identity

gender

  • classification system using culturally contingent expectations, roles, stereotypes, & physical characteristics to place ppl into social categories

  • made up of many parts that interact w the self & society

sex

  • classification system consisting of various genotypical & phenotypical traits are used to place an individual within a socially designated sex category

european & western cultures have viewed gender & sex as binaries

  • sex/gender binary - classification of sex or gender into only 2 categories, treated as distinct & separate from one another

  • this view legitimized various systems of authority

how we understand sex & gender is culturally contingent

  • classified differently & plays diff roles in society

spectrum

  • variation that exists along a single axis, continuous, shares qualities w other points

  • exists under western assumption that sex & gender are at their base, binary

  • some scientists argue for a more dynamic model to understand diversity & variation

gender identity & expression

gender diverse

  • ppl whose gender identity, expression, or role deviates from cultural gender norms

intersex ppl

  • born w any of several sex characteristics that don’t match a particular binary expectation of male or female

disruption of hierarchies

  • society was reluctant to acknowledge intersexuality

    • property & capital ownership laws

    • voting laws

    • anti-homosexuality laws

  • med doctors created an arbitrary standard based on gonadal tissue to decide if a child was true male or true female

    • label told them to act socially & sexually normative in their assigned gender

    • sometimes their biologically assigned gender made no sense socially

  • some cultures accept intersex variation as a natural & expected occurrence

  • our culture medicalizes these terms as disorders

medical response

  • sex normalizing surgery is pushed by doctors & surgeons

  • majority are done on infants under 2 years

  • sex normalizing surgeries are not medically necessary, only cosmetic

  • children lied to about these surgeries

  • activists working to change common medical practice around intersex children & adults

political response

  • anti-trans legislation impacts intersex community

  • only 16 states allow a marker on birth certificates besides M or F, making doctors to align infant w a binary sex

  • bathroom bills, sports bans & other legislation conflates sex & gender put trans & intersex ppl at risk

  • activists work to educate others, spread awareness, & ban sex normalization surgeries for infants & children

doing gender

  • gender is routine, methodical, and recurring

    • displays

      • gender is a performance

      • taught & reinforced through socialization & interaction

      • reinforces gender norms & stereotypes through clothes, toys, hobbies, etc

    • accountability

      • social sanctions from peers & society that tell us whether we’re performing gender as is expected of us

      • self regulating process - social sanction originally come from others but we internalize them & begin to police ourselves

      • begins at a young age, concerned w distinguishing between themselves & others on the basis of social competence, seen as competent to evoke their initial claims to gender identity

    • omnipresence

      • individuals cannot opt out of doing gender - failure to perform still gets read as a performance

        • regardless of whether you participate, society will still perceive you & respond accordingly

      • women are elected less than men

      • women politicians are on avg more competent than men

      • women seek reelection more often as they have a higher chance of staying in power

essentialism

  • a belief that things have a set of characteristics which make them what they are, often points to natural or inherent differences to explain differences

    • invokes science to argue for what is natural & what expressions or behaviors should or shouldn’t be allowed in society

    • scientists make sense of the world through their own cultural lens

gender stereotypes

  • overly simplified assumptions abt the attitudes, behaviors, & characteristics of ppl in a specific gender group

    • informed by sociocultural & historical factors

patriarchy

  • social system where men hold disproportionate power & privilege

social stress theory

  • examines how negative physical & mental health outcomes are impacted by larger social processes

minority stress model

  • theoretical framework to explain how social stressors affect the health of ppl from minoritized groups

gender affirming care is supported by all major health organizations

  • highly individualized care process

  • over long periods of time

  • improves mental health outcomes

  • lower rates of suicidality

  • no federal protections ensure access to gender affirming care

positionality

  • person’s social & political identity (race, class, gender, ability status, sexuality_

  • determines their social location

  • impacts are unique to that person & that society’s social structure

  • 2 ppl can walk away from the same event w diff perspectives

power, privilege, & marginalization

  • social systems play a role in impacting existing inequalities

  • increase, decrease or maintain inequalities

  • some experience social advantages (privilege), some disadvantages (marginalization)

  • can experience both

  • own privilege is hard to notice

science & culture

  • develop processes & methodologies in scientific research to

    • explore questions abt the world

    • weed out false info

    • come to the best available conclusion

    • designed to avoid bias

intersectionality

  • analyzes how aspects of one’s social identity can intersect to result in unique experiences of privilege & oppression within social & political systems

  • focuses on combo of identities

  • critical race theory - critical analysis of the social systems, laws, & conceptions of ethnicity