Friday, October 13, 2006

SOCIALOGY 247 - Chapter 4

Socialization is the process by which a society's values and norms including those pertaining to gender, are taught and learned. Socialization is a lifelong process.

Gender Socializaion is someimes a conscious effort in that expectations are reinforced with explicit rewards and punishments.

Children as young as 18 months old are shown preferences for gender-sterotyped toys.

Phychoanalytic Theories
Identification Theory ( Sigmund Freud) - there are stages in personality development. (Oral | Anal) Boys and girls are similiar in their behavior
and experiences. Children may have sexual feelings
Phallic Stage - Boys and girls aware that genetals are different. Learn how to behave in gender appropreite ways.
Castration Anxiety - Boys love for mother. Breasts. Scared of castration.
Penis Envy - Girls see penis as superior therefore loves penis.
Chodorows Revision of Identification Theory
Girls grow up to be caretakers because she is constantly around her mother, emotional tie.
Boys are picture as going away from home and deattached; seperated.
Social Learning Theories (Albert Bandura)
Children aquire gender in two ways, reinforcement (rewarded for certain behavior) or punished (forced to behave)
Cognitive Development Theories (Gender Schema Theory, Enculturated Lens Theory) - Jean Piaget, Sandra Bem
Children learn gender and sterotypes with mental efforts to organize the social world. They categorize into schemas. Physical cues.
Children are socialized to accept their society's gender lenses. Assumptions of male and female. Implicit lessons about differences.

SOCIALOGY 247 - Chapter 2

Sex Chromosomes - Genes that defines sex.
Male - XY
Female - XX

Females contribute the X chromosome. Male determines the sex of the child. Six weeks into sex, sexual differences begin to emerge.

Androgens - Chemicals that makes up the features of a sex.
Two Important ones include:

MIS - Miillerian Inhabiting Substance and Testosterone
MIS - Production of Female duct and Testosterone makes male parts.

DHT - Dihydrotestosterone - Chemical that further make production of genital parts. Also contributes to the masculinity of the male brain.

Chromosome Abnormalities and Gender
Chromosome errors can occur which can result in an abnormal complement of sex chromosomes. In sperm production, meiosis takes place to split cells. If failed to divide properly, its called nondisfuncion. Can result in XXY | XXX, XYY and XO.

Abnormality XO have Turner Syndrome because they do not have a Y chromosome. Do not develope as males. They are no sex but closer to females. Turner Syndrom have female personalities.

Abnormality XXX women tend to be taller and have learning disabilities.

Abnormality XXY a.k.a Klinefelter Syndrome - look more like males; they have small penis and testes; do not produce spearm, have small tits, no facial hair and no deep voice. Timid and socially isolated.

Abnormality XYY syndrome - violent behavior. Secreation of testosterone; linked aggression. High crime rates. Taller. Low intellectual functioning.

Adrenogenital Syndrome AGS aka Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia CAH. Caused by mothers malfunction adrenal glands. Both sex has but females more affected. Enlarged clitoris might resemble a small penis. Vagina might be closed. Tomboys.

XY Fetus may have Androgen-intensive syndrome. "XY Females" Look like females, have female parts, raised as females but no female internal organs. More femenine than normal girls.

DHT Deficiency Syndrome - Vagina with enlarged clitoris. Have testes, at puberty, body changes more masculine.

Sex Differences and Organization of the Brain
Organization of the brain is responsible for the sexual orientation. Mens brains are larger but loose tissue faster as they get older.
Brain Lateralization - Brain hemispheres. Females use whole brain. Males use specific parts.

Turner Syndrom - Only has one sex chromosome. XO

SOCIALOGY 247 - Chapter 1

Sociology is defined as the study of societies and cultures and social behavior.

Sex: Biology given maleness or femaleness.
Gender is how society categorizes sex. Attitudes and behavior.
Gender Roles are social roles that are prescribed for a certain sex.
Gender Sterotypes are stereotypes given to a sex. (Masculine Male/Feminine Female) Over simplified summary description
A paradigm is a school of thought that guides scientists to choose problems to be studied. Selecting methods to study and explaining whats found.
Patriarchy is a sex/gender system where men dominate women

Structural Functionalism
- Stable society
- Orderly system
- Share common values
- See gender differences as a natural phenomonon (portraying masculinity and femininity as natural)
PROBLEM with Structural Functionalism is that it might be naturally discriminating on the basis of sex. Women are lower state then men.
- Elements of structural functionalism maintains equalibrium.
- Men and women are biologically different therefore have different roles.
- Men and women roles are oppisite but complementary.

It may be that biological factors make us different but that does not mean that one gender is superior to another.

Gender in Terms of Roles
Power - the ability to impose ones will on others. Usually the one who controls the largest share of resources. Money, Property, etc. and phsical force.
In society, the resources are often unfarely distributed. Race, sex, age, ethenicity.

Paradigm revolution is when society changes to prove the paradigm wrong.
In 1960's revolutions and the womens rights, civil rights changed society and changed the structural functionalism.
Then came the Femenist Paradigm

Femenist Paradigm acknowledges the importance of nature and learning in the aquisition of gender. Impossible to seperate precise influences of biology. Learning process begins after birth. Genders is initially socially created rather than innately determined. Social expectations that is created and transmitted through a process of social learning. Political and Socioeconomic structure.

Empathic Stance
They do not exclude males in research but includes females. Researchers allows the subject to speak for themselves rather then the researcher imposing ideas. Femenist research knows that there is socialogical dualistic; it has both subjective and objective dimensions.

Sexism is the differential valuing of ones sex. No identical to all groups of men and women.

Social Movement: a group that has organized to promote a particular cause through social action.

First Wave of Feminism
1830 - 1920. Women protested against patriarchal opression. Women protested for equal rights.
- Elizabeth Blackwell - gave up marrage for phsician job. Fought for better health conditions; first female phsician.
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman - wrote about sex differnces; women and work. Tried to change practices of childcare and housework.
- Margaret Sanger - Avocated for Reproductive Freedom.
- Maria Stewart - Black women delivered a public lecture, told women to educate themselves and and express talent.
- Sojourner Truth - Avocated for abolition.
- Frances Willard - Founder of WCTU (Womens Christian Temperance Society).
- Victoria Claflin Woodhull - Operated Wall Street brokerage firm, ran for president.
Feminist Consciousness - Did not know women before them fought against inequality.

Second Wave of Feminism
NOW National Organization for Women formed by Betty Friedan.
Second wave was hardly homogenious. Ex: Pro-feminist Men's Movement.