2 of 15

Sex and Gender: Basic Terminology

	Males	Females
Chromosomes	XY	XX
Primary Sex Characteristics	Testes	Ovaries
Hormones	Androgen	Estrogen
Secondary Sex Characteristics	Deep voice; facial hair; increased muscles mass	Breast development; widening of hips

SEX = biological term referring to ascribed genetic, anatomical, and hormonal differences

3 of 15

Sex and Gender: Basic Terminology

GENDER = term referring to social and psychological traits that are culturally learned (i.e., strong, caring, independent, leader)
GENDER ROLES = commonly assigned tasks or expected behaviors of individuals because of their sex category (i.e., take care of kids, play football, show emotions)

vary greatly from society to society
helps us organize the world and gives us a way of quickly sizing up every person we see on the street.
created to meet needs of society: someone needed to raise children, provide people with the basic necessities (food, clothing, shelter), lead, help resolve conflicts
establishes our life chances and directs our social relations with others

4 of 15

Sex and Gender: Basic Terminology

GENDER	GENDER ROLES	GENDER	GENDER ROLES
Boys / Men		Girls / Women
Independent; assertive	Provide for their families; compete with others	Passive; cooperative	Share; do not complain or stand up for themselves
Aggressive; tough	Hide emotions and fears; stand up for themselves	Nurturing; warm	Raise children; take care of household; express emotion; show affection
Risk-takers; athletic	Men should protect their families and “hunt” for food; participate in “rough and tumble” play or sports	Cautious; delicate	Play with dolls; participate in dance
Mechanical	Like to work with tools and objects; prefer dealing with things; repair things, such as the home, cars, etc; pursue science and mechanical careers/subjects	Social	Help others; pursue careers/subjects in the fields of humanities, education, nursing

5 of 15

Role of Nurture

Does biology or socialization play a greater role in gender differences?
Parents DESCRIBE AND TREAT their girl and boy children differently

From the moment of birth, babies are held and described differently
As they grow:

Girls: talked to more by parents, less freedom, encouraged to help more
Boys: Encouraged to be more independent, explore more

6 of 15

Role of Nurture

NAMES parents select.

Boys are more often given strong, hard names that end in consonants, Bill Tom Peter John.
Girls are more likely to be given soft pretty names with vowel endings such as Linda, Christina, Susie.

TOYS given to boys or girls.

Boys’ rooms are filled with sports equipment, army toys, building and technical toys, and cars and trucks.
Girls’ rooms have fewer toys, and most are related to dolls and domestic roles.

7 of 15

Role of Nurture

BOOKS and CARTOONS

In a classic study of more than 3,000,000 award winning children’s books in the US, they found:

males appear more often in stories, sometimes as male animal characters
activities of male and female characters in books differ, with boys playing active roles and girls being passive or simply helping males
adult women are pictured as more passive and dependent, and few women are depicted as working outside the home
Males are depicted carrying out a range of activities and jobs.

8 of 15

Happy 1st Birthday!

9 of 15

Girls Life vs. Boys Life

10 of 15

What if Girls’ Life looked like this?

11 of 15

Role of Nurture

If biology played a role in gender, then men and women in all societies would behave uniformly in their unique ways because of inborn biological forces beyond their control.
Example of gender role variation = Wodaabe society in Niger, Africa

Men = take great care in doing their hair, applying makeup, and dressing to attract women. They also gossip with each other while sipping their tea.
Women = cook meals, care for the children, clean, tend to the animals, plant small gardens, and prepare for the next move of this nomadic group.

12 of 15

Gender and Google Translator

In Turkish, there are no gender specific pronouns, only “O” for both.

13 of 15

Role of Nature

Evidence of the Importance of Biology…

Brain Differences

Men show more activity in a region of the brain though to be tied to adaptive evolutionary responses, such as fighting
Women have more activity in the region of the brain linked to emotional expression
Women use both sides of the brain simultaneously when performing a task

Influence of hormones

Testosterone influences more aggressive behavior, while estrogen and oxytocin promote nurturing and emotion.
In rats, testosterone given in the first week of life can cause female babies to behave more like males once they reach adulthood.
Brains of transgender individuals might react differently to the hormones.

14 of 15

Social Construction of Gender

Gender and gender roles are a Social Construction of Reality

Social Construction of Reality = Individuals and groups create their perceived reality through social interaction.

All knowledge (what we do, why we do it, how we do it or what we believe) is arbitrary and has no built in meaning.
Humans determine meaning based on the context (historical and cultural) in which they live.

Contemporary gender theorists usually argue that a two-gender system is neither innate nor universal.

Third gender = individuals who are considered to be neither women nor men, as well as the social category present in societies who recognize three or more genders.
The term has been used to describe Hijras of India and Pakistan, Fa’afafine of Polynesia, and Muxes of Mexico

15 of 15

Social Construction of Gender

Navajo scholar Wesley Thomas explains that Navajo culture has four genders:

Given that Navajo culture is matrilineal , the first gender is feminine woman (asdzaan). They are born biologically female and function socially as women;
Masculine man (hastiin), are born biologically male and adopt the role of men;
Feminine man (nádleehí) are born biologically male and function socially as women; and
Masculine woman (dilbaa) are born biologically female but function as men.