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Gensoc - Lesson 1 - Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

GENDER AND SOCIETY SUBJECT

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20 views6 pages

Gensoc - Lesson 1 - Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

GENDER AND SOCIETY SUBJECT

Uploaded by

p22-0441-612
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 1: GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS A SOCIAL REALITY

Lesson 1: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Differentiate sex, gender, and sexuality
2. Discuss the implication of these difference
3. Contemplate about your own sexuality and on the importance of
appreciating sexual diversity

Definition of Terms

Sex - is the biological aspect of sex, maleness or femaleness


Gender - is the social interpretation of sex, masculinity, femininity,
etc.
Sexuality - is the totality of our own experience of our sex and
gender
Sex chromosomes - are chromosomal markers that distinguish females
(XX)
Intersex - refers to individuals with composite genitals (possessing
some characteristics of both male and female genitals.

The first thing you need to understand is the complexities of defining


and differentiating sex, gender and sexuality. Having a clear grasp of
these concepts is crucial since we will be using these terms over and
over again in succeeding discussions.
Moreover, as we start our discussion of gender and sexuality as social
realities, we also want to understand how a person's gender is
expressed from birth to adulthood. Our goal is to foster understanding
diversity of how humans experience and express their sexuality
SEX

Sex is the biological dimension of our gender and sexuality. Other


terms are biological sex or physical sex which generally pertains to
one's identity depending on your sexual anatomy and physiology
Sex is typically determined by examining your genitals organs that are
associated with reproduction (the ability to create offspring)

SEX is assigned at BIRTH

✓ If at birth a child is observed to have a penis and testicles,


then the child is categorized as male
✓ If a child is observed to have a vagina, then the child is
categorized as female
✓ If the baby's genitals appear to be a conglomerate of male and
female organs, the condition is referred to as hermaphroditism
now referred to as Intersexuality (1 in 1,500)

Other Biological Markers of Sex

Chromosomes, protein structures which contain one's genetic materials,


are also used to determine sex
An individual with a set of XY sex chromosomes is considered male,
while an individual with a set of XX sex chromosomes is said to be a
female.

HORMONES
Also used as markers are the level of some hormones- chemicals in
one's body that are responsible for sustaining bodily processes.
Human males tend to have a higher level of testosterones, which is
associated to sex drive and aggressions.
Human females tend to have a higher level of estrogen and
progesterone, which are associated with lactation, menstruation, and
other female reproductive functions.
GENDER
Humans are meaning-making organisms.
They possess the ability for higher order thinking (HOT), have the
tendency to create social norms which allow us to attach social and
cultural meanings to things, including sex.
Ex. males are expected to be masculine, and females are expected to be
feminine

Parents automatically attach social and cultural meanings to their


child's sex during birth and thus set expectations in terms of the
child's behavior and how the child should be treated.
This social dimension of one's sexuality is referred to as GENDER.

Ways wherein GENDER is manifested


Adults manifest their social interpretation of the baby's sex by the
colors assigned to the baby
Name, toys, and apparels are picked by parents and relatives based on
the interpretation of the baby's
Through childhood and adolescence, this assignment becomes more
complex at expectations go beyond the kind of clothes worn but also in
terms of how the person must or must not behave

The phenomenon of determining the normality of a behavior based on


whether it conforms or not to the expectations relative to one's
biological sex is heteronormativity.
Girls are expected to be gentle, caring and loving
Boys are encouraged to be strong, rough, and assertive

GENDER
HOWEVER, not all follow culturally- accepted standards of masculinity
and femininity. Ex. girls not wanting to wear dresses and boys not
wanting to play rough sports.
THIS IS A NATURAL VARIATION OF THE HUMAN GENDER EXPRESSION.
60 years ago, women could not wear pants without social disapproval
GENDER
How we express our gender is largely based on our social and cultural
setting
Most are comfortable with their sex and gender, men who are masculine
and women who are feminine
Each culture has different standards on how to be a man and a woman
and how they should present themselves according to sex and gender.

MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEX & GENDER

GENDER
o Social
o Cultural
o Learned behavior
o Changes over time
o Varies within a culture/among cultures

SEX
o Physiological
o Related to reproduction
o Congenital (present from birth)
o Unchanging

GENDER IDENTITY
Do we see and experience ourselves as a MAN a WOMAN, or NEITHER This
refers to GENDER IDENTITY.
Generally, males are comfortable identifying as a man and females are
comfortable identifying as a woman.
However, there are cases wherein a person's biological sex does not
align with one's gender identity. These people are referred to as
transgenders

A male who does not feel comfortable identifying as a man is a


transgender woman; a female who is not comfortable identifying as a
woman is a transgender man.
Transgender people may undergo gender reassignment surgery to align
their physical characteristics to their gender identity,
However, due to our belief systems, culture, economics, etc., some do
not opt for surgery.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Sexual Orientation refers to our emotional and sexual attraction to a
person.
At ages 6 or 8 we experience or develop attraction to other people. By
adolescence we already know who we are attracted to and would
experiment through dating and relationships.
Individual sexuality is deeply personal, diverse and complex

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

➤'heterosexuals or' 'straight' are people who are attracted to the


opposite sex.

➤'homosexual', 'gay' or 'lesbian' are people who are attracted to


people of the same sex.
'bisexual' or 'bi' are people who are attracted to both sexes, male or
female.

➤ LGBT refers to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender


community.

APPRECIATING DIVERSITY
Nature and nurture play a complex role in shaping our sexual
orientation (APA)

Homosexuality and heterosexuality are part of the human sexuality and


is a large part of the human experience.

Identifying as LGBT+ is a deeply personal process


"We can only truly tell if the person is LGBT+ if the person shares
with us his experiences, and feelings of attraction towards them".
What is needed?

✓ For everyone to feel safe as they share their sexuality since it is


personal and sensitive topic

✓An environment wherein we do not feel judged and discriminated upon

✓Work towards an inclusive environment where everyone feels safe

Summary

o We need to look at our own experience on our journey of


discovering our sense of being a man and a woman for us to
understand others. We need to engage in conversations with others
for us to appreciate the many different faces of human sexuality.

o A baby is born and is given an assigned sex based on Its


genitals. In fodder years. They are raised to be a man" or a
woman' based on accepted social and cultural standards. We know
that these standards change through time, what is not acceptable
now may be acceptable in the future.

o Adolescence is when we discover our emotional and sexual


attraction towards other people. For most, it is easy to identify
who they are attracted to, but for others, it can be a long and
difficult process. Fostering an inclusive environment wherein
everyone feels safe is very important at this stage

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