Gender

• gender role socialization — the learning of gender roles through social factors such as schooling, the media, and family

• social construction of gender — the learning of gender roles through socialization and interaction with others

• hegemonic masculinity — social norms dictating that men should be strong, self-reliant, and unemotional

• theorists who believe in the social construction of gender reject all biological bases for gender differences:

  • Judith Butler: “gender proves to be a performance”; gender is produced, not a fact

• how we “do” gender varies widely by race, social class, and social context

• we selectively choose to enact different aspects of gender expectations based on what we think will work best in a particular setting

Basic Concepts

• intersectionality — sociological perspective that holds that our multiple group memberships affect our lives in ways that are distinct from single group memberships

• biological essentialism — the view that differences between men and women are natural and inevitable consequences of the intrinsic biological natures of men and women

• nearly all social scientists agree that theories based solely on an innate predisposition neglect the vital role of social interaction in shaping human behavior

• cisgender — an individual whose gender identity matches their biological sex; statistically, the most common gender in the world

• transgender — a person who identifies as or expresses a gender identity that differs from his/her sex at birth

  • trans males were accepted by the cis male population faster than trans females were accepted by the cis female population

• intersex — an individual possessing both male and female genitalia

• gender non-conforming — identifying as a gender other than male or female, or not identifying with a particular gender at all

• studies show that we have a tendency to refer to men by their last name, and women by their first/full name