WGS 2240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Allosome, Reproductive Health, Gender Identity

• School: Vanderbilt University
• Department: Women's and Gender Studies
• Course: WGS 2240
• Professor: Johnson Rolanda

Document Summary

Sex and gender: gender = economic, social, and cultural attributes associated w/ male and female a. i. Social and cultural influences: sex = an individual"s biological status as male or female b. i. Biology: gender identity = an individual"s personal subjective sense of being male or female c. i. Gender socially defined, rooted in biology, shaped by environment and experience. Sexual orientation: refers to one"s personal, romantic, and affectional response to other people. This attraction can be toward people of the same sex, opposite sex, or to both sexes. Issues: homophobia, profiling, discrimination in medical care b. Hypothetical reasons for differences: genotype: xx vs. xy, brain: corpus callosum b. i. Women have a stronger corpus callosum more connection between hemispheres: hormones, greater immune function d. i. Genetically it has been shown that females have greater immune function: technological improvements in health care, gender v. orientation, stress: whose benefit, lifestyle, women take better care of their health.