Beyond the Binary: Social Construction of Sex & Gender (10/23-10/28)

Sex: A designation placed on infants, based on internal anatomy and chromosomes

Gender: a socially-constructed binary that society typically corresponds with sex, based on customs, socialization, and norms

Gender Performativity: “A way of reiterating the norms through which one is constituted” - Judith Butler

Sexuality: Relating to a person’s sexual identity, or their experience of who they are romantically and/or sexually attracted to

Cisgender: An individual with an identity that corresponds to their assigned, biological sex

Transgender: An individual with a gender identity that differs from their assigned, biological sex

Intersex: An individual born with external genitalia, internal reproductive anatomy, or chromosomal patterns that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.

Gender Identity: Self-definition or sense of gender

  • May or may not correspond with the sex we have been assigned at birth

Gender Expression: The external presentation of one's gender, including behaviors, clothing, hairstyles, and voice, which can differ from societal expectations based on biological sex.

Essentialists: Those who believe gender roles have a genetic or biological origin and therefore cannot be changed

  • Essentialists believe chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia determine identity, and that culture plays no role

    10/28 Notes 

Gender Binary: A system of classification with only 2 distinct and opposite gender categories

Constructionists: Those who believe that nations of gender are socially determined, such that a binary system is just one possibility among many

  • Believes the meaning of masculinity and femininity may differ in different societies and historical periods

Nature(Biological):

  • Chromosomal and reproductive differences make males and females physically different 

  • The relative proportion of androgens and estrogens gives a person masculine or feminine physical traits 

Nuture(Social):

  • Gender is constantly changing 

  • Femininity and masculinity are uniformly shaped by genetic makeup

Sexuality: The character or quality of being sexual

  • Kinsey Scale: A scale developed by Alfred Kinsey to describe a person's sexual orientation, ranging from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual.

Sexual Orientation/Identity: The inclination to feel attraction—emotionally, romantically, or sexually—towards individuals of the same sex, the opposite sex, or both.

Heterosexuality: Sexual attraction towards members of the other gender

  • Most people identify as heterosexual

Homosexuality: Sexual attraction towards members of one’s own gender

Bisexuality: Sexual attraction towards members of both genders

Asexuality: The lack of sexual attraction of any kind; no interest in or desire for sex 

Queer Theory: Social theory about gender and sexual identity; emphasizes the importance of difference and rejects ideas of innate identities 

Queering the binary: Anything that challenges the prevailing binary of sex, gender, and sexuality 

LGBTQ: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (I - Intersex, A - Asexual) 

LGBTQIA2+: A non exclusive term for queer people 

Gender Roles: Sets of expectations and norms based on gender 

Gender Socialization: How gender is learned and the traits associated with 

Gender Role Socialization: The lifelong process of learning masculine or feminine, mainly through the 4 major agents of socialization

Gendered Language: Language that reinforces gender stereotypes 

Gender Theory: A theory in which gender is viewed as the basis of hierarchal social relations; stemmed form the queer theory 

Microaggressions: Everyday, subtle actions that discriminate or promote bias 

Heteronormativity: The belief that heterosexuality is and should be the norm 

  • Family is usually the primary source of socialization and greatly impacts gender role socialization

Social Learning: The process of learning behaviors and meanings through social interaction 

The Patriarchy: We live in a male dominated society that promote male privilege and female oppression

Misogyny: Trying to control women

Misogynoir: A specific oppression targeted at black women 

Chauvinism: Inability to see women as equal or complete on their own 

At Home - Gender Learning

  • Boys and girls are perceived and treated differently from birth

  • Children learn at an early age what it means to be a boy or a girl in society 

  • Parents pass their own beliefs about gender

Androgyny: refers to the combination of feminine and masculine characteristics in the same person

Social Learning: A of doing gender; we learn norms via watching others and micro interactions 

Play Time'

  • Preschool children receive subtle messages from books and how girls and boys should behave 

  • Gender identities affect individuals in various ways, influencing their personal experiences, social interactions, and self-expression as they navigate societal expectations throughout their lives.’

Books

  • A subtler message is emitted from picture books for preschool children 

Toys

11/4 Notes - What is the Role of Education in US society?

Education: A society transmits its academic knowledge, cultural values, and societal expectations to its members so they can function effectively 

  • is a conserving force 

  • Mass education 

  • A fragmented Education System 

  • Local control of education 

  • The Sifting and Sorting Function of Schools 

Schools indoctrinate students in culturally prescribed ways

  • Patriotism’

  • US Heritage and Heros

Support the status quo 

Respectability Politics: Dress and speak a certain way to approve the dominant group; the strategy employed by marginalized groups, particularly women and LGBTQ+ individuals, to gain social acceptance by adhering to traditional norms and values, often at the cost of their authentic identities.

Indian Carlisle Schools: “Kill the Indian, Save the Man

  • Founded by US army officer Richard Henry Pratt

  • 12,000 indigenous children attended between 1879 and 1918 

Mass Education

  • Faith in education for the public good

  • Compulsory Education (School for the wrong reasons, Increasing numbers with higher education) 

Preoccupation with Order and Control

  • Constraints on individual freedom (Time, Discipline, Dress codes, athletics, Conformity in answers)

  • Banned Books 

Fragmented Education System

  • Private Schools 

  • Homeschooling

  • Charter Schools

  • Voucher Plans 

Globalization - 11/11

Mcdonaldization: has had a significant impact on education systems worldwide, leading to both the proliferation of charter schools and the implementation of voucher plans that encourage privatization and competition.

  • Efficiency

  • Predictability

  • Calculability

  • Stability/Control

  • Standardization

Structural transformation of the economy

  • From agricultural to manufacturing

  • From manufacturing to a service and information 

Offshoring:  the practice of relocating business processes and services to another country, often to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Outsourcing: the practice of contracting out a business process or function to a third-party provider, often one located in a different country, to save costs or improve efficiency

Digital Nomad: Someone who lives in another country while still working in the US due to remote work (lack of cultural exchange)

Deviance - 11/13

Deviance: A behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group 

  • Can be positive or negative 

  • Constructed from cultural, historical, and situational norms 

  • varies from place to place 

Social Control: The formal and informal  mechanisms that society employs to regulate individual behavior and maintain conformity to expected gender roles.

  • Can formal and nonformal 

  • When Sociologists use the therm deviant, they are making a soical judgement, not a moral one 

Emile Durkheim

  • Clarifying Moral Boundaries: We are reminded about shared notions of what is right when we address wrongdoings  of various roots 

  • Promoting Social Cohesion: people can be brought together as a community in the face of crime or other violations 

Social Control Theory: A theory of crime, proposed by Travis Hirschi, that posits that strong social bonds increase conformity and decrease deviance 

  • Deviance Heroes: Individuals who violate norms, and risk repercussions for doing so-out of an intention to create positive social change 

  • Ex: Colin Kaepernick: An athlete who became a prominent advocate for social justice by kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality.

Structural Strain Theory: Developed by Robert Merton, acknowledges that there are goals in our society that people want to achieve but cannot always reach, which creates stress(or strain) 

  • Conformity

  • Innovation

  • Ritualism

  • Retreatism

  • Rebellion 

Conformists:  Individuals who adhere to societal norms and expectations regarding gender roles and sex 

Innovators: Individuals who accept society approved goals but not society’s approved means to acheive them 

Ritualists: Individuals who have given up hope of achieving society approved goals but still operate according to society’s approved means 

Retreatists: Individuals who renounce society’s approved goals and means entrely and live outside conventional norms altogether 

Rebels: Ones who reject society’s approved goals and means, and instead created their own using new means 

Labeling Theory: Howard Becker’s idea that deviance is a consequence of external judges, or labels, that modify the individual’s self-concept and change the way others respond to the labeled person

Types of Deviance

  • Primary: The initial act or attitude that cause one to be labeled deviant

  • Secondary: The subsequent deviant identity or career that develops as a result of being labeled deviant

  • Tertiary: Redefining the stigma associated with a deviant labeled as a positive phenomenon 

Stereotype Threat: A kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which fear of performing poorly-and confirming stereotypes about their social groups -cause students to perform poorly

Stereotype Promise: Positive stereotypes, such as the model minority label appiled to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes