Objectification is the process of treating human beings as if they were objects

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Chapter 10
Sex and Gender

• Objectification is the process of treating human
  beings as if they were objects
• Objectification of Women
• referred to as females
• seen as all alike
• subordinate and passive
• easily ignored and trivialized
• Cult of thinness
• people worship the perfect body

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Marissa Beach baby 2005
Barbie 1960
Nichelle Urban Hipster 2005
Barbie's measurements equate to 39-18-33 inches.
Those numbers fall far below even today's typical
size 8 woman. Far below . . . the waist for a
size 8 is 27 inches. And the average woman in
the US today is a size 16.
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Tyson Leather 2004
Ken 1960
G. I. Joe 1964
G. I. Joe 1996
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Sex The Biological Dimension

• Sex biological and anatomical differences between
  females and males
• Primary sex characteristics (genitals)
• Secondary sex characteristics (other than
  reproductive organs)
• Intersexual (hermaphrodite) ambiguous sexual
  differentiation
• does not mean a person possesses both a penis and
  a vagina
• Transsexual sex-related structures of the brain
  that define gender are opposite from the physical
  sex organs of the persons body

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• Transvestite a person who lives as the opposite
  sex but does not alter the genitals
• cross-dressers are not transsexuals or
  transvestites
• Sexual orientation
• preference for emotional-sexual relationships
  with members of the
• opposite sex (heterosexual)
• same sex (homosexual)
• both (bi-sexual)
• Transgender
• Homophobia

• Criteria for Identification
• of homosexual and bi-
• sexual people (University of Chicago)
• sexual attraction
• sexual involvement
• self-identification

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Kinsey Scale
                                             
0- Exclusively heterosexual 1- Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual 2- Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual 3- Equally heterosexual and homosexual 4- Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual 5- Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual 6- Exclusively homosexual

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Gender The Cultural Dimension

• Gender culturally and socially-constructed
  differences between females and males
• Masculinity
• Femininity
• Gender role ? appropriate for each sex
• Gender identity perception of self as male or
  female
• Body consciousness is how a person perceives and
  feels about his/her body
• Eating disorders anorexia, bulimia, obesity
• Bodybuilding
• Body dysmorphic disorder

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• Sexism subordination of one sex (usually female),
  based on the assumed superiority of the other sex
• Components of Sexism aimed at women
• Stereotypical beliefs
• Negative attitudes toward women
• Discrimination

Patriarchy hierarchical system of social
organization that is controlled by
men Matriarchy
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Gender Socialization

• gender-appropriate toys
• household chores/task assignment
• Parents
• Schools
• Peers
• Sports
• Mass Media
• Gender bias favoritism towards one gender over
  another

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• Economics of Gender Inequality
• Gender-segregated work
• Labor market segmentation
• Pay Gap
• Pay equity or comparable worth

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Functionalist Perspectives on Gender
Stratification

• Husband
• Instrumental tasks
• economic support
• making decisions

• Wife
• Expressive tasks
• nurturing
• caregiving

The Natural Order of the Universe
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Feminist Perspectives on Gender Stratification

• Feminism men and women should be valued equally
  and have equal rights
• Can men be feminists?
• Liberal feminism
• Radical feminism
• Socialist feminism
• Multicultural feminism