Course Guide for
SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER
(last updated 09/2011)
Developed by Mary Nell Trautner, PhD
University at Buffalo, SUNY
Social Construction of Sex & Gender
- Changing age at first menstruation
- The social construction of sperm
- Overlap between male and female bodies: Infants’ gazes
- Overlap between male and female bodies: Breast reductions for men
- Gender ambiguity
- Third gender in Oaxaca
Intersexuality
Patriarchy / Oppression
Patriarchy as Male Dominated
Patriarchy as Male Identified
- Men as default category
- Men are “people,” women are “women”
- Example of “heroism” equated with men
- “Power” associated with masculinity
Patriarchy as Male Centered
- Looking for women’s presence in movies: The Smurfette Principle
- Looking for women’s presence in movies: The Bechdel Test
- Database of Bechdel Test movies
“Doing Gender,” Gender as Performance
- Using sex differences to infer gender differences
- Sex, gender, and toilet signs
- Learning how to stand like a girl
- When men stand like women
- Child pageants and the performance of gender
- Babies perform gender, too
- Where gender stereotypes come from
Intersectionality
- Social construction of race (“A Girl Like Me” video)
- Race, gender, and “good hair” (“Good Hair” trailer)
- Race, class, and gender
- Preference for light skinned women
White privilege
- White privilege
- White privilege as flip side of racial profiling
- Whites as default category (skin colors)
- Whites as default category (hair colors)
Childhood Gender Socialization
- Gendered language in TV toy commercials
- Kids’ rooms
- Barbie and math scores
- Barbie’s proportions
- Job segregation seen in gendered toys 1
- Job segregation seen in gendered toys 2
- Domestic toys for girls
- Breastfeeding dolls
- Save up for breast enhancement surgery
- Dora the Explorer makeover
- Learning to be a bride
- Gender roles hurt boys too
Gender & Language
- Changes in use of male/female pronouns
- Stereotypes of men’s and women’s language
- Smurfette and sexist language
- Ad—“If only men and women spoke the same language”
Gender & Mass Media
- Gendered body postures
- Sexism in hip hop
- Photoshopping 1
- Photoshopping 2
- Photoshopping 3
- Women of color in advertising
- Women of color associated with animals
- “You can never be too thin” ad
- Breast products
- Sexualization of violence: Dreamworlds 3 and Lady Gaga
- Dead-looking women in fashion
- Ads showing women dominating men
- Increasing sexualization of online video game ads
- Sexualizing and gendering food
- Comparing covers of Maxim and Cosmo
Gender & Work
- Data behind the Wal-Mart lawsuit
- Women in the Fortune 500
- Underrepresentation of women in Hollywood
- Gender gap in science and tech jobs
- Toys and career interests: Science and tech jobs
The Wage Gap
- Lifetime earnings by sex and race/ethnicity
- Earnings and hours worked, 1975-2009
- Earnings by education and age
- Occupational wage gap, 2010
- Job segregation and wages
- Wage gap by age, 1979 and 2008
- Comparing the wage gap across countries
Gender & Sports
- Participation in sports – high school
- Gendered organization of sport: Ski jumping for men only
- Images of women in sports: College teams
- Images of women in sports: Hope Solo
- Images of women in sports: Serena Williams
- Images of women in sports: Candace Parker
- Women bodybuilders
- Women collegiate athletes support the men’s teams
- Gender in figure skating
- Costume requirements in figure skating
Sexuality: Homophobia
- CJ Pascoe discusses homophobia as gender policing
- Example of gender policing: A boy’s pink toenails in the J. Crew catalog
- Example of gender policing: Yankee fans verbally assault Red Sox fans
- Attitudes towards gays and lesbians
- How terminology affects acceptance: “homosexual” versus “gay”
Sexuality: Sexual Behavior
- Orgasm for women
- Social desirability in online dating profiles
- Hook-up culture
- How porn is shaping our sex lives
Gender & the Body
- The Breast Portrait Project
- Asian eyelid cosmetic surgery
- Gendered reactions to male and female nudity
- Making bodies conform: Gymnast Shawn Johnson
Physical appearance and beauty work
- Physical attractiveness bias: Susan Boyle example
- Beauty work: Lifetime spending of men and women
- Beauty work: Routines and spending
- Trends in cosmetic procedures, 2000-2009
- The Beauty Myth – Naomi Wolf
Obesity and overweight
- Invisibility of “plus-sized” women
- Lane Bryant’s lingerie ad
- Can you be fit and fat? Health at Every Size
- Fighting the obesity “epidemic”
- Fatness as a shield from unwanted attention
- Can a feminist diet?
Gender and Family
- Gender and interracial marriage
- Gender gap in leisure time
- Housework
- Housework, international comparisons
- Gender non-conformity in kids
- Shared parenting as class privilege
- Nanny chain
- Gendered parenting in ads
Hegemonic Masculinity
- Changing images of masculinity
- Masculinity and violence
- Violent masculinity in energy drinks
- Masculinity and food marketing
- Men talk about their masculinity
- Comedic take on masculinity
- Satirizing men’s hygiene products
Intimate Partner Violence
Sexual Harassment
- Who’s responsible for sexual harassment?
- The Toronto Slutwalk
- Women’s taxis as a response to harassment
Forced Sex & Sexual Assault
- Rape culture: Rape simulator game
- Rape culture: Celebrating incapacitated women
- Rape culture: T-shirts
- “No” doesn’t really mean “no”
- Yale fraternity: “No means yes, yes means anal”
- What counts as “real” rape: Polanski
Anti-Rape Campaigns
- UK campaign telling men not to rape
- Scottish campaign: Effective or sensationalist?
- Women don’t “ask for it”
Visions for the Future
- Degendering dance
- Positive portrayal of transgendered people
- Resistance to objectifying advertising
- Signs that show women as people
- Media showing range of women’s bodies
- Belly activism
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