SOC 2104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Biological Determinism

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2104
• Professor: Adolphine Y.Aggor- Boateng

Document Summary

Social contexts are what mold men and women into what they are: the differences we have are attributed to the different genders, our conclusions are simply methods and are based on common sense knowledge. Two schools of thought: biological determinism (nature): biology will explain everything we are, differential socialization (nurture): we aren"t hard wired by nature, it is how we are socialized that makes us the way that we are. Most arguments about gender difference begin with biology: sex differences: anatomical, hormonal, chemical, and physical differences between men and women. Most social and behavioral scientists differentiate between sex and gender : sex: biological apparatus, chromosomal, chemical, anatomical organization, gender: meanings attached to those differences within a culture.