📜 Post with us on Reddit
📝 Create a new article
🏭 Create a company page
🇬🇧 - in English
🇫🇷 - en Français (FR)
🇵🇹 - em Português (PT)
🇩🇪 - in Deutsch (DE)
🇯🇵 - 日本語で (JA)
Sponsored articles

You can edit almost every page by Creating an account. Otherwise, see the FAQ.

Female (gender)

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki

For other uses, see Female (disambiguation)

Female gender includes the social, psychological, cultural and behavioral aspects of being a woman or girl.[1][2] These aspects include female gender identity, female gender roles, female gender expression, and female gender inequality.[3] In academic and scientific research since the late 1970s, female gender is considered distinct from female sex characteristics.[4][5] Female gender may be different from sex assigned at birth.[6][7]

Etymology[edit]

The social sciences' use of gender first began in psychology literature in the 1950s to refer to environmental and learned elements of one's social roles and orientations.[8] This usage was adapted by feminist scholars in the 1970s to denote the social aspects of distinctions based on sex (as opposed to biological determinism).[9][10] The popularization of this usage of the word "gender" in scholarship marked a shift from a narrow focus on women in Women's studies to a focus on the relationship between women and men in Gender studies.[9] This shift also corresponded to the adoption of Intersectionality as a way of understanding inequality.[9]

Biological distinctions[edit]

Main articles: Sex and gender distinction and gender identity
See also: Sex differences in humans and Sexual differentiation in humans

Anne Fausto-Sterling writes in the revised edition of Myths Of Gender: Biological Theories About Women And Men that "over the years physicians, biologists, and anthropologists have had a lot to say about women's place in the world", often related to theories that suggest a biologically-based inferiority of women.[11]:4-6 Fausto-Sterling critiques the validity of studies that focus on biology, including a failure to account for "when differences could be explained by other variables."[11]:7-9

In a review of the 1996 book Gender Shock: Exploding the Myths of Male and Female for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Dawidoff writes, "Public discourse is rife with calls to return to traditional family values" and "such groups as the Promise Keepers, the Nation of Islam and the Christian Right and such New Age gurus as Marianne Williamson and Robert Bly call for a return to a social order that consistently reflects an absolute biological distinction between male and female".[12]

Social construction[edit]

Gender stereotypes
An implication of stereotyping two groups as polar opposites is that any movement away from one group is, by definition, a movement toward that of the other group. For instance, a man who acts less rational than the male stereotype is seen as not only as less masculine but more feminine; a woman who acts less emotional than the female stereotype is viewed not only as less feminine but as more masculine. Thus it is that, for example, women doing competent intellectual work have been told "You think like a man," and men showing reluctance to enter dangerous situations have been taunted as being "such a girl."

Hilary M. Lips, Sex and Gender: An Introduction, Seventh Edition, p.5

Main articles: Sociology of gender and Social construction of gender
See also: Gender history, Doing gender, Gender role, Gender polarization, and Feminization (sociology)

Social constructions of female gender have varied across societies and over time.[13] According to Susan Kingsley Kent, in Gender: A World History, "what philosophers, religious thinkers, scientists, physicians, psychiatrists, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, politicians, and educators have been telling us about gender has changed frequently."[14]:4 With regard to the construction of female gender, Kent writes, "Usually, but not always, masculinity - those traits or characteristics we attribute to men - is regarded as superior to femininity (the qualities we assign to women), and this superiority is used to explain why, in most of our societies until the last century, women did not enjoy the same rights and opportunities as men."[14]:4

The social construct of the female gender often includes expectations and norms of femininity, but this varies; for example, tomboys and butch women have elements of masculine gender expression.[15]:100–101 Traditional constructions of femininity can include culturally-defined ideals of beauty, passivity, and the gender roles of mother and/or wife.[16]:xii, xvi, 1 According to feminist social psychologist Hilary M. Lips, in Sex and Gender: An Introduction, Seventh Edition, "Early research on male-female differences took place in a context in which, for instance, it was often taken for granted that women's chief purpose in life was to bear children and that men were naturally better suited than women to take on public roles outside of the family."[17]:xiv

Gender bias in medical diagnosis is an example of how female gender stereotypes may impact women seeking medical treatment.[18]

Psychological experience[edit]

Main article: Psychology of women
See also: Sex differences in psychology and Cinderella complex

According to The Psychology of Gender by Alice H. Eagly et al., "Gender permeates most aspects of human life and often manifests itself in terms of female disadvantage."[19]:2 In addition, "If men and women were the same except for genitalia and some details of secondary sex characteristics, women would not end up being positioned differently in society, generally with less access to resources than men."[19]:2

Female gender roles may be associated with psychological stress and conflict.[16]:xii-xiii, 1–2 In Sex and Gender: An Introduction, Seventh Edition, Hilary M. Lips discusses sexism and gender microaggressions, noting that the subtle sexist behavior of gender microagressions directed towards women can create confusion, and over time, "is likely to have negative effects on women's mental health and self-esteem."[17]:22

Psychological research began to include women participants in the 1950s and 1960s, with an increasing focus over time on gender roles and gender identity, as well as intersectional factors including poverty, class, racism, and education.[20] Various studies have indicated women tend to experience more stress than men, and in a 2015 Frontiers in Psychology article, Eric Mayor proposed that gender roles and traits help explain the difference.[21] According to a study of feminine gender role stress conducted by Betty L. Gillespie and Richard M. Eisler and published in Behavior Modification in 1992, women self-reported fears related to unemotional relationships, attractiveness, victimization, assertiveness, and nurturing.[22] In a study of gender role discrepancy and discrepancy stress conducted by Dennis E. Reidy et al. and published in Child Psychiatry & Human Development in 2019, adolescent girls who self-reported they did not conform to their gender role were more likely to also self-report adverse mental health outcomes and a higher degree of maladjustment.[23]

Behavioral characteristics[edit]

Main article: Gender expression
See also: Gender role, Gender typing, and Gender variance

Role of culture[edit]

Main articles: Sexism, Violence against women, Feminization of poverty, and Gender pay gap
See also: Emotional_labor § Gender, Difference theory, Standpoint theory, and Standpoint feminism

In a 2002 article published in Social Forces, Rachel A. Rosenfeld reviews a history of scholarship on gender,[24] writing that by the 1990s, "more researchers looked at gender differences and differences among women in an increasingly cross-national and even global way" and "By now, it is taken for granted that researchers cannot ignore gender."[25]:6-7 Rosenfeld also describes the growing recognition by the mid-1980s of a need to study "differences among women", including "race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and class" as "more than simply documenting more inequalities".[25]:6

Legal category[edit]

Main article: Women's rights
See also: Legal gender, Coverture, and Marriage bar

Gender identity and gender expression may be protected from discrimination by law in some jurisdictions.[26] According to the American Civil Liberties Union, in the United States, female gender can sometimes be a legal designation distinct from sex assigned at birth, and laws prohibiting sex discrimination have been interpreted to protect gender identity in some jurisdictions.[27] In addition, in some jurisdictions, official identification such as a driver's license indicating "female" may permit access to female-only entitlements under the law, such as healthcare, welfare, and female-only spaces.[27][28]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Sociology Reference Guide: Gender Roles & Equality (PDF). Salem Press. 2011. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-42983-466-7. Retrieved July 24, 2022. Search this book on
  2. ↑ "gender". APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "Gender and health". World Health Organization. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  4. ↑ DeFrancisco, Victoria Pruin; Palczewski, Catherine Helen (2014). "Developing a critical gender/sex lens". Gender in communication: a critical introduction (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. p. 11. ISBN 9781452220093. Search this book on :Citing:
  5. ↑ Lindsey, Linda L. (2016). Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective. Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 9781317348085. Retrieved 19 December 2022. Search this book on
  6. ↑ Begun, Audrey L.; Murray, Margaret M., eds. (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Social Work and Addictive Behaviors. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780429515132. Retrieved 9 January 2023. Search this book on
  7. ↑ "Assigned Sex at Birth". Glossary for Cultural Transformation. Boston Medical Center. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  8. ↑ Joanne, Meyerowitz. "A History of Gender" (PDF). Retrieved Jan 10, 2023.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Scott, Joan W. “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis.” The American Historical Review, vol. 91, no. 5, 1986, pp. 1053–75. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1864376. Accessed 11 Jan. 2023.
  10. ↑ Haig, David (April 2004). "The Inexorable Rise of Gender and the Decline of Sex: Social Change in Academic Titles, 1945–2001" (PDF). Archives of Sexual Behavior. 33 (2): 87–96. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.359.9143. doi:10.1023/B:ASEB.0000014323.56281.0d. PMID 15146141. S2CID 7005542. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2012.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2008). Myths Of Gender: Biological Theories About Women And Men, Revised Edition. Basic Books. ISBN 9780786723904. Retrieved 24 October 2022. Search this book on
  12. ↑ Dawidoff, Robert (18 August 1996). "NONFICTION; What Little Girls and Boys Are Made Of; GENDER SHOCK: Exploding the Myths of Male & Female. By Phyllis Burke". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Gender and health". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Kent, Susan Kingsley (2020). Gender: A World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190621971. Retrieved 7 August 2022. Search this book on
  15. ↑ Worthen, Meredith G. F. (2021). Sexual Deviance and Society: A Sociological Examination. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000421064. Retrieved 24 July 2022. Search this book on
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Pompper, Donnalyn (2016). Rhetoric of Femininity: Female Body Image, Media, and Gender Role Stress/Conflict. Lexington Books. ISBN 9781498519366. Retrieved 24 July 2022. Search this book on
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lips, Hilary M. (2020). Sex and Gender: An Introduction, Seventh Edition. Waveland Press. ISBN 9781478645030. Retrieved 25 August 2022. Search this book on
  18. ↑ Bever, Lindsey (December 13, 2022). "From heart disease to IUDs: How doctors dismiss women's pain". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Eagly, Alice H.; Beall, Anne E.; Sternberg, Robert J. (2005). The Psychology of Gender. Guilford Press. ISBN 9781593852443. Retrieved 11 August 2022. Search this book on
  20. ↑ Bosson, Jennifer K.; Vandello, Joseph A.; Buckner, Camille E. (17 January 2018). The Psychology of Sex and Gender. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-5063-3134-8. OCLC 1045400244. Retrieved 24 July 2022. Search this book on
  21. ↑ Mayor, Eric (2015-06-09). "Gender roles and traits in stress and health". Frontiers in Psychology. 6: 779. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00779. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 4460297. PMID 26106354.
  22. ↑ Gillespie, Betty L.; Eisler, Richard M. (1992-07-01). "Development of the Feminine Gender Role Stress Scale: A Cognitive-Behavioral Measure of Stress, Appraisal, and Coping for Women". Behavior Modification. 16 (3): 426–438. doi:10.1177/01454455920163008. ISSN 0145-4455. PMID 1627123. Unknown parameter |s2cid= ignored (help)
  23. ↑ Reidy, Dennis E.; Kernsmith, Poco D.; Malone, Carolyn A.; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M.; Smith-Darden, Joanne P. (April 2018). "Feminine Discrepancy Stress and Psychosocial Maladjustment Among Adolescent Girls". Child Psychiatry & Human Development. 49 (2): 176–186. doi:10.1007/s10578-017-0739-7. ISSN 0009-398X. PMC 5857956. PMID 28608020.
  24. ↑ "Rachel Rosenfeld". Department of Sociology. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Rosenfeld, Rachel A. (September 2002). "What Do We Learn about Difference from the Scholarship on Gender?". Social Forces. 81 (1): 1–24. doi:10.1353/sof.2002.0057. JSTOR 3086525. Retrieved 27 August 2022. Unknown parameter |s2cid= ignored (help)
  26. ↑ "Gender Identity/Gender Expression: Legal Enforcement Guidance". New York City Commission on Human Rights. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 ACLU (2015). "Transgender People and the Law" (PDF). aclu.org. Retrieved Aug 27, 2022.
  28. ↑ "My ID, my identity? The impact of ID systems on transgender people in Argentina, France and the Philippines". Privacy International. Retrieved 2022-08-27.


This article "Female (gender)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Female (gender). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.


Retrieved from "https://en.everybodywiki.com/index.php?title=Female_(gender)&oldid=3703597"
License CC BY-SA 3.0
Powered by MediaWiki
Powered by Semantic MediaWiki