Gender

Inequality by Gender

The social construction of gender Routine part of everyday life We are “doing gender” without realizing it Male-female differences are either created

or exaggerated. E.g. traditional norms regarding marriage and dating

Gender role socialization These traditional gender roles have been

influential in the socialization of children

Women and Men Gender Role Media Stereotypes Children reading books in the early 1940’s-

1970’s Men and women have predefined gender

roles Women are expected to become mothers but

Want to become mothers Society defines men role by economic success These roles are influenced by media, family

peers, societal expectations, stereotypes

Five Aspects of Male Gender Role

Robert Brannon and James Doyle have identified the five aspects of male gender role: Anti-feminine element Success element Aggressive element Sexual element Self-reliant element

Males who do not conform to these gender role face constant criticism and humiliation

Nature Vs Nurture

To what extend does biological differences between sexes contribute to the cultural differences associated

with gender?

Explaining Inequality by Gender The Functionalist View

Male dominated societies are much more common

This type of gender differentiation contributes to the overall social stability

Women take the expressive emotionally supportive role-expressiveness

Man takes the instrumental practical role-instrumentality

Limitation- does not explain why men and women should be categorized in specific gender roles

The Conflict Approach Gender distinctions mask the underlining

power relations between men and women Relationship between men and women

have traditionally been of unequal power with men occupying the dominant position

Gender difference is the subjugation of one group (women) by another group (men)

Marx analysis

Feminist Perspective Conflict approach draws on the

feminist perspective Engels argued that women's

subordination coincided with the rise of private property during industrialization

Women’s subordination is part of the overall exploitation and injustice that is seen in capitalist societies

Interactionist Perspective

Functionalist and conflict perspective focuses on macro level social forces and institutions, interactionalist look at the micro level everyday behavior

E.g. study on conversation between males and females

Women: The Oppressed Majority Lack of representation in decision making

positions 5 basic characteristics which show women as

minority: Women experience unequal treatment-feminization of poverty Women have physical characteristic which distinguishes them

from the dominant group(men) Membership in the subordinate group is involuntary Most women feel that their subordinate status is most

irrevocably define within the institution of marriage

Most common analogy: Position of women and African American

Sexism and Discrimination Like racism , women suffer from sexism in

our society Sexism is the ideology that one sex is

superior to another Institutional discrimination-All major

institutions of our society-including government, armed forces, large corporations, media, universities, medical establishments are all controlled by men

Male dominated society and institutions Sexual harassment should be understood in

terms of continuing prejudice and discrimination against women

The Status of Women Worldwide

Men and women live in different worlds Access to education Work opportunities Health Personal security Human rights

Women in Workplace Women’s traditional role- homemaker Women’s participation in the workforce is

steadily increasing in the 20th century Restricting

Occupational segregation Discrimination Organizational bias-glass ceiling

Social consequences of women working

The Glass escalator Individuals learn gender roles and

stereotyping through socialization Extremely rare to find occupation with

equal gender representation Men are more less likely to enter female

dominated jobs then women are to enter male dominated jobs

Mens under-representation in Nursing Librarian Elementary school teacher Social worker

Research findings Men are preferred over women in these

women dominated jobs Many women’s encounter a glass ceiling

when entering a male dominated jobs where as men encounter glass escalators

Easier advancements and promotions Most men leave these jobs because it helps

them resolve internal conflict with masculinity

Discrimination from outsiders

Job segregation by Sex In our society the sexual division of labour

is hierarchical-with men on the top and women on the bottom

The roots of women’s present social status lie in this sex-ordered division of labour

History suggests that the division of labour was not always hierarchical so how this hierarchical division of labour became extended to wage labour in the modern world?

Patriarchy Vs Capitalism A patriarchy system was established before capitalism

came in Men controlled the labour of women and children and

in doing so men learnt the techniques of hierarchical organization and control

The emergence of capitalism threatened patriarchal control. E.g. ‘free’ market in labour, which threatened to bring all women and children in the labour force and destroy the family and the basis of the power of men over women

Then why are women still in an inferior position then men?

This paper argues that male workers have played a crucial role in maintaining sexual divisions in the labour process

Job segregation by sex, maintains the superiority of men over women, because it enforces lower wages for women-capitalist society

Thus it forces them to marry and concentrate on the domestic chores-patriarchal structure

This domestic division of labour in turn weakens women’s position in the labour market

This process is the present outcome of two interlocking systems, capitalism and patriarchy