Gender stratification Updated 10-13

Some material contained in this presentation are from Gells and Levine, 1995

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There is still a great deal of inequality between males and females in our society.

Women’s occupations typically receive less in wages and compensation than men’s.

Women make only about 80 cents to the dollar compared to men.

Women still constitute a great minority of seats in government (17 percent of congressional membership).

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Women’s gains have been slow. They are still not complete.

The United States never ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) guaranteeing full equality to women.

Women are over-represented in some occupations while being under-represented in others.

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“No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body.

No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”

Margaret Sanger

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Just what is it that is fixed in our makeup and what is socially constructed?

How much of our gender-being is changeable. Consider the following:

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1. How people speak2. Dress3. Walk4. Engage in courtship5. Get angry6. Play sports7. Deal with stress8. Choose a career

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The power to is power that is directed towards a task. We have the power TO do many things with the physical world. As such, it is benign.

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The power over is power that is used to dominate an individual or a group. In the case of gender, it is general the power of the male over the female.

This might be considered a misuse of power.

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Patriarchy

Patriarchy is the most pervasive form of institutional sexism.

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Men dominating a conversation Men assuming a controlling role such as in

business. Men assuming that women are less competent. Men excluding women from “men’s” events such as

business or recreational activities.

Consider golf.

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Gentlemen Only

Ladies Forbidden

19Click on image for John Boehner Women and Golf Story

Individual sexism: The belief that one’s sex is superior to the other.

Institutional sexism: Policies, practices and procedures that result in unequal outcomes for men or women.

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Glass Ceiling: The invisible barrier to women’s advancement in the corporate world. The women can SEE opportunities, but is ignored because of her gender.

Reasons given for deliberate failure to promote women often have to do with their presumed role as a mother.

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Glass walls: The barriers that prevent women from accessing experience laterally—the process of gaining experience by working in different departments in preparation for promotion.

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“Strongly held overgeneralizations about people in some designated social category.”

Basow 1992

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Some of the following slides are from “The Meaning of Gender” by Judith A. Howard and Jocelyn

A. Hollander in Charon, 2009

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“… a set of prescriptions and proscriptions for behavior—expectations about what behaviors are appropriate … in a particular social context.”

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Click on image for story and video

States Scott M. Lewis: The basic premise of THE BEAUTY MYTH is that forced

adherence to standards of physical beauty has grown stronger for women as they gained power in other societal arenas. Wolf argues that this standard of beauty has taken over the work of social coercion formerly left to myths about motherhood, domesticity, chastity, and passivity, all of which have been used to keep women powerless. … However, Wolf contends that the beauty myth is really not about women, it is about men’s institutions and power.

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dysmorphia |disˈmôrfēə|noun Medicine deformity or abnormality in the shape or size of a

specified part of the body: muscle dysmorphia. Body dysmorphic disorder is a type of chronic mental illness

in which you can't stop thinking about a flaw with your appearance — a flaw that is either minor or imagined. But to you, your appearance seems so shameful that you don't want to be seen by anyone. Body dysmorphic disorder has sometimes been called "imagined ugliness." (Mayo Clinic staff)

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“Gender identity refers to one’s inner sense of oneself

as female or male; it is a major part of one’s self-

concept.”

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“Gender identity may or may not be congruent with someone’s sex or gender,

and it is unrelated to sexual orientation.”

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“… often used to refer to a a group of related concepts,

including:

•Sexual Behavior (what you do)•Eroticism (what turns you on)•Sexual Orientation (who turns you on)•Or desire to engage in sexual activity”

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“It is the social context, not the activity itself, that leads us to impute meaning to the woman’s [and the man’s] action as being erotic.”

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“The definition of men as aggressive and women as passive reinforces men’s power over women and women’s dependence on men.”

Or does it? Discuss.

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While sex is biologically determined, gender is not.

Gender is socially constructed. It is part of the socialization process. It is cultural.

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1983 1991 1995Female-Dominated Occupations Percent Female

 Registered nurses 95.8 94.8 93.1Elementary school teachers 83.3 85.9 84.1Retail salesclerks 69.7 66.7 64.6

  Secretaries 99.0 99.0 98.5Receptionists 96.8 97.1 96.5Bank tellers 91.0 96.0 90.5Private household workers 96.1 96.0 95.5 

 Male-Dominated Occupations Percent Male

 Physicians 84.2 79.9 77.1 Lawyers and judges 84.2 81.1 75.8Engineers 94.2 91.8 91.6Teachers—college and university 63.7 59.2 54.8Executives, administrators 67.6 59.4 62.0Managers 78.2 69.4 64.3Protective service personnel (fire, police, etc.) 87.2 84.8 84.1Precision artisans, repair persons 91.9 91.4 91.1Motor vehicle operators 90.8 89.4

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Adapted from a variety of government sources. Found in Gelles and Levine, 1999: 369

NOTE: This is a bitOut of date now

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Functionalism Conflict Theory Interactionist

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Consider the family as organized along “instrumental-expressive” lines. That is, men specializing in instrumental tasks such as having a job and making money, while women focus on expressive tasks such as raising children and supporting their husbands.

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While sex is a given in nature, gender is a social construction. We create a social context which exacerbates differences between the sexes.

If that is the case, can we undo what we have created?

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This perspective stresses the differences in class-subject position emphasized by the dominant social structure.

Both in the workplace and in the home social status is differentiated with the male maintaining dominance.

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