Category: Gender & Sexuality

Gender & Sexuality / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

Are you a Lesbian?: The Reification of Dichotomous Thinking

nmccoy1 For all of the talk about sexual expression and deconstructing gender categories, much of the public discussions regarding sexuality continue to reify the very concepts that tend to constrain us.  Proponents and members of LGBTQ communities must practice what they preach: to end discrimination and challenge heternormative institutions we have to move beyond hard and fast sexual designations.  A recent CNN article (see below) illustrates the pressures faced by bisexual and lesbian women to categorize themselves.  But does advocating...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Renegotiating the Gender Contract

by ChristinaBlunt According to a recent article in the New York Times, the single mothers of South Korea are beginning to mount a battle to reclaim not only their rights but also their identities. The social stigma surrounding unwed motherhood in South Korea is particularly fierce. According to the report, in 2007, 1.6 percent of babies were born out of wedlock and of those 1.6 percent 70 percent are given up for adoption. However, nearly 96 percent of the single...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Religion and Child Custody Cases

by NickieWild What are the limits of free expression in the United States today? Are we still living under what many would consider a theocratic state? Although the “Protestant Ethic” as defined by Weber is often thought of in terms of the realm of work, it includes other moral dimensions. The U.S. has often been mired in controversies about what role religion should play in the formation of law. Abortion, school prayer, displaying religious symbols like the 10 Commandments on...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

A Feminist Critique of Female Fans

by smteixeirapoit In The Washington Post, Jaclyn Friedman wrote an article entitled “He Trashes the Ladies. They Love Him For It.” In this article, Friedman provides a feminist critique of females that endorse Tucker Max. In 2002, Tucker Max started a website detailing his “life as a self-involved, drunken womanizer”. Recently, his New York Times best-selling book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell turned into a movie. In this movie, he argues that “all women are whores” and that...

Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

When the private becomes so very public: The case of Caster Semenya

By Rachael Liberman As the controversy surrounding 18-year-old  Caster Semenya’s gender (note the incorrect usage of “gender” as opposed to “sex”) verification test continues to raise questions about racism and sexism, issues of humiliation and trauma have surfaced as well. London’s The Guardian quoted Leonard Chuene, head of Athletics South Africa, as saying, “If gender tests have to take place, they should have been done quietly. It is a taboo subject. How can a girl live with this stigma? By...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

Economic Remedies for Discrimination?

hOne of the most popular (and frankly, easiest) methods of confronting issues of violence and discrimination among women and children has been financial assistance.  In the recent special article in the New York Times, “women” are categorically viewed as the great moral challenge of the 21st century (see article below).  Apart from the inherently problematic nature of presenting women as a monolithic and undifferentiated category, there is a more fundamental issue at stake.  Attention to issues of discrimination, physical and...

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Regulating airbrushing and the potential for disarming the advertising industry

By Rachael Liberman In an effort to put airbrushing on the legislative agenda, MP Jo Swinson and the Lib Dems in the United Kingdom have put a proposal together that would make feminist media scholars jump for joy: ban airbrushed ads aimed at those under sixteen and clearly indicate airbrushed ads aimed at adults. Swinson was quoted as saying, “Today’s unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure not than they were even five...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture

Veiled Beauty: Saudi Arabia and Plastic Surgery

by NickieWild As Westerners, it is difficult for us to imagine a situation where women are regarded as the mysterious “Other” more than in Saudi Arabia, where wearing the hijab is required and what we consider basic rights, such as full employment and driving privileges, are not universal. There, Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of a gendered hierarchy is unusually present. Thus, it might seem strange to learn that plastic surgery procedures in that country are on the rise for women....

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Mainstream media outlets prove once again that they're not interested in cultural analysis

By Rachael Liberman When high-end retailer Barneys New York decided to remove their controversial window display on July 22nd, media outlets were literally handed a story that involved high fashion, violence against women, corporate marketing, and artistic integrity. Instead, many outlets, including the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune, abandoned a cultural critique and ran what the AP wire distributed. As a consequence, what could have been a discussion and inquiry into the social condition of gender and violence was...

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Over Exposure

Pornography and censorship in China by christinablunt Last Friday the Chinese government tightened its censorship of the internet search engine, Google. The website has been facing criticism from the state-supported internet watchdog, “China’s Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre” (CIIIRC), for ‘disseminating pornographic and vulgar information.’ This is only the latest in a series of actions taken by the Chinese to restrict access to information via the internet. As of July 1 every  P.C.s sold in the country will be fitted...

Gender & Sexuality / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Queer Politics as Radical Democratic Citizenship?

nmccoy1 This week the California Supreme Court upheld the ban on same-sex marriage (see article below).  This ruling has reignited political, ideological, and religious disputes over the meaning of marriage.  Much less discussed in the media is the tension between movements based on achieving same-sex marriage (typically lesbian and gay politics) and movements of queer politics.  While there are certainly overlaps between these identity-driven positions, queer politics tends to emphasize the need to challenge heteronormative norms and institutions as well...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Courting Women

by christinablunt Yesterday, President Obama announced that Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. It seemed evident from the time that Justice Souter announced his retirement that the next nominee would be a woman. The Court is historically unbalanced in terms of gender as well as race. If her nomination is confirmed Sotomayor will only be the third woman to ever serve the court. Last year was a tough one for women in politics. Both...

Gender & Sexuality / Social Psychology & Lifecourse

Rethinking Sex Education

by theoryforthemasses Public debate about the content of sex education in U.S. schools has been raging for decades.  On one side of the fence are proponents of programs that teach abstinence-only sex education; on the other side are those who advocate for a more comprehensive program that teaches students how to engage in sexual activity more safely.  The educational system has long been the site of this debate.  However, a recent New York Times article explores a program in North...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Contentious Data: Hate Crimes and Resistance to the Matthew Sheperd Act

by NickieWild Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act,” also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. Named after a college student who was robbed, tortured, and killed in Wyoming in 1998, it is believed that he was targeted because he was gay. The legislation will enhance Justice Department powers to investigate violent crimes where the victim may have been chosen due to actual or perceived race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion,...

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Gender Wage Gap

by smteixeirapoit A recent news article discusses the findings of three surveys used by the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom. The results suggest that the gender wage gap does not necessarily exist when examining comparable occupations. The findings state that, if the gender wage gap does exist, it is because of motherhood rather than womanhood. The news article concludes that females would like to be employed because of their merits instead of being patronized by “quota feminists”....

Class & Stratification / Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

Toilets: The New Model of Social Parity?

nmccoy1 Forty years after second wave women’s movements took to the streets demanding equal pay and legal protections we are finally seeing a move in the direction of parity and it is taking place in the bathroom.  The recent decision by Yankee Stadium (see article below) to take gender into consideration in its architecture is both an historic and sobering moment.  Gender, race, class, and sexual discrimination is not simply a matter of laws and codes, it is also culturally...