CSS Gender Studies Social Construction of Gender Syllabus

Social Construction of Gender syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Social Construction of Gender in CSS Gender Studies, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Constructionism and the Category of Sex

   3 topics

   • Historicizing Constructionism
   • Problematizing the category of 'Sex': Queer Theory
   • Is 'Sex' socially determined, too?
2. 2

   Masculinity, Femininity and Nature-Culture

   2 topics

   • Masculinities and Femininity
   • Nature versus Culture debate in Gender Development

Social Construction of Gender flashcards for CSS Gender Studies

22 of 51 cards from the Social Construction of Gender deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the central claim of the social constructionist approach to gender?

   That gender is not a natural or biological given but is produced through social processes, cultural meanings, institutions, and everyday interactions, and therefore varies across time and place.

2. Define the conventional sex/gender distinction.

   'Sex' refers to the biological differences between male and female bodies (chromosomes, hormones, anatomy); 'gender' refers to the socially and culturally constructed roles, behaviours, and identities attached to those bodies.

3. Which feminist popularized the slogan 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman'?

   Simone de Beauvoir, in The Second Sex (1949).

4. What does Beauvoir's statement 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman' mean for gender theory?

   It asserts that womanhood is acquired through socialization and culture rather than inborn biology, an early foundation for constructionist thought.

5. What is meant by 'historicizing' constructionism?

   Treating the categories of sex and gender as products of particular historical periods and contexts, showing how their meanings have changed over time rather than being fixed or universal.

6. According to Thomas Laqueur, what was the 'one-sex model' of the body?

   A pre-modern (up to the 18th century) view in which the female body was understood as a lesser, inverted version of the male body, ranked on a single continuum rather than as a distinct sex.

7. According to Laqueur, what replaced the one-sex model and when?

   The 'two-sex model' emerged around the 18th century, framing male and female as biologically distinct and incommensurable opposites.

8. What does Laqueur's history of the body demonstrate about 'sex'?

   That even the supposedly biological category of sex is shaped by historical and cultural ideas, so sex itself has a history rather than being a timeless fact.

9. What is essentialism in the context of gender?

   The belief that men and women have fixed, innate, natural essences or characteristics that determine their behaviour and roles.

10. How does social constructionism oppose essentialism?

    It rejects fixed natural essences and argues that gendered traits and roles are learned, contingent, and produced by social structures and discourse.

11. What is the 'nature versus culture' (nature-nurture) debate in gender development?

    The dispute over whether gender differences arise primarily from biology/nature (genes, hormones, evolution) or from culture/nurture (socialization, environment, learning).

12. State the biological determinist position in the nature-culture debate.

    That gendered behaviours and inequalities stem from innate biological differences (hormones, brains, reproductive roles) and are therefore natural and largely unchangeable.

13. State the social/cultural determinist position in the nature-culture debate.

    That gender differences are produced by upbringing, culture, and social learning, and are thus variable and changeable.

14. What is the interactionist position in the nature-culture debate?

    That biology and culture interact dynamically—biological potentials are shaped, channelled, and given meaning by social and cultural environments rather than acting in isolation.

15. Which anthropologist's study of three New Guinea societies challenged universal gender roles?

    Margaret Mead, in Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935).

16. What did Margaret Mead's New Guinea research conclude about gender temperament?

    That temperaments associated with men and women vary widely across cultures (Arapesh both gentle, Mundugumor both aggressive, Tchambuli with reversed roles), showing gender is culturally shaped, not biologically fixed.

17. Define gender socialization.

    The lifelong process through which individuals learn the norms, behaviours, and expectations associated with their gender from family, school, peers, media, and other institutions.

18. What is 'doing gender' as theorized by West and Zimmerman (1987)?

    The idea that gender is not a fixed trait but an ongoing accomplishment produced through routine, everyday social interactions in which people perform and are held accountable to gender norms.

19. Define queer theory.

    A field, emerging in the early 1990s, that challenges fixed categories of sex, gender, and sexuality, critiques heteronormativity, and treats identities as fluid, constructed, and performative.

20. Who coined the term 'queer theory' and in what year?

    Teresa de Lauretis, in 1990/1991.

21. Which theorist is most associated with gender performativity?

    Judith Butler, in Gender Trouble (1990).

22. Define gender performativity according to Judith Butler.

    The idea that gender has no pre-existing inner essence but is constituted through the repeated stylized performance of acts, gestures, and norms, which produce the illusion of a stable gendered self.

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