What is gender?

About the lecture

In this module, we look at what gender means. In particular, we will focus on: (i) how the concept of gender was expanded by Simone de Beauvoir's book "The Second Sex"; (ii) how the sex-gender distinction is explained as a way to understand that gender is socially produced, not naturally given; (iii) how the concept of gender has enabled feminists to perceive masculinity and femininity as culturally and historically variable; (iv) how intersectionality is a framework that recognises the complexity of various identities and experiences; (v) how gender experiences are affected by multiple factors, including class, race, sexuality, age, etc.; (vi) how while gender is socially produced, a hierarchical relationship between men and women persists, affecting the valuation of care work and women's roles; and (vii) how the primacy of biological sex in determining gender is questioned, and the concept of a gender binary is challenged by those who identify as non-binary.

About the lecturer

Dr Christina Scharff is a reader in Gender, media and culture at King’s College London. She specialises in exploring gender, media and culture from an international perspective, through theoretically informed empirical research, and collaboration with colleagues and students. With this in mind, she has published widely, including Digital Feminisms: Transnational Activism in German Protest Cultures and Gender, Subjectivity, and Cultural Work: The classical music profession.