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Who is Woman and Who is Man? : Normativity at Intersections of Gender and Sexual Orientation

Klysing, Amanda LU (2023)
Abstract
Current gender norms predominantly construct gender as an expression of binary sex categories that are different but complementary. A performative view of gender instead analyses gender as an emergent feature of social interactions that is created by the constant repetition of acts in relation to discourses of gender. Within these hegemonic discourses, gender is constructed as fundamentally heterosexual. That is, there is an epistemic model of gender that justifies the existence of binary, complementary genders through appeals to complementarity within the structure of heterosexuality. Using an intersectional approach, this dissertation aims to analyse how gender norms of binarity and heterosexuality are expressed in mental representations... (More)
Current gender norms predominantly construct gender as an expression of binary sex categories that are different but complementary. A performative view of gender instead analyses gender as an emergent feature of social interactions that is created by the constant repetition of acts in relation to discourses of gender. Within these hegemonic discourses, gender is constructed as fundamentally heterosexual. That is, there is an epistemic model of gender that justifies the existence of binary, complementary genders through appeals to complementarity within the structure of heterosexuality. Using an intersectional approach, this dissertation aims to analyse how gender norms of binarity and heterosexuality are expressed in mental representations at intersections of gender and sexual orientation. Study I examined how explicit and implicit stereotype content for groups at intersections of gender and sexual orientation relate to general gender stereotypes. Study II examined the influence of the social ideologies androcentrism and heterocentrism on cultural prototypes of general gender and sexual orientation categories and their intersecting subgroups. Finally, Study III examined how gender non-normativity in organisation communication and applicant gender expression can influence a recruitment situation.
Study I showed that the content of explicit, but not implicit, cultural stereotypes for women and men in general only match the stereotype content for heterosexual women and men. Stereotype content for homosexual and bisexual women and men was incongruent with that of their respective gender groups and instead partially gender inverted. Study II showed that cultural prototypes for ‘women’ and ‘men’ are strongly influenced by heterocentrism, as they include an assumption of heterosexuality. The cultural prototype for ‘homosexual people’ was influenced by androcentrism, such that it was more representative of gay men than of lesbian women, but androcentrism showed no direct influence on cultural prototypes for ‘heterosexual people’ or ‘bisexual people’. Study III showed that organisational communication that explicitly moves beyond binary gender can increase perceptions of organisational attractiveness among gender minority individuals, with no measurable impact on gender majority individuals. Additionally, applicants with a non-normative gender expression did not face the hypothesised discriminatory outcomes when assessed by Swedish HR-professionals.
This dissertation used empirical, quantitative methods to analyse how gender is structure within a heterosexual matrix of cultural intelligibility and what the consequences are of becoming unintelligible. The findings support the perspective that gender and sexual orientation categories do not represent natural kinds and are instead constructed in relation to each other. Treating gender and sexual orientation as co-constitutive is a break with dominant disciplinary practices in psychological research but doing so would provide a better possibility of analysing how gender influences the lives of those acting within and outside of gender norms.
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Abstract (Swedish)
Inom nuvarande könsnormer så ses kön främst som ett uttryck av biologiska könsgrupper som är binära och olika, men kompletterande. En performativ syn på kön analyserar i stället kön som något som uppstår under sociala interaktioner genom konstant repetition av handlingar som sker inom förhärskande könsdiskurser. Dessa hegemoniska könsdiskurser konstruerar kön som fundamentalt heterosexuellt. Därmed skapas en kunskapsmodell om kön som rättfärdigar existensen av binära, kompletterande kön genom att hänvisa till den komplementära struktur som finns inom heterosexualitet. Den här avhandlingen avser att använda ett intersektionellt förhållningsätt för att analysera hur könsnormer om binäritet och heterosexualitet uttrycks inom mentala... (More)
Inom nuvarande könsnormer så ses kön främst som ett uttryck av biologiska könsgrupper som är binära och olika, men kompletterande. En performativ syn på kön analyserar i stället kön som något som uppstår under sociala interaktioner genom konstant repetition av handlingar som sker inom förhärskande könsdiskurser. Dessa hegemoniska könsdiskurser konstruerar kön som fundamentalt heterosexuellt. Därmed skapas en kunskapsmodell om kön som rättfärdigar existensen av binära, kompletterande kön genom att hänvisa till den komplementära struktur som finns inom heterosexualitet. Den här avhandlingen avser att använda ett intersektionellt förhållningsätt för att analysera hur könsnormer om binäritet och heterosexualitet uttrycks inom mentala representationer av grupper vid intersektioner av kön och sexuell läggning. Studie I undersökte hur explicit och implicit stereotypinnehåll för grupper vid intersektioner av kön och sexuell läggning relaterar till generella könsstereotyper. Studie II undersökte vilket inflytande de sociala ideologierna androcentrism och heterocentrism har på generella kulturella prototyper relaterade till kön och sexuell läggning, samt subgrupper definierade av både kön och sexuell läggning. Slutligen undersökte Studie III hur avsteg från könsnormer inom organisationskommunikation och könsuttryck hos arbetssökande kan påverka en rekryteringssituation.
Studie I visade att innehållet i explicita, men inte implicita, kulturella stereotyper om kvinnor och män generellt bara matchar innehållet i stereotyper om heterosexuella kvinnor och män. Innehållet av stereotyper om homosexuella och bisexuella kvinnor och män skiljde sig från det associerat med deras respektive könsgrupp och var i stället delvis könsinverterat. Studie II visade att kulturella prototyper för grupperna ’kvinnor’ och ’män’ är starkt påverkade av heterocentrism eftersom de innehöll ett antagande om heterosexualitet. Den kulturella prototypen för gruppen ’homosexuella personer’ var påverkad av androcentrism på så sätt att den var mer representativ för homosexuella män än för lesbiska kvinnor. Studien fann inget direkt inflytande av androcentrism på kulturella prototyper för grupperna ’heterosexuella personer’ eller ’bisexuella personer’. Studie III visade att personer med en minoritetskönsidentitet fann en organisation vars kommunikation innehåller erkännande av kön som mer än en binär aspekt som en mer attraktiv arbetsgivare, medan individer med en majoritetskönsidentitet inte påverkades märkbart av det könsrelaterade språkbruket inom organisationskommunikationen. Vidare visade studien att arbetssökande med ett icke-normativt könsuttryck inte blev bemötta på ett diskriminerande sätt när de utvärderades av svenska HR-personer.
Den här avhandlingen använder empiriska, kvantitativa metoder för att analysera hur kön är strukturerat inom en heterosexuell matris av kulturell förståelse, samt vilka konsekvenserna kan bli av att vara oförståelig inom den matrisen. Resultaten stödjer perspektivet att kön och sexuell läggning inte utgör så kallade naturliga typer utan i stället får sin mening i relation till varandra. Att behandla kön och sexuell läggning som kategorier som skapar varandra är ett avbrott från dominerande disciplinära praktiker inom psykologisk forskning, men det tillvägagångssättet ger en bättre möjlighet att analysera hur kön påverkar både de som lever inom och utanför könsnormer.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Steffens, Melanie, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Gender, Sexual orientation, Normativity, Intersectional analysis, Stereotype content, Group prototypes
pages
176 pages
publisher
Lunds universitet, Media-Tryck
defense location
Edens hörsal, Paradisgatan 5 H, 223 50Lund
defense date
2023-02-10 13:00:00
ISBN
978-91-8039-511-3
978-91-8039-510-6
project
Who is Woman and Who is Man? Normativity at Intersections of Gender and Sexual Orientation
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
06e2b703-bfb9-4179-8bc0-632e0ba8c11c
date added to LUP
2023-01-10 07:48:08
date last changed
2023-01-16 16:07:47
@phdthesis{06e2b703-bfb9-4179-8bc0-632e0ba8c11c,
  abstract     = {{Current gender norms predominantly construct gender as an expression of binary sex categories that are different but complementary. A performative view of gender instead analyses gender as an emergent feature of social interactions that is created by the constant repetition of acts in relation to discourses of gender. Within these hegemonic discourses, gender is constructed as fundamentally heterosexual. That is, there is an epistemic model of gender that justifies the existence of binary, complementary genders through appeals to complementarity within the structure of heterosexuality. Using an intersectional approach, this dissertation aims to analyse how gender norms of binarity and heterosexuality are expressed in mental representations at intersections of gender and sexual orientation. Study I examined how explicit and implicit stereotype content for groups at intersections of gender and sexual orientation relate to general gender stereotypes. Study II examined the influence of the social ideologies androcentrism and heterocentrism on cultural prototypes of general gender and sexual orientation categories and their intersecting subgroups. Finally, Study III examined how gender non-normativity in organisation communication and applicant gender expression can influence a recruitment situation.<br/>Study I showed that the content of explicit, but not implicit, cultural stereotypes for women and men in general only match the stereotype content for heterosexual women and men. Stereotype content for homosexual and bisexual women and men was incongruent with that of their respective gender groups and instead partially gender inverted. Study II showed that cultural prototypes for ‘women’ and ‘men’ are strongly influenced by heterocentrism, as they include an assumption of heterosexuality. The cultural prototype for ‘homosexual people’ was influenced by androcentrism, such that it was more representative of gay men than of lesbian women, but androcentrism showed no direct influence on cultural prototypes for ‘heterosexual people’ or ‘bisexual people’. Study III showed that organisational communication that explicitly moves beyond binary gender can increase perceptions of organisational attractiveness among gender minority individuals, with no measurable impact on gender majority individuals. Additionally, applicants with a non-normative gender expression did not face the hypothesised discriminatory outcomes when assessed by Swedish HR-professionals.  <br/>This dissertation used empirical, quantitative methods to analyse how gender is structure within a heterosexual matrix of cultural intelligibility and what the consequences are of becoming unintelligible. The findings support the perspective that gender and sexual orientation categories do not represent natural kinds and are instead constructed in relation to each other. Treating gender and sexual orientation as co-constitutive is a break with dominant disciplinary practices in psychological research but doing so would provide a better possibility of analysing how gender influences the lives of those acting within and outside of gender norms.  <br/>}},
  author       = {{Klysing, Amanda}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8039-511-3}},
  keywords     = {{Gender; Sexual orientation; Normativity; Intersectional analysis; Stereotype content; Group prototypes}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  publisher    = {{Lunds universitet, Media-Tryck}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Who is Woman and Who is Man? : Normativity at Intersections of Gender and Sexual Orientation}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/134195573/Kappa_Klysing_Lucris.pdf}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}