SY210 Lecture 6: Sex and the Social Order
Document Summary
Believed biological sex is a social construction, e(cid:373)e(cid:396)ged i(cid:374) (cid:1005)(cid:1011)(cid:1004)(cid:1004)(cid:859)s, (cid:374)otio(cid:374)s of (cid:271)iologi(cid:272)al sex emerged same time as race. The social construction of biological sex in western culture. Commonly encountered view: biological sex is a given but gender is socially constructed. In fact, easy to demonstrate that histo(cid:396)i(cid:272)all(cid:455) ou(cid:396) (cid:374)otio(cid:374)s of (cid:862)se(cid:454)(cid:863) ha(cid:448)e (cid:271)ee(cid:374) shaped (cid:271)(cid:455) prevailing ideas about gender. Late (cid:1005)(cid:1011)(cid:1004)(cid:1004)s: t(cid:396)a(cid:374)sitio(cid:374) f(cid:396)o(cid:373) (cid:862)o(cid:374)e se(cid:454)(cid:863) (cid:373)odel to (cid:862)two sex(cid:863) (cid:373)odel. Another summary (cid:862)that the existence of two sexes, with fundamental anatomical and mental differences between them, is a recent notion would appear at first sight to be counter intuitive. The model: anatomists saw what they wanted to see. Figure: vagina as a penis, way anatomists represented female uterus and vagina, shape looks like a penis. Same body with different degrees of vital heat. Same way they justified racial i(cid:374)e(cid:395)ualit(cid:455), poi(cid:374)ted to (religion/tradition)
