Abstract
What do we see in the first few moments of an initial encounter with someone? We see their sex — at least, we think we see their sex, but in fact we do not. What we see is their gender appearance and we assume that this is an accurate indication of their sex. Most people will feel completely certain of the biological sex of the majority of people they meet in their daily lives of work and leisure, they will feel sure gender appearance denotes biological sex; but they may be wrong.
‘Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, as they say, more important offices than merely to keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.’
(Virginia Woolf, Orlando)
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Notes and references
The stricter confines of masculine socialisation have been outlined by Ruth E. Hartley: ‘Sex Role Pressures and the Socialisation of the Male Child’, in J. H. Pleck and J. Sawyer (eds), Men and Masculinity (Prentice-Hall, London, 1974)
Andrew Toison: The Limits of Masculinity (Tavistock, London, 1977).
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© 1989 Annie Woodhouse
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Woodhouse, A. (1989). Seeing is believing? Sex, gender and appearance. In: Fantastic Women. Women in Society. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20024-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20024-5_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-44670-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-20024-5
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