CHAPTER COMMENTARY

This chapter opens with the example of legally sanctioned same-sex marriages and civil
partnerships, noting that in many industrialized countries moves have been made to
decriminalize and encompass same-sex unions within the civil law. Opponents see this as
sanctioning perversion and as the death knell for the institution of marriage. For many gay
people, the right to marry is part of a broader desire to be seen as ‘normal’. As the chapter
later shows, attitudes towards sexuality have become increasingly liberal in the
industrialized world, yet some people still retain quite traditional views. These differences
are likely to be present among any group of students. Student responses to the sociological
study of sexuality vary widely, from the prurient to the puritan, and for some it is the most
personally threatening topic they encounter. The historically and culturally comparative
stance of the text establishes diversity as the norm and provides a clear focus for discussion
of sexuality as a social phenomenon. It may be useful when dealing with these topics to
include in a handout including contact numbers for gay, lesbian and bisexual support groups
and rape crisis lines.

The consideration of human sexuality proceeds from a consideration of claims for its
biological basis. Human sexuality is, however, distinctive in that it is part of the realm of
meaning – both socially and emotionally symbolic. The chapter then turns to consider sexual
orientation, specifically heterosexuality, homosexuality, lesbianism, ‘gay’ identity and
bisexuality. The text directly links sexual and romantic attraction and rejects the term
‘sexual preference’ in favour of ‘sexual orientation’, arguing that the former inaccurately
suggests the level of willed choice. In the Western world the history of sexuality has been
dominated by the influence of Christianity, which on the whole has treated heterosexuality
as the only legitimate form of sexual expression and sex as an act acceptable only within
marriage and only for the purposes of procreation. Victorian society sustained a sexual
double standard, accepting male promiscuity whilst insisting upon female sexual purity and
passivity. Same-sex relationships show huge cultural differences and in many societies form
an accepted part of the social structure. The idea of the homosexual as a separate type of
individual is a recent and Western one dating from the nineteenth-century growth of
sexology. The link between participating in same-sex sexual activity and the adoption or
imposition of the social identity ‘homosexual’ is a far from direct one. Kenneth Plummer
identifies four male positions within this: casual same-sex encounters which do not
substantially structure the sexual life or identity of the individual; situated same-sex
encounters in male-only environments such as prisons; personalized homosexuality, where
an individual experiences a preference for same-sex sexual activity but remains isolated
from the gay community; and, homosexuality as a way of life, structuring both the sexual life
and identity of the individual.

© Polity Press 2013

This file should be used solely for the purpose of review and must not be otherwise stored,
duplicated, copied or sold
 Gender and Sexuality

In the mid-twentieth century the gap between public expectations and private sexual
practices became clear with the publication of the large-scale studies of Alfred Kinsey and
colleagues, which are seen as a Classic Study in this section. It was widely believed that
sexual behaviour had become more permissive in the years since Kinsey’s research; more
recent evidence has, however, thrown this into doubt. The findings of a study conducted in
1994 have been brought into question because of the, to some surprisingly high, levels of
sexual activity among older people. Yet this criticism may tell us more about ageist attitudes
among some researchers. The validity of sex research is always open to question and it is
possible that one effect of either HIV and AIDS or a generally conservative political culture
may be that people have become unwilling to give honest answers to sex researchers.

In turning to the study of gender, the distinction between sex as anatomical and gender as
psychological, social and cultural is drawn. Three sociological interpretations of gender
differences are considered: those which stress a biological base, those which stress
socialization and learning of gender roles and those which see both sex and gender as
socially constructed. Biological accounts are seen as falsely universalizing and inclined to
confuse correlation with causation. Gender socialization accounts, with their emphasis on
positive and negative sanctions, suffer from the functionalist tendency to present social
reproduction in too smooth and mechanical a light.

As Connell suggests, human beings are not the passive subjects of socialization: socialization
is an invitation to the individual to participate in society on particular terms, which the
individual will actively negotiate. More recent theoretical developments see both sex and
gender as socially constructed. A society’s notions of gender appropriateness will shape the
ways in which the society interprets the differences it finds between male and female bodies
and names as sex differences. Equally, gender becomes inscribed on the flesh through
exercise, diet and body modifications.

Prior to feminist interventions which concentrated upon understanding women’s position,

sociology as a discipline had treated masculinity as largely unproblematic and
straightforward. More recently attempts have been made to understand masculinities in the
context of gender relations. Raewyn Connell has been a leading theorist in this area,
proposing that both masculinities and femininities are considered as interrelated parts of
the gender order. Connell’s body of work is seen as a Classic Study here. In modern societies
the main sites in which gender relations are constituted and constrained are labour, power
and cathexis. In small-scale organizations one can see the gender regime through which
gender is reproduced: the example is given of Mac an Ghaíll’s study of the production of
masculinities in school. Although there are a range of masculinities and femininities, Connell
sees these as ordered into a gender hierarchy topped by hegemonic masculinity. The gender
order, which is dynamic and increasingly globalized in form, is facing three crisis tendencies:
institutionalization, sexuality and interest formation.

The chapter now turns to the experiences of homosexual men and women living in societies
in which homophobia might exist, and examines the recent trajectory of civil rights. Some
gay male behaviour can be seen as a challenge to hegemonic masculinity and be subject to a
backlash from heterosexual men, including hate crimes; equally, increased public discussion
of a range of sexualities has raised awareness that there are alternatives to heterosexuality
available. Global differences showing the increasing liberalism identified at the start of the
chapter is far from universal. In general, active lesbian and gay social movements tend to
thrive in countries that emphasize individual rights and liberal state policies
 Gender and Sexuality

Gender is not just about difference; it is also about gender inequality. Functionalists of the
1940s and ’50s saw the sexual division of labour of their own society as the most logical
basis for the organization of modern society. Men occupy instrumental roles, including that
of family breadwinner, and women expressive roles as the carer of both children and men.
Women’s role was further reinforced through the maternal deprivation thesis. The evidence
upon which these theories are built is seen to be inadequate. Feminist approaches are now
considered: liberal, socialist, radical and black feminism.

Liberal feminism seeks piecemeal changes without accepting a need for a fundamental
restructuring of society. Radical feminism elaborates the concept of patriarchy as ‘the
systematic domination of females by males’. Mechanisms through which domination occurs
include the appropriation of women’s domestic labour, denying women access to positions
of power and the appropriation of women’s bodies through violence, rape and sexual
objectification. This approach is criticized for using ‘patriarchy’ in a falsely universalizing way
and tending towards biological reductionism. A boxed example from dual systems feminist
Sylvia Walby is included to illustrate how the concept of patriarchy may be more
productively operationalized in sociological research. Black feminism, as a distinctive
approach, developed out of a dissatisfaction that the concerns of mainstream feminism
were dictated by the concerns of white, middle-class women in developed nations who then
generalized to all women on the basis of their own experiences. The black experience is
shaped by a history of slavery and colonialism and for black feminists race and class are seen
as significant dimensions in their experience of inequality as gender. Post-modern feminism
rejects overarching theories of women’s oppression and questions most fundamentally the
category of ‘woman’ itself. They point to the processes by which ‘woman’ is categorized as
'the Other' against a masculine norm. As such, they would find interesting the assertion in
the text that ‘female anatomy differs from that of the male’.

Queer theory breaks with many conventional sociological ideas on identity. Queer theory
challenges the very concept of ‘identity’ as something that is relatively fixed or assigned to
people by socializing agents. Drawing on Foucault, queer theorists argue that gender and
sexuality, along with all of the other terms that come with these concepts, constitute a
specific discourse rather than referring to something objectively real or ‘natural’.

The chapter now moves on to the study of sex work. Prostitution is usually seen today as
one form of sex work. Many feminists campaign against the sex industry, seeing it as
degrading to women and ultimately rooted in women’s subordination to men. Yet, more
recently, sex work has been reappraised by some feminists, who argue that many, though by
no means all, women sex workers earn a good living, enjoy what they do, and do not fit the
stereotype of being poor, undereducated or forced into prostitution by their circumstances.
But the growth of the global sex industry is largely the result of sex tourism and human
trafficking, and is based on exploitation and enormous disparities of wealth and power.

The long-term development of feminist thought and social movements seeking to promote
the rights of women is conventionally seen as passing through a series of three ‘waves’.
First-wave feminism sought equal access to political power by extending voting rights to
women on the same basis as men, and access to all of society’s institutions, including higher
education.

Second-wave feminism focused on ideas of women’s ‘liberation’ and ‘empowerment’. If the

first-wave movement was influenced by liberal and socialist political ideals of equality before

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the law, the second wave was a more ‘radical’ movement for change in the private world of
family life and domesticity just as much as in the realm of public policy and formal politics.

Third-wave feminism is characterized by local, national and transnational activism, in areas

such as violence against women, trafficking, body surgery, self- mutilation, and the overall
‘pornofication’ of the media. It criticizes earlier feminist waves for presenting universal
answers or definitions of womanhood.

The uneven development of regions and societies globally means that many of the equal
rights measures that people in the developed world now take for granted have yet to be
won in the developing countries. However, increasing globalization and transnational
connections illustrate how the global dimension of contemporary social life offers new
opportunities for women’s movements to join together in the ongoing campaign for gender
equality.

TEACHING TOPICS

1. Sexual identity
The discussion of human sexuality points to the historical and cultural variability of both
human sexual behaviour and human sexual identities. Plummer’s work is used to highlight
the far from direct link between same sex activities and the adoption of a homosexual
identity. Considering the Kinsey findings on sexual activity can reinforce this point.

2. The social construction of femininities and masculinities

This topic directly challenges the common sense of many students who hold fairly
biologically reductionist views about gender. The chapter provides a wealth of examples of
the social construction of gender. Issues from the chapter can be linked together in a
number of ways; this topic encourages linking feminist approaches with Connell’s work and
also the discussion of homosexuality.

3. The global gender order

Global issues appear at various points in the chapter (for example, Connell’s increasing
interest in the establishment of a global gender order, and feminist developments which
recognize the globally interlinked dimensions of women’s oppression and disadvantage).
These topics are linked by this theme.

ACTIVITIES
Activity 1: Sexual identity

As this chapter makes clear, the links between sexual desire, sexual activity and sexual
identity are far from straightforward. Cultural and historical comparisons demonstrate
enormous variety in human sexual expression and in the integration of sexual activity into
the social whole. Jeffrey Weeks is a major theorist in this area. His work focuses on male
homosexual identities, has a strong historical component and draws significantly upon the
work of the French theorist Michel Foucault. In this extract he is writing about the paradox
that, as sociologists, we have become increasingly aware of the culturally dependent nature
 Gender and Sexuality

of human sexualities, whilst, at the same time, the claiming of certainty about our sexuality
has become increasingly important to us as individuals:

The very idea of a sexual identity is an ambiguous one. For many in the modern
world – especially the sexually marginal – it is an absolutely fundamental concept,
offering a sense of personal unity, social location, and even at times a political
commitment. Not many, perhaps, say ‘I am heterosexual’ because it is the taken-
for-granted norm, the great unsaid of our sexual culture. But to say ‘I am gay’, ‘I am
lesbian’, or even ‘I am a paedophile … or sado-masochist’ is to make a statement
about belonging and about a specific stance in relationship to the dominant sexual
codes. It is also to privilege sexual identity over other identities, to say in effect that
how we see ourselves sexually is more important than class, or racial, or
professional loyalties. As the song puts it: ‘I am what I am, my own special creation’
and in saying that we are ostensibly speaking of our true essence of being, our real
selves.

Yet, at the same time, we now know from a proliferating literature that such
identities are historically and culturally specific, that they are selected from a host
of possible social identities, that they are not necessary attributes of particular sex
drives or desires, and that they are not, in fact, essential – that is naturally pre-given
– aspects of our personality. … So there is a real paradox at the heart of the
question of sexual identity. We are increasingly aware, theoretically, historically,
even politically, that ‘sexuality’ is about flux and change, that what we so readily
deem as ‘sexual’ is as much a product of language and culture as of ‘nature’. Yet we
constantly strive to fix it, stabilize it, say who we are by telling of our sex.

(Jeffrey Weeks, ‘Questions of identity’ in Pat Caplan (ed.), The Cultural Construction
of Sexuality, London: Routledge, 1987, p. 31)

1. In this extract Weeks suggests that a sexual identity offers ‘a sense of personal unity,
social location, and even at times a political commitment’. Reread the sections on
‘Biology and sexual orientation’, ‘Sexuality, religion and morality’ and ‘Forms of sexuality’,
and identify examples of these processes.
2. The relationship between sexual identities and sexual acts is far from straightforward.
Identify evidence from Sociology which supports Weeks’s assertion that sexual identities
‘are not necessary attributes of particular sex drives or desires’.
3. In terms of the arguments for legal parity with the heterosexual majority, does it matter
if homosexuality is biologically determined or socially constructed?

Activity 2: The social construction of femininities and masculinities

Read the sections, ‘Biology and sexual orientation’ on pages 625-7, the material on pages
636-9 and ‘Feminist approaches’ on pages 653-8.

Gillian Dunne has conducted research into the home lives of lesbian couples. These couples
are forming relationships which fall outside the normal expectations of gender roles in our
society. In some ways they are spontaneously occurring examples of making the everyday
seem strange (see chapter 5); they help to show up the assumptions in heterosexual
households. Many of the women Dunne interviewed had previously been married or
cohabited with men in heterosexual relationships. Their new relationships involve forging
new forms of femininity. Read this extract from her book:

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When respondents were asked if they could identify ways in which their
relationships with women differed from heterosexual ones, the overwhelming
response … was that relationships with women were ‘more equal’. … There were
two main aspects of heterosexual relationships which were understood by
respondents to pre-empt an egalitarian outcome. The first, and most obvious, was
related to their belief that women and men do not share ‘equality of conditions’. In
other words, there exist structural inequalities between them. For example, men’s
access to greater economic power was seen to support and reinforce their ability to
dominate partners …

A second important differentiating feature was related to the gendered

assumptions guiding the actual operation of heterosexual relationships … those who
had experienced relationships with men usually identified ‘heterosexual role play’
as a major medium of constraint on self-determination. This role play was perceived
as a taken for granted practice whereby gender inequalities were intentionally or
(most importantly) unintentionally translated into everyday action, expectations
and outcomes …

Sheila contrasts her lesbian relationship with her previous marriage, and highlights
the consequences of adhering to heterosexual role play for decision making:

I feel more equal; I don’t feel that I could leave all the decisions up to [my
lover] or need to. Whereas with [my husband] I did, and I think in many ways I
was happy to leave the decisions up to him, because that was what I saw as his
role … [Relationships with women are] very much more fulfilling in that I feel
like a person in my own right rather than an accessory. And I think I felt very
much an accessory when I was married.

(Extract from Gillian A. Dunne, ‘Lesbians at home: why can’t a man be more like a
woman?’ in Anthony Giddens (ed.), Sociology: Introductory Readings, Cambridge:
Polity, 2001)

1. How can the feminist approaches outlined in Sociology be applied to understanding these
findings?
2. Look at figure 15.2 on page 641 which summarizes Connell’s model of the gender
hierarchy: How can the types of femininities she identified be applied to understand
Sheila’s experiences?

Activity 3: The global gender order

Read ‘The gender order’ on pages 639-43 including Classic Study 15.2, along with ‘Black
feminism’ on pages 655-8 and the chapter conclusion.

The chapter notes that Raewyn Connell has become increasingly aware of global processes
affecting local gender regimes and the formation of a global gender order. The following
extract expands on this point:

Imperialism and globalization have created institutions that operate on a world

scale. These institutions all have internal gender regimes, and each gender
regime has its gender dynamics – interests, gender politics, and processes of
 Gender and Sexuality

change. World-spanning institutions thus create new arenas for gender

formation and gender dynamics. The most important of these institutions
seem to be transnational corporations, the international state, global media
and global markets. I will comment on each in turn.

Transnational corporations. Corporations operating in global markets are now

the largest business organizations on the planet. They typically have a strong
gender division of labour in their workforce, and a strongly masculinized
management culture[…]

The international state. A striking feature of twentieth-century political history

was the growth of agencies that link territorial states without themselves
having a territorial base… All these agencies are gendered, and have gender
effects. Mostly their gender regimes copy those of the conventional states that
gave rise to them… They often have staffing rules that guarantee geographical
diversity, and so have an element of gender multiculturalism[…]

Global media. Multinational media corporations circulate film, video, music

and news on a very large scale […]

Global markets. It is important to distinguish markets themselves from the

individual corporations that operate in them. International markets – capital,
commodity, service and labour markets – have an increasing ‘reach’ into local
economies. They are strongly gender-structured and are … very weakly
regulated.

(Raewyn Connell, Gender 2nd edition, Polity: Cambridge, 2009, pp. 129–31)

An example of the ‘strong gender division of labour’ mentioned by Connell is discussed in

this extract about the early development of the Sony Walkman:

[E]ver since the 1920s women assembly-worker have become an increasingly

important part of the industrial workforce of the world. Yet the importance
and significance of female assemblers have been undermined by a distinct
sexual division of labour in which ‘women assemble and men do everything
else’. …

The production of the Walkman is thus based on a distinctive sexual division of

labour. The work of the assembly line was crucial to the Walkman’s initial
success. Keeping the costs down depended on controlling the assembly-line
and making components that could be assembled rapidly. … Without the
women assemblers in their rows in Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan, working away
putting components together, the Walkman would not have appeared and
would not continue to be manufactured in such large numbers.

(Paul Du Gay, Stuart Hall, Linda Janes, Hugh Mackay and Keith Negus, Doing
Cultural Studies: the story of the Sony Walkman, London: Sage in association
with the Open University, 1997, pp. 54–5)

The globalized division in the production of electronic consumer goods is also hinted at by a
statement in very small type on the back of my 20-meg iPod:

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‘Designed by Apple in California; assembled in China’

The dynamics of the global labour market do not only apply to jobs in manufacturing, but
also to employment in health and care sectors:

Up to half of Zimbabwe’s social workers are now employed in Britain following

a dramatic rise in overseas recruitment over the past decade that threatens to
cripple the African country’s welfare system.

One million Filipinos work abroad, including tens of thousands of nurses,

contributing $6 billion (£3.75 million) to the country’s economy annually. …
Turnover at Philippine hospitals is so high that many operating theatres are
staffed with trainee nurses.

The Philippine board of nursing is pressing their government to make foreign

hospitals cover the costs of training new recruits every time a nurse is lost
from the country.

(Extracts from the Guardian, cited in Janet Newman and Gerry Mooney,
‘Managing personal lives: doing “welfare work”’, in Gerry Mooney (ed.), Work:
Personal Lives and Social Policy, Bristol: The Policy Press in association with the
Open University, 2004, pp. 62–3)

1. Look through the electrical appliances and clothes in your home. Where are they
assembled?
2. The statement on the back of the iPod hints at an important inequality in the
international division of labour. What sort of jobs seem to be moving to China?
3. How might this affect the gendered division of labour in China? What else would
you need to find out to be sure of your answer?
4. If you were a feminist, what might your main concerns be about this movement of
jobs around the world?
5. Many of the health and care workers moving to Britain are women. How might
this affect (a) gender regimes within British health and care settings and (b)
gender regimes in the countries they have come from? What else would you need
to find out to be sure of your answers?

REFLECTION & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Sexual identity
In what ways is social interaction structured around an assumed norm of
heterosexuality?
Since late 2005, homosexual couples in Britain have been able to enter into ‘civil
partnerships’ which are often colloquially called ‘gay marriages’. In what ways are they
different from marriage?
If homosexuality were totally socially accepted would it still be a source of social
identity?

The social construction of femininities and masculinities

How much does hegemonic masculinity depend upon women to keep it going?
 Gender and Sexuality

Can masculinity or femininity change during an individual’s lifetime?

What is the relationship between gender identities and social inequalities?
How does the ‘crisis if masculinity’ affect feminine identities?

The global gender order

What positive effects could there be for women in the West of the exploitation of
women in and from developing countries?
Should workers in multinational companies based in the UK try to influence the global
employment practices of these companies?
How might the migration of women affect family life in their countries of origin?

ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. How are both gender and sexualities sustained through everyday social interaction?

2. What is the relationship between the biological and the social in the construction and
maintenance of gender inequalities?

3. How can global changes impact upon local gender regimes?

MAKING CONNECTIONS
Sexual identity
Chapter 10 considers families and intimate relationships and is thus closely allied to issues of
sexuality.

The social construction of femininities and masculinities

Chapter 8 introduces both Goffman and social interactionism as an approach and can be
linked to the work on sexualities from Ken Plummer. There are strong links between the
material in this chapter and Chapter 20 on education, and Chapter 17 is useful on the
construction of femininities within religious belief and practice.

The global gender order

This topic links directly to Chapter 14 on global inequality and also to Chapter 7 on work and
the economy. There are also links to be made to the impact of changing employment
patterns on family life in Chapter 10.

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 Gender and Sexuality

SAMPLE SESSION

The social construction of femininities and masculinities

Aims
To consolidate understanding of gender as a socially constructed category.
To introduce the idea that masculinities and femininities are plural categories.
To apply different forms of feminist theory to the question of gender identities.

Outcome: By the end of the session students will be able to:

1. Explain and provide examples to illustrate figure 15.2,‘The gender hierarchy’.
2. Apply ideas from liberal, radical, ‘black’ and post-modern feminism to a given example.

Preparatory tasks
Read the section on ‘Social constructions of gender and sexuality’.
Make notes on Connell’s model of the gender hierarchy.
Consider Figure 15.2 and make short notes of examples from social life which could
illustrate each of the forms of masculinity and femininity it identifies.

Classroom tasks
1. Tutor introduces topic in whole group session by taking feedback on the preparatory
tasks. (15 minutes)
2. Students are split into groups and given copies of the exercise based on the extract
from Gillian Dunne – each group is allocated one approach to consider (liberal, radical,
socialist, black, post-modern). (20 minutes)
3. Feedback and group discussion: how do these approaches contribute to our
understanding of gender? (20 minutes)

Assessment task
In pairs, produce an A1 poster that shows Connell’s model of the gender hierarchy, and
illustrate (using pictures and text) each of the masculinities and femininities it identifies.