Gender Roles in Society Sociology 235

Professor: Erica Dixon

My note to you:

• I hope you develop or further enhance your “sociological imagination”

• C. Wright Mills coined this term, and by it he meant:– We are able to see the relationship between

ourselves and society

– We have the ability to see how we are shaped by the historical time period we live in as well as how we shape history

In regards to GENDER

• The Sociological Imagination will allow you to explore the multi-faceted dimensions of being male or female in our society

Multi-faceted…

• Biological

• Cultural

• Psychological

• Social Construction

• Institutions (Work, School, Family)

• Relationships

• Bodies

• What else do you want to learn? You will have a term project to complete – consider picking something new and innovative!

Basic Definitions:

• SEX :

• A social status usually based on genital appearance.

• Persons may be female, male, intersexed, or hermaphodrite – now referred to as DSD (Disorders of Sex Development)

Definitions, cont.

• GENDER:

• A social status usually based on the performance of feminine or masculine roles.*

• Persons may be women or girls, boys or men, or transgendered.

• *culturally relative!

Definitions, cont.

• INTERSEXED or HERMAPHRODITE (DSD)A social status assigned to persons having sex characteristics of both females and males.

• TRANSGENDERED Transgendered persons feel that they do not fit well as either women or men. They may feel themselves to be neither gender, to be both genders, or to be a gender other than what their sex would normally dictate. Persons may be transgendered on the basis of only their feelings about themselves, they may appear ambiguously gendered to others, or they may change their gender and live unnoticed as another gender.

The centrality of Sex and Gender

• Micro Level = Gender is often a Master Status

• Macro Level = How social life & institutions are organized around sex and gender

The two basic questions your text asks and seeks to answer:

• Why does virtually every society differentiate on the basis of gender (sex)?

• Why is virtually every society based on male dominance?

Video: Is it a boy or a girl?

Introduce you to:

• Intersexual = Hermaphrodite (DSD)

• Intersection of biology & culture

• Cultural Comparisons

• Ethics

• Research

• Personal Stories

• Politics

• Gender continuum

Due Monday: June 29th, 5pm

• 1. Post a biography.

• 2. Post a sentence or paragraph, with page reference, that stood out to you from Chapter 1.

• In one or two paragraphs explain to your classmates why it is meaningful to you.

• Be prepared and open to further discuss your and others meaningful sections.