SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER

Sex Roles

 Describes the tasks and functions perceived to be ideally suited to

masculinity and femininity
Terms and Definitions:

ETHNOCENTRIC IDEAS
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM
 Define and judge practices according to one’s own
culture, rather than understanding cultural
practices vary and should be viewed by local
 a theory that states that people develop knowledge
standard.
of the world in a social context, not individually.
GENDER NORMS

Societal expectations and rules regarding how men and women should
behave, express themselves and interact with others according to their
gender.
MASCULINITY

a broad set of processes that include gender relations and gender

practices between men and women and the effects of these practices in
bodily experience, personality and culture.
FEMININITY

 the quality or nature of the female sex : the quality, state, or degree
of being feminine or womanly.
 It is constructed through patriarchal ideas. This means that femininity
is always set up as inferior to men.
 FEMININITY EXAMPLES

1. You are a kind and nurturing person

2. Preoccupation with physical appearance
3. You speak and behave softly
4. You are emotional
5. You are empathic to what other people feel
6. You feel sensitive and powerless
7. You feel needy and dependent
8. You are collaborative
9. You are a gossip
GENDER ROLES

 Set of societal norms indicating what type of behaviors are generally

considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on
their actual or perceived sex.
 The term “gender role” was first coined by John Money in 1955
 Socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and attributes that a
given society considers appropriate for men and women. (WHO)
SEXUAL ORIENTATION

 An enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions

to men, women or both sexes.

 Person’s sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors

and membership in a community of others who share those
attractions.
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Lesbian – a female homosexual: a female who experiences romantic love or

sexual attraction to other females.

Gay – refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. It is often

used to describe homosexual males but lesbians may also be referred to as gay.

Bisexual – it is a romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward

both males and females, or romantic or sexual attraction to people of any sex or
gender identity.
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Transgender – is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from
what is typically associated with their sex at birth.

Transsexual – experience a gender identity inconsistent or not culturally associated

with the sex they were at birth.

Two-Spirited – is a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans

to describe gender-variant individuals in their communities specifically people within
indigenous communities who are seen as having both male and female spirit within
them.
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Queer – an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not
heterosexual or cisgender. Queer was originally used pejoratively against those
with same-sex desires but, beginning in the late-1980s queer scholars and
activist began to reclaim the word.
Questioning – the questioning of one’s gender, sexual identity, sexual
orientation, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be
unsure, still exploring, and concerned about applying a social label to
themselves for various reasons.
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Intersex – variation of sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or

genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or
female.
Asexual – lack of sexual attraction to anyone, or low or absence of interest in
sexual activity.
Pansexual – also called as omnisexuality. A sexual attraction, romantic, love
or emotional attraction toward people of any sex or gender identity. They may
refer as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are insignificant or
irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Agender – also called as genderless, genderfree, non-gendered, or ungendered

people are those who identify as having no gender or being without any gender
identity.
Gender Queer – is an umbrella term for gender identities that are not
exclusively masculine or feminine – identities which are thus outside of the
gender binary
Bigender – a gender identity where the person moves between feminine and
masculine gender identities and behaviors
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Gender Variant – or gender nonconformity, is behavior or gender expression

by an individual that does not match masculine and feminine gender norms.

Pangender – are those who feel they identify as all genders. The term has a
great deal of overlap with gender queer.
 GENDER PREFERENCES

Gender Variant – or gender nonconformity, is behavior or gender expression

by an individual that does not match masculine and feminine gender norms.

Pangender – are those who feel they identify as all genders. The term has a
great deal of overlap with gender queer.
 ACTIVITY

1. In your own opinion, what is social constructionism?

2. Explain the importance of gender preferences.