Chapter 9: Constructing Gender and Sexuality

Microaggressions

Everyday uses of subtle verbal and nonverbal communication that convey denigrating or dismissive messages to members of certain social groups.

Homophobia

Fear of or discrimination toward gay, lesbian, and bisexual people.

Transphobia

Fear of or discrimination toward transgender or other gender-nonconforming people.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Physical differences between males and females, including facial and body hair, musculature, and bone structure, that are unrelated to reproduction.

Homosexuality

Sexual attraction toward members of one's one gender.

Heterosexuality

Sexual attraction toward members of the other gender.

Bisexuality

Sexual attraction towards members of both genders.

Queer Theory

Social theory about gender and sexual identity; emphasizes the importance of difference and rejects ideas of innate identities or restrictive categories.

Cisgender

Term used when gender identity and/or expression aligns with the sex assigned at birth.

Gender Nonconforming

Term used when gender identity and/or expression differs from societal expectations about gender roles.

Transgender

Term used when gender identity and/or expression is different from the sex assigned at birth.

Heteronormativity

The belief that heterosexuality is and should be the norm.

Sexism

The belief that one sex is innately superior to the other.

Sexuality

The character or quality of being sexual.

First Wave

The earliest period of feminist activism in the United States, including the period from the mid-nineteenth century until American women won the right to vote in 1920.

Feminization of Poverty

The economic trend showing that women are more likely than men to live in poverty, caused in part by the gendered gap in wages, the higher proportion of single mothers compared to single fathers, and the increasing costs of child care.

Sexual Orientation or Identity

The inclination to feel sexual desire toward people of a particular gender.

Asexuality

The lack of sexual attraction of any kind; no interest in or desire for sex.

Gender Role Socialization

The lifelong process of learning to be masculine or feminine, primarily through four agents of socialization.

Third Wave

The most recent period of feminist activity, focusing on issues of diversity and the variety of identities women can possess.

Suffrage Movement

The movement organized around gaining voting rights for women.

Second Wave

The period of feminist activity during the 1960s and 1970s often associated with the issues of women's equal access to employment and education.

Gender

The physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers normal for its male and female members.

Expressive Role

The position of the family member who provides emotional support and nurturing.

Instrumental Role

The position of the family member who provides the family's material support and is often an authority figure.

Social Learning

The process of learning behaviors and meanings through social interaction.

Second Shift

The unpaid housework and child care often expected of women after they complete their day's paid labor.

Essentialists

Those who believe gender roles have a genetic or biological origin and therefore cannot be changed.

Constructionists

Those who believe that notions of gender are socially determined, such that a dichotomous system is just one possibility among many.

Toxic Masculinity

A masculine idea that espouses extreme and harmful attitudes and behaviors and may lead to various negative effects women and men.

Hegemonic Masculinity

A masculine ideal that promotes characteristics such as independence, aggression, and toughness, and rejects any alternate qualities in men.

Men's Liberation

A movement that originated in the 1970s to discuss the challenges of masculinity.

Gender Binary

A system of classification with only two distinct and opposite categories.

Prejudice

An idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group and is unlikely to change regardless of the evidence against it.

Gender Expression

An individual's behavioral manifestations of gender.

Sex

An individual's membership in one of two categories - male or female - based on biological factors.

Gender Identity

An individual's self-definition or sense of gender.

Misogyny

An ingrained prejudice against women; dislike, contempt, or hatred of women.

Men's Rights Movement

An offshoot of male liberationism whose members believe that feminism promotes discrimination against men.

Pro-Feminist Men's Movement

An offshoot of male liberationism whose members support feminism and believe that sexism harms both men and women.

Feminism

Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes; also the social movements organized around that belief.

Cisgenderism

Belief in the superiority of cisgender persons and identities.

Heterosexism

Belief in the superiority of heterosexuality and heterosexuals.

Primary Sex Characteristics

Biological factors, such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs, that distinguish males from females.

LGBTQ

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.

Patriarchy

Literally meaning "rule of the father"; a male-dominated society.

Coming Out

Openly declaring one's true identity to those who might not be aware of it; short for "coming out of the closet," a phrase used to describe how LGBTQ persons have felt compelled to keep their sexual orientation or gender identity secret.

Privilege

Unearned advantage accorded to members of dominant social groups (males, whites, heterosexuals, the physically able, etc.).

Discrimination

Unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice.

Intersex

Used to describe a person whose chromosomes or sex characteristics are neither exclusively male nor exclusively female.