GENDER AND INTIMACY

I. Same-sex Friendship: General Patterns

A. Childhood

· Same sex play groups, group size, comfort with intimacy, talk vs. activity

B. Adolescence

· Group size, intensity, intimacy, definition of friendship

C. Adulthood

· “Affiliation motivation,” Self-disclosure, definitions of friendships

II. Cross-Sex Friendship

III. Source of Patterns

A. Institutional/Structural: Division of Labor

B. Individual: Different “Selves”

C. Interactional: Doing Gender

IV. Criticisms of Research on Gender and Intimacy

A. Love is “feminized”

B. Consequences

· Leads to belief that men do not have capacity for intimacy

· Perception that women are more dependent on relationships reproduces inequality

· Devalues women’s care work in home

· Legitimates exploitation in workplace

· Intensifies conflict over intimacy, especially in cross-sex intimate relationships

V. Sexual Relationships

A. Hooking up – guest lecturer