INTEREST IN GENDER GENDER IDENTITY

• Shift in using “sex” and “gender” • The personal psychological sense of being male
or female
• Social psychologists opt to use the term gender
because it encompasses the range of differences • Often assumed to match one’s biological sex
between men and women and emphasizes the social
TRANSEXUALS
construction of maleness and femaleness (Burn, 1996)
• People who have literally changed their sex
SEX
• They have been surgically and hormonally
Biological Sex – biologically sex prescribed
altered so that they appear to be a sex different from
characteristics that differentiate males and females in
the one they were born with
terms of reproductive organs and chromosomes

MULTIDIMENTIONAL MODEL OF SEX (CRAWFORD AND

UNGER, 2000) TRANSGENDER
1. Chromosomes (XX, XY) • In general, people whose gender identity or
gender expression differs from what is associated with
2. Gonads (Ovaries, Testes)
their assigned sex at birth
3. Gonadal hormones (Estrogen and Androgens)
GENDER ROLE - A set of behavior expectations (norms)
4. Internal accessory organs (fallopian tube, vas for males and females
deferens)
• Social sex role or Gender role – the adherence
5. External Genitalia (Penis, clitoris) to culturally created behaviors and attitudes deemed
appropriate for females or males
People who fall outside the male and female dichotomy
are generally called intersexuals (1.7% of the • Gender belief system – people’s expectations
population) what it means to be male or female

GENDER o “Men should have big biceps”

• Gender is commonly defined as socially or • Gender stereotypes – generalized beliefs about

culturally prescribed characteristics, behaviors, and the characteristics of men and women
interests appropriate for women and men (Howard and
o “women are emotional”
Hollander, 1997)
o “manloloko lahat ng lalaki”
• Males are expected to be masculine in
appearance, behavior, and personality, and females are • Gender roles vary with culture
expected to be feminine
o To some country, spouses prefer that both of
DIFFERENCE them share the labor in providing and nurturing their
children
SEX
• Gender role varies over time
• Biological
o In 1965, the Harvard Business School had never
• Determined at birth
granted a degree to a woman. At the turn of the twenty-
• Universal first century, 30 % of its graduates were women

• Present in either o Even in the Philippines, before women were not

allowed for schooling – gave birth to exclusive schools
• Fixed
(Miriam College)
• Male or female
HOW IS CULTURE TRANSMITTED FROM ONE
GENDER GENERATION TO ANOTHER?

• Social, contextual • Peer influence suggests that who we are not

mostly because of how our parents raised us – but
• Social expectations for males and females because of the peers that surround us
• Present in both • Much of the culture’s influence is transmitted to
• Changing children by their peers

• Feminine or masculine
TRANSGENDER
• Person whose identity or gender expression
does not match their assigned birth sex
TRANSSEXUAL
• Person whose gender identity is opposite to
his/her biological sex to the extent that he/she will seek
surgical sex reaassigment
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
• Sexuality – fuzzy term used to refer to sexual
behaviors (what you do), eroticism what turns you on),
sexual orientation (who turns you on), as well as desires
to engage in sexual activity
• Sexual Orientation – the sexual and emotional
attraction to the same and/or opposite se
THEORETICAL APPROACH TO GENDER
1. Essential approach – difference between male
and female are biologically determined
-Nature
2. Socialization Approach – gender is not innate,
but rather learned from the environment
PHYSICAL
MALE
• Slower to enter puberty (by about two years)
but quicker to die (by four years worldwide)
• 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD
(attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder), four times
more likely to commit suicide, and five times more likely
to be killed by lightning
• More capable of wiggling the ears
INDEPENDENCE AND CONNECTEDNESS
MALE
• Prefer larger groups than more intimate one
• Less emotional in relationships
• More independent
SOCIAL DOMINANCE
MALE
• More dominant, driven, and aggressive
• Takes more risks
• Tend to talk louder and interrupt more
In the Philippines,
• Bakla – males who are feminine or effeminate
and who cross dress
o A contraction of the words babae (female) and
lalaki (male) (Tan, 1995)
o Refers to male homosexuals or gay man
• Tomboy – females who are masculine and who
cross dress
 Refers to female homosexual or lesbian
Gender and sexual orientation are fused into the same
words/labels in Filipino culture (Ofreneo, 2000)
o Which means that gender expression is used to
signify sexual orientation
• Bisexual – person who is attracted to both male
and female
• Silahis – a male who is erotically attracted to
both male and female (male bisexual)
• There is no distinct term for the Filipino female
bisexual
3. Social constructionist approach – gender is
created through our social interactions
-Gender is fluid
4. Structuralist approach – gender as a form of a
social structure or the basis for the systematic allocation
of resources
-Resources shape gendered bahavior
FEMALE
• Has 70% more fat, has 40% less muscle, is 5
inches shorted, and weighs 40 lbs. less
• Is more sensitive to smells and sounds
• Is doubly vulnerable to anxiety disorders and
depression
FEMALE
• More intimate because they tend to read
other’s emotions
• Skilled at expressing emotions nonverbally
• More caring
• More connected
FEMALE
• More independent and submissive
• Less interruptive, more sensitive, more polite,
less cocky
AGRESSION – physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone
MALE
• Throughout the world, hunting, fighting and
warring and primarily male activities
• More aggressive in general
RELATIONSHIPS
MALE
• More likely to initiate sexual activity
• Desires sex more often
FEMALE
• Less aggressive
• Caveat: aggression is also contingent
• Slapping a family member, throwing something,
or verbally attacking someone – women are no less
aggressive than men
FEMALE
• Wants more commitment than intercourse
• Wants more emotional passion

GENDER AND MATING PREFERENCE WHT ARE MEN ATTRACTED TO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
(physically)?
• We all have hidden evolutionary predispositions
• Evolutionary perspective: because it suggests
• We want to send our genes into the future
peak of fertility
• Everywhere, men preferred attractive physical
WHY ARE WOMEN ATTRACTED TO MEN WITH
features suggesting youth and health – and reproductive
STATURE?
fitness, Everywhere, women preferred men with
resources and status • Evolutionary perspective: women everywhere
feel attracted to men whose wealth, power and
• Females invest their reproductive opportunities
ambition promise resources for protecting and
carefully, by looking for signs and resources and
nurturing offspring
commitment

• Males compete with other males for chances to

win the genetic sweepstakes by sending their genes into
the future, and thus look for healthy, fertile soil in which
to plant their seed