Introduction to Sociology - The Real World, 4th Edition, Chapter 9 - Sex and Gender

2. What is Sex?
Although the terms “sex” and “gender”
are often used interchangeably,
sociologists differentiate between the two.
Sex refers to the biological and anatomical
differences between males and females.
Gender is different and will be discussed
later.
 Primary Sex Characteristics – directly
related to reproduction (Example:
women: vagina)
 Secondary Sex Characteristics –
indirectly related to reproduction
(Example – men: body hair)

4. What is Sex?
Hermaphrodite (Intersexed) – a person in who
sexual differentiation is ambiguous or incomplete.
Basically, they have an abnormal chromosomal
makeup and mixed or indeterminate male and female
sex characteristics.
 1 baby in 100,000 are born intersexed or
hermaphroditic.
 For these children, parents and doctors choose on
and take appropriate medical steps (in most
cases, female is the most viable and expedient
choice).
 Ambiguous sex is problematic in our society.

5. What is Gender?
Gender refers to the physical, behavioral, and
personality traits that a group considers “normal”
for its male and female members.
Gender basically refers to the culturally and
socially constructed differences between females
and males found in the meanings, beliefs, and
practices associated with “femininity” and
“masculinity.”
It relates to the way that a person behaves based
on their biological sex. In other words, we learn
how to act manly or womanly based on the sex
that we’re born.
Essentially, gender is the learned aspect of our
sex.

6. 6
What is Sex? What is Gender?
(cont’d)
Gender refers to the physical,
behavioral, and personality traits that a
group considers normal for its male and
female members.

7. Nature vs. Nurture
Biology certainly plays a role in our sex. However,
the belief that our anatomy defines every aspect of
being male or female has come under serious
debate in recent years.
Because there are aspects of our sex/gender that
we learn (appropriate looks and attitudes), the
social and cultural aspect must be considered.
Also, evidence shows that behaviors may even
influence biology. An example of this is that when
both men and women engage in aggressive
behavior, the body increases the production of
testosterone.

8. Essentialist and Constructionist
Approaches to Gender Identity
Different approaches to looking
at gender…
Essentialists believe gender roles
have a genetic or biological origin
and cannot be changed. They
argue that each individual is either
male or female and that
membership in one of these
groups determines the rest of his
or her identity. Culture plays no
role. 8

9. Essentialist and Constructionist
Approaches to Gender Identity (cont’d)
Constructionists approach and
see gender as a social
construction and acknowledge the
possibility that the male–female
categories are not the only way of
classifying individuals.
 They believe that the meaning of
masculinity and femininity may differ
drastically in different societies and
historical periods.
9

10. Alternative Approaches to
Gender
Other terms related to gender:
 Gender Identity
 Transvestite – lives as the opposite sex
 Transsexual – begins the process of
sexual reassignment
 Transgender – an all-encompassing
term
 Sexual Orientation - refers to an
individuals preference with whom they
pursue emotional/sexual relationships.
 Heterosexual
 Bisexual
 Homosexual

11. Gender Roles and
Expectations
Every society and culture establishes
“appropriate” gender roles based on a
number of different factors and values
(especially religion).
 If one doesn’t follow these
“appropriate roles,” there may be
consequences.
Gender Stereotypes – stereotypes
about how men and women should act
and act out roles.
Historically, gender roles and
definitions have varied somewhat.
However, patriarchy has always been
the norm.
Discuss Berdaches and Hijras (pg.
254-255)

12. Gender Inequality
Gender inequality can be found in all past and
present societies and can be traced back to
biological differences in early societies.
Patriarchy, or male domination, is the norm for
most societies. There is little evidence that a
matriarchal (female-dominated) society has ever
existed.
Why? The activities that women could
participate in were limited because they had less
physical strength and because of the demands of
bearing and raising children. Men participated in
activities such as hunting and warfare. Because
of this, men delivered the scarcest and most
prized resources to the group. Essentially, a
division of labor had arose and men became
powerful by controlling the distribution of those
prized resources.

13. 13
Theories on Gender Inequality
Functionalists:
 Believe that there are social roles
better suited to one gender than the
other, and that societies are more
stable when certain tasks are fulfilled
by the appropriate sex.

14. Theories on Gender Inequality
An example of Functionalist Theory
Talcott Parsons believed that men were
more suited to take on an instrumental
role (the position of the family member
who provides the family’s material
support and is often an authority figure)
and women were more suited to take on
an expressive role (the position of the
family member who provides emotional
support and nurturing).
14

15. 15
Theories on Gender Inequality
(cont’d)
• According to Talcott Parsons:
 Men were more suited for an
instrumental role (the person
who provides the family’s
material support and is often
an authority figure).
Women were more suited for
an expressive role (the
person who provides the
family’s emotional support
and nurturing).

16. Theories on Gender Inequality
Criticism of Functionalist Theory
Does not explain very well why
gender relations are characterized
by such inequality. An example of
this is why work, traditionally done
by women and rather difficult, is
seen as unskilled and instinctive
and thus devalued in society.
Also, it doesn’t explain family
social instability, like domestic
violence. 16

17. Theories on Gender Inequality
According to conflict theorists,
men have historically had access
to most of society’s material
resources and privileges.
Therefore, it is in their interest to
try to maintain their dominant
position.
Thus, they see gender inequality in
much the same way as they see
race and class – manifestations of
exploitation. 17

18. 18
Theories on Gender
Inequality (cont’d)
Conflict theorists:
 Believe men have historically
had access to most of society’s
material resources and
privileges. Therefore, it is in their
interest to try to maintain their
dominant position.

19. Theories on Gender Inequality
Engels (1884) – noted that
capitalists benefitted from
maintaining patriarchal families,
with women in the private sphere
and men in the public workplace in
at least 2 ways;
 Women do the work of
reproducing the labor force
 Women serve as an inexpensive
“reserve army” of labor when
the need arises 19

20. Theories on Gender Inequality
Eisenstein (1979) – Conflict
theorists point out that men
stand to lose a great deal if
gender inequality disappears.
For example, they would have
to do more unpaid work or pay
to have their homes kept up
and children cared for.
20

21. 21
Theories on Gender
Inequality (cont’d)
Interactionists emphasize how
the concept of gender is socially
constructed, maintained, and
reproduced in our everyday lives.

22. Theories on Gender Inequality
Interactionists emphasize how the concept
of gender is socially constructed,
maintained, and reproduced in our everyday
lives.
 We can barely interact without first
determining a person’s gender. An
example of this is when discussing or
communicating with someone who is
transgendered. We often times have
difficulty with how to respond to them.
Are they “he” or “she” or “it”?
Gender often changes the way we interact
with others…our language choices,
frequency of conversation, mannerisms, etc.
22

23. Theory in Everyday Life

24. Gender Role Socialization
Gender role socialization is
the lifelong process of learning
to be masculine or feminine.
There are four main agents of
socialization: families,
schools, peers, and the
media.
24

25. Gender Role Socialization:
Family
Families are usually the primary source
of socialization and greatly impact
gender role socialization.
Smith (2005) – argues that gender role
socialization begins even before birth.
Knowing the baby’s sex in advance
affects how the mother talks to her fetus
– the choice of words and the tone of
voice.
Other forms of gender role socialization
takes the form of clothes, rooms, and
toys.

26. Gender Role Socialization:
Family
Through social learning, the process of learning
behaviors and meanings through social interaction,
babies respond to and internalize the expectations of
those around them.
 For example: a young girl who is treated gently
may observe roughhousing of young boys with
alarm.
 Sometimes there is a conscious effort to instill
certain behaviors in children – for example: boys
may be reprimanded for crying.
 Sometimes, social learning is more subtle – the
child learns about gender through observation,
imitation, and play.
 By the age of 2, children are aware of their
own and other people’s gender. By 3, they
begin to identify specific traits associated with
each other.

27. Gender Role Socialization:
Family
Gender pervades every aspect of family
life:
 Chores or privileges: girls and boys –
washing dishes vs. mowing the lawn.
 Discipline and punishment
 What they’re encouraged and not
encouraged to do
 What parents will allow them to do
In adulthood, our families may still
influence what kind of career or mate we
choose, how we run our household, and
how we raise our won children.

28. Gender Role Socialization:
School
Schools play an important role in gender
socialization.
By 5th grade, gender norms are firmly
established, as can be seen in the
segregation that takes place even in co-ed
schools.
Girls and boys are frequently put in same-sex
groups (and classrooms) and assigned
gender-stereotyped tasks, such as playing
with dolls or playing with trucks.
Same sex groups also form on the
playground, with girls and boys engaging in
different kinds of social and athletic
activities.

29. 29
Gender Role Socialization
(cont’d)
Schools also socialize children
into their gender roles. For
instance, research shows that
teachers treat boys and girls
differently. This may teach
children that there are different
expectations of them, based on
their sex.

30. Gender Role Socialization:
School
A key area of difference is in the way
that teachers, both men and women,
typically interact with students.
Whether they realize it or not, teachers
tend to favor boys in several ways: boys
receive more attention and instructional
time, are more likely to be called on in
class, are posed with more challenging
questions or tasks, and are given more
praise for the quality of their work.
Time Magazine Article: The Myth About
Boys

31. Gender Role Socialization:
School
Textbooks often still contain sexist language
and gender stereotypes
 Women and minorities are
underrepresented, both as subjects and
authors.
In the social structure of schools, women
tend to be concentrated at the lower levels,
as teachers and aides, while men occupy
upper management and administrative
positions.
At the college level, women receive more
than half of all bachelor’s degrees and
master’s degrees, but only about a third of
all doctorate degrees.

33. 33
Gender Role Socialization
(cont’d)
In Western societies, peer
groups are an important agent
of socialization.
Teens are rewarded by peers
when they conform to gender
norms and stigmatized when
they do not.

34. Gender Role Socialization:
Peers
In Western societies, peer groups are an important
agent of socialization.
By the age of 3, children develop a preference for
same-sex playmates. This lasts until well after
puberty and the pattern begins to reverse slightly.
Some believe that this is because of inherent
differences between men and women…however,
there is evidence to support the notion that same-sex
peer groups can help create gendered
behavior.
 When children play with same-sex peers, their
activities are more likely to be gender typed
(girls have pretend tea parties, for example)
 Also, children are punished (especially boys) for
crossing gender boundaries.

35. Gender Role Socialization:
Peers
As teens, boys tend to gain prestige
through athletic ability, their sense of
humor, and by taking risks and defying
norms. Girls, on the other hand, tend to
gain prestige through social position and
physical attractiveness.
Unfortunately, there are consequences
for falling short of gender expectations.
In the extreme, it can lead to bullying and
rebellious behavior in boys and to eating
disorders in women.

36. 36
Gender Role Socialization:
Media
Finally, there is no question that sex-role
behavior is portrayed in a highly
stereotypical manner in all forms of the
media: television, movies, magazines,
books, video games, and so on.

37. Gender Role Socialization:
Media
Finally, there is no question that
sex-role behavior is portrayed in a
highly stereotypical manner in all
forms of the media: television,
movies, magazines, books, video
games, and so on.
We learn “how to behave, how to
be accepted, what to value, and
what is ‘normal.’” Also, how
“gender fits society.”
37

38. Gender Role Socialization:
Media
A great deal of media today is aimed at adolescents.
By the time a child reaches kindergarten, he or she
will know more television characters than real
people.
From the media, we learn certain activities and
attitudes that appropriate for our prospective
genders.
 Girls: caring, sensitive, beautiful, and reserved
 Boys: assertive, strong, analytic, and athletic
Body Consciousness: awareness of one’s body
based on gender lines.
 Increases in anorexia among young women
 Bulimia in women and even young men
 Steroid usage and irresponsible dietary issues

39. Gender and Video Games

40. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances
Sexism – refers to the subordination of
one sex, usually female, based on the
assumed superiority of the other sex.
 3 Components of sexism directed at
women:
 Negative attitudes toward women
 Stereotypical believes that
reinforce, complement, or justify
the prejudice
 Discrimination – acts that exclude,
distance, or keep women separate.
 Men can be victims of sexism

41. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances
Health
 Life Expectancy: One area where women
have an advantage is life expectancy.
Females born in 2005 are expected to live
for an average age of 80.1 years, while
males are expected to live 74.8 years.
 Men are more likely to engage in risky
behavior.
 Men are more likely to have jobs in
dangerous work environments.
 Men are less likely to seek preventative
care.

42. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Marriage, Divorce and Family
 Men are more likely than women to
report never having been married,
perhaps reflecting stronger societal
pressure for women to marry at some
point in their lives.
 9.4% of women are widowed (only 2.4
% for men) – women are much more
likely to lose a spouse.
 11.5% of women (8.9% of men) are
currently divorced.

43. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Marriage, Divorce and Family
 Divorce tends to be more difficult for women
with children that for men.
Women are much more likely to be the
primary care giver after divorce.
 In 2002, about 5 of every 6 custodial
parents were mothers (84.4%).
 More than half of all parents did not
receive child support payments.
 Women tend to have lower paying jobs
than their ex-husbands.

44. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Marriage, Divorce and Family
 Women are more likely than men to be single
parents. Single women head more than 12 million
households, and single men only 4 million.
 Women also tend to be disadvantaged in
institutional settings in our society, where they do
a disproportionate amount of housework, earn
less on average than their male peers in the
workplace, and remain more likely to live in
poverty.
 The “second-shift” – the household chores
women face after coming home from work.

45. Female-to-Male Earning Ratio
45

46. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Crime
 Men are more likely to die violent deaths and to be
victims of assault.
 Women are more likely to be victims of personal
theft and much more likely to be victims of rape.
 Men are overwhelmingly represented in nearly all
categories of crime: murder, rape, sex offenses,
theft, assault, and drug charges.
 Only crime category where women and girls
outnumber men and boys: prostitution (W 38,100
arrests/M 23,200 arrests) and runaways.
 Of the nearly 2 million people in correctional
institutions, the vast majority (around 90%) are
men.

47. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Education and Work
 Women are more likely than men to finish high school
and attend college. Of the est. 15.3 million students in
college in 2000, 8.6 million were women and 6.7 million
were men. In fact, since 1880, women have increasingly
outnumbered men in college.
 Men are more likely to earn more money per degree
granted. In fact, men out-earn women at every level of
education, from incomplete high school to advanced
degrees. These wage discrepancies are called the
“wage gap.” The wage gap is especially high for women
with four-year and professional degrees.
 The rates of participation in the labor force, the kinds of
jobs, and the levels of pay, the balance between work
and family – gender inequality is highly visible. In 2001,
74% of men were in the labor force, but only 60% of
women (women’s participation is increasing.)

48. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Education, Work and the Military
 Single women are more likely to work than
married women, while married men are
more likely to work than single men.
 Many jobs are gendered: they have
traditionally been and continue to be
performed by women or men (See table
10.5 on page 256). Gendered jobs have far
reaching consequences…for example,
physicians often earn four times as much
as do nurses. 92.2% of all nurses and only
29.4% of all physicians are women, the
monetary stakes are striking.

50. Sex, Gender, and Life Chances
(cont’d)
Politics
 Men outnumber women in all
areas of government
representation.
 This is true for every country in
the world except for Sweden –
their legislature is 59% female.

51. Women
in U.S.
Politics:
The
Numbers
5

52. Sex, Gender, and Life Chances
(cont’d)
 Many women experience what is called the “glass ceiling”
 Glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of
a qualified person within the hierarchy of an organization is
stopped at a lower level because of some form of
discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism, but since
the term was coined. It has also come to describe the limited
advancement of the deaf, blind, disabled, and aged. It is
believed to be an unofficial, invisible barrier that prevents
women and minorities from advancing in businesses.
 Many men experience the “glass escalator”
 A glass escalator is an unofficial fast track promotion of
certain types of staff, usually men, within an organization.
This is typical in female dominated organizations where men
seem to have preferment.
 Men outnumber women in the military and are disproportionately
represented in the command structure. In 2001, not a single full
general or admiral was a woman. In the active military, only
14.9% of women. In the reserves, only 17% are women. The Air
Force has the highest percentage of women at 19.6%.

53. 53

56. 56

57. The Wage Gap

58. The Wage Gap

59. The Wage Gap

61. 61

62. Sex, Gender, and Life
Chances (cont’d)
Income and Poverty
 In 2004, men earned an average of $40,798
while the average for women was $31,223.
 Even though this trend has been improving,
women still only earn a ratio of 77:100 ($.77
W/$1.00 M)
 Across the board, women earn less than
men. This has led to a situation called the
feminization of poverty, which is the
economic trend showing that women are
more likely than men to live in poverty, due in
part to the gendered gap in wages, the higher
proportion of single mothers compared to
single fathers, and the increasing cost of
childcare. 62

64. Gender and Language
Our language and vocabulary tend to
reflect a hierarchal system of gender
inequality.
Positions of power and authority often
directly emphasize male gender in their
names: “congressman,” “chairman,”
“policeman.”
Other jobs have been gendered without
the use of male/female: “nurse/doctor,”
“flight attendant/pilot,”
“secretary/executive.”
64

65. Gender and Language
The English language also assumes that the
default category for all human experience is
male: “man,” “mankind,” “man-made,”
“manslaughter,” and even “human.”
Our language is also a good site for analyzing
double standards: aggressive men are called
“go-getters,” while aggressive women are called
“bitches.” Men who have frequent sexual
encounters are called “players” while women
with the same experience are called “slut” or
“whore.”
Many times nicknames for women function as
mechanisms of social control: “baby,” “baby-doll,”
“cupcake,” “chick,” or in a negative sense,
“cow” or “heifer.” 65

66. Gender and Language
For if language shapes culture, then using
gender-neutral language should facilitate social
change. If it is the other way around, culture
shaping language, then the use of nonsexist
words is a signal of positive social change: “his
or her,” “flight attendant,” “server,”
“chairperson”…etc.
Finally, conversation patterns between men and
women tend to be very different.
 Men are more likely to interrupt women than they
are to interrupt men.
 Men are also more likely to control the subject
matter of conversations.
 Men are less responsive in a conversation
dominated by women.
66

67. The Women’s Movement
Feminism is the belief in the
social, political, and economic
equality of the sexes and the
social movements organized
around that belief. In the
United States, the history of
the women’s movement can
be divided into three historical
waves.
67

68. The Women’s Movement
(cont’d)
The first wave was the earliest
period of feminist activism and
included the period from the mid-nineteenth
century until American
women won the right to vote in
1920. The campaign organized
around gaining voting rights for
women was called the suffrage
movement.
68

69. The Women’s Movement
(cont’d)
The second wave was the period of
feminist activity during the 1960s and
1970s often associated with the issues of
women’s equal access to employment
and education.
The third wave is the most recent period
of feminist activity and focuses on issues
of diversity and the variety of identities
that women can possess. Also, looks at
the rights of women in all countries.
69

70. The Men’s Movement
The men’s movement, called
male liberationism, was a
movement that originated in
the 1970s to discuss the
challenges of masculinity.
70

71. The Men’s Movement
(cont’d)
Although originally broadly sympathetic
with feminism, the men’s movement has
now split into the men’s rights
movement (a group that feels that
feminism creates disadvantages for
men) and the pro-feminist men’s
movement (a group that feels that
sexism harms both men and women and
wants to fundamentally change society’s
ideas about gender).
71

72. Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation is the inclination to
feel sexual desire toward people of a
particular gender or toward both
genders.
 Heterosexuality is the tendency to feel
sexual desire toward members of the
opposite sex.
 Bisexuality is the tendency to feel sexual
desire toward members of both sexes.
 Homosexuality is the tendency to feel sexual
desire toward members of one’s own sex.

73. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
What causes it? – Answer: we
really don’t know…however, this is
not a new question.
 Ulrichs (1800s) - contended sexuality was
linked to gender, and that gender was a
product of hereditary factors, probably related
to hormones.
 There was no way to prove this. It won’t be
until the 1990s when we get genetic research.
Is there a “gay gene” or is it the product of
socialization?
73

74. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
Although some evidence supports a biological component to
homosexuality, research in this area is still preliminary.
 Bailey and Pillard (1990) – hypothesized that homosexuality
was in part congenital, or present at birth. The tested this by
examining the sexual orientation of sets of twins and their
research suggested that they were right. 52% of the identical
twins of homosexual men were also homosexual. 48% of
identical twins of lesbian women were also lesbian.
 Allen and Gorski (1992) – found that a segment of the fibers
connecting the hemispheres of the brain was up to 1/3 larger in
homosexual men – this again suggests a biological
explanation.
 LeVay (1991, 1993) – performed autopsies on homosexual
men who had died of AIDS. He examined the anterior
hypothalamus, a part of the brain long thought to relate to
sexual behavior, and discovered that gay men have a smaller
hypothalamus than heterosexual men. In fact, it was closer in
size to that of heterosexual women. He theorized that this
might be caused by prenatal differences in hormone levels.

75. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
Kinsey (1948, 1952) – suggested that
sexuality was far more diverse than was
commonly assumed. He believed that
people were not exclusively heterosexual
or homosexual, but could fall along a
spectrum. He developed a scale, known
as The Kinsey Scale, to measure this.
This was based on the degree of sexual
responsiveness people had to members
of the same and opposite sex. They also
took into account fantasies, dreams,
feelings, and the frequency of particular
sexual activities.

76. The Kinsey Scale
76

77. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
More recently, researchers have argued that
Kinsey’s theory reduces the following
orientations to a point on a single continuum:
 Bisexuals are individuals who are sexually
attracted to both genders. Often criticized for
being either timid homosexuals or adventurous
heterosexuals.
 Transsexuals are individuals who identify with the
opposite sex and have surgery to alter their own
sex so it fits their self-image.
 Those who are asexual may simply reject any
sexual identity at all.
 Many in these categories, however, deny that their
orientation can be reduced to such a model.

78. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
What criteria do social scientists use to classify
individuals as gay, lesbian, or homosexual?
In a University of Chicago study from the mid-1990s,
researchers established 3 criteria for identifying people
as homosexual or bisexual:
 Sexual attraction to people of the same sex
 Sexual involvement with one or more persons of
the same sex
 Self-identification as gay, lesbian, or bisexual
According to these criteria, having engaged in a
homosexual act does not necessarily classify a person
as homosexual. In fact, many respondents in the
study indicated that although they had at least one
homosexual encounter when younger, they were no
longer involved in homosexual conduct and never
identified themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

79. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
Many have embraced the idea that
homosexuality is genetic, based on the idea that
if sexuality is innate then sexuality-based
discrimination is unacceptable.
However, the fact that we don’t really know
causes or explanations is problematic. For
example, possessing a particular gene doesn’t
guarantee that a person will have a particular
sexual orientation. Also, sociologists have
criticized the “gay gene” theory because it only
offers a narrow explanation of sexual orientation.
It doesn’t explain bisexuality or how biology and
social environments interact to produce various
sexual behaviors.
79

80. Sexual Orientation (cont’d)
Many gays and lesbians favor the “gay gene” theory
because it is seen as a weapon in the fight for gay
rights. As a result, discrimination should not be allowed
in a similar fashion to sex, race, or disability.
However, adherents to queer theory (social theory
about gender identity and sexuality that emphasizes
the importance of difference and rejects as restrictive
the idea of innate sexual identity) reject the genetic
model as unduly limiting the diversity of possible
identities. They argue that the “ gay gene theory” is
too limiting and doesn’t really apply to everyone.
People shouldn’t be limited to either heterosexuality or
homosexuality. Discrimination is wrong regardless of
whom a person chooses to have a relationship.

81. Sexual Orientation: Social
Problems
Whatever the explanation for
sexual orientation, many
believe that homosexuals
should not be granted the
same legal rights as
heterosexuals.
While most Americans oppose
gay marriage, many say they
would support civil unions.
81

82. Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act is the short title of a
federal law of the United States passed on
September 21, 1996 as Public Law No. 104-199,
110 Stat. 2419. The law, also known as DOMA,
has two effects:
 No state (or other political subdivision within the United
States) needs to treat a relationship between persons of
the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is
considered a marriage in another state.
 The federal government defines marriage as a legal
union exclusively between one man and one woman.
The bill was passed by Congress by a vote of 85-
14 in the Senate and a vote of 342-67 in the
House of Representatives, and was signed into
law by President Bill Clinton on September 21,
1996. 82

83. Same-Sex Relationship Laws

84. Homophobia
Homophobia is a fear of or discrimination toward
homosexuals or toward individuals who display
purportedly gender-inappropriate behavior.
The Matthew Shepard Act, officially the
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate
Crimes Prevention Act, is an Act of Congress,
passed on October 22, 2009, and was signed into
law by President Barack Obama on October 28,
2009, as a rider to the National Defense
Authorization Act for 2010.
 This measure expands the 1969 United
States federal hate-crime law to include
crimes motivated by a victim's actual or
perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity, or disability. 84

85. Homophobia (cont’d)
Despite a great deal of change in
recent years, homophobia is still
common in American society.
Some argue that the term
“homophobia” represents a biased
attitude because the term “phobia”
implies a psychological condition,
thus excusing intolerance.
85