Review Questions:
Make sure to provide at least 1 paragraph for each question.
Judith Lorber
1- How is gender constructed (according to JL)?
2- Why does society maintain the construction of gender differences (according to JL)?
Kate Bornstein
3- To many of us, it is important that we are able to identify the sex of another individual. When there is ambiguity, we often have a sense of frustration. Why is this so (according to KB)? If we were to have a greater tolerance for such ambiguity, what consequences can you think of in everyday life?
Geoffrey Canada
4- What function is served by socializing boys to fight according to the author?
Jenny Stuber
5- How do essentialists and social constructionists see things differently according to Stuber? What is their evidence?
Readings:
Ore, Tracy E., The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality, Oxford, New York, 2019 (ORE)
Ch.7 The Social Construction of Gender, Judith Lorber, p.88-92
Ch.10 Naming all the Parts, Kate Bornstein, p.117-121
Ch.44 Learning to Fight, Geoffrey Canada, p.464-468 (optional)
Stuber, Jenny, Exploring Inequality, A Sociological Approach, Oxford, New York 2016
Is Biology Destiny, Understanding Sex and Gender, p.25-56