Human Sexuality

1
Human Sexuality

• Chapter 5 Gender and
• Gender Roles

2
Gender Topic Areas

• Impact of gender on human development
• Gender and sexual development
• Biological and cultural perspectives
• Sexual orientation
• Gender stereotypes and health
• Gender socialization
• Gender variance and gender identity
• Biological differences brain, hormones, anatomy

3
Sex

• Sex biologically male or female, based on
  chromosomes and anatomy
• Genetics XX or XY
• Anatomical genitals/bodily differences

4
Gender

• Gender a social construct related to notions of
  masculinity and femininity
• Gender Identity the gender one believes oneself
  to be

5
Gender

• Gender roles attitudes, behaviors, rights and
  responsibilities assigned to us based on our sex
• Varies by culture

6
Gender

• Gender-role stereotypes rigidly held,
  oversimplified beliefs about sex appropriate
  behavior.

7
Gender

• Gender-role attitudes our personal
  perspectives/beliefs about sex appropriate
  behavior
• Gender-role behaviors activities/behaviors we
  engage in as influenced by our sex/gender

8
Gender

• Gender presentation how our sex/gender is
  perceived by others
• Based on our physical appearance, movements,
  habits, personality, etc.
• Baby X study

9
GenderCongruence and Incongruence

• Biological, cultural, psychological, and social
  contexts of gender
• These contexts can be congruent or incongruent
• Examples?

10
Gender Variations

• Some do not conform to socially/culturally
  constructed gender norms
• How are such violations represented in dominant
  discourses?
• Psychological impact of gender variations?

11
Social Construction ofGender Identity

• U.S. gender identity- internalized by age 2
• East African societies boys is a woman-child
  until an initiation rite which makes him a man
• Mundugumor of New Guinea women are expected to
  be violent/aggressive

12
Instrumentality and Expressiveness

• Instrumentality being task-oriented
  stereotypically applied to males
• Expressiveness being emotionally
  oriented/focused stereotypically applied to
  females
• Gender Quotient Test

13
Gender Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation

• Ex. Gay men are not masculine Lesbian women are
  not feminine
• Gay people may have more flexible interpretations
  of gender roles and expectations (Lippa, 2000)

14
Cognitive Social Learning Theory

• Albert Bandura
• We learn gender as a result of
• Reinforcements and consequences
• Imitation/modeling and observation
• The social world provides many models and
  messages about gender
• Body image Womens Ideal Bodies

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Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Developmental level impacts cognitive processing
  of gender
• Understanding gender in developmental perspective

16
Gender Schemas

• Mental frameworks for understanding gender
• Accounts for gender stereotypes

17
Social Constructionism

• Cultures invent or construct notions of gender
• Mediated by language and social systems

18
Social Constructionism

• Feminist Studies
• Post-Modern Approaches
• Queer Theory

19
Social Constructionism and Identity

• (Cohen Savin-Williams, 1996)
• Many sexual minority youth are not identifying as
  gay
• Rejection of the social construction of sexual
  orientation

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Contextual Influences on Gender

• Parents socialize gender
• Messages about gender appropriate behavior
• Directing children to gender appropriate toys

21
Parents Socialize Gender

• Differential language for the same behavior
  active boy vs. a girl who is a tomboy
• Directing children toward gender appropriate
  activities (I.e. helping mom in the kitchen)

22
Gender Socialization

• Peers peer pressure, reinforce gender norms
• Teachers differential treatment based on gender?
  Classroom reinforcement
• Media gender roles and stereotypes

23
Sexual Scripts

• Script acts/rules/expectations associated with a
  particular role (male and female scripts)
• Men/women are impacted by certain scripts
  internalized from social interactions

24
Male Sexual Scripts(Zilbergeld, 1992)

• Men should not have/express certain feelings
• Sex is for physicality
• Men are in charge

25
Male Sexual Scripts

• Men always want and are ready for sex
• Men should be sexually skilled and successful in
  sexual interactions

26
Female Sexual Scripts(Barbach, 2001)

• Sex is good and bad (good in the context of a
  marriage, stigmatized elsewhere)
• Masturbation is stigmatized
• Sex is for men women are sexually passive
  (nurturers)

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Female Sexual Scripts

• Women should not articulate their needs/desires
• Women shouldnt discuss sex
• Women should look like models

28
Androgyny

• Both instrumental and expressive traits
• Flexibility in gender roles

29
Intersexed People

• Ambiguous genitalia
• 1 in every 2,000 births
• Due to genetic or hormonal factors

30
Intersexed People

• Sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or internal
  reproductive system
• Underdeveloped penis or enlarged clitoris

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Intersexed PeopleChromosomal Abnormalities

• Turner Syndrome
• XO
• 1 in 2,000 births
• Female external genitalia, no ovaries

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Turner Syndrome

• Secondary sexual development cannot occur no
  menstruation
• Short
• Treated with hormonal therapy
• Infertility

33
Klinefelter Syndrome

• XXYXXXYXXXXY
• 1 in 1,000 births
• Male genitalia (small penis)
• Female characteristics breasts

34
Klinefelter Syndrome

• Sparse body hair
• Learning disabilities
• Low sex drive, sexual dysfunction

35
Intersexed PeopleHormonal Disorders

• Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome
• (testicular feminization)
• Inherited condition passed on through X
  chromosomes

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Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome

• 1 in 13,000 individuals
• Genetically male
• Born with undescended testes (inside the abdomen)
• estrogen is prevalent in the body

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Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome

• Vagina and labia, but no female internal
  reproductive structures
• Secondary female characteristics develop during
  puberty, without pubic hair

38
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

• Genetic female
• Ovaries
• Malfunctioning adrenal gland
• Develops externally as a male

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Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

• 1 in 13,000 births
• Penis and empty scrotum
• External genitalia are ambiguous
• Often assigned female

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DHT Deficiency

• Unable to convert testosterone to DHT
• Internal male organs
• Ambiguous external genitalia (looking more female)

41
DHT Deficiency

• Begin to look male during puberty (genitalia and
  physical development)

42
Gender Identity Disorder

• Cross-gender identification
• Discomfort with ones assigned gender
• Psychological distress

43
Transsexuality

• Gender identity and sexual anatomy are not
  compatible
• Different from homosexuality

44
Transgendered People

• Arguably the most stigmatized sexual minority

45
Transgendered People

• An umbrella term inclusive
• Flexibility in terms of gender and social
  identity
• Move toward transgender rights legal to fire
  transgender people in many states

46
Positioning Theory

• Rom Harre
• We position ourselves and others in discourse
• Power relationships

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Positioning Theory

• Ex. Positioning oneself as an expert, others as
  uninformed
• Ex. Positioning oneself as masculine, another
  male as powerless/emasculated

48
Masculinity

• How does culture/society construct masculinity?
• Dominant discourses on masculinity
• Contested discourses on masculinity

49
Masculinity

• How are constructions of masculinity sustained
  and reproduced?

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Hyper-masculinity

• Exaggerated, stereotypical male behavior
• Aggression
• Strength
• Dominance

51
Chauvinism

• Origins nationalism revering ones own group
• Current usage male/female relationships
• Refers to power

52
Anxious Masculinity

• Enactments of masculinity/manliness that are
  motivated by a fear of being perceived as
  feminine
• the most important thing about being a man is
  not being a woman Ducat, S.

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Anxious Masculinity

• Rejection of feminine activities/qualities
• Rejection of non-heterosexual discourses
• Challenging/needing to prove ones manliness

54
Mixed Cultural Messages

• Masculinity
• Need to be strong, unemotional, rational,
  dominant
• Constructions of the modern man- emotionally
  connected and sensitive

55
Mansfield article

• The Manliness of Men
• Holds that feminists fault men for societys ills
• gains and losses in the womens movement

56
Mansfield article

• Women have a problem with manliness because they
  are excluded
• Argues that women overcompensate/seek to be more
  like men

57
Mansfield article

• Feminists insist that men must work harder to
  appreciate women. Yet they never ask women to be
  more understanding of men - Mansfield

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Mansfield article

• Because women dont want to be dependent, men may
  become more selfish (an unintended consequence)

59
Mansfield article

• Equates masculinity with noble sacrifice for a
  cause beyond oneself

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Ducat book

• Central Questions
• When are men so terrified of being like women?
• Why must men constantly prove their masculinity?

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Ducat Mens fear of the feminine

• Being a sissy has a very negative connotation
• Cross-gender behaviors are taboo in men

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Ducat

• Men are encouraged to cut the apron strings
• Exude independence reject nurturance from mom

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Ducat

• Studies men were more anxious when engaging in
  cross gender activities, answering cross gender
  questions

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Ducat

• Men are conflicted
• Men reject all things feminine
• May secretly want to violate these gender barriers

65
Ducat

• Men are attracted to qualities in women that they
  detest in themselves