What is gender?

Gender and Media

In this lecture, Dr Christina Scharff (King’s College London) looks at gender and media. In the first module, we look at what gender means. After this, we look at how gender intersects with neoliberalism. Then, we explore the topic of postfeminism and neoliberal feminism. In the penultimate module, we look at digital feminism in more detail. Finally, we explore gender and work in the cultural and creative industries.

What is gender?

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.