AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023

Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023 asignments 1 and 2 Introduction to  Sociology of Gender Issues: Theoretical Background (4685) code 4685 spring 2023. aiou old and solved aiou past papers.

AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023

Course: Sociology of Gender Issues: Theoretical Background (4685)
Level: M. Sc (Sociology)
Semester: Autumn & Spring 2023
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q. 1 Define Gender, also elaborate Gender is a social or a biological phenomenon.
Answer:

Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Depending on the context, these characteristics may include biological sex (i.e. the state of being male, female or an intersex variation which may complicate sex assignment), sex-based social structures (including gender roles and other social roles), or gender identity. Some cultures have specific gender roles that can be considered distinct from male and female, such as the hijra (chhaka) of India and Pakistan.
Sexologist John Money introduced the terminological distinction between biological sex and gender as a role in 1955. Before his work, it was uncommon to use the word gender to refer to anything but grammatical categories. However, Money’s meaning of the word did not become widespread until the 1970s, when feminist theory embraced the concept of a distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender. Today the distinction is strictly followed in some contexts, especially the social sciences and documents written by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In other contexts, including some areas of social sciences, gender includes sex or replaces it. For instance, in non-human animal research, gender is commonly used to refer to the biological sex of the animals. This change in the meaning of gender can be traced to the 1980s. In 1993, the USA’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started to use gender instead of sex.[6] Later, in 2011, the FDA reversed its position and began using sex as the biological classification and gender as “a person’s self representation as male or female, or how that person is responded to by social institutions based on the individual’s gender presentation.”
The social sciences have a branch devoted to gender studies. Other sciences, such as sexology and neuroscience, are also interested in the subject. While the social sciences sometimes approach gender as a social construct, and gender studies particularly do, research in the natural sciences investigates whether biological differences in males and females influence the development of gender in humans; both inform debate about how far biological differences influence the formation of gender identity. In the English literature, there is also a trichotomy between biological sex, psychological gender, and social gender role. This framework first appeared in a feminist paper on transsexualism in 1978.
In sociology, we make a distinction between sex and gender. Sex are the biological traits that societies use to assign people into the category of either male or female, whether it be through a focus on chromosomes, genitalia or some other physical ascription. When people talk about the differences between men and women they are often drawing on sex ? on rigid ideas of biology ? rather than gender, which is an understanding of how society shapes our understanding of those biological categories.
Gender is more fluid ? it may or may not depend upon biological traits. More specifically, it is a concept that describes how societies determine and manage sex categories; the cultural meanings attached to men and women?s roles; and how individuals understand their identities including, but not limited to, being a man, woman, transgender, intersex, gender queer and other gender positions. Gender involves social norms, attitudes and activities that society deems more appropriate for one sex over another. Gender is also determined by what an individual feels and does.
The sociology of gender examines how society influences our understandings and perception of differences between masculinity (what society deems appropriate behaviour for a ?man?) and femininity (what society deems appropriate behaviour for a ?woman?). We examine how this, in turn, influences identity and social practices. We pay special focus on the power relationships that follow from the established gender order in a given society, as well as how this changes over time.
Sex and gender do not always align. Cis-gender describes people whose biological body they were born into matches their personal gender identity. This experience is distinct from being transgender, which is where one?s biological sex does not align with their gender identity. Transgender people will undergo a gender transition that may involve changing their dress and self-presentation (such as a name change). Transgender people may undergo hormone therapy to facilitate this process, but not all trasngender people will undertake surgery. Intersexuality describes variations on sex definitions related to ambiguous genitalia, gonads, sex organs, chromosomes or hormones. Transgender and intersexuality are gender categories, not sexualities. Transgender and intersexual people have varied sexual practices, attractions and identities as do cis-gender people.
People can also choose to be gender queer, by either drawing on several gender positions or otherwise not identifying with any specific gender (nonbinary); or they may choose to move across genders (gender fluid); or they may reject gender categories altogether (agender). The third gender is often used by social scientists to describe cultures that accept non-binary gender positions (see the Two Spirit people below).
Sexuality is different again; it is about sexual attraction, sexual practices and identity. Just as sex and gender don?t always align, neither does gender and sexuality. People can identify along a wide spectrum of sexualities from heterosexual, to gay or lesbian, to bisexual, to queer, and so on. Asexuality is a term used when individuals do not feel sexual attraction. Some asexual people might still form romantic relationships without sexual contact.
Regardless of sexual experience, sexual desire and behaviours can change over time, and sexual identities may or may not shift as a result.
Gender and sexuality are not just personal identities; they are social identities. They arise from our relationships to other people, and they depend upon social interaction and social recognition. As such, they influence how we understand ourselves in relation to others. Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685,
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AIOU Solved Assignments 1 Code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023

Q. 2 Elaborate the conflict perspective on gender Inequality that how the issue has its roots in societal structure?
Answer:

Conflict theory is one of the major paradigms used by sociologists to make sense of the social world. All sociology that takes as its object of study the processes by which social groups compete with each other for scarce resources such as power, wealth, and status, or the inequalities that result from these competitions, falls within the conflict paradigm (Collins 1990).
Conflict sociology constitutes a substantial portion of all contemporary sociological research. An examination of the six 2013 issues of American Sociological Review, the American Sociological Association’s flagship journal, reveals that approximately 75% of the articles published in this journal fall within the conflict paradigm (31 out of 42, by my count), and many other sociology journals continue to document the dynamics and consequences of social inequality. Marx’s writings on the relations of production in capitalism, and his thesis that historical change is a product of the conflict between economic classes gave conflict theory its initial form. However, sociologists have since extended the basic structure of Marx’s theory to many other groups in competition in addition to those defined by the relations of production. For example, Weber’s classic treatment of status stratification and structures of domination extended Marx’s basic model of group competition over resources to include dimensions of social esteem and power. Contemporary conflict sociology continues this tradition by studying the dynamics of a variety of group inequalities such as race, gender, sexual orientation categories, as well as inter-organizational competition (Collins 1975).
There is much at stake in social inequalities. Conflict theory impels us to recognize that every dimension of social structure can be conceptualized in terms of winners and losers, and social conflict often causes disastrous and tragic consequences for the losers in the social struggle. People are tortured, mutilated, and incinerated as a consequence of social conflict; they are also shunned, humiliated, exploited, and otherwise systematically shortchanged by the social structures they take part in. Social conflict induces the worst behavior of human beings toward each other. This harm is a necessary consequence of the maintenance of stratified social structure, as social interest groups seek to protect and extend their own privileges while minimizing those of their competitors, and the potential for great harm is exacerbated in industrial societies with access to weapons of mass destruction. Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685,
This is the essential insight of conflict sociology: social conflict and inequality are fundamental to social structure. Yet at the same time, efforts to combat social inequalities by conflict sociologists and policy makers have largely been limited to ex post facto attempts at writing equality into social structure; the liberal welfare state is the archetypal example. This produces a paradox, in which social conflict and inequality are understood to be a necessary consequence of social structure, and yet efforts are made to write equality into social structure, both in the form of actual resource transfers, and in the kinds of policy recommendations offered by conflict sociologists. The irony of this position is brought into high relief when attempts to alter social structure to reduce inequalities are met with stiff resistance by those who benefit from those inequalities: Attempts at ex post facto resource distribution – managing social conflicts and their resultant inequalities after the inequality has already manifested – ultimately reproduce the conditions that create the inequality in the first place by reproducing the conflict of interest between those who benefit from social structure and those who are disproportionately shortchanged by it. Ex post facto resource redistribution can potentially mitigate some of the inequalities that arise from social conflict, but it fails to address fundamental questions concerning how and why inequalities are built into social structure.
The Sociological Imagination
Many individuals experience one or more social problems personally. For example, many people are poor and unemployed, many are in poor health, and many have family problems, drink too much alcohol, or commit crime. When we hear about these individuals, it is easy to think that their problems are theirs alone, and that they and other individuals with the same problems are entirely to blame for their difficulties.
Sociology takes a different approach, as it stresses that individual problems are often rooted in problems stemming from aspects of society itself. This key insight informed C. Wright Mills?s (1959)Mills, C. W. (1959).ÿThe sociological imagination. London, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.ÿclassic distinction betweenÿpersonal troublesÿandÿpublic issues.ÿPersonal troublesÿrefer to a problem affecting individuals that the affected individual, as well as other members of society, typically blame on the individual?s own personal and moral failings. Examples include such different problems as eating disorders, divorce, and unemployment.ÿPublic issues, whose source lies in the social structure and culture of a society, refer to social problems affecting many individuals. Problems in society thus help account for problems that individuals experience. Mills felt that many problems ordinarily considered private troubles are best understood as public issues, and he coined the termÿsociological imaginationÿto refer to the ability to appreciate the structural basis for individual problems.
To illustrate Mills?s viewpoint, let?s use our sociological imaginations to understand some contemporary social problems. We will start with unemployment, which Mills himself discussed. If only a few people were unemployed, Mills wrote, we could reasonably explain their unemployment by saying they were lazy, lacked good work habits, and so forth. If so, their unemployment would be their own personal trouble. But when millions of people are out of work, unemployment is best understood as a public issue because, as Mills (1959, p. 9)Mills, C. W. (1959).ÿThe sociological imagination. London, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.ÿput it, ?the very structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685
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AIOU Solved Assignments 2 Code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023

Q. 3 Differentiate between the social learning and identification theory with examples from Pakistani society.
Answer:

Social learning:
One of the most influential learning theories, theÿSocial Learning Theoryÿ(SLT), was formulated by Albert Bandura. It encompasses concepts of traditional learning theory and the operant conditioning of B.F. Skinner.
However, the theory strongly implies that there are types of learning wherein direct reinforcement is not the causal mechanism; rather, the so called social element can result to the development of new learning among individuals. Social Learning Theory has been useful in explaining how people can learn new things and develop new behaviors by observing other people. It is to assume, therefore, that Social Learning Theory is concerned on observational learning process among people.
A. Basic Concepts

Observational Learning: The Social Learning Theory says that people can learn by watching other people perform the behavior. Observational learning explains the nature of children to learn behaviors by watching the behavior of the people around them, and eventually, imitating them. With theÿ”Bobo Doll” experiment(s), Bandura included an adult who is tasked to act aggressively toward a Bobo Doll while the children observe him. Later, Bandura let the children play inside a room with the Bobo Doll. He affirmed that these children imitated the aggressive behavior toward the doll, which they had observed earlier.

After his studies, Bandura was able to determine 3 basic models of observational learning, which include:
a. A Live Model, which includes an actual person performing a behavior.
b. A Verbal Instruction Model, which involves telling of details and descriptions of a behavior.
c. A Symbolic Model, which includes either a real or fictional character demonstrating the behavior via movies, books, television, radio, online media and other media sources.

The state of mind (mental states) is crucial to learning.In this concept, Bandura stated that not only external reinforcement or factors can affect learning and behavior. There is also what he called intrinsic reinforcement, which is in a form of internal reward or a better feeling after performing the behavior (e.g. sense of accomplishment, confidence, satisfaction, etc.)

Learning does not mean that there will be a change in the behavior of an individual.
B. Modeling Process
The Modeling Process developed by Bandura helps us understand that not all observed behaviors could be learned effectively, nor learning can necessarily result to behavioral changes. The modeling process includes the following steps in order for us to determine whether social learning is successful or not:
Step 1: Attention
Social Cognitive Theory implies that you must pay attention for you to learn. If you want to learn from the behavior of the model (the person that demonstrates the behavior), then you should eliminate anything that catches your attention other than him. Also, the more interesting the model is, the more likely you are to pay full attention to him and learn.
Step 2: Retention
Retention of the newly learned behavior is necessary. Without it, learning of the behavior would not be established, and you might need to get back to observing the model again since you were not able to store information about the behavior.
Step 3: Reproduction
When you are successful in paying attention and retaining relevant information, this step requires you to demonstrate the behavior. In this phase, practice of the behavior by repeatedly doing it is important for improvement.
Step 4: Motivation
Feeling motivated to repeat the behavior is what you need in order to keep on performing it. This is where reinforcement and punishment come in. You can be rewarded by demonstrating the behavior properly, and punished by displaying it inappropriately.
Identification theory
Henri Tajfel’s greatest contribution to psychology was social identity theory.
Social identity is a person?s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s).
Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.
In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong. For example, England is the best country in the world!ÿ We can also increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice views against the out group (the group we don?t belong to). For example, the Americans, French etc. are a bunch of losers!
Therefore, we divided the world into ?them? and ?us? based through a process of social categorization (i.e. we put people into social groups).
This is known as in-group (us) and out-group (them). ÿSocial identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their self-image.
The central hypothesis of social identity theory is that group members of an in-group will seek to find negative aspects of an out-group, thus enhancing their self-image.
Prejudiced views between cultures may result in racism; in its extreme forms, racism may result in genocide, such as occurred in Germany with the Jews, in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis and, more recently, in the former Yugoslavia between the Bosnians and Serbs.
Henri Tajfel proposed that stereotyping (i.e. putting people into groups and categories) is based on a normal cognitive process: the tendency to group things together. In doing so we tend to exaggerate:

the differences between groups

the similarities of things in the same group.
We categorize people in the same way. We see the group to which we belong (the in-group) as being different from the others (the out-group), and members of the same group as being more similar than they are. Social categorization is one explanation for prejudice attitudes (i.e. ?them? and ?us? mentality) which leads to in-groups and out-groups. Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685 ,
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AIOU Solved Assignments Code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023

Q. 4 Write notes on following:
i) Sociological perspective on gender
Answer:

The sociology of gender examines how society influences our understandings and perception of differences between masculinity (what society deems appropriate behaviour for a ?man?) and femininity (what society deems appropriate behaviour for a ?woman?). We examine how this, in turn, influences identity and social practices. We pay special focus on the power relationships that follow from the established gender order in a given society, as well as how this changes over time.

Sex and gender do not always align. Cis-gender describes people whose biological body they were born into matches their personal gender identity. This experience is distinct from being transgender, which is where one?s biological sex does not align with their gender identity. Transgender people will undergo a gender transition that may involve changing their dress and self-presentation (such as a name change). Transgender people may undergo hormone therapy to facilitate this process, but not all trasngender people will undertake surgery. Intersexuality describes variations on sex definitions related to ambiguous genitalia, gonads, sex organs, chromosomes or hormones. Transgender and intersexuality are gender categories, not sexualities. Transgender and intersexual people have varied sexual practices, attractions and identities as do cis-gender people.
The functionalist perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole, and looks at both social structure and social functions. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements, namely: norms, customs, traditions, and institutions. A common analogy, popularized by Herbert Spencer, presents these parts of society as “organs” that work toward the proper functioning of the “body” as a whole.
The functionalist perspective of gender inequality was most robustly articulated in the 1940s and 1950s, and largely developed by Talcott Parsons’ model of the nuclear family. This theory suggests that gender inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor, or as a social system in which particular segments are clearly responsible for certain, respective acts of labor. The division of labor works to maximize resources and efficiency. A structural functionalist view of gender inequality applies the division of labor to view predefined gender roles as complementary: women take care of the home while men provide for the family. Thus gender, like other social institutions, contributes to the stability of society as a whole.
In sociological research, functional prerequisites are the basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, and money) that an individual requires to live above the poverty line. Functional prerequisites may also refer to the factors that allow a society to maintain social order. According to structural functionalists, gender serves to maintain social order by providing and ensuring the stability of such functional prerequisites.
This view has been criticized for reifying, rather than reflecting, gender roles. While gender roles, according to the functionalist perspective, are beneficial in that they contribute to stable social relations, many argue that gender roles are discriminatory and should not be upheld. The feminist movement, which was on the rise at the same time that functionalism began to decline, takes the position that functionalism neglects the suppression of women within the family structure.
People can also choose to be gender queer, by either drawing on several gender positions or otherwise not identifying with any specific gender (nonbinary); or they may choose to move across genders (gender fluid); or they may reject gender categories altogether (agender). The third gender is often used by social scientists to describe cultures that accept non-binary gender positions (see the Two Spirit people below).
Sexuality is different again; it is about sexual attraction, sexual practices and identity. Just as sex and gender don?t always align, neither does gender and sexuality. People can identify along a wide spectrum of sexualities from heterosexual, to gay or lesbian, to bisexual, to queer, and so on. Asexuality is a term used when individuals do not feel sexual attraction. Some asexual people might still form romantic relationships without sexual contact. Regardless of sexual experience, sexual desire and behaviours can change over time, and sexual identities may or may not shift as a result. Gender and sexuality are not just personal identities; they are social identities. They arise from our relationships to other people, and they depend upon social interaction and social recognition. As such, they influence how we understand ourselves in relation to others. Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685
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ii) Gender oppression and Pakistani society
Answer:
Gender oppression is defined as oppression associated with the gender norms, relations and stratification of a given society. Modern norms of gender consist of mutually exclusive categories of masculinity and femininity. Mainstream sociology initially ignored gender as well as gender oppression marginalizing feminist sociologists in the early years. The subsequent period of structural functionalism supported dichotomous gender norms and their oppression arguing that gender roles and identities served some functions in society. In 1970s debates started regarding the extent to which differences between the sexes were biological. Studies of gender relations in societies around the world have demonstrated that almost everywhere in the modern era femininity is associated with a public sphere.
At the macro level dichotomous and naturalized views of gender are evident in the gendering of economic, political and other institutions where elite men dominate every major institution in most societies. This gendering shapes the experiences of different groups of women globally and is expressed in higher levels of poverty, lower levels of political power, gender specific health issues such as AIDS, maternal deaths. Gendered oppression is the systemic manner in which certain groups are privileged or disadvantaged because of their gender. Because gender is such an integral part of society, we may unconsciously subscribe to harmful and inaccurate gender stereotypes. These socially constructed assumptions about gender do not describe essential characteristics of men, women, and people outside of the gender binary, yet they often claim to. This maintains the gendered power difference that allows certain groups to benefit (socially and economically) at the expense of others.
The maintenance of gendered oppression is systemic and structural. In other words, it results from everyday practices and unquestioned assumptions within society, not necessarily from a few individuals in power. The dissemination of gendered oppression can often be subtle. Popular jokes or comments can be very effective means of spreading and maintaining harmful gendered attitudes. Gendered oppression does not act in isolation. It intersects with discrimination based on race, sexuality, ability, class, age, history of incarceration, religion, language, and citizenship status. Analysis of any one of these oppressions alone is insufficient; each reinforces the other. In addition, the intersection of oppressions is not simply a linear combination of the individual oppressions. For example, a Black lesbian?s experience is not just the composite of a Black man?s and a white lesbian?s oppressions. Aiou Solved Assignments code 4685 .
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4 Comments on “AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 4685 Autumn & Spring 2023”

  1. Hi, I’m student of msc sociology first semester, but uni sent me incomplete books, can someone help me in this regard

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