Social Construction of Gender 1 What is Gender

Social Construction of Gender 1

What is Gender h Ways people perform what society has determined feminine and masculine behaviors h While sex is biological – based on the chromosomes and sexual organs – gender is socio-psychological. h The behaviors are learned and internalized 2

Gender Terminology h Gender Assignment: : Gender is usually assigned at birth and h h h determined by our physical body-type to be male or female. Gender Identity: How one feels internally about one’s own gender — i. e. a sense of being male, female, genderqueer, etc— is gender identity. Gender Expression: The ways that one may present themselves to the world (as masculine, feminine, both, neither, etc. ) express gender via dress, behavior, etc. Cisgender or “Cis”: A person whose behavior or identity matches the gender assigned at birth. Gender Binary: The social construction that there are two, and only two, “natural” and “normal” genders which are assigned at birth. Transgender: Anyone whose behavior or identity falls outside of stereotypical expectations for their gender; a person who transgresses traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Transphobia: Discrimination against transgender people 3

Play 4

Walk like a man, sit like a lady 5

Gendered Clothing 6

Shoes 7

Movies 8

Gendered professions 9

Can you “do gender”? Men Women Men Women 10

Gender is a Social Institution h Different cultures and historic epochs have different markers for gender, e. g, color, dresses. h Gender roles and expectations are changing with times, e. g, child care, military h Some societies have more than 2 genders: berdaches, hijras, xaniths - males who behave like women. h Transgender people carefully construct their gender by changing their way of dressing, talking, and behaving 11

Gender Bending h Transgender people pass easily from one gender to another h Women in positions of power are treated like men, Queen Elizabeth in Saudi Arabia h Lower class women who run shops in Egypt dress and behave like men h Actors and actresses play characters of different genders h Paradoxically, bending gender rules does not erode but preserves gender boundaries 12

Why do we “do gender”? 13

Why do we “do gender”? h Social organizing principle that yields predictable division of labor h Develop conducts and codes and transmit them to future generations h Makes it easier to understand interpret behaviors h Social, cultural, religious pressure and the cost of deviation encourage conformity h Political power, control of scarce resources, and if necessary violence maintain the gender differences 14

Gender Ranking h Rank genders by prestige and power and construct them to be unequal. h Even when men and women do the same thing, it is perceived as different. Women are paid 80% of men. h Gender discrimination -- discrimination based on sex or gender -- is illegal, but requires showing intent. h Gender bending is both necessary and possible because of the socially constructed status of gender h In the US transsexuals who change to women earn less. Those who change to men earn more. 15

Gender-specific Toys 16