Gender

1
Gender
2
Social Constructed

• Gender is socially created
• Roles and behaviors associated with sex
• Doing Gender
• Creates or exaggerates separation
• Masculine vs. Feminine
• Stereotypes reveal gender expectations
• Androgynyattempt to get away from boy vs.
  girl
• Do we need 2 gender categories in a post-modern
  society?

3
Gender as a Universality

• Culture determines gender expectations
• Variances occur between societies
• New Guinea (Margaret Mead)
• the Arapesh and Mundugumor follow gender patterns
  similar to the West
• Tchambuli have reversed gender roles (men are
  catty and go shopping, women are energetic and
  managerial)
• Gender must be socialized in the family and
  supported in outside institutions (religion,
  education, government, etc)

4
Change

• If gender is socially created and transmitted
  through socialization then it can be altered
• Again--push for androgyny
• Strong, sensitive men and women to cope with
  reality of post-industrial demands
• ? of those that don't fit
• Physical and emotional misfits

5
Physical Abnormalities

• According to John Hopkins Hospital, 1 in 100
  births have some genetic error occur during the
  stages of sex differentiation

6
Physical Abnormalities

• Most common
• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) 1 in 13,000
  births
• Ambiguous genitals---XX does not secrete female
  hormone
• Testosterone Biosynthetic Defects 1 in 13,000
  births
• Ambiguous genitalsXY does not secrete male
  hormone
• Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome 1 in 13,000
  births
• XY that have external female genitals, internal
  testes, and releases both male and female
  hormones throughout their lives
• Hormones basically battle each other

7
Emotional Abnormalities

• Transgender
• Born biologically either male or female but feel
  the opposite
• More in the forefront of society
• Boys Dont Cry
• Discovery Channel programs
• Talk Shows
• Man that had a baby

8
Third Gender

• Many societies (especially in Southeast Asia)
  have created third gender groups to fulfill some
  societal need.
• Gender lines are not clear cut to fit into two
  biological sexes

9
Third Gender

• Hijras (India and Pakistan)
• Physically male or intersexual
• Dress and refer to themselves as female
• 50,000 to 5,000,000 in India
• Live in Hijra communities and have an initiation
  into the lifestyle
• Sometimes involves an emasculation ritual
• Low social status
• Have been used to collect taxes
• Perform religious ceremonies at weddings and the
  birth of males
• Thought to have power to curse a family

10
Third Gender

• Faafafine (Polynesia)
• Male that takes on the identity of a female
• Attracted to non-Faafafine men
• Many families are not only accepting but
  encourage the lifestyle
• Cultural need girls for domestic work
• Usually found as prostitutes

11
Third Gender

• Sworn Virgins (Balkans)
• Men who were born as women, only take the social
  role of a man not a sexual role
• Usually remain unmarried
• Celibate
• Shortage of adult males due to violence
• Allowed male privileges (high status)