein). Udry hypothesized that "high prenatal androgenization of females not only masculinizes their gendered behavior predispositions at later ages, but immunizes them against socialization toward typical feminine behavior" (452).

However, Miller and Yang Costello (2001) provided significant critiques of Udry's work. They noted that Udry (2000) had a very limited research sample and failed to propose a clear mechanism for how prenatal androgen exposure would lead to specific gendered behaviors decades later as adults. Furthermore, they argued that Udry treated gender and sex as interchangeable concepts, thereby ignoring the critical roles of culture, environment, and historical specificity.

Sociological Theories of Sex and Gender

Sociologists have developed various terms to distinguish between biological reality and social organization. Erving Goffman (1977) introduced the concept of Sex Class, which refers to the social grouping of people into specific spheres, expectations, and stereotypes based on biology. West and Zimmerman (1987) defined Sex Category as the application of sex criteria (chromosomes, genitalia) in social life; they noted that sex category can function independently of actual sex criteria. Broadly, gender is understood as a Social Construct, meaning it is socially determined, culturally and historically specific, and externally created, with no inherent biological basis for its divisions.

Three-fold Model of Gender as Structure

Raewyn Connell (1995: 73-75) proposed a model for understanding gender as a social structure through three distinct dimensions:

1. Power: This involves the overall subordination of women and the dominance of men. It is maintained through institutions, social norms, and leadership structures.

2. Production: This refers to the allocation and division of labor, capital, and reproductive labor. Key elements include the general division of labor, access to economic resources, and the gender pay gap.

3. Cathexis: This involves emotional energy, including sexual desire and the practices associated with it. It encompasses family expectations, romantic relationships, and friendships.

Intersectionality and the Matrix of Domination

Intersectionality, a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, is a theoretical framework and praxis that describes the unique experiences of discrimination faced by individuals with multiple marginalized identities. It emphasizes that identities (such as race and gender) do not operate independently but intersect. Initially focused on the experiences of Black women as both Black and women, the framework has been extended to various axes of oppression and privilege. It is not a simple additive or multiplicative process, though it is often studied as such.

Patricia Hill Collins (2000) introduced the Matrix of Domination to describe the overall social organization within which these intersecting oppressions—such as racism, sexism, and poverty—originate, develop, and are contained. Related to this is the concept of Prototypical vs. Unprototypical individuals (Ridgeway & Kricheli-Katz 2013). Prototypical people match the assumed, unspoken norm for a group, while unprototypical people do not. For example, white wealthy men are viewed as prototypical people, and Black poor men are seen as prototypical Black people; however, Black wealthy women are viewed as unprototypical Black people.

Controlling Images and Media Representation

As defined by Patricia Hill Collins (2000: 69), Controlling Images are "part of a generalized ideology of domination." These stereotypical images are produced and reproduced in media, eventually becoming background assumptions. They serve to make racism, sexism, poverty, and other forms of injustice appear "natural, normal, and inevitable" (Hill Collins 2005: 34).

Sexual Identity and Expression: Panfil (2017) and Chen (2020)

Research by Panfil (2017) highlights that same-sex desire and gay identity are often conflated but are distinct. Panfil found that gender expression is closely tied to identity management: some men resist marginalization by adopting explicitly effeminate behaviors, while others obscure their gay identities by behaving in explicitly masculine ways or joining straight gangs. These identities are rooted in different historical experiences. Furthermore, Black gay men often felt they had to choose between being Black and being gay at different times.

Chen (2020) analyzed asexuality, emphasizing that it is not a monolithic experience. Asexuality is an identity for people engaging in a diverse range of romantic and sexual practices. Chen notes that asexuality is not caused by trauma nor is it a phase. However, expectations regarding "compulsory sexuality" have significant negative impacts on asexual individuals.

Gendered Health Disparities and Structural Racism

Laster Pirtle and Wright examined the impact of COVID-19 through the lens of structural gendered racism. This is the process by which institutions and structures enact intersectional violence and oppression against women of color. Their research found that structural processes placed women of color at an increased risk of violence and "unhealth" during the pandemic. These health risks were not limited to contracting the virus itself but included broader social and physical well-being.

Cultural Myths in Science: Almeling (2023)

Cynthia Almeling's research (2023) demonstrates how cultural myths regarding sperm and egg in fertilization mirror gendered social scripts. The common narrative of the "active sperm" and the "passive egg" reflects agentic masculinity and passive femininity. Interestingly, Almeling found that younger people and females tend to use more egalitarian myths, yet virtually no one used a metaphor of an "agentic egg" and a "passive sperm."

The Gender Pay Gap and Hiring Bias: Quadlin (2018)

While women are outperforming men in schools, earning higher grades and more degrees, they are still perceived as less competent and committed in the workplace. Research by Quadlin (2018) revealed specific patterns in hiring:

• Men are called back by employers at approximately the same rate regardless of their GPA ($C+$ students and $A$ students receive equal interest).

• High-achieving men are called back at almost twice ($2 \times$) the rate of high-achieving women.

• Middle-GPA women actually have higher callback rates than their high-achieving female counterparts.

• The penalty for high achievement is particularly severe for women in STEM fields.

• Reviewers associated men's callbacks with "competence" and "commitment," but focused on "likeability" for women.

Economic data shows that the gap between mothers and non-mothers is also a significant component of the gender pay gap. The "ideal worker" image—someone dedicated with no outside obligations—benefits those without caregiving responsibilities.

Health and Globalization: Mojola (2014)

In "Love, Money, and HIV," Mojola explored how macro and meso level factors influence micro-level risk for HIV in Kenya. Risk factors include biophysiological elements (exposure to blood or semen carries higher risk than vaginal fluid or breast milk) and developmental factors (young women's bodies are more susceptible during physical development). Early age at first sex increases risk due to potential skin tearing.

Socially, mobility and migration shift sexual networks, increasing exposure. Mojola highlights the role of "consumption," where sex and romance are exchanged for material goods. Crucially, these are not "patron-client" commercial relationships but involve "boyfriends" and "girlfriends," where love and trust are at stake. Mojola also found that some girls moved home and recalibrated their expectations of womanhood when educational opportunities failed, which lowered their HIV risk relative to employed peers.

The State and Reproductive Justice: Gurr (2015)

Gurr (2015) argues that the State views women's reproductive bodies as a challenge to a unified national identity, leading to active and passive regulation. While fatherhood remains a relatively "unregulated embodiment," women of color's bodies have historically been sites of social, economic, political, and health control. Reproductive justice is currently limited by heteronormative and patriarchal understandings of the body.

Medicalization and Transgender Care: Shuster

Medicalization is the process of defining a problem in medical terms, usually as an illness or disorder, and using medical intervention to treat it (Conrad 2005). Pathologization is the process of turning an experience into a psychological problem requiring intervention. Historically, Shuster found that doctors treating trans* individuals existed in a contested space between "doctor" and "quack."

Key aspects of historical trans* care include:

• Experimentation was the standard due to a lack of oversight and established care standards.

• Trans* people were often viewed as "delusional," "tricksters," or "amoral."

• Current care involves Gender-affirming care (medically necessary care for well-being) and the diagnosis of Gender dysphoria, a psychiatric diagnosis required to access such care.

Family Dynamics and the "Having It All" Myth

As women entered the paid workforce, governments and workplaces largely failed to respond. Family policies still assume someone is performing unpaid domestic labor. This led to the "Superwoman" or "career woman" myth, where women were told they could "have it all" by adding paid work to their existing unpaid labor. Often, partners and society treat women's careers as a "choice" rather than a necessity for the standard of living. Related terms include a Crush (a person-specific, one-sided romantic attraction) and the Romantic Narrative (cultural scripts and rules for how romance should function).

Example Essay Question

1. Despite advances in the number of women receiving collegiate degrees, rapid changes in the gender segregation of certain jobs, and more couples aspiring to egalitarian relationships, we continue to see a gendered wage gap and qualifications gap. Sheryl Sandberg claimed that women needed to "lean in" to erase the "ambition gap" in workplaces.

• What is one piece of evidence we have that "leaning in" is not enough to erase the gendered patterns we see in workplaces?

• What is a potential intervention at the meso or macro level to interrupt these patterns?

• How did COVID-19 exacerbate gendered family patterns?

• What is one example of COVID-19's impact on gendered family dynamics?