Group Work on Sex and
Gender Distinction
Break up into small groups. Have at
least one member of your group (1) prepare a summary of your group's discussion
and (2) include a list of your group's members. If you are doing this as a
student in the fall, 2020, section of the course and were not able to attend
class the day we did this group work, If you were not present in class for this
exercise, you may complete it (in less than 2 pages) as a typed assignment and
submit your answers through the Canvas inbox or email to Kagan@lemoyne.edu.
(In your responses, please remember to change
names and details to protect privacy.)
1. Review the standard distinction between sex
and gender. Have your group come up with 3 or 4 examples of human concerns,
expectations or characteristics which are determined by sex (e.g., a biological
male is unlikely to be concerned about dying while giving birth to a child).
2. Have your group come up with 3 or 4
examples of human concerns, expectations or characteristics which seem to be a
function of gender roles (e.g., a woman might be concerned about finding pumps
to wear for a job interview as an accountant at a conservative accounting
firm).
3. Have your group come up with 3 or 4
examples of human concerns, expectations or characteristics which are
apparently related to issues of sex and gender, but the example seems to be a
function of both, or it's not clear which it's an example of (e.g., women are
less likely to be in prison for committing violent crimes).
4. Have any of your group's examples changed
in the past? How so? Do you expect that any of your group's examples are immune
to change, given social changes and the rise of new technologies? Why or why
not?
5. What opportunities for human greatness, if
any, does gender categorization offer? What opportunities does it limit? Can
you think of any examples from the works we've read so far?
6. Has someone you know well been
challenged by gender expectations that interfered with accomplishing an
important task or making progress to an important goal? What happened?
(Please change names, etc., as needed to preserve privacy.)
Michael Kagan, Le Moyne College
February 26, 2003; last revised November 1, 2020