Notes for Gender and Sexuality
School of Family and Consumer Sciences 400.404/504    Instructor: D. Witt

What is the difference between "sex" and "gender"? From the World Health Organization

Sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what is meant by the term “gender”, and how it differs from the closely related term “sex”.
"Sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. Sex is Ascribed
“Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. Gender is Achieved.

To put it another way: “Male” and “female” are sex categories, while “masculine” and “feminine” are gender categories. Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly.

Examples of sex characteristics ususally refer to "secondary" characteristics, or characteristics that are often visually apparent :

Examples of gender characteristics (note the importance of the social application of sex differences here) :

If we were to try to use science and logic to define the real important gender differences between men and women aside from reproductive differences, what might these be?
Are men more intelligent that women? Do men work more than women? Are women more emotional, and thus less trustworthy than men?   Each time we try to decide one of these questions, we find there is  as much difference between any two men or any two women and there is between any particular man and woman. We have to look closely at the ....

 Biological and Cultural Determinants of Gender and Sexuality  We differentiate between the terms Gender (connoting the role of male or female in any given society) and Sex (connoting the biological configuration of reproductive organs) for a reason.  The two processes arise from different processes - society and biology. These two processes are useful to each other as development progresses, but they are as independent as they are dependent.

From the moment of birth, through an incredibly complex process of socialization, from the first peek at baby's bottom, gender role reinforcement begins (i.e., ribbons, pink blankets, softness for girls - hockey jerseys, blue blankets, toughness for boys). Our culture's means of reinforcement of gender roles is strongly integrated into the social fabric, so that an individual finds deviation difficult:.  We separate comsumer outlets so that the girls go to one section and the boys to another, and we separate social environments in much the same way. Male and female responses to social stimuli are often easily recognized and predicted, and based on very traditional social values. Colors, clothing and hair styles, toy selection leads to differences in parental treatment based on gender, (girls are allowed a little more flexibility than boys early on, but later are forced into more rigid roles), and general social treatment of individuals based on their gender ("sissy" to a boy is much more dangerous than "tomboy" is to girls of early school age,boys don't cry -girls don't hit).

The developing individual quickly learns which part of the social playground welcomes them, and the patterns of feeling and behavior that go with it, as they learn to play their Gender Role.  Easily by early childhood, increasingly through middle childhood, and firmly by adolescence, individuals learn socially appropriate behaviors and feelings and assume their Gender Identity.  This is a composite of all the socially significant rights and obligations warranted to an individual by virtue of their assigned sex.

Self-identity and self-esteem are partially dependent on the successful achievement of one's gender role. Social and relational expectations demand it.  Happiness and life-satisfaction is partially dependent on successful gender performance. Equally important is the idea of changing society, therefore understanding of gender role effects on limiting our progress as individuals and as a species may inform our choices in life.
The Cause of Gender Roles : Biology or Culture  - or both?
Traditional male and female behavior in American culture is not traditional in other cultures, illustrating that "feminine" and "masculine" behaviors are culturally affected. Different cultures have different value placed on gender. Males most often inherit power (patriarchy), and keep it, although this is not always the case. Our developmental theories, such as Social Learning Theory assert that children are rewarded for conforming to their parent's (i.e., societies) expectations and are punished for behavior that meets with disapproval. Differential socialization holds that male children undergo quite different socialization than do females. Fathers seem to be the deciding factor in the early years of life; while both parents support the division in later childhood.  Standard, traditional socialization agents such as role models: peers, parents, and media, all support the status quo for the treatment of boys and girls, then men and women..

The Feminist Critique of gender role socialization:
Beyond Gender Roles and Toward Social Change:
Social Science now asserts that Androgyny is the gender role of choice - in other words, there is a third, and probably better, gender role that is a combination of male and female on some important characteristics. If we can agree that there are two basic dimensions of life - Expressive and Instrumental, then there are times in life when warmth is needed and times when assertiveness is warranted. Agression is appropriate at times, others require appeasement, and so on empathy vs. rationality, independence vs. dependence, formality vs. intimacy. These traits are more accessible if they coexist in single individual, rather than having people opt for one or the other set.   The person who possess both kinds of traits is better suited to cope with the demands of modern life. Males can express their feelings well and are more nurturant than once thought possible. Women can be assertive, task oriented, skilled at problem solving and self-reliant than once thought proper.

Sandra Bem (SL Bem - 1981 - Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto) created the Bem Sex Role Inventory or BSRI in an attempt to measure psychological androgyny. The measure has been used hundreds of times to document the positive and negative effects of traditional versus androgynous gender roles on individual development. Her measure places the respondent in one of four quadrants:
Bem 
Sex Role Inventory		 High
Masculinity		 Low
Masculinity
High Femininity Androgynous
Orientation		 Traditional Feminine
Orientation
Low Femininity Traditional Male
Orientation		 Undifferentiated
Orientation

As it turns out, Androgynous teenagers do not do well in competitive situations, and neither do Traditionally Feminine teenagers.  However, androgynous teenagers do will with relationships - friendships, family, and love. Increasingly, as the social scientific world comes to more precisely define the importance and effects of competition, Androgyny may win out over traditional gender roles in terms of overall success at life.  You can take the BSRI yourself by downloading the questionnaire here.

Changing Gender Role Expectations - In the past 15 years or so, American culture has become Feminized to a great extent. -The most important change in recent history to move our society away from traditional sex roles is the massive influx of women in to the PAID LABOR FORCE. With it came other changes, such as changes in child care schedules, who buys the weekly groceries, who does the laundry, who makes decisions. -UIn many ways we are moving towards a "task" oriented instrumental society for both genders, but one that demands the emotional stability of traditionally expressive femininity. In the past, mothers would agree that  "when the family does well, I do well", while today she's likely to put herself a little higher up with "when I do well, the family benefits." When wives move into the labor force, husbands like it. But husbands have not significantly increased the time they devote to domestic tasks. (Nationally). Some studies reveal that when a wife/mother takes on a full time job, she actually increases her workload by 100%, still having to be available for parenting, household chores, and general nurturing as before.
Gender Roles and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:  At the turn of the 20th century W.I. Thomas gave us the Situational Hypothesis, which simply states  Things that are perceived as real, will be real in their consequences. If we think we are weak, dependent, unskilled, we will act accordingly. If we think we are tough, we will proceed as if we are.  While subject to the constant barrage of messages from all quarters of our society, not all of which are consistent or coordinated in effect,  individuals are also developing higher level cognitive skills which allows them to take into accout an ever increasingly complex set of demands on our time, resources, and abilities. In other words, we can always change things.
 
Gender Identity and Sexuality

Gender Indenty and Sexuality - Remembering back to Marcia's Typology for Identity Achievement,, Gender Identity is one of the identities that all adolescent's have to face up to.  A phenomenon has been occuring in the lives of girls as they begin to develop into young adults. Psychologists began to notice that girls aged 11 to 14 were beginning to become depressed when compared with boys the same age. Theories were not very helpful in noting possible reasons why until Gilligan (see In a Different Voice, 1982) offered her interpretation of the data.

Gilligan offered a counter argument to the traditional ideas of Moral Development advanced by Lawrence Kohlberg and others. Kohlberg explains advancing moral development to be enabled by advancing cognitive ability (like Piaget's stages of cognitive development).  Achieving higher level moral development also contributes to one's sense of self and self-esteem, and actually affords the individual a more postitive view of themselves. This seems to work better for boys than for girls, leaving the mainstream theorists to conclude that perhaps girls just don't keep up with boys on this concept - explaining their higher levels of depression.

Gilligan offered a different explanation, centering her argument around the idea of justice. If a person works hard and follows all the rules, then life should work out well for them, right? What if a person works hard and follows all the rules and life doesn't work out well, not just for them but for others like them.  Gilligan began finding that the latter situation was the case for many girls. As they grew from middle childhood through early adolescence, they began to see that boys, who didn't follow the rules as closely as they, were getting rewards that they didn't earn.  At the same time, girls were seeing that following the rules just didn't pay off as well as it should. All their lives they were being told how good they were, and how their good behavior was a positive trait. Yet when it came time to receive honors and rewards, these didn't come like they were led to believe.

This is an important gender difference to keep in mind while we talk about sexuality among adolescents. For some girls, one way to achieve and maintain higher levels of self-esteem is to become sexually active at an early age. Overtime, if generations of girls find sexuality one of the few modes for increasing and maintaining self-esteem, the behavior may become normative. When discussing the changing nature of sexuality, we always need a discussion of NORMS.  Cultural Norms contain sexual standards, a code of behavior, to which people subscribe and which dictate what kinds of sexual behaviors are considered appropriate. Cultural Norms are specific to the subcultural standards and practices that govern a subculture's members. Statistical Norms focus on the behaviors that really happen - simply counting behaviors.

Distribution of Sexual Activity in the Culture

Before, during and after the Sexual Revolution of the late 1960's yearly 1970's, the dominant attitude about sexuality in the U.S. has swung from the days of a quick smooch on the porch swing to car dating to coed dorms and cohabitation - from no premarital sex before marriage to premarital sex as recreation to premarital sex with affection.

In the beginning there was the Abstinence Rule -1770 to 1950, then came the Double Standard 1950's followed by the Sex for Fun Era 1960's & 1970's. From the 1980s onward the culture has been dominated by Sex with Affection  Of course, there have been other social changes driving the change in attitude about sex, most notably the expectation that boys and girls will continue their education beyond high school and on into college.  Sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, have accompanied changes in cultural attitudes.

Cultural Norms have changed in the Twentieth Century.

  1. Abstinence prior to marriage - 1900 to 1930
  2. The Double Standard - 1930 to 1970
  3. Permissiveness for Recreation 1970 to 1978
  4. Permissiveness with Affection 1978 to present
If we were to write out a definition of healthy sexuality, how might this definition change for teenagers? When do teenagers get to start having sex and what are the rules governing their behavior?
Would healthy sexuality include a period of education about the positive and negative aspects of becoming a sexual person, perhaps through sex education in the public schools?  Without a firm grounding in these essential life skills, what might be the outcome, keeping in mind that our nation's young people are a good reflection of what we've made them to be

To get a partial view of this dilemma see The Education of Shelby Knox and the Lost Children of Rockdale County. Both documentaries are available through the library. We can view some of these films if the class consents.   Shebly attended high school in a district with a policy of abstinence only education. She was interested in finding out why important health information was being kept from the district's young people.  The Lost Children film details a 1996 syphillis outbreak in a school district attended by middle class students, The students involved ranged in age from 13 to 16.

Parents could easily remedy part of this situation by following these guidelines with their daughters:

  1. Monitor their expectations. Many perents are more comfortable with letting a boy take chances but are afraid a girl will hurt herself or get dirty.
  2. Be involved in a daughters schooling. Make sure she gets a good education by finding out what goes on in the classroom, how she's being treated, whether she's called on, who gets to use the computers, etc.
  3. Encourage daughters in math and science. Redefine algebra and calculus as girl subjects.
  4. Be the daughters' biggest booster. Women in undergraduate engineering programs agreed that their biggest encourageme nts came from their parents - by constantly saying - "you can do it, kid."
  5. Let daughters make decisions - and live with the consequences.
  6. Teach her to think and speak up for herself. Don't accept anything as truth without stopping, thinking aobut it, and asking lots of questions.
  7. Don't overemphasize physical appearance. While all kids need to hear from parents that they are good looking kids, it is much more important for them to hear they are good persons more than pretty ones, or you'd be prettier if you'd lose weight/lighte n your hair/smile more.
  8. Do give positive messages aobut sexuality. Not just the plumbing lecture combined with the AIDS IS EVERYWH ERE/YOU'L L GET PREGNANT stuff - talk about the wonder of her sexuality and how sweet and pleasurable it will be. Talk about choosing relationships that are: consensual, nonexploitive , mutually pleasurable, honest, equal and responsible. And strongly advise that sex can happen when both partners are ready.
  9. Help her develop a unique hobby, interest or talent.
  10. Expose her to strong female role models.
  11. Unconditional positive regard. All humans have a sex drive - energy that is most efficiently used in pursuit of and engagement in sexual activity.

As gatekeepers of sexuality, in heterosexual terms, women have the option to engage in sexuality or not. Changes in sexual behavior are dependent on women's decisions. There is conflict between the expectations for males and females in our culture - this causes angst while the teenager is attempting to come to achievement of his/her sexual identity. There has been an increase in the proportion of people engaging in sexually intimate beavhiors of all types before marriage.

If sex with affection is the dominant social norm, it is up to males to convince females that they are in love. So one way to observe this phenomenon is to study the changes in men's APPROACHES and ARGUMENTS.

Homosexuality

Homosexuality in the United States

What are the determinants of sexual orientation:

Homosexual teenagers are often the victims of, not only cruel jokes, but sometimes violent hate crimes perpetrated at the hands of homophobic peers. It is important to note that the gay population in the U.S. has seen a dramatic reduction in the incidence of STD's of all kinds since becoming aware of the AIDs virus. Conversely, STDs among heterosexuals is still at alarming levels.

Cultural Restrictions on Sexuality

Number of Partners (Lifetime Statistics from the Kinsey Institute)

Common Myths About Sexuality Held by Adolescents and Their Parents:
Teen Pregnancy Facts
Risk Factors For Childbirth Before Age 17
Adolescents and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

SEX and CULTURE
Forcible sexual behavior and sexual harassment are unfortunate byproducts of a sensual culture.
Four key dynamics describe this occurrence: