SOC 0832 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Erving Goffman, Caster Semenya, Grammatical Gender
22 Jun 2018
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3/29/18
●Caster Semenya- Olympic track star, banned because it assumed her
high levels of testosterone made her more of a man. Believed to be
intersex.
●Intersex- when a person has many variation of sex characteristics,
sex hormones, chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that don’t fit the
typical definitions for male of female bodies.
●How should the international olympic committee make decisions
concerning sex.
○Based on some from of anatomical/hormonal categories?tftttv
○Based on self-identity of the participants?
●What is Sex?-
○Sex: status society assigns to individuals (generally male or
female) based on biological traits (chromosomal,
hormonal,anatomical, and physiological) that vary along the
female-male spectrum.
○How does society respond to inter-sex children- most people try
to label them or put them in a category
●What is Gender?
○Gender is a psychological, social, and cultural differeces
between masculinity, femininity and other gender ( in non-
binary societies) constructed by society
○Gender roles- expected behavior associated with specific
genders
●There is variation
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○The meaning of gender ( masculinity,femininity, and other
gender) varies across cultures and across time
○Some societies are binary some are non-binary
■Mapu is hawaii, could be masculine or feminine, or both
■US native americans, have gander referred to as a two
spirit
■South Asian cultures including India, Pakistan, and
bangladesh, there are Hijras, dress “like females” but are
physiological males in some cases intersex individuals
who adopt feminine gender identity. They live
marginalized in society.
○Some people do identify with a gender assigned at birth
○Some people who don’t conform with social gender binary
options
●How does society respond to transgender children?
○In the young generation it is acceptable but the older generation
usually doesn’t mess with it like that. Also it depends on culture,
religion, or where you are in the world.
●Privilege and Power
○Gender and the notions of masculinity and femininity
■Gender is learned through socialization
■What is the expected behavior of a boy? A girl
■What is the idea of “Compulsive Masculinity” by Timothy
Beneke?
●Men must prove themselves by overcoming
○Physical challenges
○Psychological challenges
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Caster semenya- olympic track star, banned because it assumed her high levels of testosterone made her more of a man. Intersex- when a person has many variation of sex characteristics, sex hormones, chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that don"t fit the typical definitions for male of female bodies. How should the international olympic committee make decisions concerning sex. Based on some from of anatomical/hormonal categories?tftttv. Sex: status society assigns to individuals (generally male or female) based on biological traits (chromosomal, hormonal,anatomical, and physiological) that vary along the female-male spectrum. How does society respond to inter-sex children- most people try to label them or put them in a category. Gender is a psychological, social, and cultural differeces between masculinity, femininity and other gender ( in non- binary societies) constructed by society. Gender roles- expected behavior associated with specific genders. The meaning of gender ( masculinity,femininity, and other gender) varies across cultures and across time. Some societies are binary some are non-binary.
