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Issues of Sex and Gender 295

higher and lower social classes. The men from lower
social classes were more likely to get in trouble with
the law, do poorly in school, and mistreat their wives
(Dabbs and Morris 1990). You can see, then, that
social factors such as socialization, subcultures, life
goals, and self-definitions were significant in these
men’s behavior.

More Research on Humans. Research on the
effects of testosterone in humans continues. The
results are intriguing. Not only do higher levels
of testosterone lead to higher dominance but the
reverse is also true: Dominance behavior, such as
winning a game, also produces higher levels of testos-
terone. This has made it difficult to determine which
causes which. Controlled studies in which cause can
be determined help. When researchers administer
single doses of testosterone, dominance behavior Sociologists study the social factors
increases. This is true of both males and females. They seek higher status and show less that underlie human behavior, the
concern for the feelings of others (Eisenegger et al. 2011). Researchers are investigating experiences that mold us, funneling
us into different directions in life.
how the testosterone changes people’s behaviors, which they think might be by trigger-
The research on Vietnam veterans
ing other hormones. indicates how the sociological
door is opening slowly to also
In Sum: Sociologists acknowledge that biological factors are involved in some human consider biological factors in human
behavior other than reproduction and childbearing (Udry 2000). Alice Rossi, a feminist behavior. This February 14, 1966,
sociologist and former president of the American Sociological Association, suggested photo shows soldiers of the 1st
Cavalry Division carrying a buddy
that women are better prepared biologically for “mothering” than are men. Rossi (1977,
who had just been shot.
1984) said that women are more sensitive to the infant’s soft skin and to their nonverbal
communications.
Perhaps Rossi expressed it best when she said that the issue is not either biology or
society. Instead, whatever biological predispositions nature provides are overlaid with
culture. A task of sociologists is to discover how social factors modify biology, especially,
as sociologist Janet Chafetz (1990:30) said, to determine how “different” becomes
translated into “unequal.”
The sociological perspective—that of social factors in human behavior—dominates
this book, and in the Thinking Critically section that follows, we will explore how gen-
der is changing.

THINKING CRITICALLY

Making the Social Explicit: Emerging Masculinities and
Femininities

Muscles rippling, a large male athlete strode into a class of 400 wearing a dress. The class
broke into cheers, applauding his daring to break gender rules. The next week, a slightly-
built, effeminate male student came into the same class wearing a dress. The class treated
him like an outcast. As students moved away from him, he was surrounded by empty chairs
(Anderson 2009:43).
eople who are highly successful in meeting cultural standards of gender are given
more leeway to temporarily transgress gender boundaries. The two men wearing
Pdresses illustrate this principle at work. The students knew that the hyper-
masculine athlete was “just fooling around” or “making a point.” But the effeminate
man? No one was certain about him. His dress could have reflected a “real” violation
of gender boundaries.