Sex & Gender

men are the "default" neutral gender...

look up Killing Us Softly 4 online, should be free to watch somewhere - Rhiannon

Chapter 6: Sexuality and Society (  130-149 )

Sexuality – a ubiquitous dimension of social life; a theme found almost everywhere

sex as taboo – this is how it functions as a "locus" of social control

 (develop this statement - explain)

What is sex?

Primary and secondary sex characteristics?
Neurological differences?

What is gender?

how do cultures around the world conceptualize gender?

see photos on p.131, highlighting sex markers

"Doing Gender" - performativity

Do we define one gender more than another in terms of sexuality?  Possible economic implications?  Study on men's perceptions of women after being primed with sexualized images.

 

transexual/transgender have mismatched sex & gender

crossdressers dress to fit gender identity (so they are transgendered)

transvestites dress for erotic reasons

intersexual (how common?)

e.g. androgen insensitivity...

Cultural variation – attractive features, sex positions, ages, homosexuality prevalence, taboo acts

Cultural universal - the incest taboo, why?

WE know it can cause genetic mutations, but it was taboo before we knew about genetics...

From a structural-functionalist perspective, the incest taboo is functional because incest always causes kinship role confusion, family ties define peoples rights and obligations to one another – (Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman's son)

HISTORY of American sexuality

Puritans and other immigrants had strict norms, religious ideas that sex is only for reproduction w/in marriage

Victorian era of strict morality and propriety.

Religious and medical specialists controlled memes. (look for this in Kinsey next time)

4 factors lead to the sexual revolution of 1960s.:

• American value of individualism,
• Feminism and women's empowerment (sexual doubles standard helped keep women under control and reinforced patriarchy),
• Kinsey's studies (which led to REFERENCE GROUP DISILLUSIONMENT)
• • -related to "Pluralistic Ignorance" which has also been studied with regard to drug use:
• New contraceptive technology led to
• • look at map on p. 136 – discuss wealth/advancement vs. Spread of contraceptives

1980 Sexual Counterrevolution, spread of AIDSs, return to "family values", culture wars, so is the sexual revolution over?

Just differing worldviews

although people are more careful than '60's & '70's, they are also more accepting of premarital sex and diverse sexual orientations

possible acceleration of this trend due to pornography? (also association of anti-homosexual attitudes with pro-corporal-punishment for children attitudes?

What is the meaning of sex?

Socially constructed (symbolic interactionism)

• children, fun, love, status, pleasure, making money, etc...

And, how do people think about sex? Defined by religion, biology, medicine, law, media, economics, music, literature, pornography, etc...

Kinsey studies showed the effect of reference groups; as more info became available people became more accepting of premarital sex, homosexuality, etc.  Stereotypes about "normal" sexuality broke down, and diversity became normalized within society.

Changing mores?

Rates of premarital sex started climbing (faster for women) after WWII with Baby Boomers coming of age in late '50s and 60s (sexual revolution), and kept climbing up through '70s up until the sexual counterrevolution of the '80s.

Adult Americans have varying levels of sex, which mostly with monogamous partners (which includes married couples, and exclusive-dating-couples).

Extramarital sex is widely viewed as "wrong" (90% of both men and women say this) but 1 out of 4 men and one out of 10 women have done it.  (gap between ideal culture and real culture?)

Life course – men start on average at 16, women at 17.

By their mid-twenties, 90% of Americans are sexually active. 

After 50 both start to decline ("over the hill") but the rate of people who are sexually active stays over 50% until age 70 for women and 80 for men, then drops.  Yes, that means your grandparents are probably getting it on unless grandma is over 70 or grandpa is over 80.

Sexual Orientation (138)

genes, biology...

also product of society defining the term 100 years ago (Foucault), and how language is deployed to spin the concept (homophobia, as in the gay rights movement), changing attitudes.

here are 5 reasons why no one is "born gay"... (from Richard Pitt)

from reddit:

The exact causes of homosexuality are unknown, as well as their genetic component, if it is genetic. However, much research is centering leading towards the theory that it's caused by prenatal hormone levels that control sexual development of the brain. The short answer is, male homosexuality is the default state of a male in the womb, some males will stay that way due to the process that normally causes them to develop heterosexuality being negated or interrupted. For females, it's likely because their brain accidentally starts the process of becoming a heterosexual male when they're actually female.

Basic overview: all human embryos begin in a sort of prototype female form. basically, a female amphibian or reptile, with one orifice for reproduction, as well as the expelling of solid and liquid waste (a cloaca). eventually this separates into the more familiar human female form, nearly finished anatomically, and both fetuses with male and female chromosomes are still nearly identical. If the fetus has male genes, it then becomes "soaked" in male hormones, causing the ovaries to develop into testicles, clitoris to elongate into a penis, labis to become scrotal tissue, and the clitoral hood to become the shaft skin and foreskin. females just develop a little bit more, and then everything's complete by birth (usually).

Why is this relevant? because the brain appears to undergo the same process of gendering some of its parts, except at different times. The main theory is this: the brain starts out female, and some components become more male if the process is set off correctly in the case of heterosexual males, or incorrectly in the case of lesbians. in gay men, the sexual orientation part of the masculinizing process does not occur, nor does it occur in straight women.

Basically, there actually is no "cause" of homosexuality in males, because attraction to other males is the default state. which means that technically, researchers on men are trying to figure out what the cause of heterosexuality is. That blows people's minds a little bit. for females, it's the opposite. Overall, it's an attempt to determine what the cause of attraction to women is. this general framework is pretty widely accepted among the relevant researchers, and debate centers on what specific mechanism controls development, i.e. what genetic/epigenetic trigger causes which hormone to activate which part of the brain at what time using what cellular process.

So how does it keep getting passed on? due to the process I outlined above, homosexuality can never really disappear; it's innately a part of the process of developing heterosexuality. inevitably, any process that can be begun can be interrupted or arrested, as well as begun by mistake. All male fetuses start out gay, then some become straight. that's a process that can be arrested, leading some to stay gay. females start out straight, but reach full development through 99.99999...% of the process that makes a male, and in fact carry the genes and hormones that can make a fetus male, which can always get turned on by accident. so they will always be capable of becoming lesbians.

tl,dr: as long as male fetuses can turn straight, they'll always be able to stay gay, and females will always be able to turn into lesbians.

in paraphrased summary:

From another perspective, we can find evidence showing that all human embryos begin in a sort of prototype female form. If a fetus has male genes, it then becomes "soaked" in male hormones, causing the ovaries to develop into testicles, clitoris to elongate into a penis, labia to become scrotal tissue, and the clitoral hood to become the foreskin.  

The brain undergoes a similar process of sex differentation in some of its parts.  Which means all of our brains start out "female," and some components become more male if the process is set off correctly for fetuses with male genes, or incorrectly in the case of lesbians.  In gay men, the sexual orientation part of the masculinizing process does not occur, nor does it occur in straight women.  Basically, there actually is no "cause" of homosexuality in males, because attraction to males is the default state for all embryos.  Which means that technically, researchers of sexual orientation are trying to figure out what the cause of heterosexuality is.  

So how does it keep getting passed on? This perspective suggests that there may indeed be a genetic component to our sexual orientation, but that is NOT THE SAME THING as saying it's hereditary.  A gay parent is no more likely to produce gay children than a straight parent.  By the same token, homosexuality can never really disappear; it's innately a part of the process of developing heterosexuality.  Any process that can be begun can be interrupted or arrested, as well as begun by mistake. All male fetuses start out gay, then usually become straight, but that's a process that can be arrested, leading some to stay gay.  Females start out straight, but develop through much of the same process that makes a fetus male, and in fact carry the same genes and hormones that can make a fetus male, which can always get turned on by accident so they will always be capable of becoming lesbians.

how many people are gay? 2-10% depending on how you define it.

"Doing" sexual orientation: more performativity?

(1ST DAY ENDED HERE)

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES SURROUNDING SEXUALITY

Teen pregnancy 

Viewed in our culture as a social problem (...moral panic?)

• social drain - taxes fund social services needed by teen parents
• contributes to "cycles of poverty"
• How should our society provide sexual education to our young?
• "Sex ed" in schools has made information available to younger people. Is this good? The Healthy Youth Act signed into law in Spring of 2010 mandates state schools in Wisconsin to teach comprehensive sex ed including information about contraception. This year it was repealed by opponents say schools should teach abstinence and parents should take the burden of explaining sex.
• what about contraception access?
• How did France respond? no battle?
• What do you think?
• America has higher rates than ALL OTHER COUNTRIES, about 750,000 per year. The sexual revolution did not affect this rate, but DID mean you weren't necessarily expected to get married immediately to avoid shame – so there were less hasty marriages where couples were a bad match and had bad and abusive marriages. Today, rates have gone down since the sexual revolution, and about 57% of these 750,000 are born, the rest aborted or miscarried.

Abortion

What factors are involved? 

• Conservatives tend to see it as primarily a moral issue (sanctity of human life / soul / religion), liberals as primarily a political issue (power over women's bodies).
• Doctors in 1900's economic competition from midwives...               Roe v. Wade in 1973 (declining in subjective importance)
• Extreme circumstances: rape, incest, mother's health endangered?
• Socioeconomic concerns: teen pregnancy -> poverty cycle?
• Father's rights?
• Public opinion by race and religion.

Pornography – explicit material intended to cause arousal. Local community standards are used. 

• Erotic imagery vs. obscenity: relative, a "slippery slope."
• Highest rates of consumption in culturally conservative areas – e.g. Bible Belt
• Moral issues, political issues (feminism), social issues (cause of violence?)

We talked about functions, conflict theory... symbolic interactionism?

Prostitution – sex for money. 

• greatest in poor, patriarchal countries where women have limited opportunities to earn a living. (Note that these are the same conditions in which we find low rates of contraceptive use.)
• Some moral belief systems hold a value that sex should be for intimacy and/or reproduction.

Sexual violence... Rape is primarily about power, not sex. It USES sex to hurt/humiliate/control. Damages ability to trust, which is bad for society. Yet, there are cultural memes that blame the victim, saying she asked for it, etc. 92,000 per year are REPORTED, but experts estimate the actual rate is much higher. 1 in 5 high school girls. Govt. Defnition only applies to women. 2 out of 3 rapes are prepetrated by someone you know well.

Official govt. Definition is rape happens to females, but males do it to males (without being homosexual, because it's about power), and sometimes females do it too.

Historically, women were considered to be "asking for it" if they dress and act according to conventional female standards. Catch 22. thus victims were blamed, and faced shame in addition to violence. Men could not be blamed for being men. (conventional methods of teaching men not to rape seem to be failing.) But of course, agreeing to date someone or going out with someone no more justifies rape than any other kind of assault, you wouldn't think someone was asking to be beaten or murdered for just hanging out with you.
slutshaming/victim blaming http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2013/01/08/rape-prevention-aimed-at-rapists-does-work/

Rape reports have increased in the past couple decades. Not more rape, just that police have become more supportive of victims so more people report it.  possible worksheet article?

...SocImages on Stuebenville rape culture... ...Henry Rollins on the Steubenville rape...

Structural-Functionalism: what are sex structures and how are they functional for society?

Patterns of behavior, laws, institutions

Society needs to regulate when, and with whom, we reproduce

societies that are better at this survive and prosper

Incest taboo is a pattern – shows that no society allows total freedom of choice for sex partners

Norms become more permissive as birth control becomes accessible – this shows how norms, AS A STRUCTURE, THE FUNCTION OF WHICH IS TO REGULATE REPRODUCTION, can become obsolete if something else fulfills that function.

Functions of prostitution: MANIFEST – fulfill sexual wants/needs for $, earn a living

DYSFUNCTION – spreads disease, exploits women

LATENT FUNCTION – fulfill need of certain populations who can't build a relationship, sex without the "trouble" (this latent function focuses on men, ignores women)

Symbolic Interactionism: People "construct" sexuality - cultural value of virginity (no birth control, man had to be sure his children were his, women as property) NOW, we are separating sex from reproduction. ALSO, educating people about sex, younger, has happened since Kinsey

The abortion controversy – how are pro life (morals) and pro choice (power) constructed?

Social Conflict: feminism is a political philosophy that focuses on gender inequality.

Prostitutes more likely to be arrested than clients. Victim blaming in rape cases.

Who is more likely to be defined in terms of their sexuality? People with less power...

Sexaulity is often used as a way to devalue people as human beings.

Radical (overthrow men), Liberal (equality), Cultural (celebrate difference)

FOR NEXT TIME:

• On Wednesday we will start watching Kinsey, which is a "Hollywood" sort of film based on a written biography of Alfred Kinsey. It stars Liam Neeson and has a bunch of big-time actors, and it won several academy awards for acting and directing. This is a critically-acclaimed film that artistically depicts major events in Kinsey's life and dramatizes the importance of his work. However, the film has been rated R for "pervasive sexual content, including some graphic images and descriptions." What that means is there are plenty of explicit conversations about sex with many interview subjects (which is how Kinsey gathered his data), brief nudity, and a few scenes of heterosexual and homosexual behavior. I understand that not everyone wishes to see and hear this kind of material. As an alternative activity, you may track down and watch the PBS documentary, also called Kinsey, which is part of the "American Experience" series. I could have chosen to show this instead, but while it may be more accurate it is also dry, and I want the story to hold your interest in the hopes that you will learn more that way. However, if you do not wish to see the juicier dramatization I have selected, there will be not penalty for leaving early when we start the film.  You still must show up at the beginning to be counted as in attendance.

a look at manvertising


To go along with Kinsey's illumination of people's REAL sexual culture (as opposed to IDEAL)
here is a similar look at pluralistic ignorance regarding drug use.

...Male privilege in the Kinsey film.

On "rape culture"...

Problem number one is a lack of education. [1] 1 in 20 college aged men will admit to rape as long as the word "rape" isn't used, because they didn't understand that what they were doing was rape. If you read the questions, which are included in the link, you'd think they're all pretty obviously rape, but 5% of the male population in an age bracket thought that it was acceptable behavior and acted on that thought! There's no similar study for women, but I'm sure it's not exactly low, considering that women are taught that they aren't even capable of rape. Clearly, consent needs to be something that's discussed in sex ed. No one should ever rape someone "on accident."
Another big part of the problem is the culture making people that are predisposed to raping someone, for whatever reason, more comfortable with it. When you call out rape culture for making people more comfortable with rape, you get a lot of protests that sound like "Man, I was gonna go grocery shopping today, but now that I've been so desensitized by that joke, I think I'm gonna go rape someone."
It obviously doesn't work like that. Feminists don't think all men are rapists, rapists think all men are rapists. [2] Here is a story that was in a recent reddit thread, of a guy attempting to drug a girl in full view of another guy, clearly with the assumption that he would have no problem with it. When guys tell rape jokes and enjoy rapey things around potential rapists, this tells the rapist "I am just like you. We like the same things, but we can't talk about it." It's kind of like racists who believe that everyone is racist, but some people pretend not to be because of white guilt. You might tell a rape joke and think "It's funny because it's absurd! Rape is clearly horrible, everyone knows that!" but the potential rapist in your midst is thinking "It's funny because it's true! Those stuck up sluts totally need a good f*cking! They'll probably thank me when I'm done!"
And when you explain this to men, they think "Hey, I'm not a rapist. None of my friends are rapists. How dare you suggest that my friends might be rapists?" But the odds are that one of your friends is. They don't wear big scarlet R's on their foreheads. They don't drool and slobber and yell out plans to rape people. They seem just like anyone else. They are just like anyone else, except for a few incorrect ideas about consent. Most rapes are committed by a friend or acquaintance of the victim. These people do not seem scary on the outside. You're not a poor judge of character because you're friends with a rapist or potential rapist. There's just not a lot of clues to pick up on.

More awesome OKCupid data about sex.

Possibly read this excerpt from  Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent

Working men in "traiditional" families are a pocket of resistance to feminism.

Gender tropes in advertising: gender ads.

Here's an example of reinforcing the "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" meme, in CNN's coverage of the first 2012 presidential debat.

Women, who outnumber men in our population, are vastly disproportionately under-quoted in the media.