Week 11 — Readings & Resources · Sex, Gender & Sexuality

Course: Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Adeyemi
Objective covered: Objective 6 — Analyze sex, gender, and sexuality as social categories; distinguish sex from gender; weigh the major perspectives on gender inequality with real data.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is light: a couple of short videos + 2–3 brief readings, grouped by the ideas from the lecture, plus the data source you'll read in the Workshop. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 45–55 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① sex vs. gender + gender as a social construction → ② the perspectives on gender inequality (functionalist, conflict/feminist, "doing gender") → ③ the data source for the Workshop (the BLS gender pay gap).

A habit to keep using: before you trust any claim about gender — in these readings, in the news, or from a chatbot — ask the sociologist's questions from class: Is this about sex (biology) or gender (society)? What's the evidence? Is a number a raw gap or a controlled one? Correlation or causation? Which perspective is this?

① Sex vs. Gender · and Gender as a Social Construction

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–4. Sex = biological characteristics; gender = the social meanings, roles, and expectations a society attaches. Gender is socially constructed ("constructed" ≠ fake) — it varies across cultures and changes over time.

Video — "Sex & Sexuality: Crash Course Sociology #31"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqt-_ILgv5c
Why it earns the click: a clear ~10-minute tour of how sociologists distinguish sex from gender (and treat sexuality as a social category) — exactly the Segment-2/3 distinction. Hosted by Nicole Sweeney for CrashCourse.
⏱ ~10 min

Reading — "Sex, Gender, Identity, and Expression" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §12.1)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/12-1-sex-gender-identity-and-expression
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language version of the sex vs. gender distinction we drew on the board, plus gender identity and gender as learned/constructed. Free to read online in your browser.
⏱ ~10 min

② The Perspectives on Gender Inequality

Maps to Lecture Segments 5–6. Remember the memory hook: Function (complementary roles, critiqued) · Conflict/feminist (patriarchy & power) · Interaction ("doing gender," West & Zimmerman). They're partners, not rivals.

Reading — "Gender and Gender Inequality" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §12.2)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/12-2-gender-and-gender-inequality
Why it's assigned: walks through gender socialization, patriarchy, and the functionalist, conflict/feminist, and symbolic-interactionist views of gender inequality — the same perspectives from class, with examples.
⏱ ~12 min

Video — "Theories of Gender: Crash Course Sociology #33"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CquRz_cceH8
Why it earns the click: runs gender through the three sociological paradigms — the exact three-perspective move from Segment 5. (If you want the data-and-inequality companion, "Gender Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #32" — 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1_4FPtzrI — is optional and pairs well with the Workshop.)
⏱ ~10 min

③ The Data Source for the Workshop — the BLS Gender Pay Gap

Maps to Lecture Segments 6–7 and Workshop 11. You'll read the women's-to-men's earnings ratio and distinguish the uncontrolled ("raw") gap from a controlled estimate.

Data — "Highlights of Women's Earnings" (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
🔗 https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2023/home.htm
Why it's here: the BLS annual report on women's earnings — the authoritative source for the women's-to-men's earnings ratio (for full-year 2023, 83.6% of men's). See especially Table 12 ("Women's earnings as a percentage of men's"). You'll open this in the Workshop and find the number yourself.

Data — "Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers" (BLS quarterly news release)
🔗 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.nr0.htm
Why it's here: the most current quarterly figure (for 2026 Q1, full-time women earned 80.6% of men's median). This is the raw ratio — the Workshop teaches you what it shows and what it doesn't.

Verification rule (the whole point of this course): these figures were verified live on the BLS pages at build time, but always confirm the number on the source's own page before you use it, and note the year. "A chatbot told me" is not a source.

Pick-one quick path (≈22 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Crash Course Sociology #31 — Sex & Sexuality (group ①).
2. Read Gender and Gender Inequality (group ②), and skim Sex, Gender, Identity, and Expression for the sex-vs-gender distinction (group ①).
3. Open the BLS Highlights of Women's Earnings page (group ③) and find the women's-to-men's earnings ratio with its year — you'll need it for the Workshop.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a video or reading link ever fails, tell Prof. Adeyemi and use the OpenStax §12.1/§12.2 readings and the BLS pages above in the meantime — those are the load-bearing items. These links are provided for access only — no claim is made about their licensing or reuse terms.