Gender and Society Lecture (1) PDF

Gender and society Lesson 1: concepts related to gender studies Sex Characteristics or Sex (The Yogyakarta Principles, 2017) - These are a person’s physical traits that indicate their biological sex, such as chromosomes, external genitalia, gonads, hormones, and internal reproductiv...

Gender and society Lesson 1: concepts related to gender studies Sex Characteristics or Sex (The Yogyakarta Principles, 2017) - These are a person’s physical traits that indicate their biological sex, such as chromosomes, external genitalia, gonads, hormones, and internal reproductive organs. Primary Sex Characteristics - These are the traits present at birth, such as vagina and penis. Secondary Sex Characteristics- These are the organs/body parts that develop during puberty, such as larger breasts and Adam’s apples. There are people who can be described as INTERSEX their primary and/or secondary sex characteristics or the combination of their biological traits differ from the two expected patterns of “female” and “male,” and therefore cannot be easily categorized as either of them (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.). Also, these intersex characteristics can either be present at birth or develop during puberty. (Using the word  “HERMAPHRODITE” to describe intersex people has negative connotations/ implications (University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). SEX ASSIGNED AT BIRTH categorizes a person as female or male and is based on external genitalia (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.). In most countries, including the Philippines, infants can only be assigned either female or male. So, if an infant or fetus has a vagina, they’re ASSIGNED FEMALE AT BIRTH, but if they have a penis, they’re ASSIGNED MALE AT BIRTH. Remember: Intersex youth with ambiguous genitalia are assigned a sex by their doctors and/or parents, and doctors often perform surgeries to match the intersex person’s genitalia with their sex assigned at birth and the gender their parents raise them as. These medical interventions are irreversible and done without the consent of intersex youth. (Read more about intersex people and intersex issues at intersexadvocates.org.) Things to remember about sex Biological or physiological Assigned at birth Can be changed GENDER encompasses these cultural and societal expectations of how girls, women, boys, and men should be. It categorizes a person’s femaleness/womanhood or maleness/manhood based on sex assigned at birth (University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d). Things to remember about gender Social, Psychological, and Cultural Analytical and Political, Categorical Gender norms can be learned and internalized Gender norms vary (time and place) Deeply personal and Expression Sexual Characteristics Examples Women can menstruate while men cannot. Men have testicles while women do not. Gender Characteristics Examples In most countries, women earn significantly less than men. In most countries of the world, women do more housework than men. GENDER IDENTITY (GI) is a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, whether as female, male, or another identity, which may or may not align with their sex assigned at birth (University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). If your gender matches your sex assigned at birth, you’re CISGENDER (shortened to CIS). (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). However, if your gender doesn’t align with your sex assigned at birth, you’re TRANSGENDER (sometimes TRANSGENDER+, or shortened to TRANS or TRANS*), which is an umbrella term that describes people whose gender doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth (GLAAD, 2018). People usually think of gender as a binary of woman and man (GENDER BINARY) or as a spectrum with woman on one end and man on the other (GENDER SPECTRUM), but not all people think of gender this way. NON-BINARY GENDERS, or genders outside of the woman-man binary and spectrum, have existed throughout history across many cultures, including the Philippines (GLAAD, 2018, Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). TRANSITIONING is a usually-long, complex, and personal process that transgender people undergo to live as their true selves. There are various modes of transitioning: INTERNAL, SOCIAL, LEGAL, and MEDICAL—all of which are considered GENDERAFFIRMING ACTS (University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). To internally transition means that a transgender person has already come out to themselves as transgender. Social transitioning involves coming out to one’s family, friends, schoolmates, or coworkers. It also encompasses using a gender-affirming name and/or pronouns, changing the way one acts or speaks, wearing clothes that match one’s gender, and other similar gender-affirming acts. Legal transitioning involves changing one’s name or sex/gender marker in legal documents, such as birth certificates. Medical transition encompasses hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or gender-affirming surgery. (Using the phrase “SEXUAL REASSIGNMENT SURGERY” has negative connotations/implications. In the Philippines, to legally transition is on a case-to-case basis. Some transgender people have changed their name (only if it is a derivative or a short form of their legal name), but only intersex transgender people have changed their sex/gender marker. Medical transitioning, however, is possible in the country. TRANSSEXUAL people are transgender people who have undergone or are currently undergoing medical transitioning, i.e., hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and/or gender-affirming surgery. Not all transgender people can or want to medically transition. Remember, not all transgenders are transexuals, but all transexuals are transgenders. GENDER EXPRESSION (GE) is the external appearance of a person’s gender, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut, names, pronouns, or voice, which may or may not conform to their gender identity or to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either feminine or masculine (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). Gender expression can be related to gender identity, as women are expected to be feminine and men are expected to be masculine. When one’s gender expression aligns with their gender identity, they are described as GENDER CONFORMING (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). However, when one’s gender expression doesn’t match their gender identity, they are GENDER NON-CONFORMING (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). SEXUAL ORIENTATION (SO) is a person’s inherent and enduring capacity for emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to people of a different gender, the same gender, or more than one gender (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). If you’re a man attracted to people of a different gender than yours (women, for example), or vice-versa, you’re HETEROSEXUAL. You may identify as GAY if you’re attracted to people of the same gender as yours. Gay can describe both men attracted to other men and women attracted to other women (as in “gay woman”). However, LESBIAN is more commonly used if you’re a woman attracted to other women. (Using the word “STRAIGHT” to describe heterosexual people and the word “HOMOSEXUAL” to describe gay men and lesbian women has negative connotations/implications (GLAAD, n.d.). Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian are MONOSEXUAL labels that refer to attraction to people of one gender. If you’re attracted to people of more than one gender (men and women, for example), you’re BISEXUAL. Asexuality is different from abstinence and celibacy, which are both personal choices. The experiences of asexual people vary: they may or may not experience emotional or romantic attraction, and they may or may not masturbate and/or have sex, despite their absence or lack of sexual attraction. The Q in LGBTQIA+ (commonly “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender and sexual minority identities”) means QUEER and QUESTIONING. QUEER used to be a slur towards the LGBTQIA+ community. It was reclaimed in the 1980s and is now a radical and transgressive umbrella term for people whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression does not conform to societal cisgender-heterosexual norms. QUESTIONING is used to refer to people who are still in the process of exploring their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression (GLAAD, n.d.; Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; University of California Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center, n.d.). The + in LGBTQIA+ stands for all other gender and sexual minority identities that are not part of the first seven letters, recognizing the diversity of sex, gender, and sexuality. Instead of using the initialism “LGBTQIA+”, some use the phrase “PEOPLE OF DIVERSE SOGIESC” because it’s more inclusive of gender non-conforming people who are not lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual. GENDER AFFIRMATIVE TERMS USE “SEXUAL ORIENTATION” INSTEAD OF “SEXUAL PREFERENCE.” For many people—heterosexual, asexual, bisexual, gay, and lesbian alike—sexual attraction is not a choice, unlike what the term “preference” implies. USE “[BEING] GAY / LESBIAN” INSTEAD OF “HOMOSEXUAL[ITY].” The term “homosexuality” (and “homosexual”) originated from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) when they classified same-gender attraction as a mental illness. However, the “pathology” behind same-gender attraction has long been discredited by several institutions since the 1970s, including the aforementioned APA as well as the World Health Organization (GLAAD, n.d.). USE “HETEROSEXUAL” INSTEAD OF “STRAIGHT.” “Straight” implies that asexual, bisexual, gay, and lesbian people (i.e., people who are not heterosexual) are “crooked.” USE THE TERMS “ASEXUAL,” “BISEXUAL,” AND “GAY” AS ADJECTIVES INSTEAD OF NOUNS. For example, say “she is asexual” instead of “she is an asexual.” “Lesbian” is both used as a noun and an adjective. Saying “they are lesbians” and “they are lesbian women” are both correct. USE THE INITIALISM “LGBTQIA+” TO DESCRIBE A GROUP OF PEOPLE OF DIVERSE SOGIESC INSTEAD OF AN INDIVIDUAL PERSON. For example, say “he is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community” instead of “he is an LGBTQIA+ person.” AVOID “HOMOSEXUAL / GAY / LESBIAN COUPLE,” “HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS,” AND “HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP.” Ask the people themselves how they would like to be described as. Using “homosexual,” “gay,” or “lesbian” to describe couples may erase bisexual identities within same-gender relationships. Otherwise, avoid labeling couples or relationships when unnecessary. USE “MARRIAGE EQUALITY” INSTEAD OF “GAY MARRIAGE” OR “SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.” Using “gay” or “same-sex” to describe marriage erases other sexual minority identities, such as asexual, bisexual, and lesbian people, as well as transgender identities. MARRIAGE EQUALITY is more inclusive.