Chapter 5

Lecture Notes

How can we tell the difference between men and women? At a basic level we are distinguished by our genitals. This is a simple answer, but not as accurate or useful in social situations. Instead of relying entirely on physical characteristics to identify individuals as male and female, we use other clues. Clothing, secondary sex characteristics and things that emphasize secondary sex characteristics encourage us to accentuate the psychological, emotional, mental, and behavioral differences.

In our examination of gender we will now highlight the psychological aspects of being male and female. However, we will observe how slight abnormalities or changes at the biological level can influence the psychological and social levels of analysis. In this lecture we will examine the topics of studying gender and gender roles, gender role learning, contemporary gender roles, and gender variation.