Sex and Gender 1. Gender stratification: men and women's unequal access to power, prestige, and property. 2. Sex: refers to biological characteristics 3. Gender is a social characteristic that varies from one society to another; it is what the group considers proper for males and females. The sociological significance of gender: it serves as a primary sorting device by which society controls its members, and thus is a structural feature of society. Opening the door to biology *Some sociologists argue that biological factors are key to important social behaviors making most males more aggressive and domineering and most females more comforting and nurturing. 2. Alice Rossi suggested that women are better prepared biologically for "mothering" than are men; natural biological predispositions are overlaid with culture. Gender Inequality in Global Perspective Horticultural and hunting-gathering societies had much less gender discrimination than is present in contemporary societies. A. Sex typing of work 1. Murdock's survey of 324 premodern societies found a. Activities were sex-typed in all of them. b. Activities considered female in one society may be male in another. c. A few tasks were almost universally assigned to males. 2. It can be concluded that there is no biological requirement for assigning males and females to different work. B. Prestige of work: Universally greater prestige is given male activities regardless of what they are. C. Other areas of global discrimination 1. Education a. Two-thirds of those in the world who can not read are female. b. Seventy percent of the world's children not attending grade school are girls. 2. Politics a. There are fewer women than men in every national legislature. b. In most nations, including the United States, women hold about 10 percent of the national legislative seats.
c. In Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, women cannot vote. 3. The pay gap a. Women average less pay than men in every nation. b. U.S. women in manufacturing jobs earn about two-thirds of men's wages. 4. Violence against women a. Historical examples include footbinding in China, suttee (burning the living widow with her dead husband's body) in India, and witch burning in Europe. b. Examples of ongoing practices include rape, wife beating, forced prostitution, female infanticide, and female circumcision. Gender Inequality in the United States the rise of feminism 1. The background a. Women in the United States did not have the right to vote, hold property, testify in court, or serve on a jury; also, a woman's pay was handed over to her father or husband. c. As conflict theorists point out, males could not be expected to surrender their privileges willingly. d. In the US and Europe, women's rights resulted from a prolonged and bitter struggle. 2. Feminism --the philosophy that men and women should be politically; economically and socially equal, met with strong opposition from both men and women. a. In the first wave of feminism, the conservatives dominated until the movement dissolved after the vote was won in 1920. b. Beginning in the 1960s, the second wave emphasized gender inequalities in areas ranging from the workplace to violence against women. Gender inequality in education 1. It was assumed in the past that women were incapable of the same educational achievement as men. 2. Although changes have been made, inequalities still exist. a. In sports, boys play football while girls join the drill team. b. In college 89 percent of home economics degrees are awarded to women, and 86 percent of engineering degrees are awarded to men. c. Gender socialization imparts different orientations to males and females; for example, males and females enter college with different aspirations, which serve to channel them into gender-"appropriate" fields. d. In graduate school, women are less likely than men to complete doctorates. e. As graduates move into the university as professors, gender inequality persists, and the more prestigious the University, the greater the discrimination. Gender inequalities in everyday life
1. Women s capacities, interests, attitudes, and contributions are devalued. a. Masculinity (representing strength and success) is valued more highly. b. Femininity is seen as failure and weakness. 2. Gender inequality also occurs in everyday conversation. For example, men are more likely to interrupt a conversation and to control the change of topics. Gender Relations in the Workplace A. Changes in the work force: Going back to 1890, when only 1 in 5 females was employed outside the home, the gap between the percentage of men and women in the work force is now the smallest it has ever been. B. The pay gap 1. On average, men earn $19,000 to $20,000 a year more than women. 2. Differences in pay exist at all levels of education. 3. Women's wages average 76 percent of males. 4. A pay gap between males and females exists in all industrialized nations, but Japan is the only one having a gender gap larger than the US. 5. Reasons for the pay gap a. Half the gap results from women holding lower-paying jobs. b. women are more likely to work part-time. c. women are often paid less for the same work (gender discrimination). C. The "glass ceiling" describes an invisible barrier that keeps women from reaching the executive suite. 1. Few CEO of the 350 largest U.S. corporations are women. 2. Reasons women are blocked from core corporate positions a. Women work in areas outside the pipeline to the top positions. b. In upper ranks, the gap is preserved through an "old boys" network. c. Women do not have successful executives as mentors. 3. Men in traditional "women's" occupations find a "glass escalator" that moves them to the top faster than women. D. The "mommy track" 1. Since most wives spend more time and take greater responsibility in caring for the children, Schwartz suggested that corporations offer women a choice of two parallel career paths: a. The "fast track," a demanding position that may require 60 or 70 hours of work per week b. The "mommy track," a less demanding work situation stressing both career and family 2. Critics argue that encouraging women to be satisfied with lower aspirations and fewer promotions
a. Would assume child rearing is women's work b. Would perpetuate or increase the executive pay gap c. Should keep women out of top executive positions 3. Critics suggest that a better way is for husbands to share responsibility at home and for firms to provide day care. Sexual harassment 1. Until 1976, women did not draw a connection between unwanted sexual advances on the job and their subordinate positions at work. 2. As women began to discuss the problem, they named it and came to see unwanted sexual advances by men in powerful positions as a structural problem. 3. With more women in positions of power, sexual harassment has begun to affect men as well as women. Gender and Violence l. Rape a. In the US, 96 of every l00,000 women are raped each year. b. The rapists are almost exclusively young males. 2. Date, or acquaintance, rape a. The most common form of date rape is between couples who have known each other for about a year. b. Most date rapes go unreported. c. Those that are reported are difficult to prosecute because juries are hard to convince that a rape actually occurred. 2. Murder a. Women are much less likely to kill than men. b. When a woman is the victim, the killer is a man 90% of the time. 4. Violence in the home: Examples include spouse battering, marital rape, and incest. A feminist understanding of gender patterns in violence 1. Feminist sociologists stress how culture promotes violence by males, arguing that U.S. culture teaches males to associate power, dominance, strength, virility, and superiority with masculinity 2. Using conflict theory feminist sociologists contend that violence against women is an expression of male power, and that men use violence to try to maintain a higher status. 3. Solutions
a. To be effective, any solution must include breaking the connection between violence and masculinity b. This will require a wholesale educational program that must incorporate schools churches, and homes The Changing Face of Politics A. Unlike many other nations, the US has never had a female president. B. Women are underrepresented in political office, especially in higher office. 2. Women find the roles of mother and politician incompatible 3. Women are less likely to have a supportive spouse who will take a background role while providing solace, encouragement, child care, and voter appeal. 4. Men have been reluctant to incorporate women into centers of decision making or to present them as viable candidates. *Trends in the 1990s indicate that women will participate in political life in far greater numbers than in the past. Glimpsing the Future with Hope A. The vast increase in the number of employed women will gradually force changes in gender images and gender relations. B. As women play a fuller role in the decision-making processes, further structural obstacles to women's participation in society may decrease.