Communication 385, Chapter 1, CSULA

1. Chapter 1:
Communication 385

2. Research on Gender, Comm.,
& Culture
Research on gender from range of fields
Communication
Anthropology Philosophy
History Psychology
Sociology

3. Studying Communication,
Gender, & Culture
Learning about communication, gender, and
culture:
Enhances appreciation of ways culture influences
views

4. Research on Gender, Comm.,
& Culture
Quantitative research methods
Data that can be quantified and analyzed
 Descriptive statistics
 Surveys
 Experiments

5. Research on Gender, Comm.,
& Culture
Qualitative research methods/ interpretive
methods
Understand nature of meaning or experiences
 Textual analysis
 Ethnography

6. Research on Gender, Comm.,
& Culture
Critical research methods
Identify and challenge inequities and problems

7. Learn About Comm., Gender,
&Learning about communication, gender, and

Culture
culture:
Enhances appreciation of cultural complexities
Enhances insight to your own gender

8. Learn About Comm., Gender,
& Culture
Learning about communication, gender, and
culture:
Strengthens effectiveness as communicator

9. Gender in a Transitional Era
Probably don’t prescribe to grandparents’ ideals
Likely are confused about gender issues

10. Gender in a Transitional Era
On one level
Think women and men equal
On another level
May hold traditional values
Live in a transitional era

11. Differences between Women
& Men
Difficult to find language to discuss patterns of
communication
Women and men troublesome
 Imply all can be grouped together

12. Differences between
Women & Men
Essentializing
Tendency to reduce to characteristics assume are
essential in every member of category
Presume all members of sex alike

13. Differences between
Women & Men
Essentializing
Obscures range of individual characteristics
Book’s generalizations do not imply essentializing

14. Gender, Culture, &
Communication
Sex, gender, sexual orientation, culture,
communication interlinked
Cannot study one without understanding others

15. Sex
Sex = designation based on biology
Gender = socially constructed and expressed
Sex and gender usually go together
Can be inconsistent

16. Sex
Male or female based on external genitalia and
internal sex organs
Genitalia and sex markers determined by
chromosomes

17. Sex
Y chromosome determines how fetus develops
Females usually have XX
Males usually have XY

18. Sex
Occasional variation
XO
XXX, XXY, XYY
XY and XX

19. Sex
All have cells with at least one X
Males typically have one X
 More vulnerable to X-linked recessive conditions

20. Sex
Some born with biological characteristics of
each sex
Traditionally called hermaphrodites
Today intersexed preferred
 Learn more at: http://www.itpeople.org/

21. Sex
Hormones influence development
◦ Fetuses with Y bathed in androgens
 Development of male sex organs
◦ Fetuses without Y - fewer androgens
 Development of female sex organs

22. Sex
Female fetus may be exposed to excessive
progesterone
May not develop female genitalia
Male fetus may be deprived of progesterone
Male genitalia may not develop

23. Sex
Influence of hormones continues throughout
lifetime
Males more sensitive to hormonal activity
Biology influences how develop but doesn’t
determine behavior or personality

24. Gender
Gender
Neither innate nor necessarily stable
Defined by society
Expressed by individuals as they interact with
others and media

25. Gender
Gender changes over time
Born male or female (sex)
Learn to act masculine and/or feminine (gender)

26. Gender
Gender identity:
Person’s own identification as male or female

27. Gender
Gender depends on society’s values,
In America
 Masculine = strong, successful, rational, emotionally
controlled
 Feminine = attractive, nurturing, deferential, expressive

28. Gender
From infancy, encouraged to learn how to
embody gender that society prescribes

29. Gender
Gender grows out of cultural ideas that stipulate
social meaning and expectations
Society’s views permeate public and private life
See as normal, natural, right

30. Gender
Not passive recipients
Make choices to accept, modify, or reject
Views challenged by people who define
themselves as trans or gender queer

31. Gender
Meanings of gender also changed by:
Personal communication
Role models
Interactions with friends
Reciprocal relationship between communication
and cultural views

32. Gender
Uphold or remake meanings of masculinity or
femininity
1970s – androgyny coined
 Androgynous individuals embody qualities considered
both feminine and masculine

33. Gender
Meanings of gender can vary across cultures:
New Guinea – three genders
Arapesh – all feminine
Mundugumor – all aggressive
Tchambuli – gender reversal

34. Gender
Body ideals for women socially constructed
Current Western culture values thinness

35. Gender
• 1950s – fuller-figures preferred
• See photos of Marilyn Monroe at:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe
• Some cultures regard heavier women as beautiful

36. Gender
Some cultures view person’s gender as
changeable
Some Native American groups – more than two
genders
These individuals esteemed

37. Gender
In U.S., gender varies across racial-ethnic groups
African American women more assertive
African American men more communal

38. Gender
Social meaning of gender varies over time
Prior to Industrial Revolution – family and work
intertwined
Industrial Revolution – division into spheres of
work and home
 Femininity and masculinity redefined

39. Gender
Meaning changes over time
Social context changes and affects sense of identity
Relational concept
Femininity and masculinity make sense in relation
 As meanings of one changes – so do meanings of other

40. Beyond Sex & Gender
Can also define self in terms of:
Sexual orientation
Transgendered
Transsexual
Society assumes connections between these
categories

41. Beyond Sex & Gender
Sexual orientation
Preference for romantic and sexual partners
 Heterosexual
 Gay
 Lesbian
 Bisexual

42. Beyond Sex & Gender
Other cultures’ views of sexual orientation
challenge U.S. views
Sambia in Melanesia
Ancient Greece
Victorian society

43. Beyond Sex & Gender
Changing views of gender and sex
Intersexed individuals
 Biological characteristics of male and female

44. Beyond Sex & Gender
◦ Transgendered
individuals
 Biological sex
inconsistent
with identity
 Often dress and
adopt behaviors
of gender with
which identify

45. Beyond Sex & Gender
Transsexual individuals
Surgery and/or hormonal treatments
 Posttransition males to females
 Posttransition females to males

46. Beyond Sex & Gender
MTF – Deidre McCloskey
FTM – Thomas Beatie
Gave birth to a child

47. Beyond Sex & Gender
Cross-dressers/transvestites
Enjoy wearing clothing of other sex
Varying motivations
Majority biological, heterosexual males, attracted to
women

48. Beyond Sex & Gender
Transgendered, transsexed, and intersexed people
challenge dualities

49. Culture
Culture = structures, institutions, practices that
reflect and uphold social order
Upheld by defining certain groups, values,
expectations, as good

50. Culture
Surrounded by communication that announces
social views of gender
Women give up name in marriage
Judicial system
Western culture is patriarchal

51. Culture
Messages that reinforce culture views pervade
lives
Seldom pause to reflect
Take for granted
Don’t question
Learning to reflect empowers
Increases freedom to choose

52. Communication
Communication is dynamic
Continually changes, evolves
Process
No beginnings or endings

53. Communication is Systemic
More than context affects meaning
All aspects of communication are interlinked
Influenced by how we feel
Time of day, etc. may influence

54. Communication is Systemic
Largest system affecting communication is
culture
Societies’ views of men and women change over
time
Systems interact – each part affects all others

55. Communication is Systemic
Communication has two levels:
Content level of meaning
 Literal meaning
Relationship level of meaning
 Tell how to interpret content and how communicators
see themselves in relationship

56. Meanings Created through
Interaction with Symbols
Humans symbol-using creatures
Have to think to figure out what symbol means
Symbols can be ambiguous
More than one meaning

57. Meanings Created through
Interaction with Symbols
Significance of communication not in words
themselves
Communicating increases meanings

58. Meanings Created through
Interaction with Symbols
Verbal and nonverbal behaviors not neutral
Meaning arises from interpretation

59. Meanings Created through
Interaction with Symbols
Differences in interpretation are sources of
misunderstanding
Can become more effective:
Ask for clarification
Check to see how others are interpreting us