Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program 11 Essentials of Sociology Sociology 9 th Edition 9 th Edition Chapter 10: Gender and Age Chapter 10: Gender and Age

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter Overview Issues of Sex and Gender How Females Became a Minority Group Gender Inequality in the United States The Changing Face of Politics Aging in Global Perspective The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective The Functionalist Perspective The Conflict Perspective 22

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. “Unequal Access to Power, Prestige, and Property on the Basis of Sex.” 33 What’s Gender Stratification?

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sex – refers to biological characteristics Gender – refers to social characteristics – ”Male and Female” Each culture has its own definitions of gender We inherit our sex and learn our gender 44 Sex and Gender

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Gender Differences in Behavior: Biology or Culture? Most sociologists believe that if biology was the compelling factor in human behavior males and females would act the same around the world Opening the Door to Biology:  A Medical Accident  The Vietnam Veterans Study 55

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Gender Inequality in Global Perspective Every society sorts men and women into separate groups and gives them different access to property, power, and prestige. These divisions always favor men-as-a-group. Females are therefore classified as a minority group 66

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.  Early On, Life was Short  Females Limited by Childbearing  Men Became Dominant as Hunters and Warriors  Weapons, Trade, and Knowledge gained from Contact with Others Gave Men Power  Ideology developed that women were less dominant than men 77 The Origins of Patriarchy

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Feminism – the belief that biology is not destiny and that stratification according to gender is wrong 1 st Feminist movement – 1920s- Trying to win the right to vote for women 2 nd Feminist movement – 1960s- Trying to earn equal pay for women 3 rd Feminist movement-happening today-includes a greater focus on the plight of women in the Least Industrialized Nations 88 The Three Feminist Movements

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Gender Inequality in Education – Gender tracking is evident Gender Inequality in Health Care Gender Inequality in Politics Gender Inequality in the Work Place  The Pay Gap  The Glass Ceiling  The Glass Escalator 99 Gender Inequality in the U.S.

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.  10 Figure 10.2 Changes in College Enrollment, by Sex *This sharp drop in female enrollment occurred when large numbers of male soldiers returned from World War II and attended college under the new GI Bill of Rights. **Projection by U.S. Department of Education Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States 1938:Table 114; 1959:Table 158; 1991:Table 261; 2010:Table 272.

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.  11 Figure 10.5 Women’s and Men’s Proportion of the U.S. Labor Force Note: Pre-1940 totals include women 14 and over: totals for 1940 and after are for women 16 and over. Broken lines are projections by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sources: By the author. Based on Handbook on Women Workers, 1969:10; Manpower Report to the President 1971:203, 205; Mills and Palumbo 1980:6, 45; Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010:Table 575.

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Violence Against Women Forcible Rape-1 out of 1,000 U.S. girls and women between the ages of 12 and 50 is raped each year. Most victims know their attackers Date Rape-Many victims are college women and it is often not reported Murder-men are more likely than women to be killers Violence in the Home  12

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Structural Barriers Coming Down Abandoning Stereotypes New Consciousness Change in Relationships  13 Glimpsing the Future With Hope

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Construction of Aging  Tiwi vs. Abkhasians  Every society treats the elderly in different ways Graying of America – the growing elderly population in the U.S. Life expectancy has increased with industrialization 7 million more elderly than teenagers today in the U.S.  14 Aging in The Global Perspective

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.  15 Figure U.S. Life Expectancy by Year of Birth Sources: By the author. Based on Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Bicentennial Edition, Part 1, Series B, 107–115; Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010:Table 102.

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.  16 Figure As Florida Goes, So Goes the Nation Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009:Table 17. Projections to 2015.

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Ageism – Discrimination based on ones age The “meaning” of growing old has changed through the years In the U.S. the elderly used to be seen as an asset, today they are seen more as a liability Why has this occurred?  17 Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Disengagement Theory – There needs to be a smooth transition between those leaving their jobs and those entering the workplace Activity Theory – the more informal and formal activities the elderly engage in the more they find life fulfilling Continuity Theory – The more roles one continues to possess in retirement the more fulfilling life will be  18 Functionalist Perspective

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The conflict perspective looks at the rising costs of the elderly and how money is being taken away from other age cohorts Looks at how the Dependency Ratio is affecting Social Security  The ratio of workers paying into Social Security vs. those who are collecting Social Security  19 Conflict Perspective

Inequalities of Gender and Age Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.  20 Figure Health Care Costs for the Elderly and Disabled Note: Medicare is intended for the elderly and disabled. Medicaid for the poor. About 22 percent of Medicaid payments ($58 billion) go to the elderly (Statistical Abstract 2010:Table 144). Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States various years, and 2010:Tables 137, 144. Broken lines indicate the author’s projections.