Ch 9 Video 2: Sex & Sexuality

Explain how gender is a social construction.

(Clothes, Jobs, Strength) The reality is that minor, average, biological differences are used as the justification for widespread gender stratification, funneling males and females into different jobs, hobbies, and identity constructions. And society then points to this resulting stratification as "proof" of an underlying difference in biological reality, even though that reality doesn't actually exist.

Define intersex.

A significant portion of the population is intersex, that is people [who] are born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies." it can mean having different combinations of sex chromosomes. An intersex condition can also mean that the body responds differently to hormones, or that the genitals aren't fully developed.

What does the Symbolic Interactionist perspective tell us about sexuality?

And that is that sexuality, this intensely private and supposedly primeval thing, is socially constructed. You might think that this is a claim too far, because sexuality is a matter of inbuilt urges. Some things just are sexual. But that's not necessarily true in all societies.

Define secondary sex characteristics.

And then there are secondary sex characteristics, which develop at puberty and are not directly involved in reproduction, things like pubic hair, enlarged breasts or facial hair.

Define sex (as a category).

Sex is a biological category, and it distinguishes between females and males. And biologically speaking, the root cause of sex is a pair of chromosomes: XX for females and XY for males.

What does the Structural Functionalist perspective tell us about sexuality?

Since sexual reproduction is necessary for the reproduction of society, this view says that sex has to be organized in some way, in order for society to function. And society organizes sexuality by using sexual scripts. Before contraception was widespread, it was these norms that controlled how many people were born, by determining when and how often people had sex. And by controlling who had sex with whom, they also, generally, made sure that those kids were born into families that could support them.

Explain how gender is not binary.

Still, both trans and cis people can express their identity in a variety of ways, conventional or otherwise. There are many ways of doing femininities and many ways in which a person can be masculine.

Define primary sex characteristics.

There are primary sex characteristics, which show up as the sex organs involved with the reproductive processes and which develop in utero.

Define sexual scripts.

These are cultural prescriptions that dictate the when, where, how, and with-whom of sex, and what that sex means when it happens. The idea that sex happens at home between two willing partners, for example, is part of a generic sexual script in our society. Likewise, sex that happens between two people who met at a bar might come with a different script - and therefore different shared expectations - than sex between two people who've known each other for a long time.

Explain ways of "doing gender."

What we wear, how we walk and talk, even our personal characteristics - like aggression or empathy - are all ways of "doing" gender. They're ways of making claims to masculinity or femininity that people will see and, hopefully, respect. And we can be sanctioned if we don't do gender right, or well enough.

Define homosexual.

attracted to people of their own sex or gender.

Define sexuality.

basically a shorthand for everything related to sexual behavior: sexual acts, desire, arousal - the entire experience that is deemed sexual.

Define bisexual.

being attracted to both their own and other genders (varied definitions)

Define pansexual.

being attracted to both their own and other genders (varied definitions)

Explain Queer Theory.

challenges this naturalness and especially shows how gender and heterosexuality are tied together. the sexes aren't opposites, there are just two of them at both ends of a spectrum, along with the whole array of variations between them.

Define masculinities.

characteristics assigned to men

Define femininities.

characteristics assigned to women

What are cisgender people?

cisgender people's gender identity matches their biological sex.

Define asexual.

don't experience sexual attraction at all

What are transgender people?

hose whose gender identity doesn't match the biological sex they were assigned at birth.

What is gender expression?

idea of gender as a performance

Define heteronormativity.

makes heterosexuality seem like it's directly linked to biological sex, but heterosexuality is just as much a social construction as any other sexuality. It's defined by dominant sexual scripts, privileged by law, and normalized by social practices, like religious teachings, so it comes to be understood as natural in a way that other sexualities are not. based on the idea of two opposite sexes that naturally fit together, like poles of a magnet: So by this logic, men pursue, women are pursued, men are dominant, women are submissive. But all this is socially constructed.

Define heterosexual.

meaning they're attracted to people of the other gender.

What is gender identity?

refers to a person's internal, deeply held sense of their gender.

What does the Social Conflict perspective tell us about sexuality?

regulating sexuality is also a matter of creating, and reinforcing, inequalities. In particular, our society is traditionally built around heteronormativity. This is the idea that there are only two genders, that gender corresponds to biological sex, and that the only natural and acceptable sexual attraction is between these two genders.

Define gender.

set of social and psychological characteristics that a society considers proper for its males and females. Gender is its own thing, separate from sex. Instead, it's a matter of social construction.

Define sexual orientation.

who you're sexually attracted to, or not.