2.1 Chapter Overview and Learning Objectives
Do you remember the first time you experienced gender, the social identity ascribed to you based on your biological sex? Can you recall the first time you acted in a way that was somehow gendered? Many will say no, not really. This is because from the second you were born, you were socialized into a gender role or norm. Your parents may have dressed you in a blue suit for baby pictures if you were born male, or you were given a baby doll for your first toy if you were born female (Figure 2.1). Your gender represents a way of behaving, playing, speaking, and interacting with the world around you.
Figure 2.1. Babies in gender normed attire of pink and blue and baby doll for pink baby, consider this in the thought exercise below.
With that in mind, let’s start with a thought exercise. Take a minute to visualize these two terms:
- Masculine
- Feminine
Note the words and images that come to mind. We’re focusing on these binary categories, which divide the world into two groups. We’ll expand on the idea that gender and sex are not binary later in the chapter. Write down or think of traits, habits, tendencies, strengths, physical attributes, and roles that you associate with each of these words.
What you might have noticed is there are biological and medical connections to biological sex such as height, stature, or sex traits (breasts for example). However, gender is solely a social construct; it is only given meaning by being labeled and enacted by society. Gender has no inherent meaning except in its real-life consequences and outcomes. We will explore these concepts throughout this text.
2.1.1 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
- Explain the construction of gender, common myths surrounding sex and gender, and how these impact people in society
- Discuss the harm produced by the medicalization and marginalization of gender.
- Explain the biology of sex and gender.
- Define gender as a social construction.
2.1.2 Preview of Key Terms
You will need some of these key terms to connect to this chapter and throughout this textbook. You can find the full list of key terms and their definitions at the end of this chapter.This list is not exhaustive, but it begins the deeper understanding of the concepts of the construction of gender in the United States.
- gender: a social identity ascribed to individuals on the basis of their biological sex that dictates appropriate status, roles, and norms for behavior.
- gender expression: the way a person communicates their gender identity, typically through their appearance, dress, and behavior, that may or may not fit into socially defined masculine or feminine binary ideals.
- gender identity: one’s innermost feeling of maleness, femaleness, a blend of both, or neither that may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth.
- heteronormativity: a societal view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal and preferred sexuality; includes expected behaviors around heterosexual norms; relates to sexuality and straightness.
- sex (biological sex): a classification of individuals as males and females based on biological, anatomical, and chromosomal differences.
- social construct: an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society.
2.1.3 Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Overview and Learning Objectives
“Chapter Overview” by Heidi Esbensen is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Figure 2.1a. Photo by PublicDomainPictures is licensed under the Pixabay License.
Figure 2.1b. Photo by Kingofkings_LJ is licensed under the Pixabay License.