9.1 Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview
Learning Objectives
- Define and differentiate between sex and gender.
- Define and discuss what is meant by gender identity.
- Distinguish the meanings of different sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
- Examine how gender is socially constructed.
- Explain the influence of socialization on gender roles in the United States.
- Understand cross cultural and historical variations in gender.
- Provide examples of how gender policing limits gender expression.
- Examine how gender intersects with other identities, such as race and ethnicity.
- Explain the stratification of gender in major American institutions.
- Provide examples of gender inequality in the United States.
- Describe the rise of feminism in the United States.
Overview
June 24, 2022
My spouse and I sit on the couch watching our 15-month-old twins play. Born during the pandemic, they don’t have many playmates, but fortunately they have each other. Like other parents with the privilege of time and financial resources, we read about different styles of parenting and ways to foster their development. Inundated with so much information, which may very well change by the time this textbook is published, we ultimately decided to do our best and to deemphasize traditional gender roles. Our children wear “girl” clothes and “boy” clothes, and we often allow them to select their clothing by pointing to one outfit or another (figure 9.1). We try not to reinforce a gender ideology behind the toys they select or the ways they interact with others. Instead, we try to work on skills like sharing, kindness, and speaking up for what they want (as much as possible, which currently looks more like gestures, signs, and squeals). We model behavior where sometimes Mom cooks/cleans/drives, and sometimes Dad cooks/cleans/drives.
I open this chapter with a story that links to gender socialization or at least our attempt at degendering (deemphasizing gender roles) because gender is often discussed at the individual level, such as practices of socialization. Don’t worry, we do that in this chapter; however, right now I’d like to bring your attention to how gender acts to organize us at a structural level. For many students, this concept is a hard one to grasp. Our social institutions and how gender is viewed within them have real consequences on our daily lives (and the lives of our children).
What do I mean when I say gender itself structures our lives and opportunities? Sociologists view gender as something that is embedded in our organizations and how they are structured. In other words, our organizational structure itself is not gender neutral. Instead, assumptions about gender are built into positions and jobs, a fact that is made invisible by obscuring the gendered nature of work (Acker 1990). In a patriarchal society, the universal worker, voter, and so on, becomes a man. Sociologist Joan Acker theorizes that organizations are structured along the lines of class and gender by looking at hierarchies within the organization of work. By examining how gender and the norms that we construct around it act to shape our daily experiences, we learn more about how gender structures social order. First, we focus on distinctions between the concepts of sex, gender, and identity. We will also explore the relationship between gender and intersectionality before moving on to examining inequalities within social institutions. Finally, we will review the waves of feminist social movements that contributed to changing the ways women and men experience the world.
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview
Open Content, Original
“Overview” by Jennifer Puentes is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
All Rights Reserved Content
Figure 9.1. Photo by JeongMee Yoon included with artist permission.
physical or physiological differences between males and females, including both primary sex characteristics (the reproductive system) and secondary characteristics such as height and muscularity.
a term that refers to the behaviors, personal traits, and social positions that society attributes to being female or male
a deeply held internal perception of one’s gender.
the process wherein people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to be aware of societal values.
patterns of behavior that are representative of a person’s social status.
the practice of judging people’s gender practices and reminding others of the rules of “doing gender.” This practice reinforces gender order and reproduces gender inequality.
a category of identity that ascribes social, cultural, and political meaning and consequence to physical characteristics.
categories of difference organized around shared language, culture and faith tradition.
a perspective based on the idea that women and men should have equal legal and political rights. Feminism views the systematic oppression of people based on gender as problematic and something that should be changed. Also discussed as a feminist movement or a series of political campaigns for reform on a variety of issues that affect women’s quality of life
something of value members of one group have that members of another group do not, simply because they belong to a group. The privilege may be either an unearned advantage or an unearned entitlement.
mechanisms or patterns of social order focused on meeting social needs, such as government, the economy, education, family, healthcare, and religion.
a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, interact with one another, and share a common culture.
a set of people who share similar status based on factors like wealth, income, education, family background, and occupation.
the social expectations of how to behave in a situation.
the idea that inequalities produced by multiple interconnected social characteristics can influence the life course of an individual or group. Intersectionality, then, suggests that we should view gender, race, class, or sexuality not as individual characteristics but as interconnected social situations.