Chapter 1

Introducing Sex and Gender

Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Approach

 Social psychology lens
o How individuals and groups are influenced by others and the social environment
o Reciprocal effect
 Mixed methods  relevant different fields [biology, anthropology, etc.]
 Coverage at all levels
o Cellular [hormonal], individual, interpersonal, societal, cross-cultural, cross-
historical
 High quality evidence and information

THREE CENTRAL IDEAS ABOUT GENDER

(1) Gender is arguably the most fundamental aspect of a person’s identity
(2) Cultural ideas about gender deeply influence every critical aspect of a person’s life
a. Education, career, finances, relationships, health, social status, human rights
(3) We typically never see gender per se – it emerges or manifests only when we see or
experience differences
a. When you don’t fit/norms, gender becomes more visible
b. We’ve created gender labels that helps us see it

From invisible to visible

Sex and gender become more apparent to us when patterns are encountered that do not match our
expectations

Biological and social

The two are entangled & nearly impossible to fully disentangle

 Sex (biology) and gender (social) refer to differences based on group categorization along
those lines
o Way of grouping individuals into categories
 Differences do not always stem from biological factors  don’t oversimplify
 For any given difference, precise knowledge is not known about how much can be
explained by biology or socialization
 The very meanings of biological and social can lack clarity

CENTRAL TERMINOLOGY

SEX
 Biological & psychological characteristics that distinguish maleness and femaleness
o Genitalia, sex chromosomes, reproductive hormones, etc.
o Sex category mostly based on genitalia and not amt of chromosomes
 Label and categorize as male, female, and intersex
 Typically assigned at birth and used to assign gender label and gender group at birth
 o Assumed sex category & gender align

GENDER
 Attributes, traits, interests, roles, tendencies, attitudes, stereotypes, appearance, &
socialization practices that correspond with one’s sex category
o Behaviours associated w/ categorization
 Label and categorize as masculine, feminine, androgynous, agender
 Socially and culturally prescribed meanings and associations with sex categories

GENDER IDENTITY
[experience & choose to label themselves]

A person’s internal experience of their gender based on the chemistry that composes them &
their interpretation of what that means

How they see themselves and name their gender

Cisgender Woman
Experience match between assigned sex and gender they feel they belong to

Transgender Man
Experience mismatch between assigned sex and the gender they feel they belong
to

Agender
Does not feel sense of belonging to any sex and / or gender category

Gender fluid
Gender identity shifts overtime depending on situation

GENDER EXPRESSION
[independent of gender identity]

 How people demonstrate and communicate their gender though the ways they act, dress,
behave, interact (clothing, hairstyles, mannerisms)
o People can do w/o thought, w/ intention, or exaggeration
 Can be feminine, masculine, and/or androgynous
 We cannot assume identity from expression
o Doesn’t have to match up or align

GENDER ROLES
[from socialization]

 Specific behaviours and actions enacted by members of gender groups based on societal
expectations for those gender groups
 o (e.g.: caretaking = women, construction = men)
o Gender roles from stereotypes
 Gender roles are supported by attitudes and beliefs about the “proper” and “natural” roles
for women and men
 Backlash for violating traditional gender roles from assigned gender

Gender and sexual orientation are two related yet distinct aspects of self

 Our gender is personal – how we see ourselves

 Our sexual orientation is interpersonal – who we are attracted to physically, emotionally,
and/or romantically based on their sex/gender in relation to our own
o E.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, polysexual, pansexual, asexual

We assume we know something about a person’s gender identity when we know their sexual
orientation (vice versa)  this is false

We also cannot know someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation by looking at them unless
they tell us

We have assumptions & expectations bases on how we think they fit into the category we’ve
been taught

The ultimate social grouping system

GENDER BINARY
Overarching social systems that conceptualize sex and gender as two opposite, nonoverlapping
categories based on physical and anatomical qualities – must be one or the other

The binary system exists in most societies and cultures

- Simplifies social interactions
- Organizes the division of labour [who’s more suitable for jobs]
- Maintains order in social institutions – functional

Can’t escape societal norms  reinforced early on [gender reveal parties]

People use the info the prepare how they organize their world according to gender  they
weren’t told the gender, they were told the sex (genitalia)

Gender groups culturally reinforced  examples

 Gender reveals parties
 Giving babies pink or blue blankets when they are born
 Dressing girls in boys in their specific colors
 GAP clothing ads
o Boys clothing ads “the little scholar” – intelligence & leader
 o Girls’ clothing ads “the social butterfly” – relationship focused
 Pens and products that are gendered
o Girl pens  “Bic pens for her”

Gender
Most fundamental intergroup context

WHY:
 Most salient category that guides social perception
o Automatic way of processing info (always on mind)
 Gender is central to personal and group identity
o Self-description & understanding
 Power and status differences exist between groups
 Gender prejudice and discrimination exist
 Gender is essentialized  applies across groups

PSYCHOLOGICAL ESSENTIALISM
Group members are perceived to share deep, immutable [unchanged/fixed] properties that
fundamentally determine who they are inherently, but cannot be seen directly
 Belief set someone holds & how they interact with group members
 How constraining they can be when applied structurally

Gender essentialist beliefs [Gould, 1981]

1879 Gustave Le Bon

- “women’s brains are closer to size of gorillas than most developed male brains”
- “Represent inferior forms of human evolution”
- “Excel in fickleness, inconstancy, absence of thought & logic, & incapacity to reason”

Conclusion: dangerous to provide the same education to girls as boys

1905 Stanley Hall

- “Profound psychic differences”
- “Women’s body and soul is more primitive and phyletically older”

Keeps the boundaries of gender groups intact  reinforces

Prevents people from moving from groups
GENDER BINARY [above] – the ultimate social grouping system

Oversimplifies the complexity of natural world and gender is also viewed on a spectrum in many
societies

Sex categories as a binary system

Sex consists of two non-overlapping categories  male or female
However,
 Categories of sex are not fixed but shaped by different belief systems within specific
cultures
 intersexuality is a condition where biological components of sex do not consistently fit
the typical male or female patter
o people with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS)

Gender categories as a binary system

Gender consists of two non-overlapping categories  masculine or feminine

However,
 categories of gender are not absolute
 androgyny refers to possessing high levels of both stereotypically masculine and
feminine traits
o expands it but still sits within it
 masculinity and femininity are complex, multidimensional constructs

INTERSECTIONALITY
 people occupy multiple social categories simultaneously, which correlate with different
levels of privilege and discrimination
 refers to the ways in which different forms of discrimination and oppression [sexism,
racism, classism, heterosexism, & transphobia] interact to shape people’s experiences

Gender Privilege
 refers to an automatic [being born into], unearned advantage that accompanies
membership in certain social groups
 privileged groups in Western cultures:
o White
o Male
o Cisgender
o Heterosexual
o Able-bodied
o Wealthy

Privilege doesn’t mean that you haven’t gone through anything in your life
Privilege isn’t about what you ‘ve gone through  it’s about what you haven’t gone through
[serves as a protective force] – Janaya Khan
 Comes with an absence of discrimination or stressful identity-based encounters
 Comes with advantages or rights available to people in that group
 Not reminded of how you are different because you are not different
o World is built for you when you have privilege  how it’s experienced

Why sex and gender matter

 They shape status hierarchies within societies
o Empower and advantage some groups & disempower & disadvantage other group
  Reinforce and sustain dominant vs subordinate groups
o Controlling who holds decision-making power to shape laws
o Controlling access to resources
 Hegemonic masculinity
o Culturally idealized [but difficult to attain] version of manhood that reinforces
control over women
o Aggression, competition, success, emotional restraint, toughness, courage, anti-
femininity

Feminism(s)
 Movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression
 Feminism is about believing in justice and fairness, removing gender constraints for
everyone, and has changed the way we understand and treat matters of sex and gender
 Address systems of power and oppression, not individual women, and men
o Not anti-men or anti-lipstick
 Legitimized the scientific study of sex and gender