1. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 The Sociological Perspective SOCIAL INEQUALITY part McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3

2. chapter McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. CHAPTER OUTLINE Social Construction of Gender Explaining Stratification by Gender Women: The Oppressed Majority Minority Women: Double Jeopardy Social Policy and Gender Stratification: The Battle over Abortion from a Global PerspectiveSocial Policy and Gender Stratification: The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective 12 STRATIFICATION BY GENDER

3. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Social Construction of Gender █Gender Roles in the United States –Gender roles are expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. –Gender roles are evident in our work and also in how we react to others.

4. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Social Construction of Gender █Gender Roles in the United States –Gender-Role Socialization Boys must be: –masculine –aggressive –tough –daring –dominant

5. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Social Construction of Gender █Gender Roles in the United States –Gender-Role Socialization Girls must be: –feminine –soft –emotional –sweet –submissive

6. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Social Construction of Gender █ Table 12.1: An Experiment of Gender Norm Violations by College Students Send men flowers Wear fingernail polish Spit in public Needlepoint in public Use men’s bathroom Throw Tupperware party Buy jock strap Cry in public Buy/chew tobacco Have pedicure Talk knowledgeably about cars Apply to baby-sit Open doors for men Shave body hair Norm Violations by WomenNorm Violations by Men Source: Nielsen et al. 2000:287.

7. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Social Construction of Gender █Gender Roles in the United States –Women’s and Men’s Gender Roles Self-image develops in males and females through: –identification with the same gender –families –media

8. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Social Construction of Gender █Cross-Cultural Perspective –Required for Gender Stratification in Any Society Individual socialization into traditional gender roles within the family The promotion and support of these traditional roles by other social institutions such as religion and education. Every society has men and women who resist and successfully oppose these stereotypes.

9. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Explaining Stratification by Gender █The Functionalist View –Gender differentiation contributes to social stability. –Women take on expressive, emotionally supportive roles. –Men take on instrumental, practical roles.

10. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Explaining Stratification by Gender █The Conflict Response –The relationship between men and women is one of unequal power. –Men have a dominant position over women. –Gender differences are a result of the subjugation of women by men.

11. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Explaining Stratification by Gender █The Feminist Perspective –This perspective often views women’s subordination as part of the overall exploitation and injustice in capitalist societies. –This perspective sometimes argues that women’s subjugation coincided with the rise of private property during industrialization.

12. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Explaining Stratification by Gender █The Interactionist Approach –This approach focuses on everyday behavior. Men are more likely than women to: –change topics of conversation –ignore topics chosen by women –minimize ideas of women –interrupt women

13. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Sexism and Sex Discrimination –Sexism Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior to the other. Sexism is generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women.

14. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Sexual Harassment –Sexual Harassment: Behavior that occurs when work benefits are made contingent on sexual favors or when touching, lewd comments, or the appearance of pornographic material creates a “hostile environment” in the workplace. –Sexual harassment must be understood in the context of continuing prejudice and discrimination against women.

15. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Women: The Oppressed Majority █The Status of Women Worldwide –Women’s subordination is institutionally sanctioned. –Women remain in second-class positions in most of the world. –Women are exploited for labor in many developing countries.

16. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 Women: The Oppressed Majority █ Figure 12.1: Percentage of Adult Women in the Paid Labor Force by Country Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2001a.

17. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 Women: The Oppressed Majority CountryPercent Australia64.4 Canada69.6 Czech Republic64.9 Denmark75.8 Finland71.3 France60.8 Germany62.8 Hungary52.1 Ireland54.9 Italy46.0 Japan63.8 Korea, South53.1 Luxembourg64.6 CountryPercent Mexico42.1 Netherlands64.5 New Zealand67.7 Norway78.3 Poland59.0 Portugal66.8 Spain48.9 Sweden74.6 Switzerland70.3 Turkey34.0 United Kingdom67.5 United States71.7 Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Table 1354 on p. 848. Also accessible at http://www.census.gov/ prod/2002pubs/01statab/stat-ab01.html. █ Female Labor Force Participation Rates by Country 1999

18. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Women in the Workforce of the United States –Women’s participation in the paid labor force of the United States increased steadily throughout the twentieth century. –Yet, women entering the job market find their options restricted in important ways. –Women are underrepresented in occupations historically defined as “men’s jobs,” which often pay more. Continued...

19. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Women in the Workforce of the United States –A Statistical Overview: In 2001, 60 percent of adult women in the United States held jobs outside the home, compared with 38 percent in 1960. 58 percent of new mothers return to the workforce.

20. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Women in the Workforce of the United States –Glass Ceiling: An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the person’s gender, race, or ethnicity. –These workplace patterns have one crucial result: women earn less money than men. –Women are more likely to be poor than men.

21. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Women in the Workforce of the United States –Because of occupational segregation based on gender, in 2001, women accounted for 98 percent of all secretaries and dental assistants. –Women are underrepresented in occupations historically defined as “men’s jobs.”

22. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 22 Women: The Oppressed Majority (Click inside frame to start video) █ Men at Work: Men are Now Pursuing Jobs Previously Dominated by Women

23. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 23 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Women in the Workforce of the United States –Social Consequences of Women’s Employment The “Second Shift”: The double burden that working women face—work outside the home followed by child care and housework—and which few men share equitably. Studies indicate that there continues to be a clear gender gap in the performance of housework, although the differences are narrowing. Taken together, a woman’s workday on and off the job is much longer than a man’s.

24. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 24 Women: The Oppressed Majority █ Figure 12.2: Trends in U.S. Women’s Participation in the Paid Labor Force, 1890–2001 Source: Bureau of the Census 1975: 2002a:372.

25. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 25 Women: The Oppressed Majority █ Table 12.2: U.S. Women in Selected Occupations, 2001: Women as Percentage of All Workers in the Occupation Firefighters 3% High school teachers 59% Airline pilots 4 Social workers 72 Engineers 10 Cashiers 77 Police 14 File clerks 82 Clergy 15 Elementary teachers 83 Dentists 20 Librarians 86 Computer systems analysts 27 Registered nurses 93 Lawyers 29 Child care workers 97 Physicians 29 Receptionists 97 Mail carriers 31 Secretaries 98 College teachers 43 Dental hygienists 98 UnderrepresentedOverrepresented Source: Bureau of the Census 2002a:381-383.

26. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 26 Women: The Oppressed Majority █ Figure 12.3: Gender Differences in Child Care and Housework, 1997 Source: Bond et al. 1998:40-41, 44-45.

27. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 27 Women: The Oppressed Majority (Percents are based on women and men aged 18 and older, whose highest degree is a bachelor’s degree, with earnings, employed full-time for the previous 4 months) 80.5 72.6 65.9 49.3 58.6 48.8 70.3 48.4 70.2 33.7 67.3 15.4 87.9 38.5 Education Science Social science Liberal arts Business Engineering Other Women’s earnings as a percent of men’s Percent women in field Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 9-4. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pro-profile/profile2000.html#cont. █ Relative Earnings and Proportion of Bachelor’s Degree Holders Who are Women by Field of Training, 1996

28. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 28 Women: The Oppressed Majority █Women: Emergence of a Collective Consciousness –The feminist movement of the United States originated in upstate New York in 1848. –Early concerns were political and legal equality for women. –The movement re-emerged in the 1960s to battle sexist attitudes and the position of women in the workforce. –Feminism is very much alive today in the growing acceptance of women in nontraditional roles and even the basic acknowledgment that a married mother not only can be working outside the home but also perhaps belongs in the labor force.

29. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 29 Minority Women: Double Jeopardy █Many women experience differential treatment not only because of gender but because of race and ethnicity as well. █They experience subordinate status twice defined. █Activists among minority women do not agree on whether priority should be granted to fighting for sexual equality or to eliminating inequality among racial and ethnic groups.

30. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 30 Social Policy and Gender Stratification █The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective –The Issue Roe vs. Wade, 1973, was based on a woman’s right to privacy and granted a woman the right to terminate pregnancies. The ruling was condemned by pro-life groups who believe that life actually begins at the moment of conception and that abortion is an act of murder.

31. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 31 Social Policy and Gender Stratification █The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective –The Setting The debate following Roe vs. Wade revolves around prohibiting abortion altogether or, at the very least, putting limits on it. Changing technology, such as the “day-after” pill available in some nations, makes abortions easier to perform, even the day after conception. As of 2003, 60 percent of Americans favor a woman’s general right to have an abortion. However, only 40 percent feel abortion should be legal if a family is very poor and cannot afford a child.

32. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 32 Social Policy and Gender Stratification █ Figure 12.4: Restrictions on Public Funding for Abortion Source: NARAL Pro-Choice America 2003:xxii-xxiii.

33. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 33 Social Policy and Gender Stratification █The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective –Sociological Insights Sociologists see gender and social class as largely defining the issues surrounding abortion. The intense conflict over abortion reflects broader differences over women’s position in society. In terms of social class, the first major restriction on the legal right to abortion affected poor people. Viewed from a conflict perspective, this is one more financial burden that falls especially heavily on low- income women.

34. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 34 Social Policy and Gender Stratification █The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective –Policy Initiatives The Supreme Court currently supports the general right to terminate a pregnancy by a narrow margin. Many European nations also legalized abortions in the 1970s, although Ireland, Belgium, and Malta continue to ban it. It is primarily in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia that women are not allowed to terminate a pregnancy upon request.

35. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 35 Social Policy and Gender Stratification █ Figure 12.5: The Global Divide on Abortion Source: Developed by the author based on United Nations Population Division 1998 and Gonnut 2001.