Introduction to Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

• Sex, gender, and sexuality are different concepts that are often confused.
• The relationship between society and biology in formations of gender identity is complex and multifaceted.
• Homophobia and heterosexism are prevalent societal issues that affect individuals of different genders and sexualities.
• Transgendered, transsexual, intersexual, and homosexual identities are different ways of understanding one's gender and sexuality.
• The dominant gender schema influences social perceptions of sex and gender.
• According to the dominant gender schema, all persons are either one gender or the other, no person can be neither, no person can be both, and no person can change gender without major medical intervention.
• The organization of society is profoundly gendered, meaning that the “natural” distinction between male and female, and the attribution of different qualities to each, underlies institutional structures from the family, to the occupational structure, to the division between public and private, to access to power and beyond.
• The dominant gender schema is an ideology that, like all ideologies, serves to perpetuate inequalities in power and status.
• The dominant gender schema states that sex is a biological characteristic that produces only two options, male or female, and gender is a social or psychological characteristic that manifests or expresses biological sex.
• For many people, the naturalness of their gender identity is thrown into question by the actions of external authorities and experts who define those who do not fit as either mistakes of nature or as products of failed socialization and individual psychopathology.
• Children learn at a young age that there are distinct expectations for boys and girls.
• The phrase “boys will be boys” is often used to justify behaviour such as pushing, shoving, or other forms of aggression from young boys.
• Aggressive behaviour, when it does not inflict significant harm, is often accepted from boys and men because it is congruent with the cultural script for masculinity.
• Just as a playwright expects actors to adhere to a prescribed script, society expects women and men to behave according to the expectations of their respective gender role.
• Patriarchy is the set of institutional structures (like property rights, access to positions of power, and relationship to sources of income) which are based on the belief that men and women are dichotomous and unequal categories.
• Cross-cultural studies reveal that children are aware of gender roles by age two or three.
• Gender stereotyping involves overgeneralizing about the attitudes, traits, or behaviour patterns of women or men.
• The signs and characteristics of gender may vary greatly between different societies as noted by Margaret Mead’s research.
• Research does present evidence showing that homosexuals and bisexuals are treated differently than heterosexuals in schools, the workplace, and the military.
• There is no scientific consensus regarding the exact reasons why an individual holds a heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual orientation.
• Sexuality refers to a person’s capacity for sexual feelings and their emotional and sexual attraction to a particular sex (male or female).
• According to current scientific understanding, individuals are usually aware of their sexual orientation between middle childhood and early adolescence (American Psychological Association, 2008).
• Homosexual women (also referred to as lesbians), homosexual men (also referred to as gays), and bisexuals of both genders may have very different experiences of discovering and accepting their sexual orientation.
• Sexuality or sexual orientation is typically divided into four categories: heterosexuality, the attraction to individuals of the opposite sex; homosexuality, the attraction to individuals of one’s own sex; bisexuality, the attraction to individuals of either sex; and asexuality, no attraction to either sex.
• The term sex refers to biological or physical distinctions, characteristics of sex will not vary significantly between different human societies.
• Organizations such as Egale Canada (Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere) advocate for LGBT rights, establish gay pride organizations in Canadian communities, and promote gay-straight alliance support groups in schools.
• Moral development refers to the way people learn what society considers to be “good” and “bad,” which is important for a smoothly functioning society.
• The conventional theory develops in the teen years when youngsters become increasingly aware of others’ feelings and take those into consideration when determining what’s good and bad.
• The term gender role refers to society’s concept of how men and women are expected to act and how they should behave.
• In 2005, the federal government legalized same-sex marriage.
• The final stage, called postconventional, is when people begin to think of morality in abstract terms, such as North Americans believing that everyone has equal rights and freedoms.
• The 2009 Canadian Climate Survey reported that 59% of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered) high school students had been subject to verbal harassment at school compared to 7% of non-LGBT students; 25% had been subject to physical harassment compared to 8% of non-LGBT students; 31% had been subject to cyber-bullying (via internet or text messaging) compared to 8% of non-LGBT students; 73% felt unsafe at school compared to 20% of non-LGBT students; and 51% felt unaccepted at school compared to 19% of non-LGBT students.
• Kohlberg developed a theory of moral development that includes three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.
• In the preconventional stage, young children, who lack a higher level of cognitive ability, experience the world around them only through their senses.
• Much of the discrimination against LGBT individuals is based on stereotypes, misinformation, and homophobia, an extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals.
• Role learning starts with socialization at birth.
• Parents typically supply boys with trucks, toy guns, and superhero paraphernalia, which are active toys that promote motor skills, aggression, and solitary play.
• Children learn gender through direct feedback from others, particularly when they are censured for violating gender norms.
• Studies have shown that children will most likely choose to play with “gender appropriate” toys (or same-gender toys) even when cross-gender toys are available because parents give children positive feedback (in the form of praise, involvement, and physical closeness) for gender-normative behaviour.
• Gender is an accomplishment rather than an innate trait, taking place through the child’s developing awareness of self.