1. Chapter 5: Gender and Gender Roles
Human Sexuality
Chapter 5: Gender and
Gender Roles

2. Gender: Topic Areas Impact of gender on human development
Gender and sexual development
Biological and cultural perspectives
Sexual orientation
Gender stereotypes and health
Gender socialization
Gender variance and gender identity
Biological differences: brain, hormones, anatomy

3. Sex Sex: biologically male or female, based on chromosomes and anatomy
Genetics: XX or XY
Anatomical: genitals/bodily differences

4. Gender
Gender: a social construct; related to notions of masculinity and femininity
Gender Identity: the gender one believes oneself to be

5. Gender
Gender roles: attitudes, behaviors, rights and responsibilities assigned to us based on our sex
Varies by culture

6. Gender
Gender-role stereotypes: rigidly held, oversimplified beliefs about sex appropriate behavior.

7. Gender
Gender-role attitudes: our personal perspectives/beliefs about sex appropriate behavior
Gender-role behaviors: activities/behaviors we engage in as influenced by our sex/gender

8. Gender Gender presentation: how our sex/gender is perceived by others
Based on our physical appearance, movements, habits, personality, etc.
Baby X study

9. Gender: Congruence and Incongruence
Biological, cultural, psychological, and social contexts of gender
These contexts can be congruent or incongruent
Examples?

10. Gender Variations
Some do not conform to socially/culturally constructed gender norms
How are such violations represented in dominant discourses?
Psychological impact of gender variations?

11. Social Construction of Gender Identity
U.S.: gender identity- internalized by age 2
East African societies: boys is a “woman-child” until an initiation rite which makes him a man
Mundugumor of New Guinea: women are expected to be violent/aggressive

12. Instrumentality and Expressiveness
Instrumentality: being task-oriented; stereotypically applied to males
Expressiveness: being emotionally oriented/focused; stereotypically applied to females
“Gender Quotient Test”

13. Gender Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation
Ex. Gay men are not masculine; Lesbian women are not feminine
Gay people may have more flexible interpretations of gender roles and expectations (Lippa, 2000)

14. Cognitive Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura
We “learn” gender as a result of:
Reinforcements and consequences
Imitation/modeling and observation
The social world provides many models and messages about gender
Body image: “Women’s Ideal Bodies”

15. Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Developmental level impacts cognitive processing of gender
Understanding gender in developmental perspective

16. Gender Schemas Mental frameworks for understanding gender
Accounts for gender stereotypes

17. Social Constructionism
Cultures invent or “construct” notions of gender
Mediated by language and social systems

18. Social Constructionism
Feminist Studies
Post-Modern Approaches
Queer Theory

19. Social Constructionism and Identity
(Cohen & Savin-Williams, 1996)
Many sexual minority youth are not identifying as gay
Rejection of the social construction of sexual orientation

20. Contextual Influences on Gender
Parents “socialize” gender
Messages about gender appropriate behavior
Directing children to gender appropriate toys

21. Parents “Socialize” Gender
Differential language for the same behavior: “active” boy vs. a girl who is a “tomboy”
Directing children toward gender appropriate activities (I.e. helping mom in the kitchen)

22. Gender Socialization Peers: peer pressure, reinforce gender norms
Teachers: differential treatment based on gender? Classroom reinforcement
Media: gender roles and stereotypes

23. Sexual “Scripts”
Script: acts/rules/expectations associated with a particular role (male and female “scripts”)
Men/women are impacted by certain “scripts” internalized from social interactions

24. Male Sexual Scripts (Zilbergeld, 1992)
Men should not have/express certain feelings
Sex is for physicality
Men are in charge

25. Male Sexual Scripts Men always want and are ready for sex
Men should be sexually skilled and successful in sexual interactions

26. Female Sexual Scripts (Barbach, 2001)
Sex is good and bad (good in the context of a marriage, stigmatized elsewhere)
Masturbation is stigmatized
Sex is for men; women are sexually passive (nurturers)

27. Female Sexual Scripts Women should not articulate their needs/desires
Women shouldn’t discuss sex
Women should look like models

28. Androgyny Both instrumental and expressive traits
Flexibility in gender roles

29. Intersexed People Ambiguous genitalia 1 in every 2,000 births
Due to genetic or hormonal factors

30. Intersexed People
Sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or internal reproductive system
Underdeveloped penis or enlarged clitoris

31. Intersexed People: Chromosomal Abnormalities
Turner Syndrome: XO
1 in 2,000 births
Female external genitalia, no ovaries

32. Turner Syndrome
Secondary sexual development cannot occur; no menstruation
Short
Treated with hormonal therapy
Infertility

33. Klinefelter Syndrome XXY;XXXY;XXXXY 1 in 1,000 births
Male genitalia (small penis)
Female characteristics: breasts

34. Klinefelter Syndrome Sparse body hair Learning disabilities
Low sex drive, sexual dysfunction

35. Intersexed People: Hormonal Disorders
Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome:
(testicular feminization)
Inherited condition; passed on through X chromosomes

36. Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome
1 in 13,000 individuals
Genetically male
Born with undescended testes (inside the abdomen)
estrogen is prevalent in the body

37. Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome
Vagina and labia, but no female internal reproductive structures
Secondary female characteristics develop during puberty, without pubic hair

38. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Genetic female
Ovaries
Malfunctioning adrenal gland
Develops externally as a male

39. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
1 in 13,000 births
Penis and empty scrotum
External genitalia are ambiguous
Often assigned “female”

40. DHT Deficiency Unable to convert testosterone to DHT
Internal male organs
Ambiguous external genitalia (looking more female)

41. DHT Deficiency
Begin to look male during puberty (genitalia and physical development)

42. Gender Identity Disorder
Cross-gender identification
Discomfort with one’s assigned gender
Psychological distress

43. Transsexuality Gender identity and sexual anatomy are not compatible
Different from homosexuality

44. Transgendered People
Arguably the most stigmatized sexual minority

45. Transgendered People An umbrella term; inclusive
Flexibility in terms of gender and social identity
Move toward transgender rights; legal to fire transgender people in many states

46. Positioning Theory Rom Harre
We “position” ourselves and others in discourse
Power relationships

47. Positioning Theory
Ex. Positioning oneself as an expert, others as uninformed
Ex. Positioning oneself as masculine, another male as powerless/emasculated

48. Masculinity How does culture/society construct masculinity?
Dominant discourses on masculinity
Contested discourses on masculinity

49. Masculinity
How are constructions of masculinity sustained and reproduced?

50. Hyper-masculinity Exaggerated, stereotypical male behavior Aggression
Strength
Dominance

51. Chauvinism Origins: nationalism; revering one’s own group
Current usage: male/female relationships
Refers to *power*

52. Anxious Masculinity
Enactments of masculinity/manliness that are motivated by a fear of being perceived as feminine
“the most important thing about being a man is not being a woman” – Ducat, S.

53. Anxious Masculinity Rejection of feminine activities/qualities
Rejection of non-heterosexual discourses
Challenging/needing to prove one’s manliness

54. Mixed Cultural Messages
Masculinity
Need to be strong, unemotional, rational, dominant
Constructions of the “modern man”- emotionally connected and sensitive

55. Mansfield article “The Manliness of Men”
Holds that feminists fault men for society’s ills
“gains and losses” in the women’s movement

56. Mansfield article
Women have a problem with manliness because they are excluded
Argues that women overcompensate/seek to be more like men

57. Mansfield article
“Feminists insist that men must work harder to appreciate women. Yet they never ask women to be more understanding of men” - Mansfield

58. Mansfield article
Because women don’t want to be dependent, men may become more selfish (an unintended consequence)

59. Mansfield article
Equates masculinity with “noble sacrifice for a cause beyond oneself”

60. Ducat book Central Questions:
When are men so terrified of being like women?
Why must men constantly prove their masculinity?

61. Ducat: Men’s “fear of the feminine”
Being a “sissy” has a very negative connotation
Cross-gender behaviors are taboo in men

62. Ducat Men are encouraged to “cut the apron strings”
Exude independence; reject nurturance from mom

63. Ducat
Studies: men were more anxious when engaging in cross gender activities, answering cross gender questions

64. Ducat Men are conflicted Men reject all things feminine
May secretly want to violate these gender barriers

65. Ducat
Men are attracted to qualities in women that they detest in themselves