Sociology 101 (Gender vs Sex) at 1:11 PM

A couple of my friends really liked my last sociology post so I decided to do another real quick one. Most people don't really think about gender and sex very much in their day to day lives, but the two concepts might be some of the most important traits you carry in life. Everything you do, say, and think tends to be colored by your concept of self and the gender you have. In sociology however the two words have very different meanings and implications.

Sex is largely a biological characteristic. When you think sex, think xx or xy. For all intents and purposes you can think of this as dichotomous grouping of male and female, although a reasonable argument can be made against this bipolar treatment of sex.

Gender is the socially constructed groups or spectrum of man and woman, feminine and masculine. They have no meaning outside of social constructs and science has trouble finding biological backing for these groups. In sociology it is often refereed to as "doing gender". What you wear, how you walk, the manner in which you speak, and your thinking all have a part in constructing your gender.

Some of the most frustrating conversations I've had with people revolve around these two ideas. A large portion of my studies and research have to do with gender as a social construct. People ask me what I do, I start of explaining the "safe" topic of sociology, then they ask more questions and I say the three words that always are returned with a weird half interested half perplexed look; gender and sexuality. The idea of gender is one so familiar to everyone that they vary rarely take time to think about it. And they certainly don't think of it as a by product of society. Most people have a hard time letting go of the concept that men and women are genetically different (beyond very real physical differences) and they often get rather agitated when faced with the alternative view. They have been taught since birth, "your a boy, you act this way" and "girls play with dolls, boys play with action figures." Women aren't better at art, they aren't more caring, and they aren't more cautious than men because of some gene they have. Men don't excel in engineering and math, aren't naturally daring, and don't posses some innate rejection of the color pink. (I highlight with a pink highlighter for exactly that reason, boys aren't supposed to use pink highlighters :-p) All these things are part of a gender role. The gender gap in earnings, education, and power have nothing to do with your chromosomes.

In Houston I was waiting on one of my friends in a nail salon. I was sitting in the waiting area (I have a thing about people I don't know touching my feet) and a extended African American family walked in. Two kids, their parents, and an aunt and uncle all came in to get their nails done. The two kids, a boy and girl, were probably six or seven. Everyone was going to get a mani/pedi, a family event. The little boy was having none of it however. "I don't want to be here. It's for girls." The mom and dad explained to him that boys and girls can get their nails done. "See Uncle Steven is doing it too." I couldn't help but smile. These parents were with the times. They were trying their best to counter the education their son was receiving from the rest of the world. I wanted to tell them "Damn right it's for boys and girls! You go with your awesome parenting skills!"

Your Supposed To at 1:04 PM

Tought I'd pass this little tid bit along. I was trying to post something in one of my class forums and had to look up if it was "suppose to" or "supposed to". If your like me you sound things out in your head when you type but it didn't really look right when I wrote "suppose to". You can suppose things are true but your not supposed to "suppose to do anything". Although when your speaking the 'd' is silent. Sooooo "suppose" -yes "suppose to" -no "supposed to" -yes (unless your speaking)

Sofa at 7:27 PM

I moved into my new place a few weeks ago. It's tinny, like ten steps to the other side tiny. I'm getting ready to move to a big city where rent is expensive and I only can afford 500 square feet. One room. Notice I said one room, not one bedroom. I love it. Problem is finding a sofa small enough to fit in the tiny studio apartment without having to crawl over it to get from the door to the kitchen. I found a few options, but none are real comfy. Then today midway through the second movie I was watching, ironically enough about design, I realized something. I'd been sitting on the floor for the last three hours rather comfortably. Actually I spend a whole lot of time sitting on the floor. My friends back home used to make fun of me for the exact same reason. This isn't to say that I'm not going to buy a sofa. I need one to make my place look a little more finished. However, the floor isn't the softest place to sit and I'm quite at home sitting on it. Maybe I'd be better off with a firm, classy, sofa that fits my place, opposed to a big fluffy sofa.

Yard Of Books at 7:35 PM

I start graduate school in a few weeks. YAY!! Finally get to learn useful things that actually matter and not crap that I need to know for some standardized test. Yesterday I went to the bookstore to buy my books for the semester. I'm taking three classes, nine hours. Not a whole lot but I'll be done in under two years if everything goes all right.

After a short search for all my books and waiting a half hour to get rung up I left the store with books in hand. Over $400 worth of books. DAMN. I'm not a medical student, none of them were textbooks. It was absurd. Over a foot and a half of books. Not really a yard but a bunch of books I think. You know those people with floor to ceiling bookshelves? Yeah I'm a little closer to that status today.