Gender Stratification Chapter 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 Israeli kibbutzim Gender equality is a stated goal George Murdock’s research Some global agreement about feminine and masculine tasks © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender in a Global Perspective Margaret Mead’s research Culture is key to gender differences Gender and culture What it means to be male or female is mostly a creation of society © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 Found throughout the economy © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Patriarchy and Sexism The costs of sexism Inevitability of patriarchy Sexism has a high price for both women and men Inevitability of patriarchy Most sociologists believe gender is socially constructed and can be changed © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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) Boys favor team sports with complex rules and clear objectives. Girls’ sports teach interpersonal skills and the value of sharing and cooperation. © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender and Peer Groups Gilligan (1982) Schooling 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” © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Stratification 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.

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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) © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Education, Politics, and Military Women active in local, state politics Military 14% of US military personnel are women, including deployed troops Culture influences our views of women in the military © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Are Women a Minority? At 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 © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Are Women a Minority? Disadvantages linked to gender & race often combine to produce low social standing Multilayered system of disadvantage for some and privilege for others © 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 © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Violence Against Men 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.

Sexual Harassment Rules for workplace interaction Causes of sexual harassment Culture encourages men to be sexually assertive & perceive women in sexual terms Men occupy most positions of power. “Effect standard”: hostile environment involves different perceptions of the same behavior © 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.

Theoretical Analysis of Gender Symbolic-interaction analysis Gender involves differences in behavior Women are expected to be more deferential Structural-functional analysis Parsons: Gender forms a complementary set of roles; links men & women to family units © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theoretical Analysis of Gender Social-conflict analysis Gender involves differences in power Engels: Capitalism strengthens male domination Intersection Theory Multiple systems of stratification based on race, class, and gender © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Feminism 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 © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Types of Feminism Socialist feminism Radical 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.

Use of Contraception by Married Women of Childbearing Age © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.