Module 2 –Lesson 1

Basic terms we need to know in the study of gender and society

Compiled by
Anacoreta P. Arciaga
Faculty member –Social Sciences Department
Today’s Gospel
In the name of the father,
and of the son, and the holy
spirit

Let us Remember that we in

the loving presence of our
Creator.

Saint JBDLS, Pray for Us!

Live Jesus in our Hearts,
Forever <3
Learning Outcomes:
Demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of gender, sexuality,
and women’s studies, and use a range of multidisciplinary tools and
methods for interrogating, understanding and analyzing sex, gender,
and sexuality predicated in culture.
o Identify how gender is constructed as a “social fact.”
o Explain the key concepts, principles in understanding the
evolutionary functions of gender socialization and sexuality.
Gender defined

• Gender is either of the two sexes

(male and female), especially when
considered with reference to social and
cultural differences rather than
biological ones. The term is also used
more broadly to denote a range of
identities that do not correspond to
established ideas of male and female.
• "a condition that affects people of
both genders" · "someone of the
opposite gender" · "everyone always
asks which gender
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Gender defined
• members of a particular gender considered
as a group.
• "social interaction between the genders" · "
• encouraging women and girls to join fields
traditionally dominated by the male
gender"
• the fact or condition of belonging to or
identifying with a particular gender.
• "video ads will target users based only on
age and gender" · "traditional concepts of
gender" · "I'm a strong believer that gender
is fluid"
• Culturally learned differences in
characteristics and behaviors--between
women and men.
Gender
• is not something we are born with, and
not something we have, but something
we do (West and Zimmerman 1987) –
something we perform (Butler 1990).
Imagine a small boy proudly following his
father. As he swaggers and sticks out his
chest, he is doing everything he can to be
like his father – to be a man.
• Chances are his father is not swaggering,
but the boy is creating a persona that
embodies what he is admiring in his adult
male role model. The same is true of a
small girl as she puts on her mother’s
high-heeled shoes, smears makeup on her
face and minces around the room. (Eckert, This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

P. et al, N.D.)
 • Sex is a biological categorization
based primarily on reproductive
potential, whereas gender is the
social elaboration of biological sex.
Not surprisingly, social norms for
heterosexual coupling and care of any
resulting children are closely
intertwined with gender. But that is
Sex and Gender far from the full story.

• Gender builds on biological sex, but

it exaggerates biological difference,
and it carries biological difference
into domains in which it is
completely irrelevant.
Sex and Gender
• There is no biological reason, for example, why
women should minced and men should
swagger, or why women should have red
toenails and men should not. But while we
think of sex as biological and gender as social,
this distinction is not clear-cut.
• People tend to think of gender as the result of
nurture – as social and hence fluid – while sex
is the result of nature, simply given by biology.
However, nature and nurture intertwine, and
there is no obvious point at which sex leaves
off and gender begins(Eckert, P. et al, N.D.)

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Society
• Is the aggregate of people living
together in a more or less ordered
community.
• the community of people living in a
particular country or region and having
shared customs, laws, and
organizations.
• "modern industrial societies" · "the
high incidence of violence in American
society"
• “the complex patterns of social
relationships. “people who interact in
a defined space and share culture.”
 A broad term, encompassing an individual’s
sexual interests and behaviors, involving
biological, cultural, psychological, social, and
Sexuality spiritual aspects.
The experience and expression of people as
sexual beings
Examples of Sexuality
Type Definition Examples
Androsexuality Attraction towards males, Gay men that express desire for
masculinity, or men. men.
Heterosexual women that
express attraction for men.

Asexuality Lacking or having

minimal sexual attraction, desire, or
interest towards others.
Bisexuality Emotional, physical, romantic, In a polygamous relationship, where
or sexual attraction to members of an individual expresses sexual desire
the same and opposite sex based on for both the other men and women
a binary of female and male. involved.
*Source: Open Education Sociology Dictionary.org https://sociologydictionary.org/
Examples of Sexuality
Type Definition Examples
Gynesexuality Attraction towards females, Heterosexual men expressing
femininity, or women. attraction for women.
A lesbian expressing desire for a
woman.
Homosexuality Emotional, physical, romantic,
or sexual attraction to members of
the same sex based on a binary of
female and male.
Heterosexuality Emotional, physical, romantic, or
sexual attraction to members of the
opposite sex based on a binary of
female and male.
*Source: Open Education Sociology Dictionary.org https://sociologydictionary.org/
Gender Roles
Gender roles are the expected role
determined by an individual’s sex and the
associated attitudes, behaviors, The idea
that men are breadwinners (money
makers) outside the home and women
are homemakers that bake the bread and
take care of children.
• The idea that men as masculine
people are aggressive, competitive, and
violent, and women as feminine
people are gentle, passive, and nurturing.
Gender role theory
• posits that boys and girls learn
the appropriate behavior and
attitudes from the family with
which they grow up.
• Further theorist believe that
boys and girls learn the
appropriate behavior and attitudes
from the family and overall culture
in which they grow up, and that
non-physical gender differences
are a product of socialization.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
References
Call Number or e-provider Reference Material
(AKLATANG EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLECTION)
Call #: HQ 1075 .B728 2007 Bradley, Harriet.(2007). Gender. Cambridge, UK : Polity Press, 2007. ix, 224 p. ; 22 cm.

Dacuycuy, Connie B. (2017). Analyzing Housework Through Family and Gender Perspectives. PIDS policy notes ; 2017-13

E-Articles Butler, Judith. (2016). Social Construction of Gender. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-sociology-

os/chapter/the-social-construction-of-gender/
androsexuality. (2016). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved
from https://sociologydictionary.org/androsexuality/
Open Education Sociology Dictotionary. (N.D.) Sexuality Definition. https://sociologydictionary.org/

Types of Socialization. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology

Eckert, Penelope and McConnell Ginet, Sally. (N.D.) Language and Gender. Second Edition. Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press. http://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/Chap1.pdf
Montas, Jean, M.B. (2016, February ). Reinforcement and Punishment in Gender Related Behavior.
https://www.bricefoundation.org/single-post/2016/02/18/Reinforcement-and-Punishment-in-Gender-Related-Behavior