Psych of Gender Week 3 paper

Psychology of Gender
Chapters 7-14

In this week’s reading assignment I particularly agreed with chapter 9, On the Construction of Gender, Sex and Sexualities. It reinforces my own observations and experiences, while explaining the broader picture of societal constructs and expectations.

Language is more than a reflection of reality; it constructs reality. Nowhere is the truth of this more evident than in the discussion of sex and sexuality. The example sited of “slut” vs. “stud” is evident, two words describing a person who enjoys sexual activity, but one exudes shame and the other pride in the same behavior. In addition, the duality places different values on the behavior depending upon whether it is performed by a woman or a man.

Gender labeling has another aim; controlling undesirable behavior in the labeled group, or rewarding it. What is called “assertiveness” in men is tagged being a “pushy bitch” in a woman. A man is a “take charge” sort; a woman is “domineering.” Once framed in these terms, the same behavior takes on a positive or negative connotation, creating different realities for men and women. Rather than be labeled with a derogatory name, “slut” or “bitch,” or countless others, many women will modify their behavior to deflect criticism, or at least feel shame if they do not. Indeed, I believe this is the subtle goal of labeling.

The labels “gay,” “straight,” and “bisexual” also construct a reality by reinforcing the concept that there are but two genders, and that a person is defined by her sexuality. In recent years gender activists have reclaimed “queer” as a self-descriptor and tried to strip it of it’s negative meaning by using it to indicate gender and sexuality as a spectrum rather than an binary.

The phone sex example portrayed how humans can create themselves as male or female by language alone, and how the judicious use of word choice will evoke shared cultural constructions, the “sexy babe,” “nymphomaniac,” or “naughty schoolgirl” of the listener’s fantasy. Word choice, pitch, and intonation all work together to create a feminine portrait which intersects with the client’s imagination. The book cites the case of a man who was able to construct himself as a woman in the phone sex trade by controlling these things.

In the mid 1990s, in the youth of the internet, we had a saying: only 10% of the people online are women, and half of those are men. Chat rooms in particular gave people the freedom to play with gender in safety, constructing themselves through the use of words and shared cultural knowledge to create alternate realities of male and female. In addition to the men portraying themselves as women, many women created non-gendered or male nicknames and personas to give us more freedom and to increase our feeling of safety in a male dominated environment.

The concept that gender is performed rather an innate also resonated quite strongly with me. “Indeed, femaleness and femininity can be enacted only in contrast to maleness and masculinity.” This statement, I believe, is key. Gender is often defined, I believe, as Not Other. In our society, Male is still considered the default, the Not Female. We are investing not just in doing gender, but in doing a particular type of gender, in my case heterosexual woman.

The risk and reward for doing gender correctly is higher for men than for women, I believe. To be perceived as other than a heterosexual male can be to open oneself to ridicule, or in extreme cases, physical danger. Because of this, many men are deeply invested in performing gender to meet the expectations of those around them.

I was also fascinated by Chapter 7, Psychoanalytic Theories of Gender. This was the first approachable interpretation of Freud that I’ve read, and I liked seeing it filtered through a feminist lens.

I began the reading without looking at the schedule, so I read all seven chapters before I realized I was only responsible for half of it. I didn’t mind that a bit, though. The material was interesting and informative, and I learned a lot. I did have some difficulty with Chapter 12, Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities, however, perhaps because it was more quantitative. I intend to explore this area in more depth until I understand it.

But to me the most meaningful text was Chapter 11, The Bases of Gendered Power. I plan to examine this more thoroughly in my final paper, but the use of force, and threat of force, as a basis for subjugating women through a culture that excuses rape is of particular interest to me. I’m looking forward to doing more research on it.

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