AUSOC 275 Chapter 1: AUSOC 275 Notes 1

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Augustana Faculty - Sociology
• Course: AUSOC 275
• Professor: Kierstin Hatt

Document Summary

Interplanetary theory: the idea that men and women are so different, it"s like we are from different planets. Women are from venus, men are from mars. Biological sex = is biological: chromosomal, chemical, anatomical organization; male and female. The standard story = male/female binary - there are only two sexes. Biology presents more than 2 biological variations , which contradicts the male/female. Biological differences exist, but which characteristics we focus on and their meanings are socio-cultural. There is a strong tendency for the stigmatization of any expression of variability that does not fit the cultural normal of the male/female binary system. Gender = is socio-cultural (and therefore learned): norms, roles, symbols and meanings attached with a culture; masculinity and femininity what it means to be a man or a woman. The standard story assumes that there are 2 biological sexes" and those cause 2 opposite genders".