Skip to Content Go to accessibility page

Introduction to Sociology 2e

Key Terms

Introduction to Sociology 2eKey Terms

Key Terms

biological determinism: the belief that men and women behave differently due to inherent sex differences related to their biology

doing gender: the performance of tasks based upon the gender assigned to us by society and, in turn, ourselves

DOMA: Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 U.S. law explicitly limiting the definition of “marriage” to a union between one man and one woman and allowing each individual state to recognize or deny same-sex marriages performed in other states

double standard: the concept that prohibits premarital sexual intercourse for women but allows it for men

gender: a term that refers to social or cultural distinctions of behaviors that are considered male or female

gender dysphoria: a condition listed in the DSM-5 in which people whose gender at birth is contrary to the one they identify with. This condition replaces "gender identity disorder"

gender identity: a person’s deeply held internal perception of his or her gender

gender role: society’s concept of how men and women should behave

heterosexism: an ideology and a set of institutional practices that privilege heterosexuals and heterosexuality over other sexual orientations

homophobia: an extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals

queer theory: an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality studies that identifies Western society’s rigid splitting of gender into male and female roles and questions its appropriateness

sex: a term that denotes the presence of physical or physiological differences between males and females

sexism: the prejudiced belief that one sex should be valued over another

sexual orientation: a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and sexual attraction to a particular sex (male or female)

sexuality: a person’s capacity for sexual feelings

social construction of sexuality: socially created definitions about the cultural appropriateness of sex-linked behavior which shape how people see and experience sexuality

transgender: an adjective that describes individuals who identify with the behaviors and characteristics that are other than their biological sex

Order a print copy

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information

If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-sociology
If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-sociology

Citation information

Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.
- Authors: Heather Griffiths, Nathan Keirns
- Publisher/website: OpenStax
- Book title: Introduction to Sociology 2e
- Publication date: Apr 24, 2015
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-sociology
- Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/12-key-terms

© Feb 9, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.