9.10 Conclusion
We opened this chapter by discussing some of the key implications for women, women’s bodies, and families with the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. In addition to the individual hardships women may experience during a time when they have fewer reproductive rights, nationally we are seeing a shift in how women are viewed. A judicial decision by the U.S. government has rendered women less powerful when it comes to making medical decisions regarding their bodies. Regardless of your personal views on abortion, we can see that the decision removes women’s rights that were previously protected at the federal level.
In this chapter, you learned more about gender through a social constructionist perspective. You learned to distinguish between concepts like sex, gender, gender identity, transgender, and intersex. In addition to interactional inequalities related to gender, you examined how inequalities are embedded in some of our social institutions.
Gender is experienced at the individual, interactional, and structural levels. From our gender identity to our interactions with others, we constantly participate in the process of “doing gender.” We tend to be held accountable for performances of masculinity and femininity that align with our sex. Yet, for some of us, those performances may be unattainable. Others may choose to intentionally avoid participation in hegemonic forms of masculinity and femininity. The experience and embodiment of gender also intersects with other aspects of our lives, such as race and class. As you’ve learned in this chapter and others, our identities are closely tied to power relations. We can encounter sexism during our interactions, but what escalates the experience of oppression is when we begin to see sexism built into our social institutions. Finally, you learned about social change through the continual evolution of feminist theory. The next chapter will explore the ways sociologists study sexuality.
Review of Learning Objectives
Key Terms
- Cisgender: people who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are often referred to as cisgender, utilizing the Latin prefix cis-, which means “on the same side.”
- Doing gender: the idea that individuals perform gender based on the way that gender is socially constructed within their society; they are held accountable for enacting gendered behaviors. These gendered performances are expected and contribute to why we think of gendered behavior as “natural.”
- Emphasized femininity: the pattern of femininity that is given the most cultural and ideological support. This type of femininity involves compliance with subordination and is oriented to accommodate the interests and desires of men.
- Essentialism: a view of gender as a biological and unchanging, two-category system.
- Feminism: 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.
- Gender: a term that refers to the behaviors, personal traits, and social positions that society attributes to being a woman or a man.
- Gender dysphoria: a diagnostic category in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that describes individuals who do not identify as the gender that most people would assume they are.
- Gender expression or gender presentation: a person’s behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender, specifically with the categories of femininity or masculinity. Expression can be specific to individuals and may also vary across cultures.
- Gender identity: a deeply held internal perception of one’s gender.
- Gender policing: 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.
- Gender role: the expected role for individuals based on society’s notions of the attitudes, behaviors, norms, and values that are appropriate for women and men.
- Glass ceiling: an invisible barrier that women encounter when trying to win jobs in the highest level of business.
- Hegemonic masculinity: the masculine ideal that is viewed as superior to any other kind of masculinity as well as any form of femininity.
- Intersex: a general term used to describe people whose sex traits, reproductive anatomy, hormones, or chromosomes are different from the usual two ways human bodies develop. Some intersex traits are recognized at birth, while others are not recognizable until puberty or later in life.
- Patriarchy: an environment where characteristics associated with men and masculinity have more power and authority.
- Pay gap: the difference in earnings between men and women.
- Queer: a term used to describe gender and sexual identities other than cisgender and heterosexual.
- Sex: physical or physiological differences between males and females, including both primary sex characteristics (the reproductive system) and secondary characteristics such as height and muscularity.
- Sexism: the belief that some individuals or groups are superior to others based on sex or gender.
- Transgender: a person whose sex assigned at birth and gender identity are not necessarily the same.
Discussion Questions
- According to sociologists, what is the difference between sex and gender? Why do they suggest it’s important to distinguish these terms?
- How does gender socialization shape children’s play? Are toys and activities becoming more or less “gendered” compared to when you were a child?
- What is intersectionality, and how does it change the approach we use when studying gender?
- What can be done to lessen the effects of gender stratification in the workplace? How does gender stratification harm both men and women?
- What can be done to narrow the pay gap for women?
- Why is it important to have women in politics?
- List and describe the different waves of feminism. What inspired the emergence of each wave? What inequalities do you think the fifth wave will hope to address?
Additional Resources
- Genderbread Person discussion [Website], Sam Killerman
- Roe v. Wade [Website] – Learn more about Roe v. Wade decision and challenges.
- Trans Student Educational Resources [Website]
- Waves of Feminism [Website] – Information on each wave and influential work during those time periods.
- Gender violence is a serious issue, and there are resources available for support:
- To learn more about intersex activism, go to Amnesty.org [Website] and ISNA.org [Website].
- Feminism and movements for change: To learn more about key participants in the suffrage movement, click these optional links: Sojourner Truth [Website] and Paulie Murray [Website]. The second wave of feminism, which focused on reproductive and sexual rights [Website], is captured by voices like those of Gloria Steinem [Website], Angela Davis [Website], and Dolores Huerta [Website].
Licenses and Attributions for Conclusion
Open Content, Original
“Conclusion” by Jennifer Puentes is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
“Gender: Identities, Interactions, and Institutions Question Set” was created by ChatGPT and is not subject to copyright. Edits for relevance, alignment, and meaningful answer feedback by Colleen Sanders are licensed under CC BY 4.0.
a term that refers to the behaviors, personal traits, and social positions that society attributes to being female or male
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 deeply held internal perception of one’s gender.
a person whose sex assigned at birth and gender identity are not necessarily the same.
a general term used to describe people whose sex traits, reproductive anatomy, hormones, or chromosomes are different from the usual two ways human bodies develop. Some intersex traits are recognized at birth, while others are not recognizable until puberty or later in life
mechanisms or patterns of social order focused on meeting social needs, such as government, the economy, education, family, healthcare, and religion.
the idea that individuals perform gender based on the way that gender is socially constructed within their society; they are held accountable for enacting gendered behaviors. These gendered performances are expected and contribute to why we think of gendered behavior as “natural.”
a category of identity that ascribes social, cultural, and political meaning and consequence to physical characteristics.
a set of people who share similar status based on factors like wealth, income, education, family background, and occupation.
the belief that some individuals or groups are superior to others based on sex or gender.
a combination of prejudice and institutional power that creates a system that regularly and severely discriminates against some groups and benefits other groups.
a statement that proposes to describe and explain why facts or other social phenomena are related to each other based on observed patterns.
the sexual feelings, thoughts, attractions and behaviors individuals have toward other people.