female circumcision
the removal of a woman's sexually sensitive clitoris
feminism
an intellectual,consciousness-raising movement to get people to understand that gender is an organizing principle of life. The underlying belief is that women and men should be accorded equal opportunities and respect
sex
the natural or biological differences that distinguish makes and females
sexuality
refers to desire, sexual preference, sexual identity, and behavior
gender
denotes a social position, the set of social arrangements that are built around sex
essentialism
line of thought that explains social phenomena in terms of natural ones.
biological determinism
a line of thought that explains social behavior in terms of biological givens ex: if you are born with male parts you are essentially a man and should be attracted to women only, as preordained by nature.
dimorphic/binary
an either/or category, like black or white, with no shades of grey between two mutually exclusive categories
hegemonic masculinity
dominant and privileged, if invisible, category of men; shapes the socialization experiences of boys and girls from birth
hegemony
a historical process in which a dominant group, by virtue of its moral and intellectual leadership in society, secures the voluntary consent of the masses
gender roles
sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one's status as a male or female
patriarchy
a nearly universal system involving the subordination of femininity to masculinity
Sex role theory
Talcott Parsons: men and women perform their sex roles as breadwinners and wives/mothers respectively, because the nuclear family is the ideal arrangement in modern societies,fulfilling the function of reproducing workers.
homosexual
the social identity of a person who has sexual attraction to and/or relations with persons of the same sex
sexism
occurs when a person's ex is the basis of judgment, or discrimination, and hatred against him or her
sexual harrassment
an illegal form of discrimination, involving everything from inappropriate jokes on the job to outright sexual assault to sexual barter- all intended to make women feel uncomfortable and unwelcome,particularly on the job
glass ceiling
an invisible lid on women's climb up the employment ladder
glass escalator
the promotional ride men take to the top of a work organization, especially in feminized jobs
intersexual
those who are born with some combo of male and female genitalia( 1 to 2 in every 1,000 births)
transgendered
disregarding convetional ideas of how males and females should look or behave (transexuals, transvestites)
sexual orientation
an individual's preference in terms of sexual partners: Heterosexuality,homosexuality, bisexuality, and asexuality
60%
percentage of people who feel homosexuality is morally wrong
The gayby boom generation
kids adopted or raised by gay couples, beginning in the late 1980's early 90's. ( more than 10 million kids)
76% of men and 66% of women
percentage of males and females who have sex by their senior year of high school
hooking up
any physical encounter ,from kissing to intercourse, usually under the influence of alcohol, with no commitment attached. 40% of college women say they have hooked up during time on campus
63%
percentage of college women who still hope to meet their husband on campus
matriarchy
social organization where females dominate males;rare beyond strictly tribal societies.
hegemonic masculinity: family
Jessie Bernard: female world revolves around passivity and emotion, while male world revolves around action and independence
hegemonic masculinity: peer group
Janet Lever: playground socialization; boys favored team sports, aggression, winning; girls did team sports too, but also cooperative games such as jump rope,hopscotch, "house
Hegemonic masculinity: schooling
curricula encourage children to embrace gender appropriate classes,college majors (males: sciences/maths females: humanities and arts)
Hegemonic masculinity: mass media
Goffman: advertising promotes subtle biases against women
Naomi Wolfe
The beauty Myth: society teaches women to measure themselves in terms of physical appearance, yet the standards of beauty are unattainable for most women
Gender stratification
unequal distribution of wealth,power and privlege between men and women.
79 cents
how much women earn for every dollar man earns
60%
percentage of women who work
50%
percentage of women who hold these 2 types of jobs: administrative work, and low end service work (pink collar jobs)
comparable worth
theory that goes beyond 'equal pay for equal work"; people should be paid based on the worth of the work they actually do rather than according to this historical double standard
98% and 21%
percentage of women as kindergarten teachers; % of women as university presidents
inverse relationship
as pay and prestige increases, the % of women decreases in a profession which is seen largely as female dominated
second shift
women put in an average of 17 hrs per week working at home while men put in 9 hours
Conflict theory on gender
capitalism turns women into economic property of men; into consumers in order to seek personal fulfillment; and into domestic and low wage slaves
feminism theory on gender
social equality for men and women in opposition to patriarchy,violence and sexism
liberal feminism
feminism that adheres to basic themes
social feminism
feminism that states capitalism is culprit
black feminism
feminism that examines gender, race and class
post modern gender theory
the fragmented identity and "playful blurring of sex and gender boundaries: makes eliminating gender itself impossible