women's gender sexuality midterm

Lorber's Theory of Gender as Process, Stratification, Structure

As a process gender creates the social differences that define "woman" and "man." In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order. Gender norms are constructed by society and can be punished if deviated too far from socially imposed standards for women and men. In the stratification system, gender ranks men above women of the same race and class. In a gender-stratified society what men do is usually valued more highly than what women do because men do it, even when their activities are very similar. When gender is a major component of structured inequality, the devalued genders have less power, prestige, and economic rewards than the valued genders.

Body Practices that Discipline and Regulate:

Beauty norms are internalized and we receive various positive and negative responses for complying with or resisting them. This is especially true when it comes to hair. It is interesting to think about these everyday behaviors that maintain the body: the seemingly trivial routines, rules, and practices. They are "practices" because they involve taken-for-granted routine behaviors such as shaving legs, applying makeup, or curling/straightening/coloring of hair; and they are "disciplinary" because they involve social control in the sense that we spend time, money, and effort, and imbue meaning in these practices that regulate our lives.

Theory of Social Construction vs. Theory of Biological Determinism

Biological determinism is exactly that: the belief that biology determines such characteristics as behavior, ability, likes, dislikes, etc. Biological determinism is the theory behind the phrase: "boys will be boys." Social constructionism, on the other hand, is the theory that social identifiers, like race and gender, among others, are created by society rather than biology. Many argue that social constructionism is a much stronger force in shaping behavior and other social characteristics.

Heterosexuality/ Homosexuality Binary:

In this binary model, "sex", "gender" and "sexuality" are assumed by default to align; for example, a person assigned male at birth would be assumed masculine in appearance, character traits and behavior, including a heterosexual attraction to people assigned female at birth. Classification within this gender binary does not allow room for individuals who are born with non-binary reproductive organs and may exclude those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, genderqueer or third gender.

Birdcage Metaphor:

It has to do with Frye's theory of oppression. If you look very closely at just one wire in the cage, you cannot see the other wires. If your conception of what is before you is determined by this myopic focus, you could look at that one wire, up and down the length of it, and be unable to see why a bird would not just fly around the wire any time it wanted to go somewhere. Furthermore, even if, one day at a time, you myopically inspected each wire, you still could not see why a bird would gave trouble going past the wires to get anywhere. There is no physical property of any one wire, nothing that the closest scrutiny could discover, that will reveal how a bird could be inhibited or harmed by it except in the most accidental way. It is only when you step back, stop looking at the wires one by one, microscopically, and take a macroscopic view of the whole cage, that you can see why the bird does not go anywhere; and then you will see it in a moment.

Frye's Theory of Oppression:

One of the most characteristic and ubiquitous features of the world as experienced by oppressed people is the double bind - situations in which options are reduced to a very few and all of them expose one to penalty, censure or deprivation. The experience of oppressed people is that the living of one's life is confined and shaped by forces and barriers which are not accidental or occasional and hence avoidable, but are systematically related to each other in such a way as to catch one between and among them and restrict or penalize motion in any direction. It is the experience of being caged in: all avenues, in every direction, are blocked or booby trapped.

Prejudice vs. Discrimination:

Prejudice has to do with the inflexible and irrational attitudes and opinions held by members of one group about another, while discrimination refers to behaviors directed against another group. Being prejudiced usually means having preconceived beliefs about groups of people or cultural practices.

Sexual Scripts/ Norms:

The idea of sexual script brings a new metaphor and imagery for understanding human sexual activity as social and learned interactions. The concept was introduced by sociologists John H. Gagnon and William Simon

Theory of Intersectionality:

The view that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity.

gender expression:

The way we represent ourselves to the world. It is how we perform and express gender to those around us. In this way, gender is a pervasive theme in our world., shaping social life and forming attitudes, behavior, and individual's sense of self.

non-binary

Those with non-binary genders can feel that they: Have an androgynous (both masculine and feminine) gender identity, such as androgyne. Have an identity between male and female, such as intergender. Have a neutral or non-existant gender identity, such as agender or neutrois.

femininity:

Varies across cultures and intersections with other identities. Adjectives associated with traditional notions of femininity in contemporary main stream North American society include soft, passive, domestic, nurturing, emotional, dependent, sensitive, as well as delicate, intuitive, fastidious, needy, fearful, etc. Todays feminine view is the superwoman. Women are expected to work in the public world but also come home and be domestic and nurturing while also being thin and beautiful.

Essentialism:

a belief that things have a set of characteristics that make them what they are, and that the task of science and philosophy is their discovery and expression; the doctrine that essence is prior to existence. It is what is necessary, quality, attributes that make up a person.

Dichotomous (or Binary) Thinking:

a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

Double Bind:

a situation in which a person is faced with contradictory demands or expectations, so that any action taken will appear to be wrong. Both scenarios you will be viewed negatively, you cannot win. Ex: when girls are not having enough sex you frigid but if you have too much sex then you're a slut. This is an important part of oppression.

Identity Politics:

a tendency for people of a particular religion, race, social background, etc., to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics. This is from Hurdis. Ex: feminism, gay marriage, etc.

Objectification:

being made into object for male pleasure, treating women like objects

gender identity:

concerns how one feels internally about one's own gender. This is a generated sense of self that come from within and may or may not match one's assigned at birth.

Institutionalized:

established as part of an official organization

"doing gender"

femininities and masculinities are performed by bodies in a series of repetitive acts that we usually take for granted and tend to see at "natural." As we do gender these practices (walking, speaking, or sitting a certain way) are always shaped by discourse regimes of truth that give these actions meaning. Gender is not only what we "do"; it is a process by which we "are" or "become"

Fragmentation:

from Dreamworlds 3 discussion, breaking ones self down because you're feeling the loss of self. In Dreamworlds 3 the director was talking about fragmentation as in women are fragmenting their bodies, ex: some times the women were only showing their butts at one time. Instead of seeing them as a whole person you were only seeing the sexual parts of their bodies.

Body as Women's Primary Project:

garment industries in the US helped sexualize women's breasts through their development of the bra. Corporate powers, advertising, and the fashion, cosmetics, and entertainment industries all help create standards for us to reinforce gender relations. Even the "natural" look is sold to us as something to be tried on, when obviously the real natural look is devoid of marketing illusions in the first place.

Social Construction of Gender

gender is a process that involves multiple patterns of interaction created and re-created constantly in human interaction. Because gender is so central in shaping our lives, much of what is gendered we do not even recognize; it' made normal and ordinary and occurs on subconscious level.

Misogyny:

hatred of, or contempt for women

Representation:

how males and females are presented (honestly I have no idea what this definition is)

"The Mythical Norm":

how people view BEAUTY based on things such as T.V. and magazines. These images are created they are not real. People try to act and look like these fake images and forget who THEY actually ARE

social construction of sex:

human sexuality involved erotic attractions, identity, and practices, and it is constructed by and through societal sexual scripts.

Body Politics:

in insidious ways, we learned that our value is in our sex appeal, that our worth is our size 2 jeans. We were all raised to believe that, for women, thin and pretty are synonymous and if you're neither, you might as well not exist. Brains are irrelevant. Beauty reigns supreme.

Machismo:

involves breaking rules, sexual potency contextualized in the blending of sex and violence, and contempt for women.

Heteropatriarchy:

is a socio-political system in which the male gender and the heterosexuality have primacy over other genders and over other sexual orientations.

binary:

is the classification of sex and gender into two distinct, opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine. It is one general type of a gender system.

Internalized Oppression:

is when a member of an oppressed group believes and acts out the stereotypes created about their group.

masculinity:

main stream North American society masculinity is associated with intelligence, courage, and honesty with the addition of two other key dimensions. One involves the potent sexuality and an affinity for violence; the machismo element. Weakness is avoided at all costs. The second dimension is the provider role, composed of ambition, confidence, competence and strength.

Double Standard:

may take the form of an instance in which certain concepts (often, for example, a word, phrase, social norm, or rule) are perceived as acceptable to be applied by one group of people, but are considered unacceptable—taboo—when applied by another group.

Norms/ Normative/ Normativity:

mythical norm is white, middle class, heterosexual, abled, thin, and a young adult, which is normalized or taken for granted such that we often forget that whites are racialized and men are gendered.

Queer Politics / 'Queering'/ Queerness:

originally queer just meant odd, but in the early 20th century it was applied to gays in a derogatory way. It has been reclaimed as a source of self-empowerment by those who reject the categories of straight, gay, lesbian, and bisexual, and who seek to live alternative sexual identities that are more fluid and less rigidly put into binary boxes.

gender role:

set of societal norms dictating the types of behaviors which are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their actual or perceived sex or sexuality.

Social Institutions:

social organizations that involve established patterns of behavior organized around particular purposes.

Heteronormativity:

the belief that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life. It assumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or only norm, and states that sexual and marital relations are most (or only) fitting between people of opposite sexes. Assumption that heterosexuality is the norm, it is def dominant. No one sees the representation of something else.

Marginalization:

the expulsion of entire groups of people form useful participation in social life that potentially subjects them to severe material deprivation and possible extermination.

Compulsory heterosexuality:

the idea that heterosexuality, particularly in females, is both assumed and enforced by a patriarchal society. Heterosexuality is then viewed as the natural inclination or obligation by both sexes. Consequently, anyone who differs from the normalcy of heterosexuality is deemed deviant or abhorrent. Used to describe how social norms expect heterosexuality. ex: coming out as straight is literally not a thing, it is seen as natural and expected and normal.

Systemic/ Structural/ Institutionalized Inequality:

these central organizations are central in creating systems of inequality and privilege because they pattern and structure differences among women in relatively organized ways

Myth of Meritocracy:

this comes from McIntosh, there is no meritocracy, this relates to oppression and there is like an invisible wall. She does not believe meritocracy is real. McIntosh describes this as a way whites and males are raised to believe that they earned and deserved everything they had, they did not work for it they were born into it.

transgender:

those who change or cross their gender binaries

cisgender:

those whose gender identity or expression matches their assigned gender by societal standards.

intersex:

those with reproductive or sexual autonomies that do not seem to fit the typical binary definitions of "female" and "male." Fausto Sterling talked about this, she is critiquing the way medical authorities categorize people. She's using intersex as a real possibility but using it in a theoretical sense, she is saying this binary is ridiculous bc people do not physically fall into these 2 categories. Now the medical authorities have added another category and called that intersex. This IS a medical categorization for ppl outside the binary.

gender assignment

usually given to us at birth and determined by our physical body type to be male or female. The assignment decided by the doctors and parents, is the first classification an individual receives.

McIntosh's Theory of Privilege, Unearned Entitlements & Conferred Dominance:

white privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear and blank checks.