Gendering

In this chapter, we examine how sociologists theorize gender and some of the ways in which structures, histories and power manifest in particular gendered practices. In doing so, we refer to the examples above, particularly the objectives of the #MeToo movement, as well as other moments and icons of popular culture to explain the functioning and shortfalls of theories of gender as well as the influence of feminism. The chapter begins by explaining developments in gender scholarship as a move from theorizing biological sex to theorizing gendering. As will be explained, this development has allowed sociologists to see gender as socially constituted over time and to connect the individual with the interactional and larger social structures. We will argue that this way of thinking has enabled sociologists to perceive gender as somethin more than two monolithic categories that operate in a binary - it has allowed us to better perceive gender difference. Related to this, sociologists now understand gender as intersecting with other inequalities like race and class; this has complicated analyses but also made them more sophisticated (see Chapter 9: Racializing and Chapter 4: Dividing). In the final sections, this chapter explains the relationship between feminist thinking and the sociology of gender before moving to focus on one area of social life in which gendered patterns are especially 'sticky' an so are of longstanding concern for sociologists - gendered labour in homes and work-places (see Chapter 6: Working).