Sc2220 lecture 12 2011
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This document provides an overview and outline of a university lecture on gender studies. It discusses: 1) The history and development of gender studies from a sociology of women to a sociology of gender. 2) Key concepts in gender studies including the distinction between sex and gender, and how gender roles are learned through socialization. 3) How gender is performed and constructed through cultural influences like media, advertising, and popular culture. 4) Common exam questions and tips for writing a good essay exam response.
Sc2220 lecture 12 2011
- 1. SC2220: Gender StudiesLecture 12: Gender and YouMaking Sense of Gender StudiesEric C. ThompsonSemester 2, 2010/2011
- 2. Where We Have Been…History of Gender StudiesSex/Gender DistinctionBecoming Male or FemaleGender socialization; paths to learning gender.Gender SystemsMasculinity/FemininityGender as systems of beliefs and behaviors
- 3. Where We Are Going…Gender in Popular CultureGender in AdvertisingPopular CultureGender in Social RelationsGender and PowerGender and WorkGender, Here and NowGender in SingaporeFinish Line!YOU AREHERE
- 4. Today’s LectureHow to Prepare for the ExamOverview of Key ThemesGender and You
- 5. Exam FormatThe examination consists of TWO Sections, A and B.Each section has two questions.Answer ONE question from Section A and ONE question from Section B.You must answer a total of TWO questions.All questions are weighted equally.The questions are essay questions…Aim to write a good essay!
- 6. How to Write a Good EssayOutline your essay before you start writing.An essay should have an overall thesis or argument…What is your answer to the question?What is the topic of your essay?What do you have to say about the topic?The thesis of your essay should be clearly stated in the introduction (first paragraph).The body of the thesis should weigh evidence for and against your thesis.The conclusion should reiterate (restate) the thesis, in light of the arguments and evidence you have provided.
- 7. How to Score Points with your EssayMake your essay clear and coherent!See “How to Write a Good Essay” above!Demonstrate that you know the course materialDraw on examples used in readings, lecture, filmsRefer to ideas, theories and perspectives covered in classDemonstrate that you understandthe course contentApply ideas coherently, clearly and creativelyDo not throw ideas into your essay just for showUse specifics (authors names, etc.), but do not stress about them – ideas matter more than memorization.Do not give up… write something for each question!Do not try to b--- s---- your way through the exam!
- 8. Mugging for Gender StudiesReview all the key themes of the course.Focus on issues highlighted in lectures.Hint: In all your courses, the lecturer writes the questions – not the authors or film-makers!Relate key examples to those themes.Identify key arguments in the readings and films.Answer the question:Why did he make us read this?!Relate those arguments to key themes in the course.
- 9. QUESTIONS?
- 10. Overview of the CourseLectures 1-3: Gender, Sex, SexualityThe Basis of Gender in Biology and SocializationLectures 4-6: Gender, Culture and IdeologyWays We Think about Gender.Lectures 7-10: Gender, Economics and PowerWays We Do Gender.Lectures 11-12: Gender Here and NowGender Issues in SingaporeGender and You!Yeah… I remember some of that.
- 11. Questions to Answer:What is Gender Studies? How/why did it come about?What is the relationship between sex and gender?How do we learn gender identities and behavior?Why are ideas of masculinity and femininity important?Why is gender a performance more than an identity?How is gender portrayed in (popular) culture?Why do men often have more power and status than women in society?What explains the gender gap in wages?What are the most important gender issues in Singapore? How can gender studies help us to understand these issues?
- 12. Development of Gender StudiesSociology of Women“Additive”… sought to make women ‘visible’ in sociology; Research about women’s experience.Up to 1970sFeminist SociologyReconceptualization of society; Focus on patriarchy and gendering of all aspects of social life; Explicitly political 1970s-1990sSociology of GenderQuestioning the category “women”; Focus on gender rather than women; Including men, masculinities,intersexed, and sexualities.1990s-presentFranklin pp. xiv & xxvii
- 13. The Sex / Gender DistinctionHuman sexuality is the basis for gender but it does not determine gender.SEX is a biological construct.*GENDER is a social and cultural construct.Sex is the same among all societies.*Gender varies widely.*Sex is more complex and varied than we often learn!E.g. about one-percent of the population is “intersexed”.
- 14. Gender Socialization(“Becoming Male or Female”)TVDIRECT TEACHINGGENERALCULTURALINFLUENCESADVERTISINGPOPULAR CULTUREMODELING BEHAVIORPEER SOCIALIZATION
- 15. “Doing Gender”Performing GenderGender is something we do (a performance) not something we are (an identity).Masculinity and Femininity are beliefs and guidelines for appropriate behavior – they are beliefs that guide us in doing gender.Because gender is something we do all the time, everyday, we experience it as identity – as something we “are” rather than something we “do”.
- 16. Advertising, Femininity & MasculinityAdvertising plays a powerful role in gender beliefs.Advertising reinforces stereotypes and gender polarization; playing on evolved psychology:Women appear as “sex objects”Men appear as “success objects”Beauty has both culturally consistent and culturally consistent elementsGender systems are “overdetermined” – by culture, social relations and biology; they cannot be reduced to single causes.
- 17. Gender and Popular CultureGender ideals change over time and across culturesTransgender ritual specialists in Southeast AsiaMasculinity in Hollywood FilmsThe Male Gaze (in advertising & elsewhere)Women subjected to the male gaze must learn to control their own bodies in public.The Female Tease?Second wave versus Third wave FeminismIs sexual assertion by women empowering?
- 18. Gender, Power & Social RelationsThe Patriarchal TendencyExplanations for the patriarchal tendency.The “baby burden” and “sexual exchange”Socioeconomic systemsOther explanationsGender, Work and Division of LaborThe double shift & domestic marginalization of men.Explaining the gender gap in wages.Gendered organizations and institutions.
- 19. Gendered Issues in SingaporeIs Singapore a “Patriarchal Society”?National Service: What is at stake?The “Flight from Marriage”Importing Female LaborEmergence of “Transnational Patriarchy”
- 20. QUESTIONS?
- 21. Gender and You…(Final Thoughts on Gender Studies)
- 22. Implications of Gender Studies…Gender permeates all aspects of life…RelationshipsFamilyEntertainment (Popular culture)EducationEmploymentEconomicsPolitics (Power)
- 23. Insights from Gender Studies…Gender is not “natural”… and sex is not a simple binary.Be aware of your own and others’ gender performance.Do not accept gender stereotypes uncritically.Recognize the “cultural scripts” – especially in your relationships with others. Rewrite, revise and choose these thoughtfully to live a good life.Allow others to do the same.