HDF 306 Notes 1
1/16: Introduction
The Gender Binary
Masculine men assigned male at birth
Feminine women assigned female at birth
Can lead to thinking all men are alike and all women are alike, but this denies the individuals intersecting identity characteristics
Leads to thinking men and women are opposite sexes
Stereotypes
Are fixed, distorted, and oversimplified ideas about categories of people
Can lead to stereotype threat
Situation in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk if conforming to stereotypes about their social group
Theorized to be a contributing factor to things like racial and gender gaps in academic performance
Intersexuality
Someone with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit the typical definition of male or female
Insert picture from slides
Trans + Nonbinary Identities
Transgender/trans: people whole gender ID differs from their assigned sex at birth
Non Binary: category that includes people who are both man and woman or neither
Gender fluid: without a fixed gender identity
Trans identities emerge around the same time as cis identities
Gender-affirming care (GAC): Not a single category of services. Refers to a range of services, including mental health care, medical care, and social services
Cisgender Men + Women
Cisgender: a term that describes people who are assigned male at birth who identify as men and people assigned female at birth and identify as women
There are average differences between men and women, not binary ones
Our physical traits (height, hairiness, shape, strength, agility..)....
Gender ideologies
The gender ideology in the UA is somewhat unusual
Requiring that we all fit into two, and only two, categories ignores the great
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Social construction of Gender
We gender everything- when we layer objects, characteristics, behaviors, activities, and ideas with notions of masculinity and femininity
Bodies
Sexual Dimorphism
This refers to typical differences in body type and behavior between males and females of species
The book introduces the concept of sexual dimorphism with some interesting examples from tge animal world
Considering the range of sexual dimorphism among animals puts human sex differences in perspective. Given the extremes found in some species, the similarity between human males and females is impressive
Research on sex differences and similarities
Zell and his colleagues combined over 20,000 individuals studies…
Found
Overwhelming majority of percentages were either small or negligible to non-existent
What are the significant differences?
Noted differences on 61 percent of characteristics
Medium-sized differences included physical aggression and visual-spatial abilities
Large differences in physical abilities, especially throwing, and in sexual behaviors such as masturbation and approval for casual sex.
Defining differences
What kind of evidence is needed to conclude thqat weve discovered real differences between men and women
Is it enough just to be..
Definition 1: Sex differences are real if we can measure them
In Zells study, there were observed differences: findings from surveys. Experiments, and other types of studies that detect differences…
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Some reasons to question results
People behave differently when they know they are being watched
People lie especially about sex
Priming can manipulate subjects test scores
Other results can shift, reverse, and disappear when we manipulate the conditions of the data collection
Some differences are simply a result of how were treated
Some are quite obviously just norms for men and women, unrelated to anything but culture
Definition 2: Sex differences are real of they are observed in all or most contemporary and historical cultures
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WEIRD research
When we fo research that compares across cultures, we discover that our weird samples have resulted in unusual findings, which dont stand up when we do research elsewhere
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Definition 3: Sex differences are real if they are biological
Our genes are set of instructions for building and maintaining our bodies
We each jabe a unique set of genes (our genotype) ..
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Genes and gender
Despite its mighty reputation…
Definition 4: Sex differences are real if they are biological and immutible
Individuals defined as genetically female carry XX chromosomes and genetically male individuals cary XY
An Immutable sex difference would have known biological cause and could not be easily overcome ..
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Chromosomes Myths
Humans need only one X chromosomes to survive, so two Xs are redundant
XX bodies can only use one X at a time, research indicates that Y chromosomes dont do much except contribute some genes for developing..
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SImilarities between sexes
Research results are sometimes shaped by the questions we ask or original hypothesis of the researcher
For centuries, the idea that women are inferior to men and therefore different resulted in an emphaiss on how men and women were different rather in an emphasis on how mn and women were different rather than alike
The natural power of human culture
One of the things rhat makes humans stand out from all other animals is the way we wrap ourselves in culture
By virtue of being cultural, were also diverse. Take any two human societies, and youll find countless i theri culture…
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Biocultural interaction
Scholars from all disciplines overwhelmingly reject naturalism, the idea that biology independently is responsible…
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Intersexuality putting gender in context
While there are biological ways in which we are predisposed to be different, such different may be limited by the things that men and women share, such as nationality, religion, and occupations
Differences and similarities between women and …
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Human evolutions
Video
Riley- little girl who explains what she thinks is wrong with society
1/23: Bodies and Sex Differences CH 3
There are more than 2 human sexes video
Thought to just be XX and XY
But now believe sex is a spectrum
2% of _
Used to be known as intersex but now DSD
Sex is determined from sex determination and differentiation
Phenotypes
testicles/penis
vulva/ovaries etc
Sperm and egg reproduction is complicated
Sometimes doesnt become 23 and
XXX, XXY, XYY- people still retain fully
X- may be sterile or have disabilities
Mosaicism
Single egg but patch work of cells
Chimera-
2 fertilized eggs that merge in the womb
MIcrochimerism
Baby swaps cells with mother
Son can now have XX and mom has a Y
SRY
Male programming gene- ends up on an XX and cause testes to form
WNT4
Promotes ovary development? Stunts
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
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Gender dysphoria
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Ch 3 Performances
“You're born naked and the rest is drag” -RuPaul
If men and women aren't naturally opposite, then why do they act so different
Societal standards
Gender Rules
Instructions for how to appear and behave as a mana or a women
The major differences between people of different genders are not biological, but social
Doing gender-
Consider little jeremy
Jeremy 4 yrs old wore a hair clip to school, another boy insisted that he must be a girl because “only girls wear barrettes”
Jeremy told him that being a boy mean having a penis and pulled down his pants
The other boy replied everybody has a penis, only girls wear barrettes
Doing Gender:
A phrase used to describe the ways in which we actively obey and break gender rules
Every day we do thousands if things that signal masculinity or femininity, and we do them according to gender rules
We learn gender rules implicitly, gradually absorbing them as we become increasingly acculturated into our families, communities, and societies
Some rules are rigid, white others are more flexible and negotiable
Infants start leaning gender at infancy
By 1 they can tell diff from voices
By 2 they know their gender- including trans
By 6 months …
In preschool they use their gender as a way to make friends
Around 6 is when they tell gender rules
Video: The fight to stop genetal surgeries on intersex infants
Voices are absent for intersex children
Ambiguous Genitalia
Told the parents that it will be hard for them as they grew up and that they were saving them
The surgery left a lot of complication
Intersex movement
Fight in state legislatures now
Surgeries that aren't medically necessary should be held off till the child can consent
The societies of pediatric society- doctors who perform this surgery and for individualized care to each child
1/28: Doing Gender Chapter 4
Exam next week !
Gender rules
Many of us follow gender rules most of the time
We may follow gender rules:
Out of habit
Because we enjoy doing gender
Bc others are watching us and expecting us to do so
to avoid policing
Different cultures have different ideas of what men and women should be like
Gender rules are not universal, they are socially constructed
Gender rules are constantly changing, even within a single society. Refer to example of pierced ears
Doing gender requires that we simultaneously know the rules of the cultural mainstream as well as those of alternative cultures that we live in or visit
How we do gender changes based on context
Environment
Time period
Age
Children begin learning gender in infancy]parents, peer/friend groups, and the school community are often considered the most influential social contexts for youth
Learning model of socialization: a model that suggests that socialization is a lifelong process of learning and relearning gender expectations and how to negotiate them
Qin negotiations with others, we consciously and strategically adjust our behavior to changes in out social environment
Breaking gender rules
Gender rules can shift based on the individuals intersectionality
Ex. Gender rules for cisgender gay men can be different than those for cisgender hetero men
One gender rule transcends all identities and is true across cultures throughout recent history: do gender
Intersections- the lense in which we interpret the world
There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live in single-issue lives
- Audre Lorde
Food for thought
If gender is just one part of who we are, why isn't it crowded out by all other things about us that are meaningful and consequential
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Gender isn't something you are, its what you do
Social Identities
Gender (like age, race, class, abilirt etc) is a social identity
Social identity: a culturally available and socially constructed category of people in which we place ourselves or are placed by others
Our social identities matter ina variety of ways and for a variety of reasons
Privilege
Some social identities bring us privilege
Privilege: Unearned social and economic advantage based on out location in a social hierarchy
Intersectionality captures the idea that out lived experiences are shaped by all out identities together
Anna Julia Cooper
Anna Julia Cooper is often referred to as the mother of Black feminism
Cooper became the fourth Black american women to earn a PhD
Although the term “intersectionality” had not been coined yet, Cooper’s A voice from the south (1892) uses an intersectional perspective
Cooper argued that understanding the experiences of women and black people requires understanding of unique lives
US social movements
White women in the US women's movement often analyzed gender in isolation
Black men in the US civil rights movements often analyze race in isolation
Hull, scott, and smiths All women are white, all the blacks are men, but sime of us are Brave (1982) analyzes how gender and race operate inseperably
Patricia Hill Collins + Kimberle Crenshaw
In Black feminist thoughts 1990, patricia Hill Collins theorized coexisting axes of oppression, or relations of advantages and disadvantages
In 1991, kimerley Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” after black women sued general motors for discriminatory hiring practices
Bc general Motors employed white women and black men, the courtdecided that the black women had no case
Crenshaw emphasized the need to understand how identities intersect
Intersectional Gender strategies
Ex. Gender archetypes include the girly girl, the tomboy, the jock,and the nerd
Race as a Social Construct
Like gender, race is a social construction
Race: a socially meaningful set of distinctions based on superficial and imagined biological differences
Humans vary in all kinds of ways that do not map onto distinct human types with meaningful genetic differences
The racial categories we use today in the united states do not reflect the same categories used in oher ties and places
Racism
Social constructions like race have power
Because we apply social meanings to race, race have real effects
Racism: Social arrangements designed to systematically advantages one race over others
Black American Masculinity
Race was constructed in part to justify the transatlantic slave trade
White supremacists stereotype Black men as aggressive, criminal, and sexually dangerous – characteristics associated with masculinity
Today, Black people are often stereotyped as hyper masculine
As a result, some black people adopt gender strategies to manage this stereotype
Black American femininity
White elites stereotypes Black women as masculine to protect slavery and the ideology of gender\to counter this stereotype today, some black people adopt gender strategies that emphasize femininity
Because gender is shaped by race, doing femininity can sometimes feel like doing whiteness
Many black people adopt gender strategies to do black femininity
East + Southeast Asian AMericans
The racial categories “east asian” and “southeast asian” each encompass a diversity of unique histories and cultures
Despite this, east asians and southeast asian people in the united states are placed in these broad categories and face similar stereotypes of hyper feminization
Some Asian Americans adopt gender strategies to counter these stereotypes
For example, some may perform “toughness” to counter hyperfeminization
White Americans
White people are rarely referred by race in the US – just as people
Whiteness is normalized and unmarked
Marking: the act of applying a label to highlight an exception
White people sometimes adopt strategies to counter witness as bland
Ex. Goth and Emo subcultures are largely white and middle class
White People are not always privileged in every way eg. social class, but their witness still shapes all their identities
1/30: Chapter 4 pt 2
Video: theories of gender crash course
Any other cultures recognize a third gender that is neither male or female
No referred to as two-spirit
Gender is social construct to organize society
Tried to make these roles to make things easier
Holes in this theory
Early anthropologists over emphasized this
Women also brought actually most of the food home
Assumes a hetero normative in a western perspective
The idea that gender is a binary is a western view
Girls are taught expressive qualities: like empathy
Society pushed gender conformity to be seen in a romantic light
Symbolic interaction approach- focus on gender in the day to day life. Gender is something someone does, not who they are.
Clothes hairstyles, makeup
Gender roles: how society defines how men and women should behave
Body language, clothes etc
Gender conflict theory: gender is a _
Patriarchy where men have more power
Feminism: the support
Advocates for gender
Liberal Fem: seek to expand the rights and opp of women
Socialist fem: advocates for full economic equality
Radical fem: to reach gender equality, you need to delete gender entirely as we know it
Sexuality
Heteronormativity
Designed on the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, with individuals presuming so unless there are culturally recognizable signs indicating otherwise
In heteronormative societies, heterosexuality is unmarked
Western societies are strongly heteronormative
There has been a push to use hetero cis normativity
Sexual Minority
Sexual minorities: gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and others who identify as something other than straight/heterosexual
The term “minority” here is not numerical but refers to the fact that these categories are marked
Other identities considered sexual minorities are pansexual and asexual
Sexuality and Gender Expression
Many of the cultural signs that mark individuals as queer are not directly tied to sexual desire itself, but to gender expression
In a heteronormative society, people who break rules are assumed to be queer
Heterosexism
Heterosexism: Individual and institution bias against sexual minorities
In heterosexist societies like ours, some queer people use gender strategies that help them “pass” as straight
Compulsory heterosexuality: a rule that all men be attracted to women and all women to men
Homonormativity: a practice of obeying every gender rule except the ones that say we most sexually desire and partner with someone of the other sex
Bisexual lighting: Using purple, pink and blue lighting in TV shows to emphasize that a character is Bi
Activity: reflect and write
Id say at home, indefinitely dress, sit, eat, and act differently when im alone, vs roommates, vs a partner.
It would also change in a job interview. I would make sure that i'm standing up straight, dressed professionally, and not having body language that will come across bad to the interviewer
Same idea for a date, it would change, but i would dress to what is more seen as pretty instead of professional
Definitely all these changes would be associated with doing gender
Immigration + Nationality
Migration + Gender studies
As people move around the world, the gender strategies they employed in their place of origin may be suddenly impossible or undesirable
Migrants may:
End up in a different social class
Need to learn a new language and culture
Become newly positioned as a racial or ethnic minority
Experience racism or xenophobia in ways they had not previously
Migrations + Intersectionality
MIgrants are affected by the ways their identities intersect in new places
Trans and queer people of color who migrate face policing in ways specific to their intersecting identities
Socioeconomic class
Many countries, especially the United states, are characterized by extreme inequalities between the richest and poorest members of society
Classism: a form of prejudice against people of lower socioeconomic status
Social class is also about more than money – its something we do
How we move our bodies, what we wear, how we speak, and what we listen to are all signs of class
Classed Gender Strategies
still , our economic realities shape the gender strategies available to us
Ex: men in high-status jobs may see career success as key to masculinity
Ex: men in high-status jobs may see career success as key to masculinity
working - class truck drivers may emphasize their physical labor – they are “real men” who do “real work”
Ability
Social Model of Disability
Ability and disability are relative concepts, not absolutes
Our bodies have great variety, but fails to respond to this variety
When an environment is not designed to accommodate certain kinds of bodies, those bodies are disabled in that environment
Ableism: Individual and institutional biases that deny critical resources to differently abled bodies
Ability + Gender Strategies
How our environments accommodate us (or don't) shapes how we do gender
Ex: disabled people often experience desexualization or degendering
For some, this may threaten their femininity or masculinity, but for others, it may feel liberating
Age + Attractiveness
Society has strict age-related rules–we must act our age
Our ability to pull off certain gender strategies changes as we age
For example, girls may feel “too young” to wear high heels, but as they age, they may become “too old”
Ageism: an institutionalized preference for the young and the cultural association of aging with decreased social value
Because of our society's emphasis on women's attractiveness, women lose more esteem as they age
Wealthier people can look younger longer with access to medical care, nutritious food, expensive beauty products, and well-made clothes