SA 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Syberia, Transsexual, Social Inequality

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Sociology and Anthropology
• Course: SA 101
• Professor: Amie Mc Lean

Document Summary

Sex: biological distinctions between females and males. can include primary; genitalia, and secondary characteristics; bodily development that distinguishes between mature females and males (i. e. men"s voice dropping) Gender: personal traits and social positions that members of society attach to being male or female. social cultural distinctions that we draw between women and men. talking about socially constructed contrasts; masculinity and femininity. Traits associated with masculinity; strength, aggression, dominance. traits associated with femininity; vulnerability, elegance, weakness, submission. These aren"t just neutral characteristics, they hold value. At the biological, cultural and everyday level these distinctions are not always absolute and clear cut. Transgender (don"t fit in) and transsexuality (feel they are one sex but biologically are another) Ignored and treated as abnormal. one of the reasons why we have so little knowledge about inter sexed people. At the cultural level , we should think of language. we have he she and it, which isn"t generally considered something we assign to humans.