SEX�based on biological and physical differences between males and females

�        XY�male chromosomes and XX female chromosomes

�        Height

�        Weight

�        Body and facial hair

�        Physical strength

�        Endurance

�        Brain functioning (in utero, hormones testosterone and estrogen)

GENDER�refers to cultural understandings about what constitutes masculinity and femininity in a society

GENDER ROLES�the social and cultural expectations that are associated with a� person�s sex� (what are some of these gender roles, differences between males and females??)

Sexuality

1)  Most of us see sexuality as a natural biological urge, a true expression of affection for another person.� We assume that everyone is born with sexual drives that emerge at the appropriate time.

2)  But if human sexuality were just biological, it would fall under very strict hormonal control as we see in animals, which engage in no sexual behavior for most of the year and then mate during a period of time call ESTRUS� (pet dog, in heat, example).

3)  Human sexuality is impacted by hormones (testosterone, estrogen), and men think about sex as often as every 20 seconds while women think about it as often as every 6 or 7 minutes.� So there are gender differences based on biology.�

4)  But it does not fall exclusively under hormonal/ biological control and influence. Humans regularly engage in sexual acts that have nothing to do with reproduction or conception.� They also engage in sexual acts even when they do not want to (one study: 81% of students reported a recent episode in which they experienced ambivalence about engaging in sex with their dating partners, yet 50% of this 81% proceeded).

5)  Human sexuality has as much symbolic as biological significance. We can become aroused� by vivid mental imagery, explicit written descriptions, sounds�we have sex� for a variety of reasons other than reproduction (another study: 2000 college students were asked why they had sex�a total of 237 reasons were identified�4 categories�physical desire, goal attainment, emotions, and insecurity.

6)  People differ dramatically in what they find attractive and arousing. Some people�s appetites are insatiable and indiscriminant and others are particular and discreet.� There are wide variances in how human beings express human sexuality, and this would not be so if it were simply about hormones and biology.

 

Sexual Orientation and Gender Preference

1)  US culture is characterized by COMPULSIVE HETEROSEXUALITY�� a culture where heterosexuality is accepted as the normal, taken for granted mode of sexual expression

2)  Our cultural representations of virtually every aspect of intimate or family life (dating, marriage, childrearing) presume a world in which men are sexually and affectionately attracted to women and women are the same toward men.

3)  Heterosexual people are socially privileged because their relationships and lifestyles are affirmed in every facet of the culture�marriage is the most obvious but other benefits that are denied all but heterosexuals are insurance benefits, property and inheritance laws, joint child custody.� All of this is related to the ability to marriage.

4)  In addition to marriage and its beneficial privileges, less obvious heterosexual privileges include

a)  Seeing positive media images of people with the same sexual orientation

b) Not having to lie about who you are, what you do, and where you go

c)  Not having to worry about being fired from jobs because of your sexual orientation

d) Receiving validation from your religious community, and

e)  More easily adopting children.

5)  In our culture, homosexuality is still more likely to be considered an aberration even though this is gradually changing.

6)  Is gender preference cultural or biological?� For a very long time, we believed it was a learned and culturally taught tendency.� Lately, there is mounting evidence it is biological perhaps.� There is not a clear cut answer.�

7)  Our culture tends to place things and people in either/or categories.

Gender preference challenges this.� As far back as in the 1940s, Alfred Kinsey published a report arguing that sexual orientation is not composed of mutually exclusive categories. He instead found and strongly suggested that gender preference lies along a continuum with �exclusively heterosexual� at one end of the scale and �exclusively homosexual� at the other.

8)  Kinsey and colleagues found that only 50% of the white males studied were exclusively heterosexual and only 4% exclusively homosexual.� The rest of the population fell somewhere in between these two extremes.

 

Gender and Sexuality

�       Although most research indicates that the female sex drive is just as strong as the male sex drive, this research also shows that men think about sex more often, that men�s sex drive stays stronger over the course of a lifetime, that men�s lives are more dominated by the overall interest in sexual activity.� There are cultural inhibitions and teachings for women regarding the expression of their sexuality.

 

�       Men are typically portrayed as preferring more RECREATIONAL SEX(sexual pleasure for its own sake) and women are portrayed as preferring more RELATIONAL SEX (sex within the context of an ongoing relationship). The truth is while there are some differences here. The overwhelming majority of both sexes prefer and seek relational sex.

(One large difference:� If relational sex is not available, men are more likely to seek and engage in recreational sex than women are).

 

�       There has been and continues to be a SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD (a cultural belief that celebrates men who have lots of sex while punishing women for the same behavior).

�       �Real men� have lots of sex with lots of women.� �Good women� have sex only within the confines of a relationship, and more specifically, within the confines of marriage.

�       For young men, sexual desire is defined as natural and healthy and a pathway to normal manhood.� For young women, sexual desire is framed in terms of risk and dangerous consequences.

�       Studies show clearly that women tend to be regarded more negatively than men if they become sexually active at a young age or have sex within casual relationships, especially recreational sex.

�       Men who come equipped with condoms for a date are considered safe and responsible. Women who are on the pill, have a diaphragm, or come with a condom for a date are viewed most often as promiscuous.

 

4) Based on these gender differences, men and women therefore behave and evaluate the dating and mating experience differently.

�       Men tend to perceive sexually suggestive behavior on the part of a dating partner as an indicator that things are to move to a more intense phase of sexual activity while women are more likely to be uncomfortable with men�s sexually suggestive behavior.

�       Men tend to define rejection of their sexual advances as a �bad date.�

�       Gender disagreement over signals of sexual desire is one of the most notable problems in contemporary dating (53% of female HS students report being in a dating situation where the male overestimated the sexual intimacy desired by the female, 45% of male HS students report being in a dating situation where the female underestimates the sexual intimacy desired by the male).

�       Young women consistently report that the thing they dislike most about dating situations is the unwanted pressure to have sex (several studies show that 25% to 40% of all women report being pressured to have sex before they are ready).

5)  Finally, studies estimate that perhaps over 50% of our young women engage in unwanted sexual activity for reasons other than pressure from a male dating partner.� These are as follows:�

�       peer pressure,

�       fear of appearing shy or unfeminine,

�       fear of appearing inexperienced,

�       a desire to be more popular.

SEXISM�refers to the idealogy that one sex is inherently inferior or superior to the other

�        Identify examples of sexism in our major institutions

�        FAMILY

�        RELIGION

�        EDUCATION

�        WORKPLACE

�        SPORTS

�        POLITICS/GOVERNMENT

�        MASS MEDIA

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic Division of Labor

WOMEN GET MESSED AROUND

b) Every piece of research on this indicates that the gender gap in housework in our families continues.� Consider the following:

�                                                                         The reason the gender gap has narrowed is not because men are doing substantially more but because women are doing substantially less.

�                                                                         Employed women spend almost an hour a day more than men caring for young children.

�                                                                         The housework husbands tend to do is different from their wives and splits along gender lines�women do more of the core housework and the tasks that have to be done regularly, while men do more of the outdoor chores and home repairs. So, women employed outside of the home continue to be primarily responsible for the upkeep of the household.

�                                                                         This gender discrepancy holds even among couples who profess equal, non sexist values.� Husbands who say that all the housework should be shared equally still are not doing it.

�                                                                         Because of this persistent gender imbalance, some Sociologists state that the average US wife actually works two shifts�one at the office and one at home.

Some others even say they work a third shift, which is a relentless psychological rehashing of the events of the day�� (read p. 259)�

�                                                                         Even those couples that do live an equal split of domestic chores return to the more traditional roles once children are born, and in fact in these couples, research shows that the men spend MORE time at the office after the children and women spend LESS time there.

�                                                                         Rather than defining the work they do around the house as ordinary and expected, men tend to define it as �helping� which implies they are assisting the person ultimately responsible for such tasks.� This cognitive perspective can lead to role conflict between the relationship partners.