Chapter 9 Outline
9.1 Sex and Gender
1. Sex is an individual’s membership in one of two categories—male or female—based on
biological factors expressed through primary and secondary sex characteristics.
a. Some people are intersex, meaning their chromosomes and sex characteristics
are neither exclusively male nor exclusively female.
b. Western society traditionally treated being intersex as an abnormality, but it has
since been established that this is a harmful reaction, and views have changed to
support that being intersex is just a biological variation, not a medical disorder.
2. Gender refers to the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers
normal for its male and female members.
a. Essentialists believe gender exists along a rigid binary and is not influenced by
culture.
b. Constructionists believe gender is a social construction shaped by culture and
historical time period. Most mainstream sociologists use this approach.
c. Gender identity is an individual’s self-definition or sense of gender.
i. Those whose sex corresponds with their gender identity are cisgender,
while those whose gender identity does not align with their sex are
transgender.
ii. Gender expression is an external behavioral manifestation of gender.
iii. Trans individuals are one subset of gender-nonconforming persons,
which include nonbinary, genderqueer, and genderfluid people. It is
helpful to think of these classifications as existing on a spectrum rather
than trying to classify them into a gender binary.
9.2 Sexuality and Sexual Orientation
1. Sexual orientation or identity is the inclination to feel sexual desire toward people of a
particular gender.
, a. Heterosexuality is sexual attraction toward members of the other gender. It is the
normative and dominant category.
b. Homosexuality is sexual attraction toward members of one’s own gender.
c. Bisexuality is sexual attraction toward members of both genders.
d. Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction of any kind.
e. Alfred Kinsey thought human sexuality was very diverse and suggested that
people are not exclusively heterosexual or homosexual but rather fall along a
wide spectrum.
2. Queer theory is a social theory about gender and sexual identity that emphasizes the
importance of difference and rejects ideas of innate identities or restrictive categories
a. The term “queer” now describes anything that challenges prevailing binary
notions of sex, gender, and sexuality, and is represented by the "Q" in the
acronym LGBTQIA.
9.3 Socialization: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
1. Gender role socialization is the lifelong process of learning to be masculine or feminine;
it often perpetuates binary notions of gender, reinforces gender conformity, and
supports heteronormativity.
2. Families are usually the primary source of socialization.
a. Gender role socialization begins even before birth.
b. Social learning is the process of learning behavior and meaning through
observation, imitation, and interaction.
c. Gender pervades every aspect of family life.
3. Schools continue gender role socialization through segregation into same-sex groups and
gender-stereotyped tasks.
a. Teachers tend to favor boys. Even when girls score better, they are typically
credited for hard work rather than intellectual ability and encouraged to focus on
social skills or appearance rather than brain power.
9.1 Sex and Gender
1. Sex is an individual’s membership in one of two categories—male or female—based on
biological factors expressed through primary and secondary sex characteristics.
a. Some people are intersex, meaning their chromosomes and sex characteristics
are neither exclusively male nor exclusively female.
b. Western society traditionally treated being intersex as an abnormality, but it has
since been established that this is a harmful reaction, and views have changed to
support that being intersex is just a biological variation, not a medical disorder.
2. Gender refers to the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers
normal for its male and female members.
a. Essentialists believe gender exists along a rigid binary and is not influenced by
culture.
b. Constructionists believe gender is a social construction shaped by culture and
historical time period. Most mainstream sociologists use this approach.
c. Gender identity is an individual’s self-definition or sense of gender.
i. Those whose sex corresponds with their gender identity are cisgender,
while those whose gender identity does not align with their sex are
transgender.
ii. Gender expression is an external behavioral manifestation of gender.
iii. Trans individuals are one subset of gender-nonconforming persons,
which include nonbinary, genderqueer, and genderfluid people. It is
helpful to think of these classifications as existing on a spectrum rather
than trying to classify them into a gender binary.
9.2 Sexuality and Sexual Orientation
1. Sexual orientation or identity is the inclination to feel sexual desire toward people of a
particular gender.
, a. Heterosexuality is sexual attraction toward members of the other gender. It is the
normative and dominant category.
b. Homosexuality is sexual attraction toward members of one’s own gender.
c. Bisexuality is sexual attraction toward members of both genders.
d. Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction of any kind.
e. Alfred Kinsey thought human sexuality was very diverse and suggested that
people are not exclusively heterosexual or homosexual but rather fall along a
wide spectrum.
2. Queer theory is a social theory about gender and sexual identity that emphasizes the
importance of difference and rejects ideas of innate identities or restrictive categories
a. The term “queer” now describes anything that challenges prevailing binary
notions of sex, gender, and sexuality, and is represented by the "Q" in the
acronym LGBTQIA.
9.3 Socialization: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
1. Gender role socialization is the lifelong process of learning to be masculine or feminine;
it often perpetuates binary notions of gender, reinforces gender conformity, and
supports heteronormativity.
2. Families are usually the primary source of socialization.
a. Gender role socialization begins even before birth.
b. Social learning is the process of learning behavior and meaning through
observation, imitation, and interaction.
c. Gender pervades every aspect of family life.
3. Schools continue gender role socialization through segregation into same-sex groups and
gender-stereotyped tasks.
a. Teachers tend to favor boys. Even when girls score better, they are typically
credited for hard work rather than intellectual ability and encouraged to focus on
social skills or appearance rather than brain power.
