What Social Psychology Can Contribute to the Study of Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

Abstract

The concepts of sex and gender have received increasing attention in sociology in recent years, with social psychologists providing many of the key insights. Issues of sexual orientation and sexuality have received comparably less attention, although many of the tools social psychologists use could be fruitfully applied to better understand sex, gender, sexual orientation, and the intimate connections between the three. In particular, I outline the perspectives of doing gender, stereotyping, and status and suggest possible ways to incorporate these frameworks into intersectional examinations of sex, gender, and sexual orientation. I argue that to fully understand sex, gender, or sexual orientation, researchers should consider all three and recognize the highly interconnected nature of each.

Partner Characteristics and Perceptions of Responsibility for Housework and Child Care

“…We find some key differences in the ways Americans assign responsibility for housework between the gay and lesbian conditions. For example, gender expression has more consistent effects for lesbians than gay men, perhaps because housework and child care are linked to femininity, and women tend to be more readily penalized for lack of femininity than men (Mize, ). Overall, the fact that respondents made clear distinctions between partners in both types of same‐sex couple conditions suggests that expectations for same‐sex couples may be less egalitarian than assumed.…”

“…One plausible explanation is that other unmeasured partner characteristics, such as perceived masculinity and femininity, may be correlated with earnings potential, and thus the income differences identified in past research may be overstating the effect of income on housework. Indeed, research shows that many women face penalties in the labor market due to interpersonal factors linked to masculinity and femininity (Mize, ; Rudman, Moss‐Racusin, Phelan, & Nauts, ). Traits that are traditionally rewarded in the labor market, such as assertiveness, competitiveness, and confidence, are generally considered masculine (Heilman, ; G. N. Powell, ).…”

Sexual orientation at work: Documenting and understanding wage inequality

“…Sociologists have emphasized that sexual orientation categories are socially constructed, influenced by not only large institutions-like the state and medical profession, which were instrumental in generating the distinction between homosexual and heterosexual in the last century-but through negotiation between individuals over the course of their lives (Gamson & Moon, 2004;Green, 2014;Schrock, Sumerau, & Ueno, 2014;Silva, 2018). The evolution in views of sexual orientation away from biological determinism mirrors shifts in understandings of gender: from essentialized readings of sex roles as biologically founded, towards an approach that favors performance, or, "doing gender," which is reinforced or sanctioned through interpersonal interactions (Britton & Logan, 2008;Mize, 2015;Pascoe, 2007;West & Zimmerman, 1987). In this framework, sex is determined by reference to biological characteristics, while gender relates to performances and practices of masculinity or femininity, both along a nonbinary spectrum (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005;Mize, 2015;Westbrook & Saperstein, 2015).…”

“…The evolution in views of sexual orientation away from biological determinism mirrors shifts in understandings of gender: from essentialized readings of sex roles as biologically founded, towards an approach that favors performance, or, "doing gender," which is reinforced or sanctioned through interpersonal interactions (Britton & Logan, 2008;Mize, 2015;Pascoe, 2007;West & Zimmerman, 1987). In this framework, sex is determined by reference to biological characteristics, while gender relates to performances and practices of masculinity or femininity, both along a nonbinary spectrum (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005;Mize, 2015;Westbrook & Saperstein, 2015). "Doing gender" may invoke expectations about sexuality, with displays of masculinity or femininity that contravene expected biological sex threatening assumptions about the nature of sexual desire and heterosexuality more generally (Pascoe, 2007;Schilt & Westbrook, 2009).…”

“…Same‐sex desires were viewed as aberrations from “normal” biological functioning and the “homosexual” was pathologized and treated as medically deviant (Anteby & Anderson, ). While there is still popular debate over the etiology of sexuality, Kinsey's pioneering work revealed the multifaceted nature of sexuality, comprising elements of attraction, identity, and behavior, with considerable inconsistency for different‐sex preferences across dimensions (Kinsey, Pomeroy, & Gebhard, ; Mize, ). Foundationally, sexual orientation is framed within a sex, gender, sexuality system, in which sexual orientations are formed vis‐à‐vis reference to sexual desires for and practices with someone of a certain sex, gender, or sexuality, rather than another characteristic, like age or race (Mize, ; Westbrook & Schilt, ).…”