Gender Stratification Lecture 10 Gender Stratification

Gender and Inequality Gender Gender stratification Personal traits & social positions members of a society attach to being female and male Gender stratification Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women Male-female biological differences © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Men’s and Women’s Athletic Performance © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender in a Global Perspective Margaret Mead’s research Culture is key to gender differences Read Mead’s research, page 249. Gender and culture What it means to be male or female is mostly a creation of society

Patriarchy and Sexism Matriarchy–A form of social organization in which females dominate males Sexism–Belief that one sex or the other is innately inferior or superior Institutional sexism The believe that one gender is superior to the other Found throughout the economy The costs of sexism Sexism has a high price for both women and men Inevitability of patriarchy Most sociologists believe gender is socially constructed and can be changed

Women’s Power in Global Perspective © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and Socialization Gender roles (sex roles)–Attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex Gender affects how we think of ourselves and teaches us how to behave. Research suggests that most young people develop personalities that are A mix of feminine and masculine traits © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and the Family Is it a boy or girl? Color-coding gender Traditional notions of gender identity Handling of children Female: passivity and emotion Male: independence and action © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and Peer Groups Janet Lever (1978) Gilligan (1982) Schooling Boys favor team sports with complex rules and clear objectives. Girls’ sports teach interpersonal skills and the value of sharing and cooperation. Gilligan (1982) Boys reason according to abstract principles. Girls consider morality a matter of responsibility to others. Schooling Gender shapes interests and beliefs, guides areas of study, and career choices © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and Schooling Women became well represented in many fields of study that once excluded them Mathematics, chemistry, and biology Men still predominate in many fields Engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and the Mass Media White males have center stage Minorities locked out until the early 1970s Women receive roles based on sex appeal The “beauty myth” © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Stratification 60% of all women work and 72% of working women work full-time Women hold primary responsibility for housework & parenting – “second shift” Some work defined as “men’s work” On average, women earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by men “Pink-collar” are at the lower end of the pay scale © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Housework: Who Does How Much? © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Education, Politics, and Military Gender and education In 2007 women earned 59% of all associate & bachelor degrees, 61% of master’s degrees And 50% of doctorates Politics Nineteenth Amendment (1920) Women active in local, state politics Military 14% of US military personnel are women, including positioned troops Culture influences our views of women in the military © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Women in State Government across the United States © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Are Women a Minority? A Minority is a category of people distinguished by physical or cultural differences that a society sets apart and subordinates. Multilayered system of disadvantage for some and privilege for others every class level, women have less Income, wealth, education, & power than men Intersection theory Interplay of race, class, & gender, resulting in multiple dimensions of disadvantage Disadvantages linked to gender & race often combine to produce low social standing © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Violence Against Women In the 19th century, men claimed the right to physically discipline their wives Sexual assaults, rapes, attempted rapes, and physical assaults Campus and university gender violence Gender-linked violence often in the home Female genital mutilation Men are more likely to be both the perpetrators and victims of violence. Our culture tends to define masculinity in terms of aggression and violence. Men’s lives involve more stress and isolation than women’s lives. © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Female Genital Mutilation in Global Perspective © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pornography People take different views of what is and isn’t pornographic Pornography as a moral issue The gender-stratification point of view considers pornography a power issue Promotes violence against women portray- ing them as weak/undeserving of respect © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Feminism Feminism is an intellectual, consciousness- raising movement based on the idea that women and men should be accorded equal opportunities and respect. Working to increase equality Expansion of human choice Eliminate gender stratification Ending sexual violence Promotes sexual freedom © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Types of Feminism Opposition to feminism Liberal feminism Threat to male status and privilege Resistance to feminism is strongest among women with lower levels of education Liberal feminism Free to develop own talents and interests Socialist feminism Family form must change with some collective means of carrying out housework & childcare Radical feminism Seek an egalitarian, gender-free society © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sources Macionis, John J. 2012. Society: The Basics (Twelfth Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson