The semiotics of gender.
The semiotics of gender are investigated in this article for the purpose of exploring the way that deep unconscious motives in relationship to cultural biases give rise to gender concepts. Theories of semiotic processes, including Jacques Lacan's concept of the psychoanalytic signifier, are explained briefly and applied to the signs of gender. The article concludes that gender concepts develop out of biology, unconscious feelings, and social patterning, and are not given, natural, and irrevocable.
Van Buren
J
J
Psychoanalytic Center of California, Los Angeles.
D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005619:Freudian Theory; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011606:Psychosexual Development; D012951:Socialization; D013240:Stereotyping; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology