Title: Chapter 11 <BR>Section A <BR>Understanding Sex and Gender
Headings: Understanding Sex and Gender
Understanding Sex and Gender
Learning Objectives
Gender as a Social Construction
That's what little girls are made of.
Sexual Orientation
Table11.1.Prevalence of Homosexuality in the United States
The Development of Gender Differences
Figure11.1.Belief That Women Should Stay at Home
Biology and Gender
Culture and Gender
Figure11.2.Gender Responsibility for Weaving
Socialization and Gender
The Family
Peers
Schools
Mass Media
Religion
Figure11.3.Frequency of Prayer and Acceptance of Traditional Gender Roles in the Family
A Final Word on the Sources of Gender
Key Takeaways

Content: Supporting this view, many gays say they realized they were gay during adolescence, just as straights would say they realized they were straight during their own adolescence. Other scholars say that sexual orientation is at least partly influenced by cultural norms, so that individuals are more likely to identify as gay or straight depending on the cultural views of sexual orientation into which they are socialized as they grow up. At best, perhaps all we can say is that sexual orientation stems from a complex mix of biological and cultural factors that remain to be determined. The Development of Gender Differences
What accounts for differences in female and male behavior and attitudes? Do the biological differences between the sexes account for differences between these other differences? Or do these latter differences stem, as most sociologists think, from cultural expectations and from differences in the ways in which the sexes are socialized? These are critical questions, for they ask whether the differences between boys and girls and women and men stem more from biology or from society. As
As an example, consider the obvious biological fact that women bear and nurse children and men do not. Couple this with the common view that women are also more gentle and nurturing than men, and we end up with a “biological recipe” for women to be the primary caretakers of