Chapter 9 group confers
Jeyson, Denielle, Rebecca, Craig, Erin, Ashley, Maria, Mita, Dalia
Facilitators lead discussion of Chapter 9: Gender
Break
Instructor-lead discussion
Gender - "behaviors and meanings that societies assign to males and females..."
masculinity and femininity
something we "do" or perform - is this important?
What does socio-economic status have to do with it? (Fred and Tonyo story)
Cultures tend to assume gender
differences are "natural" results of biology. The argument goes that biological determinism (evolution)(or, divine creation) made women less interested and intelligent about civic affairs... this is why women couldn't vote in
1848 (when feminism first began), but obviously we now know this attitude had nothing to do with biology. Is there a girl brain?
Stratification: is there a gender hierarchy?
Sexism, like racism, is not just a matter of individual attitudes, it is built into our very institutions. which can be thought of as patriarchal (or kyriarchal involving intersectionality... does gender operate the same for all races/ethnicities? Classes?)
To understand why patriarchy persists,
we need to see how gender is rooted and reproduced in society.
Role of socialization? (p.143)
...family, peers, school, religion, media...
Sanctions?
What does it mean that "folk classifications... contradict great variance in gender potentialities"? (143)
Are sex and gender inherently linked?
(some gender roles are more sex-linked than others - p.152)
Why isn't sex absolutely binary?
Why isn't gender absolutely binary?
Back to family socialization - gender bias in chores growing up? Parental division of labor?
How are tasks assigned a gender? (data 146-7)
These kinds of patterns are generalities, not universals (148). Exceptions demonstrate that any given set of gender roles is not absolute, inevitable, or intrinsic to humans.
So what does gender actually do for us? Channel our activities?
What are the constraints of femininity?
Of masculinity?
(146)
What about "double standards"? Are men or women more constrained by cultural ideas about gender roles?
Why?
Matrilineal, matrilocal, matriarchy, matrifocal?
Patrilinieal, patrilocal, patriarchy?
Neolocal-nuclear?
What is the "domestic-public dichotomy"? (151)
In America? (155) Changes over time? Feminism?
Why are people concerned about equal pay for equal work?
Why did our congress pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009?
Why do American women make $0.78 for every $1 earned by men?
What are "pink-collar" jobs?
Who does the housework?
Effects of shifting from an agricultural, to an industrial, to a post-industrial economy?
as we advance technologically,
physicality becomes less important. Computer programmers need less
strength than factory workers, who need less strength than farm
laborers. But it is still "masculine" to be independant,
self-supporting, a "bread-winner," but it is becoming less
important to be physically strong to do that.
So is there a gender anomie for males?
Is there a cultural compensation?
Other sexes... (161-3)
Intersexed (hermaphroditic), 0X, XXX, XXY, XYY
Other genders...
Transgender, third-gender, intermediate, postgender, transexual, etc...
"biology isn't destiny; people construct their identities in society" - what is the role of identity politics here (a.k.a. transgenderism)?
FOR NEXT TIME:
- Read Chapter 10: Sexual Orientation, and prepare your Top Ten list
- Your 2nd Cultural Encounter is due
- ONLY: Alex, Felicia, Diana, Gabriella, Denielle, Kaelyn, Rebecca, Maddie - prepare to facilitate a discussion on Chapter 10
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