1. Gender in a globalizing world

2. Ask your partner
• What is the link between sexual activity and
your identity?
• Is gender just biological reductionism? If not,
in what ways are ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’
socially constructed?
• On a global level, how do ideologies about
gender affect your life chances?

3. Human Rights Act 1998
• The General Synod voting on women bishops
November 2012
• The Act preserves the European Convention on
Human Rights into UK Law and convention rights are
now enforceable through UK courts.
• Article 14:
• Convention rights must be protected without
discrimination on any grounds such as, sex, sexual
orientation, race, colour, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social origin,
association with a national minority, property, birth,
disability, and mental status.

4. Today
Sexual identities
• What is the link between sexual activity and your identity?
The social construction of masculinities and femininities
• Is gender just biological reductionism? If not, in what ways
are ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ socially constructed?
The global gender order
• On a global level, how do ideologies about gender affect your
life chances?
Key words: gender order; patriarchy; biological reductionism;
• The study of sexuality may be the most personally
threatening topic:
– The links between sexual desire, sexual activity and sexual identity
are far from simple

5. Harassment and
violence
‘The harassment suffered by those
who are ...trans are part of a
continuum of the gender violence
that took the lives of Brandon Teena,
Matthew Shepard and Gwen Aruajo’
Judith Butler Undoing Gender
(2004:6)

6. SEXUAL IDENTITIES
Researching sexualities

7. Researching
Sexuality
• Kinsey (1948. 1953). Very famous
study
• 70% men had visited a prostitute
• 84% had had premarital sexual experiences
• BUT
• 40% men expected their wives to be virgin! Double standards!
• 90% of males – masturbation
• 60% of males – oral sex
• 50% women – premarital sex
• 60% women - masturbation/oral sex
• Lots of heterosexual men had experienced homosexual feelings!
• Gap between public attitudes and actual behaviour

8. Researching sexual behaviour
• Rubin (1990) 1,000 Americans 13-48
– Sexual activity beginning at earlier age than previous
generation
– Sexual practises of teenagers as varied and comprehensive as
adults
– Women come to expect/actively pursue sexual pleasure in
relationships. Expecting to receive sexual satisfaction.
– Most men found female assertiveness difficult to accept: felt
‘inadequate’, found it ‘impossible to satisfy women these days’
• Unexpected findings: men dominate in most spheres, are
much more violent to women. Is masculinity a source of
burden as well as reward? If men stopped using sexuality
as control, men and women would benefit?
• Holmstrom (1975) criminologist. Rape is an exertion of
power rather than sexual; masculinity

9. Sexual Identities
• The links between sexual desire, sexual activity and sexual
identity are far from simple
• Social interaction is shaped around a presumed norm of
heterosexuality (the ‘heteronormative’)
• Biology and Sexual Behaviour
– Challenging area to study; anatomic differences
– Barash (1979) evolutionary explanation to why men tend to
be more sexually promiscuous than women.
– Rose et al (1984) human behaviour is shaped more by
environment due to long infancy spent with parents/ before
adulthood
– However: human sexual behaviour is meaningful. Humans
use/ express sexuality in various different ways. Sexuality is
symbolic: performative (Butler)

10. Forms of sexual practices; sexual
orientations

11. Sexual Desire and
Orientation
• Sexual activities towards others of the same sex exist in all cultures
• Sexual preferences are not choice/ have a firm basis in desire:
– Bell et al (1981) biology predisposes
– Healy (2001) inconclusive and controversial Bailey & Pillard (1991:
Bailey 1993) twins
– Plummer (1975) – the link between participation in same-sex activity
and the adoption/ imposition of the social identity ‘homosexual’ is a
complex and far from direct one.
• Casual passing encounter; schoolboy crushes; situated activities; regularly
carried out, but don’t become individuals overriding preference; personalized
homosexuality preference but are isolated from groups in which this is
accepted; way of life individuals who have come out, members of gay cultures,
distinct lifestyles
• Sexual orientation is extremely varied; attitudes towards
orientation are also culturally and historically specific

12. Ideologies
• Attitudes are not uniform
globally; western attitudes
shaped by Christianity for 2,000
years
• 19th C religious presumptions
replaced by medical ones:
masturbation makes you go
blind!
• Sexual hypocrisy of Victorians
still exists Barret-Ducrocq
(1992)

13. Victorian ideologies
• Ideologies of masculinity and
femininity that define men as
aggressive, women as passive
and sexuality as deviant are still
powerful in the 21st century.
• Modern gender roles emerged
in the 17th century alongside a
developing capitalism.
• The Victorians created them
precisely because they disliked
the irreligion and licentiousness
of their Georgian forbears.
Work –Ford Maddox Brown 1854-
65

14. Attitudes towards that which is
outside the ‘heteronormative’
• Homophobia aversion
or hatred of
homosexual people or
practices
• Rejection of
effeminacy by gay
men leads to
– Camp masculinity
– Macho image
(Bertelson 1986)

15. http://www.newint.org/features/2000/10/05/facts/ 2000 New Internationalist

16. Normalizing of Homosexuality
• Influence of second wave feminism; human rights
legislation
• Redman 1996 increased visibility has called into
question universalism of heterosexuality
• Rutherford & Chapman 1988 hysterical and paranoid
responses:
– In order to preserve heteronormative, homosexuals are
marginalized and vilified
– Example: The Phelps family
• Increase in civil partnerships
• Increase in legal rights
• Legislative change and social policy don’t always follow
public opinion but can change public opinion

17. Why do gay people stay ‘in the closet’?
• Fear of losing jobs
• Fear of losing families
• Fear of losing friends
• Fear of verbal abuse
• Fear of physical abuse
• The Stonewall Riots 1969
– Weeks 1977; D’Emilio 1983 New York’s gay community fought
police for two days after continual police harassment
– 1994; 25th Anniversary of Stonewall, 100, 000 people attended
International March on United Nations to Affirm the Human Rights
of Lesbian and Gay People

18. Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights
• Seidman (1997) in some areas (such as gay marriage) the lives of gay men
and women have been normalized to a large extent: Manchester, New York,
Brighton, San Francisco, Sydney... Large gay communities
• There are enormous differences between countries in the degree to which
homosexual acts are legally punishable (see earlier map)
• International Lesbian & Gay Association (ILGA) 1978 international
conferences, convinced Council of Europe to require all its member nations
to get rid of laws banning homosexuality
• Frank & McEneany (1999) active lesbian & gay social movements thrive in
countries which emphasize individuals rights and liberal policies
– December 2013 High Court of Australia reversed a decision to allow gay
marriages in Canberra (ACT) after just one week, because it contradicted
national law which defined marriage as between a man and a woman

19. How do gay and lesbian groups work
together?
Interaction between lesbianism and feminism
• Rich (1981) a distinctive brand of lesbian
feminism emerged which promoted the spread of
‘female values’ and challenged the established,
dominant institution of male heterosexuality
• Seidman (1997) many gay women view
lesbianism as less a sexual orientation and more
as a commitment to and a form of solidarity with
other women: politically, socially and personally.
• Against what…patriarchy?

20. Patriarchal Action Movie

21. Patriarchy – Men on top
Much gender theory concentrates
on women, but increasingly
sociology is interested in men
and the idea of masculinity.
The feminist concept of patriarchy
is useful to explaining the
prevalence of gender orders
throughout the world.
Connell’s Gender Order puts both
patriarchy and masculinity into
wider gender relations.
‘Masculinity is a vital part of the
gender order’

22. R.W. Connell (1981,2001,2005)
Hegemonic
Masculinity
marriage, heterosexual,
hard work , strength,
physical toughness
More powerful
Less powerful
Complicit Masculinity
Subordinated
Masculinities
Homosexual
Masculinity
Subordinated
Femininities
Emphasized
Femininity
Resistant
Femininity

23. Gender Orders
• Connell (Gender & Power
1987)
• Western capitalist sex
relations are defined by
patriarchy
• the dominance of men
over women.
Rathwyn Connell – Born Robert Connell
in 1944.

24. Labour, Power, Cathexis
The sexual division of labour:
 both within the home
(domestic responsibilities,
childcare) and the labour
market, with issues of labour
segregation and unequal pay.
Power:
 social relationships of
authority, violence, ideology in
institutions like the state, the
military, the police.
Cathexis:
 concerns the dynamics of
intimate, emotional and
personal relationships,
marriage sexuality and
childrearing.
Women Workers New York 1946

25. The Gender Order: Power
• Many state practices
exclude, subordinate, or
marginalize women
• Practices are gradually
being revealed and fought
by "equal opportunity"
programs.
• Example: women in war

26. Invisible women vs comfort women
• The Hague conventions on
war (1907) intended to take
women out of the way of
combat
• 1914 women to industrial
labour, opportunity and
patriotism:
– In WW2 the same
• The west have resisted
women in combat, but in both
WW1 and WW2 women in
combat in the Red Army.
• In January 2013, US congress
lifted the 1994 ban on women
serving in the Army (in
combat)
Marina Raskova, 1922-1943 a record-
breaking aviatrix, organized the 588th
night bomber squadron - composed
entirely of women, from the mechanics
to the navigators, pilot and officers

27. Education
• Since 1920s the position of women has improved in the western
world
• 1960s when mass female university education became the
norm.
• knock on effects for the economy:
– more women competed in the workplace
– deferred having children.
• Equally as the terms of trade turned against the unskilled
working class in the west-men saw their jobs exported to LDCs
so women took up much more of the burden of work.

28. Queer Theory: gender on a discourse
level
• Gender and sexuality = a
discourse of sexuality, therefore
socially constructed
• Identity is fixed/assigned to
people through socializing
agents
• Identity creation: therefore
fluid
• Key thinkers: Judith Butler,
Michel Foucault, Jacques
Derrida, Gagnon & Simon.

29. Quick Review: match the definitions
1. Gender
2. Sex
3. Sexuality
a) Anatomical differences between men,
women, and hermaphrodites.
Physical characteristics of the body.
b) Sexual behaviour of human beings
c) Social expectations regarded as
appropriate for members of each sex.
Not physical attributes but socially
formed traits of masculinity and
femininity.

30. Match the definitions
1. Gender
2. Sex
3. Sexuality
c) Social expectations regarded as
appropriate for members of each sex. Not
physical attributes but socially formed
traits of masculinity and femininity.
a) Anatomical differences between men,
women, and hermaphrodites. Physical
characteristics of the body.
b) Sexual behaviour of human beings

31. Gender
• Sex biological differences in the anatomy and
physiology that define male and female bodies
• Gender psychological, social and cultural differences;
linked to socially constructed notions of masculinity
and femininity; not necessarily a direct product of an
individual’s biological sex
• Many differences between males and females are not
biological in origin
• Three broad approaches:
– Biological
– Socialization and gender roles
– Social Constructionism

32. Biological gender differences
• Hormones, chromosomes, brain size, genetics are
responsible for differences and inequalities between
genders: popular at discursive levels
Criticisms:
• Elshtain (1987) levels of aggression between males varies
widely between cultures; women are expected to be more
gentle/passive in different cultures
– This ignores cultural factors
• Theories of natural difference rely on data from animal
behaviour
• Just because a trait is universal doesn’t mean it’s biological
• As sociologists, we want to avoid biological reductionism

33. Gender Socialization and gender
roles
• Gender differences are culturally produced: learn sex roles
• Guided by positive and negative sanctions:
– What a brave boy you are!
– Boys don’t play with dolls.
• Critical Analysis:
– Gender socialization is not smooth process (schools, family, peer
groups etc) give conflicting ideas
– Ignores individuals agency – to reject or modify
– Humans are not passive objects
– Statham (1986) parents committed to raising kids in ‘non-sexist way’
may find existing patterns difficult to fight
– Connell (1987) children may refuse heterosexuality, may start dressing
in drag, may construct fantasy world
– Weitzman (1972) male characters on TV/in films tend to play more
adventurous roles, whereas women are passive, expectant,
domestically oriented.

34. Social Constructionism
• Both sex and gender are socially constructed
products
• The human body is a subject to which social
forces shape and alter it
• Individuals can choose to construct and
reconstruct their bodies
• Technology is blurring boundaries
• Connell (1987), Scott & Morgan (1993), Butler
(1990)
– Gender identities and sex differences are inextricably
linked within individual human bodies

35. Gender Regimes
Connell’s schema is that is suggests
relations:
• happen at a number of different
levels
• a family, neighbourhood or
country can have a multiplicity of
Gender Regimes
• these determine how people
behave.
Gender relations :
• are not fixed
• can be changed
• the power of agency
• Socially constructed

36. Connell’s crisis of masculinity
Crisis of Instutionalisation
 institutions supporting men’s power:
 the family; the state; the church
 undermined.
 legitimacy of domination of women is weakened by legislation on:
 divorce, rape, economic questions (equal pay acts) taxation and pensions.
Crisis of Sexuality
 Hegemonic heterosexuality is under attack from the queer and gay
movements and the growing strength of women’s sexuality
Crisis of Interest Formation
 Interest groups are forming that contradict old gender order:
 married women rights, gay sexuality, anti-sexist attitudes among men
 all challenge the old orders

37. Critique of the male role
• A genre of criticism of "the
Male Role" was created in
the 1970s.
• the crisis itself would drive
change forward.
• 70s masculinity would be
replaced by some kind of
androgyny.
• 2nd Wave Feminism
• David Bowie

38. Connell: A World Gender Order
Connell, R.W. (1998) Masculinities and Globalisation, Men and
Masculinities, 1(1), pp 3-23
‘transnational business masculinity’
MNCs:
• Strong gendered division of labour
• Masculine-aggressive management culture.
The international state:
• NGOs are gendered and are mainly run by men.
Global media:
• a highly gendered division of labour.
Global markets:
• capital, services, labour
• all gender structured
• reach deep into local communities.
Globalisation:
• interactions between local gender orders
• new gender organisations

39. Modern Reproductive technologies
• Contraception
• Childbirth:
– Sonogram
– Assisted reproductive technologies (IVF)
– Genetic engineering: designer babies?
• The abortion debate: Pro-life or Pro-choice?
• Abortion is always wrong because it is equivalent to
murder vs the mother’s control over her own body is
the primary consideration
• Most Western societies have legalised abortion
• Technology has made this debate more complex
• We have come to place a high value on human life (a
thing unknown before):
– demography

40. Contraceptives and abortion
• Availability of contraceptives in
industrialised world
• In Africa contraceptive
prevalence is only 20%
– Colonialism
– Missionaries/religion
• concomitant danger due to the
spread of HIV/AIDS.
• only available contraception can
be abortion; risks, infection,
death
• Technology: cause of massive
regional inequality.

41. Sex tourism and sex trafficking; a
world Gender Order
• Package tours oriented towards prostitution go to:
– Thailand; The Philippines; Vietnam; Korea; Taiwan
• Svensson (2006) ‘Extraterritorial accountability: an
assessment of the effectiveness of child sex tourism laws’
(UN Special Report)
– the USA has made at least 20 prosecutions for sex tourism;
Japan has made 0.
• International Labour Organisation (1998)
– Up to 2 million prostitutes in Thailand
– Cheaper global travel
– Sex industry is connected to economic hardship
• Lim (1998) sex tourism has serious implications for spread
of AIDS, STDs, and is often associated with violence, drug
trade, human rights violations

42. Sex Tourism; Sex Trafficking; A World
Gender Order
• international sex
tourism
• the prostitution of
women of the periphery
to men of the core
industrialized countries.

43. Prostitution and Sex Work
• Granting sexual favours for
monetary gain
– Ancient world: courtesans,
concubines, slaves
• UN resolution (1951) condemns
those organising prostitution, but
not prostitution itself
• Dutch Parliament 1999 prostitution
is legal profession: regulated,
licensed, inspected
• legislation rarely punishes clients
• legislation normalises this as male
sexual activity
– condemns prostitutes
– Gender order: power

44. To legalize and professionalize... or
not?
• International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW)
– Sees unionization as first step towards professionalism of sex work
• Weitzer (2000)
– Sex workers are mostly female and can be:
• Actors in pornos (Gender order: division of labour)
• Nude modelling
• Striptease
• Lap dancers
• Erotic massages
• Phone sex workers
• Home-based webcam sex
– If financial gain is involved

45. To legalize and professionalize... or
not?
LEGALIZE
• Union collectivism may help
stop exploitation and abuse
• Women sex workers can
earn good money
• Some enjoy their work
• Not all fit stereotype of
poor, sexually abused, drug
addict (O’Neill 2000)
• Can be independent
women who have taken
control of lives (Chapkis et
al 1997)
DON’T LEGALIZE
• The sex industry is
degrading to women
• It is strongly linked to drug
addiction
• It is strongly linked to sexual
abuse
• Objectifies women:
– it helps perpetuate tendency
for men to treat women as
objects to be used for sexual
services
• How would this help on a
global level

46. Girls who kick ass!

47. R.W. Connell (1981,2001,2005)
Hegemonic
Masculinity
marriage, heterosexual,
hard work , strength,
physical toughness
More powerful
Less powerful
Complicit Masculinity
Subordinated
Masculinities
Homosexual
Masculinity
Subordinated
Femininities
Emphasized
Femininity
Resistant
Femininity

48. Today
• The link between sexual activity and your
identity
• Avoiding biological reductionism:
– ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ are socially
constructed
• On a local, national and international level,
ideologies about gender affect your life
chances

49. Independent study
• Seminar preparation
• Cornell notes
• Coursework essay and
presentations