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GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND FAMILIES

I. SEX VS GENDER

Sex = biology; male or female or intersex
Gender = social cultural characteristics – culture’s ideas of femininity vs masculinity
· INTERSEX

Someone is born with characteristics of both sexes, or they are born with ambiguous genitalia
· TRANSGENDER

Someone whose gender identity does not match their anatomy; they identify with a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth
Some go on to adopt the social characteristics of the other sex;
Some have surgery and/or take hormones to alter their biology
II. GENDER SOCIALIZATION

A. DEFINITION

We learn gender – we are taught by our society how to be girls or boys
B. FAMILY

Name, room décor, clothing
Toys = teach kids “gender-appropriate” roles and skills
C. SCHOOL

· Elementary school = teacher-student interaction (reward interrupting boy but reprimand interrupting girl)
· High school = career counselors gender-track, they encourage students to enter “gender-appropriate fields” (example: doctor vs nurse)
· College/university = fewer women role models, bc most faculty are men

D. MEDIA

Children’s books (the classics especially) have reinforced gender roles and stereotypes (such as Disney). In recent years children have moved to more electronic media – in 2009 the average 8 to 18 year old spent seven hours a day using media, including TV, internet, music, and video games – and these often reinforce gender roles and stereotypes as well. Ex: in video games men are often portrayed as muscular heroes who shoot weapons, while women (who appear less often in games) are portrayed as sexy and scantily clad and even victims of violence
E. EXMAPLE OF RESULT OF GENDER SOCIALIZATION

· Interpersonal behavior = nonverbal and verbal
Nonverbal = men take up more personal space than women
Verbal = Deborah Tannen’s report talk vs rapport talk
· Men report talk = goal is to establish status and power – style is competitive (interrupting)
· Women rapport talk = goal is to establish an emotional connection – style is cooperative (verbal and nonverbal positive feedback)
^ ending sentence with a question (nice day, isn’t it?); empty adverbs (really, very, soooo); vague words and phrases (kind of, sort of, I guess)
· Positive: rapport talk establishes connection
· Negative: rapport talk is often interpreted as women being less confident, which can have implications such as in family dynamics and at paid work

III. LGBTQIA+

In the US people who identify as LGBTQIA+ (identify as anything other than heterosexual cisgender) will face stigma, being socially devalued – examples relating especially to issues of family:
· Marriage was legalized in 2015 (see link in Canvas), but adoption rights still vary state-to-state
· Homelessness (rejected by their parents when coming out)
· Education (lower GPA, more absenteeism, higher drop-out rate, primary due to being bullied)
· Health care
· Employment
· housing
· Hate crimes

Equality Act (May 2019)

Democrats in the House have approved a sweeping anti-discrimination bill that would extend civil rights protections to LGBT people by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The measure passed a vote of 236 yeas to 173 nays with eight Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill. 
Called the Equality Act, the legislation updates existing federal nondiscrimination laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act, to confirm that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is unlawful discrimination based on sex. It would extend protections to employment, housing, loan applications, education, public accommodations and other areas.

passed the House May 2019, now waiting on Senate –
Longshot to pass Senate, but if it did, at this time President Trump said he will immediately veto the legislation