Sasa
Section Two: Theoretical Perspectives
Learning Objectives
• To differentiate between gender and sex. • To explain the processes societies use to construct gender. • To learn about gender as a social institution that privileges men over women. • To become familiar with how social institutions, like medicine, contribute to the construction of gender. • To become familiar with intersexual and transgender experiences. • To understand how various structures and unjust power relations maintain gender distinctions. • To consider how other categories of oppression, like race, are involved in the construction of gender.
Section Summary
Theories of gender outline the major processes and social structures that create differences and inequalities between men and women. • The biological characteristics of men and women are called “sex;” the social statuses and meanings assigned to men and women is called “gender.” • Although, there are physical and biological differences between men and women, it can be difficult to separate biological sex and socially constructed gender. • Essentialist theory on gender suggests that biological sex differences create the behavioral differences in men and women. • Social Constructionist theories on gender assert that differences in men’s and women’s behaviors are cultural and vary among societies. • Although most social scientists see gender as socially constructed, it has real consequences for everyday life. • This construction of gender is affected by race, class, sexuality, and nationality.
Reading 6: Judith Lorber, “’Night To His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender”
Although gender is often assumed to be natural, it is an all-encompassing social institution that has power over people. Gender is (1) a process that humans create; (2) a stratification system that ranks people; and (3) a structure that organizes life. • People are socialized
Learning Objectives
• To differentiate between gender and sex. • To explain the processes societies use to construct gender. • To learn about gender as a social institution that privileges men over women. • To become familiar with how social institutions, like medicine, contribute to the construction of gender. • To become familiar with intersexual and transgender experiences. • To understand how various structures and unjust power relations maintain gender distinctions. • To consider how other categories of oppression, like race, are involved in the construction of gender.
Section Summary
Theories of gender outline the major processes and social structures that create differences and inequalities between men and women. • The biological characteristics of men and women are called “sex;” the social statuses and meanings assigned to men and women is called “gender.” • Although, there are physical and biological differences between men and women, it can be difficult to separate biological sex and socially constructed gender. • Essentialist theory on gender suggests that biological sex differences create the behavioral differences in men and women. • Social Constructionist theories on gender assert that differences in men’s and women’s behaviors are cultural and vary among societies. • Although most social scientists see gender as socially constructed, it has real consequences for everyday life. • This construction of gender is affected by race, class, sexuality, and nationality.
Reading 6: Judith Lorber, “’Night To His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender”
Although gender is often assumed to be natural, it is an all-encompassing social institution that has power over people. Gender is (1) a process that humans create; (2) a stratification system that ranks people; and (3) a structure that organizes life. • People are socialized