SOC 603 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Social Constructionism, Gender Identity, Materialism

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 603
• Professor: Lock Rebecca

Document Summary

Sex= male or female based on biological characteristics. Gender= patterns & activities that tend to be associated with male or female. Gender can"t be confined to simple binary--- but sex is just 2 categories. Gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, sexual attraction= interrelated: not mutually determined. Socially constructed= no objective, biological essence: eg: race & gender have no objective basis in scientific fact. Social construct doesn"t mean that it is meaningless or imaginary. Have real, meaningful, & material consequences in the world. Positivism= approach that we know the world through observable reality know what we see: knowledge exists independent from mind of learner, eg: the world is flat bc we see everything flat, and not the curve. Social constructionism challenges this: knowledge & meaning is always socially situated, language plays important role in how we come to know things, relations of power underlie all truth claims. Idea of social construction suggest intent & purpose.