Ervin Goffman Sex

In 1977 Ervin Goffman published his book the ‘Arrangement of the Sexes’ to explain how social relations are gendered in ways that produces gendered performance in society. Using his theory of gender to support his arguments, Goffman believes that sex is the fundamental code upon which social interactions and social structures are built. That this code also establishes the ideas individuals have concerning their fundamental human nature. In every society, sex is differentiated at birth. All infants are placed in one or other of the two sex classes according the infants physical body parts, especially its genitalia. This differentiation by physical configuration allows a sex-linked label of identification such as man-woman, male-female, and boy-girl. Other forms of sex-class differentiation is the concept of masculinity femininity, with women having feminine

According to Goffman, having a conception of masculinity and femininity is what characterizes a society as civilized. The basic unit of American society is the domestic establishment and women, though subordinate to men, stand more advantaged than other groups because they are idealized and defined as fragile and valuable. Goffman described two basic expressions of courtship complex and the courtesy system as examples of how women, unlike other disadvantaged adult group, are held in high degree. In the courtship process, the male is to be attracted and of the female to attract. The female is held in high degree when she exhibits decorum and abstains from sex before marriage. The masculinity and femininity ideal that females are not suited for anything requiring muscular exertion or physical risk requires males to step in and help females whenever they threatened or face danger. There is an interconnection between the courtship and courtesy when the male uses courtesy of offering help as a way to pursue his interest in a