Chapter 9: Gender, Sex, and Sexuality PDF

Chapter 9 Gender, Sex, and Sexuality  For Starters… What it Takes to Be a “Real Man”  Chapter Topics and Overview 9.1 Introduction: Sex, Gender, and Social Construction 9.2 Case Studies in Sex and Gender 9.3 Feminism and Gender Theory: Four Categories 9.4 Applying the Gender L...

Chapter 9 Gender, Sex, and Sexuality  For Starters… What it Takes to Be a “Real Man”  Chapter Topics and Overview 9.1 Introduction: Sex, Gender, and Social Construction 9.2 Case Studies in Sex and Gender 9.3 Feminism and Gender Theory: Four Categories 9.4 Applying the Gender Lens to Life 9.5 Race and Gender: Intersecting Oppression 9.6 Sexuality  9.1 Introduction: Sex and Gender Are Socially Constructed Gender is a highly contested area within sociology Gender is not binary but represents a sliding scale of roles and identities Much of the critical work on gender has been conducted by women, particularly black women and women of colour  Sex and Gender: What’s the Difference? Sex: refers to the biological traits that societies use to categorize people, often (particularly in the West) as either male or female Gender refers to the cultural meaning that societies attach to sex categories. It consists of the behaviours that society considers “normal” for a person of a particular sex. – British sociologist Ann Oakley (b. 1944) was among the first to formally distinguish sex from gender in a sociological way  Sex Category and the Gender Role Gender role: set of attitudes and expectations concerning behaviour that relates to the sex we are assigned at birth – sex as well as gender is a social construct, a framework humans have devised to make sense of the world Intersex refers to anyone born with both “male” and “female” sexual characteristics – may identify with either the male or the female sex category – terms like nonconforming and non-binary are used to signify their resistance to pressure to conform Transgender, a term that reflects Western society’s binary view of sex and gender – A person whose lived identity does not conform with the gender role associated with their assigned sex  Sex Category and the Gender Role Biological sex, is a socially constructed binary, consisting of male and female sex categories assigned at birth – Case study: Caitlyn Jenner, Jenna Takackova, Thomas Beatie Transsexual: is someone with the physical characteristics of one sex category and a persistent desire to belong to another Gender: Sociological term that refers to the roles and characteristics society assigns to women and men – Carries with it notions of inequality between genders Cisgender: is someone who feels affinity with the socially constructed sex category they were assigned at birth, typically (in Western society) either male or female  Two-Spirit People” and “Manly- Hearted Women”: Alternative Gender Roles among North American Aboriginal People Indigenous people in North America have traditionally had a more complex view of gender variability Two-spirit people is the umbrella term to describe those who identify with one of the many gender roles beyond male and female – E.g.,The Navaho, recognize four genders, using the terms nadleehi for male-bodied Two-spirit people, dilbaa for female-bodied Two-spirit people and Ninauposkitzipxpe, or “manly-hearted women,”  9.2 Case Studies in Sex and Gender David Reimer: Assigning Gender – In May 2004, 38-year-old David Reimer of Winnipeg committed suicide – David was the victim of a childhood medical accident that was compounded by an unsuccessful social experiment in assigning gender. – David was castrated and given female hormones; their child, renamed “Brenda,” would be raised as a girl – David was born with traits that we categorize as male. He was forced to undergo surgery and hormone treatment to change his biological  Case Studies in Sex and Gender Measuring Gender -Caster Semenya, two-time Olympic medalist -missed an entire year of competition while the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), track and field’s official governing body, investigated claims that Semenya’s body produced testosterone in levels 25 times greater than those found in most women Raising the Profile of Transgender People – In 2015, Caitlyn Jenner brought the experience of transgender people into public consciousness – Jenner may have become the world’s best-known transgender woman – Jenna Talackova, a Vancouver-born transgender woman and model, fought for and won the right to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada pageant  9.3 Feminism and Gender Theory: Four Categories Feminist sociologists have carried out much of the critical work on gender theory Feminism evolved in a series of “waves,” each distinguished by a different set of objectives Beatrice Kachuck (2003) divides the diverse range of feminist theories into the four categories 1. Liberal feminism 2. Essentialist feminism 3. Socialist feminism 4. Postmodernist feminism  Liberal Feminism Seeks to secure equal rights for women in all phases of public life – E.g., education, jobs and pay – It is associated with the fight for pay equity (same salary) for women working in comparable professions as men – Criticism: reflects mainly the concerns and interests of white, middle-class, heterosexual, cisgender Western women – It is less successful in promoting the interests of women who differ in class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and nationality  Essentialist Feminism Essentialist feminism differs by arguing that women and men are essentially different in the way they think – Men and women have different world views: Men view the world as competition and opposition to others, while women view the world in terms of unity – Patriarchal society devalues femininity Kachuck three main criticisms of Essentialist Feminism – It universalizes women, assuming erroneously that all women experience gender alike; – It confuses natural instincts with strategies that women have devised for coping with the demands of a patriarchal society; and – It encourages us to see women “as social housekeepers in worlds that men build”  Socialist Feminism Looks at intersections of oppression between class and gender – Lower and middle/upper-class women have access to different resources and face different struggles Criticism: “race,” ethnicity, ableism, and sexual orientation get overlooked in the focus on class – Black women in North America face some of the same difficulties of prejudice and stereotyping regardless of class  Postmodernist Feminism Argues there is no natural basis for identities based on gender, ethnicity, “race” and so on. – Social-Constructionist perspective – Opposes essentialist feminism Queer theory – Rejects the idea that male and female genders are natural binary opposites – Gender is a continuum not one of two categories (male and female) Criticism: problematizes, but leads to no conclusions  Gendered Occupation and Education Certain jobs and post-secondary programs are gendered – One gender will be prevalent – The work itself is typically imbued with gendered meanings and defined in gendered terms Example: nursing is associated with words like “nurturing” and “caring,” which are feminine traits and offshoots of motherhood  9.4 Applying the Gender Lens to Life Society continues to organize itself in ways that are gendered. – Separate clothing stores, or departments within stores, for men and for women – Different places for men and women to get their hair cut – Pink is always an option in products for girls, from bicycles and hockey helmets to slippers and bedsheets  The Feminization of Work The feminization of an occupational sphere occurs when a particular job, profession, or industry comes to be dominated by or predominantly associated with women Feminization of an industry is linked to lower earnings, less job protection, fewer benefits – E.g., financial service advisers, administrative assistants Women’s Work During the Eighteenth-Century “Gin Craze” in London Women’s Clerical Work in Canada, 1891–1971 The Feminization of Work Table 9.1 The Feminization of Clerical Workers in Canada, 1891–1971 Total Clerical Women Clerical Workers Year Workers Number Percentage 1891 133,017 4,710 14.3 1901 57,231 12,660 22.1 1911 103,543 33,723 32.6 1921 216,691 90,577 41.8 1931 260,674 117,637 45.1 1941 303,655 152,216 50.1 1951 563,093 319,183 56.7 1961 818,912 503,660 61.5 1971 1,310,910 903,395 68.9 Source: Lowe, 1980.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap In 2000, men outnumbered women by a ratio of at least 2 to 1 in the following occupations categorized by Statistics Canada: - Forestry, fishing, mining, and oil and gas – Manufacturing – Construction – Agriculture These industries are all part of the goods- producing sector, where men made up over 75 per cent of the total labour force  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap Women made up 53 per cent of the workforce and outnumbered men by at least 15 per cent in the following categories: – Finance and insurance – Educational services – Accommodation and food services – Healthcare and social assistance In the last of these categories, the dominance was more than 4 to 1  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap 2018 Labour Force Survey (LFS) show that men now make up 78 per cent of the labour force in the goods-producing sector, while women occupy 78 per cent of jobs in the services-producing sector Recent data suggest that little has changed between 2000 and 2018 Since 1991, top three jobs with a university degree have been 1) elementary school teacher 2) registered nurse 3) secondary teacher  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap 10,000.0 8,000.0 Men Women 6,000.0 4,000.0 2,000.0 0.0 Goods-producing sector Services-producing sector Total Figure 9.1a Labour Force Participation in Canada (1,000), 2018 Source: Statistics Canada, 2018a.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap GOODS-PRODUCING SECTOR Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, Manufacturing Construction Agriculture and oil & gas Total =1,728.4 Total =1,437.5 Total =340.6 Total =277.2 SERVICES-PRODUCING SECTOR Health care and social assistance Educational services Accommodation and food services Finance and insurance Total =2,406.7 Total =1,325.4 Total =1,235.0 Total =828.8 Figure 9.1b Labour Force Participation in Canada by sex (1,000), select industries, 2018 Source: Statistics Canada, 2018b.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap A. Women Figure 9.2 Top 10 Occupations for Women and Men in Canada (2016 Census) Source: Statistics Canada, 2016c.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap B. Men - Figure 9.2 Top 10 Occupations for Women and Men in Canada (2016 Census) Source: Statistics Canada, 2016c.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap A. Women - Figure 9.3 Top 10 Occupations for Canadian Women and Men Aged 25–34 Holding a Postsecondary Certificate, Degree, or Diploma (2016 Census) Source: Statistics Canada, 2016c.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap B. Men - Figure 9.3 Top 10 Occupations for Canadian Women and Men Aged 25–34 Holding a Postsecondary Certificate, Degree, or Diploma (2016 Census) Source: Statistics Canada, 2016c.  Gendered Work Today and the Pay Gap Women still earn just 87 cents for every dollar a man earns, primarily because of the kinds of work women and men do Figure 9.4 Total Women’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Earnings, 1980–2015 - Source: Moyser, 2017, Chart 17  Being a Gender Minority in a Gendered Occupation Sargent’s (2005) research on men in early childhood education drew on Connell’s (1995) four performances of masculinity (four ways of acting out male gender roles): 1. Hegemonic masculinity: practices that normalize and naturalize men’s dominance and women’s subordination 2. Subordinate masculinity: practices that could threaten the legitimacy of hegemonic masculinity 3. Marginalized masculinity: adaptation of masculinities to issues such as race and class 4. Complicit masculinity: practices that do not embody hegemonic processes, but benefit from them  Being a Gender Minority in a Gendered Occupation Sargent’s (2005) research found that being a minority in a gendered job can have a profound impact on one’s gender performance at work Men in early childhood education have to juggle subordinate masculinity (e.g. being nurturing) and stereotypical masculinity performances (e.g. sexualization of the male touch)  Gendered Pay Gap Among Physicians In 2021, the Ontario Medical Association published a study of the pay gap between male and female doctors in the province (recorded in 2017–18, with 31,481 reporting) Two measures of the pay gap were made: daily and annual. The daily gap was a 13.5 per cent difference. Much of this figure could be explained through the greater percentage of specialists, particularly in fields such as neurosurgery, cardiology, and  Gendered Pay Gap Among Physicians According to the Ontario Medical Association, female physicians worked fewer days a year than the male physicians did. Reasons given involved: female physicians taking maternity leave more likely to have family responsibilities of parenting and of being caregivers to older relatives that require their presence  Gendered Pay Gap Among Physicians In another study, (Kennedy, 2021) a certain measure of blame was found Referral bias: whereby male physicians are more likely to be the doctors to whom patients are referred Sexual discrimination: in hiring and promotion, particularly among specialists Lack of leading female physicians in committees negotiating with provincial and federal governments for payment policies  Gender and Education: What Keeps Women from Taking Math and Engineering? STEM dominated by men Unemployment rate for graduates with STEM degrees is higher for women than men Employment mismatch: women with STEM degrees are more likely to be underemployed A. Undergraduate Degrees Awarded in STEM Fields  9.5 “Race” and Gender: Intersecting Oppression “Race” and gender intersect to amplify oppression Two forms of institutionalized sexual violence involving the reproduction rights of women: sexual sterilization and abortions without consent (informed or otherwise) -E.g. the experiences of Indigenous women Recent high-profile Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, published its final report in 2019  Gender and Immigration At times in Canadian history, only the men or the women of a particular ethnic group were permitted or encouraged to immigrate – Chinese Head Tax (exclusion of women) – Foreign Domestic Movement Program & Live-In Caregiver Program (women as immigration pioneers) As temporary and poorly paid employees, the women were vulnerable to exploitation and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse  Misogynoir Misogynoir: a term introduced by Moya Bailey, a black gay feminist It refers to the combination of racism (“noir”) and sexism (“misogyny”) experienced by Black women. First used in reference to the way Black women have been presented in hip hop, and generally in American visual and popular culture. Transmisogynoir: the negative treatment and attitude towards Black people who are born assigned the gender of male but identify with the female gender.  Sexuality Refers to feelings of sexual desire and attraction and how these are expressed; like sex and gender, sexuality is fluid and often changes over time Heterosexual: sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex – Homosexual: (queer or gay is accepted): sexually attracted to same sex – Lesbian: sexually attracted to other women – Bisexual: sexually attracted (equally or unequally) to both sexes LGBTQI2S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, Two-Spirit) – An all-encompassing term for anyone who does not identify as heterosexual and/or cisgender  Sexuality Figure 9.6 The Legal Status of Homosexuality around the World  Summary Gender and sex are different You are born with a sex: typically male or female, although intersex people may be born with both male and female sexual organs Gender is socially constructed to a significant extent. It may not fit neatly into the binary categories “male” and “female”, but may sit somewhere between these two points The social construction of gender applies in areas such as clothing, colours, and  Learning Outcomes: ​ Test Your Knowledge!  Explain the difference between sex and gender and what makes them social constructs  Cite some examples of the way in which society continues to be “gendered.”  Name some of the factors that explain why men or women may be over-represented in a particular kind of work or course of study  Explain what toxic masculinity is.  Define sexuality and comment on how it relates to sex and gender  Describe the intersection of female gender and minoritized ethnicity/“race.”  Source Steckley, J. (2023) Elements of Sociology. (6th Edition). Oxford University Press Canada. 43