genrées

Genrées is the plural form of genrée, a sociological term used to describe gendered categorization and the social arrangements that organize life around gender norms. The concept refers to how institutions, practices, discourse, and material design create and reinforce categories, behaviors, and expectations that align with perceived gender. Genrées highlight the distinction between biological sex and social gender, emphasizing that many attributes of everyday life—roles in the workplace, family responsibilities, fashion, language, and spatial organization—are shaped by socially constructed scripts rather than innate differences.

Origin and usage are predominantly found in French-language scholarship on gender studies, though the idea has been adopted in broader sociological discussions to analyze how power, identity, and culture intersect with gender. In analyses using genrées, researchers examine how nouns, pronouns, advertising, curricula, and urban spaces encode and reproduce binary or hierarchical gender structures. The term is often employed to discuss the fluidity and variability of gender norms across cultures and historical periods, as well as how changes in policy, activism, and social attitudes can alter genrée configurations.

Criticism of the concept focuses on concerns that labeling phenomena as genrées can risk essentializing gender and overlooking the complexities of intersectionality, such as race, class, sexuality, and disability. Proponents respond by advocating nuanced, context-specific analyses that acknowledge diversity within gendered experiences and the ongoing potential for social change.

See also: gender, gender studies, gendered space, intersectionality, social construction of gender.