Women, Language and Identity

This paper explores the ways in which women and men use language to mark gender boundaries, and to convey femininity and masculinity in the construction of a gendered identity. The first section of the paper examines evidence that language serves as a gender identity marker not only in the particular phonological variants used more by women than by men, but also in the wider stylistic range evident in women's discourse in some communities. The gender distribution and social meanings associated with particular pragmatic particles and interactional devices provide another indication of the ways in which women and men construct and express femininity and masculinity in interaction. The final section analyses the construction of stereotypical gender identities through conversational interaction, firstly by means of a narrative and secondly through the carefully crafted dialogue of an advertisement. The paper demonstrates the complementary nature of macro-level quantitative studies and qualitative ethnographic analysis in gender research.     

The (mis)acquisition of gender identity among transsexuals

Transsexualism suggests questions for sociologists who study gender. Is gender identity always a precursor to role behavior or might it result from the social reactions to deviant behavior? This article considers several theoretical explanations for the (mis)acquisition of gender identity among transsexuals: biological hypotheses, psychoanalytic theories, social learning, and role theory. The author concludes that gender role and gender identity are confounded in past research and that the issue inflexibility of identities needs to be treated more systematically.     

Long-Term Effects of Treatment for Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood

To evaluate the durability of behavioral treatment effects for gender identity disorder of childhood. 29 prepubescent boys aged 4 to 13 years at initial referral were assessed by an independent clinical psychologist before any treatment was offered and again for follow-up at a mean of 4 years and 3 months later. Initial and follow-up clinical ratings on severity of cross-gender behavior and cross-gender identity were transformed into scores representing percentage of potential improvement. Regression analysis indicated that completion of individualized behavioral treatment significantly accounted for long-term improvement in both gender behavior and gender identity. Age in months at initiation of treatment, number of months of treatment received, number of months from initial assessment to follow-up, and full scale I.Q. were additional independent variables considered as potentially important in regard to treatment outcome. Younger subjects received more severe initial diagnoses, were more likely to have completed treatment, and showed the greatest improvement. This study provides the longest independent follow-up assessment of the behavioral treatment of male children with gender identity disorder.     

The F Word: College Students' Definitions of a Feminist

Research indicates that most people espouse feminist ideologies, yet very few self-identify as feminists. This article examines the discrepancy between agreement with feminist principles and lack of identification with feminism by analyzing 270 female and male college students' definitions of feminists. We explored similarities and differences in definitions provided by self-identified feminists and nonfeminists. The results indicate that feminists and nonfeminists are equally likely to define a feminist as one who actively promotes gender equality in society and, less commonly, rejects traditional gender roles and burns bras. Feminists were more likely to define a feminist as one who supports gender equality, is female, and has positive personal characteristics. Nonfeminists were more likely to define a feminist as one who supports female superiority, dislikes men, discriminates based on gender, has negative personal characteristics, and is lesbian or butch. These results are discussed in the broader contexts of feminist identity and movement mobilization.     

The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity as Collective Activity

The purpose of this article is to document the collective nature of gender performance and sexual pursuit, activities typically associated with individual rather than group behavior. Drawing on narrative accounts, I analyze how young heterosexual male students employ the power of collective rituals of homosociality to perform sexual competence and masculine identity by “girl hunting” in the context of urban nightlife. These rituals are designed to reinforce dominant sexual myths and expectations of masculine behavior, boost confidence in one's performance of masculinity and heterosexual power, and assist in the performance of masculinity in the presence of women. This analysis illustrates how contemporary courtship rituals operate as collective strategies of impression management that men perform not only for women but for other men. In doing so, interaction rituals associated with the girl hunt reproduce structures of inequality within as well as across the socially constructed gender divide between women and men.     

Assertion Training in Marital Counseling

Assertive behavior training is an evolving technique of great value to the marriage counselor. In this paper "assertive" behavior is differentiated from "non-assertive" and "aggressive" behavior in the text and an explanatory table. Specific components of behavior are identified, and techniques for facilitating assertiveness in clients are described in the context of marital counseling. Beginning with an illustrative example, the paper presents a step-by-step summary of the process and rationale for utilizing assertion training in marital counseling     

WHEN THE DOCTOR IS A “LADY”: POWER,STATUS AND GENDER IN PHYSICIAN-PATIENT ENCOUNTERS*

An extensive body of research indicates that men interrupt women much more often than the reverse, across a variety of situations. Some conclude that men's interruptions of women in cross-sex conversations constitute an exercise of power and dominance over their conversational partners. To be sure, power is an important facet of many other social relationships, such as those between whites and Blacks, bosses and employees, and—of immediate interest—doctors and patients. Moreover, much of our existing knowledge of sex differences in behavior confounds gender with status. This paper reports results of an exploratory study of interruptions between physicians and patients during actual “visits to the doctor.” Findings based on detailed analyses of videotaped encounters offer empirical support for an asymmetrical view of the physician-patient relationship: physicians interrupt patients disproportionately—except when the doctor is a “lady.” Then, patients interrupt as much or more than physicians, and their interruptions seem to subvert physicians' authority. Discussion focuses on the respective roles of power, status and gender in face-to-face interaction.     

The Effect of Gender Identity on Perceptions of Authority Figures’ Racial Comments

Social identity affects perceptions of leaders and subordinates in organizations. This investigation examined gender identity an aspect of social identity. Utilizing quantitative and qualitative survey methods, we theorized that gender identity affects perceptions of racism by authority figures. The quantitative results indicated that white women participants with a low gender identity were more likely to perceive racism by a low-status authority figure (e.g., a black individual) who made a derogatory racial comment toward white students than when a high-status group member authority figure (i.e., a white individual) made similar comments. This suggests that women have low feelings of solidarity with oppressed racial groups when they have a low gender identity. However, the qualitative results indicated that, overall, more women than men perceived racism in negative racial comments by the authority figure, no matter the authority figure’s social status.     

Biology,Gender, and Politics:

This paper analyzes the application of the biopolitical perspective to explanations of gender differnces in political participation. Using the heuristic device of a causal model, two endocrine-based mechanisms proposed in political science literature are examined: 1) the linking of male androgens with more assertive kinds of political involvement; and 2) the linking of menstruation with cyclical mood changes and political behavior and attitudes. After a review of pertinent biological, psychological and political science literatures, both explanations are rejected. In the concluding section, an interactive biobehavioral paradigm is outlined, and several examples are suggested for further exploration of biological factors in political behavior and gender.     

Gender Relations and Identity at Work: A Case Study of Masculinities and Femininities in an Advertising Agency

The paper explores gender relations and genderidentity, based upon an ethnography of a Swedishadvertising agency. The organization is of specialinterest as it has a strong gender division of labor,where men hold all senior posts, at the same time ascreative advertising work seems to have much moresimilarity with what gender studies describe as"femininity" rather than with forms ofmasculinity. The paper discusses how gender is constructedin an organizational context. Emphasis on workplacesexuality is related to identity work of men in responseto the highly ambiguous and contested context of advertising work. Tendencies toward thefemininization of the work and clientrelationships put some strain on (gender) identity formen, triggering a structuring of gender relations andinteraction at the workplace to restore feelings ofmasculinity. The paper problematizes ideas ofmasculinities and femininities and argues for arethinking of their roles in nonbureaucraticorganizations. Also assumptions about a close connection between domination ofmasculinity and of males are criticallydiscussed.     

Developmental origins of antihomosexual prejudice in heterosexual men and women

Antihomosexual prejudice, popularly referred to as homophobia, is a complex phenomenon whose roots traditionally have been traced to the cultural context. However, such theoretical explanations fall short of accounting for the power and endurance of this bias. By locating the threat of homophobia in the development of male core gender identity and female heterosexual object choice, the author suggests that heterosexual men's and women's responses to homosexuality may have different origins. She further argues that only by combining cultural with psychodynamic factors may the clinician develop a sufficiently empathic response to patients struggling with homophobic affects.     

Identity Management among Indonesian and Filipina Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore

This study examines how the identities of migrant domestic workers are likely to be endangered and how these individuals struggle to reconstitute them. It is largely based on an interview and observational study with Indonesian and Filipina domestic workers in Singapore. Inspired by the sociological discussion of Goffman and Ishikawa, the study reveals how each migrant domestic worker manages her identity in her specific social context. This study shows that domestic workers contrive tactics to negotiate their situations, given that domestic work is considered a low prestige occupation and workers tend to be divested of the usual “identity kit” to make up their identity front. Specifically, to compensate for their discredited status, domestic workers attempt to reconstitute their damaged identity, obtain a new identity kit, recall previous social and family roles, or anticipate a future identity. They also attempt to acquire new skills and increase their value, so they can identify themselves as more than “just a maid.” They obtain additional roles in an attempt to change how they feel about themselves, to alter the meaning of being a domestic worker, and to redefine their relationships with others either by individual struggles or through collective activities. This study also points out a possible pitfall of identity management among the actors. The mechanism of identity politics might lead to an erosion of value, alienation from other domestic workers, and a strengthening of conventional stereotypes and generalizations regarding ethnicity, nationality, and gender. In this context, how non‐governmental organizations play a role in mitigating the pitfalls of identity management among domestic workers is also examined.     

KNOWLEDGE AND POWER, BODY AND SELF:

Symbolic interactionists have widely established the tenet that the self is formed in interaction with others. Despite this great contribution, this perspective has tended to sidestep discussions of the relationship between the body and the self and to overlook systems of power and the ways in which they impact upon the self and the body. The more recent contributions of postmodernists and critical theorists have focused on knowledge as a system of power. An examination of a sample of transgendered persons, individuals who endeavor to present alternatively gendered selves within a social system that proclaims males to be men and females to be women, provides a unique opportunity to analyze the ways in which knowledge systems affect gender identity and the embodied self. While individuals are not able to fully escape the dictates of the binary system of knowledge about sex and gender, they are capable of devising alternative ways of "doing" gender that more closely adhere to an internalized sense of self. In the end, individuals neither passively enact nor completely escape the dictates of the binary system of gender knowledge.     

Life Maps: Tracking Individual Gender and Sexual Identity Construction in the Contexts of Cultures,Relationships, and Desires

The categories and language currently available to designate gender identity and sexual identity constitute over-simplifications, which do not adequately signify the complex interplays between gender and sexual orientation. It is also often difficult to recount honestly, in a way that is visible to the self and intimate others, our understandings of the complex interplays and frequent fluidity of our individual processes of gender identity development, sexual identity development, and forms of preferred erotic/sexual behavior. This essay proposes, in preliminary form, a theoretical and diagrammatic method, called a “life map,” for a context-rich illustration of an individual’s meandering journey of gender and sexual identity development. Using two illustrative lives, the essay includes cultural contexts for development as well as the gender and sexual identity locations of relationally intimate others. In addition, it suggests a framework for core types of desired erotic behaviors and provides examples of variations in such desires in relational and identity contexts.     

POSTSTRUCTURALISM IN FAMILY THERAPY: INTERROGATING THE NARRATIVE/CONVERSATINAL MODE

The narrative/conversational mode of family therapy, based in constructivism and Batesonian cybernetics, has lately associated itself with the poststructuralism of Foucault and Derrida. The narrative/conversational models of White and Epston (1990) and de Shazer (1991) draw only selectively from Foucault and Derrida's ideas and so perpetuate the constructivist neglect of social context and power. Disregarded aspects of Foucault and Derrida's work do contribute to an under-standing of social context and power. Poststructuralism is a dubious prop for constructivist assumptions: its true merit is in its capacity to illuminate the political/cultural context of our practice, including family therapy as a social institution.     

Making Difference Matter: An Exploration of Culture and Identity in the Therapeutic Domain

This paper examines a number of dimensions which the author believes are pivotal to a feminist perspective in working with clients from linguistically and culturally diverse communities. Definitions of culture and identity are examined in the context of power, followed by a discussion of the therapist's relationship with her/his frameworks of knowledge. Finally, the place of ethics is considered, drawing on a recent analysis of democracy. Through this discussion and analysis, therapists may reflect more fully on their own culture and identity, without which it is not possible to do therapy which can bridge cultural difference.     

Seizing the Moment: The Problem of Conversational Agency

In conversation, actors face constraints on when they can speak, whom they can address, what they can say, and what they can safely expect from others by way of cooperation. This is the backdrop against which people pursue their idiosyncratic interests and objectives, success at which constitutes conversational agency. In principle, agency is made possible by the "looseness" of conversational constraints. This does not create a clear path for the advancement of personal ends, however, since options are always limited by the context, and success is always contingent upon the cooperation of others. Ultimately, the most agentic people are those who readily exploit imperfect options though this means abandoning the inflexible pursuit of pre-conceived objectives.     

Intimacy-mediators of the proximity-gaze compensation effect: Movement,conversational role,acquaintance, and gender

Reduction of interpersonal gaze in response to close proximity was hypothesized to be affected by four intimacy-related variables: movement (active relocation vs. static location), conversational role (listener vs. speaker), acquaintance (strangers vs. friends), and gender (males vs. females). Hypotheses were tested in a factorial experiment with 72 university students as subjects. In general, the effects of the four variables on compensatory gaze were interactive. Gaze reduction in response to a same-sex confederate's presence in a subject's personal-intimate (vs. social) distance zone was more likely for subjects with less intimate histories—males (vs. females) and strangers to the confederate (vs. friends). Furthermore, these effects were more likely when the close distance was the result of movement by the confederate from an established farther distance than when a consistently close distance condition was compared to a consistently far distance condition, and also when gaze was assessed during the subject's conversational listening periods in contrast to speaking periods. The identification of limiting conditions under which the compensatory response occurs supports a more refined conception of the intimacy-equilibrium and proxemics models of interpersonal behavior.The research reported herein and preparation of this article were supported in part by NIMH postdoctoral grant #PHS T32 MH 14588-04, held by author Breck, and by Biomedical Sciences Support Grant 40827118, to author Rosenfeld. Preliminary results were reported at the 1981 annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago. The authors wish to thank Katherine Wu and Sonya Clark for their assistance in data analysis.     

Appropriate Therapeutic Care for Families with Pre-Pubescent Transgender/Gender-Dissonant Children

In recent years, a new phenomenon has been observed in U.S. culture, that of pre-pubescent children transitioning socially from one gender role to another, with the support of their families. As this phenomenon becomes more widespread, families, schools and other institutions will turn to mental health care professionals for guidance in navigating new territory. Such children have often been assessed for gender identity disorder; the traditional treatment plan for those so diagnosed included attempts to steer their gender behavior in more “gender-appropriate” directions. Allowing such children to self-actualize, viewing their behavior as indicative of innate identity, is a relatively new approach. This paper will focus on the social worker’s or therapist’s role in helping pre-pubescent children and their families, should the families decide identity actualization is the path they would prefer.