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Chapter 8. Gender, Age, and Health. Gender and society. Sex Male or Female Biology Gender is used by sociologists to describe the cultural, psychological, and social traits associated with a biological sex These traits are either masculine or feminine. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Chapter 8Gender, Age, and Health
Gender and society Sex
› Male or Female› Biology
Gender is used by sociologists to describe the cultural, psychological, and social traits associated with a biological sex› These traits are either masculine or
feminine
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
How much of the differentiation of the genders is based on biology? Society?
Are differences learned or are they inborn?
Are differences based on biology?
Biology and plumbing It used to be theorized that males will naturally
aggressive and females were naturally docile (maternal instinct)
What we know of the biological role› Chromosomes
Each human has 23 pairs Sex chromosome determines male or female
XX for Female XY for Male
Father determines the sex› Hormones
Chemical substances in the body that stimulate or inhibit chemical processes
Female hormones are estrogen and progesterone Male hormones are testosterone and androgen
Hormones influence behavior, they do not determine behavior
Cultural and Psychological Differences
Sociologists tend to side with the belief that social influences tend to play a far greater role in determining gender› All societies have norms that determine
how genders are supposed to act Gender roles are the particular
attitudes and behaviors a society establishes for men and women
The New Guinea Study by Anthropologist Margaret Mead
Mead lived with three groups in New Guinea› Arapesh, Tchambuli, and Mundugumor
Arapesh had considerate and loving men and women› Both were responsible for care of children and hunting
Mundugumor men and women were violent toward each other
Tchambuli women were dominant over men and provided for their families› Men provided child care and were emotional› Matrilineal society
Female kinship descent for issues of inheritance and other important factors are based upon the female
From this study, Mead concluded that masculine and feminine roles were taught by culture and not inherited
Not a good stereo Stereotypes are oversimplified often exaggerated images
› Boys Play rough and tumble sports (and like sports, too) Are expected to be good at math
› Girls Be dainty and play with dolls
Opposite of a “Tom-boy” Be good at reading
Women are supposed to marry and quit their jobs to raise children› When men do it, they are called “Mr. Mom”
Men aren’t supposed to care nearly as much about their appearance as women› Metro-sexuals
Girls have dolls, boys have “action-figures” and intermingling of these is strictly forbidden
Blue is a boy’s color and pink is a girl’s color When it comes to socialization, school, family, and friends
play a huge role
Basis for gender inequalities
May be based on physical strength May be based on the idea that women
feed newborns Researchers Martin and Voorhies
suggest that the decline of gender equality began when societies became more agrarian› Plowing based on strength
The economy and gender roles Women entering the labor force
due to World War II 1980s came along
› Social expectations of material goods and higher education were out of the range of families where one person was employed
› Women also sought self-fulfillment Attitudes changed about women
who worked Feminism
› Belief that the sexes should be equal in society, politics, and economic opportunity
“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.”› Cheris Kramarae and Paula
Treichler
Inequalities still exist Sexism
› Belief that one sex is superior to others
› Pink collar jobs Pink-collar job is one
term used to describe low-status, low-paying, female-dominated occupations like secretaries, salesclerks, and food servers.
“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn't have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don't have what it takes.’“ Clare Boothe Luce
Print ads from the past
Misogyny• Hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women
Misogynists?
Changes Women’s Suffrage Movement Equal Rights Amendment Marriage
› Customs often reinforce inequalities between the sexes
› Changes in culture provide for more equality in marriage Hyphenated names for men, too
Women in the Workplace Most women have
to work in a two-parent household due to economic reasons
It is still uncommon to see› Men as teachers,
secretaries, nurses› Females as
engineers or M.D.s
Women in Politics
There are 18 US Senators who are womenThere are 92 members of the US House that are women
Age and Society
A matter of life and death Birth rate is the number of live births
divided by the population Death rate is the relationship of the
number of deaths to the total population In order to understand what these
numbers mean, an analysis of the number compared to other countries is required
Life expectancy is the average number of years a person can be expected to live
Highest Life Expectancy
Macau – 84.3 years
Lowest Life Expectancy
Angola – 38.2 years
The United States – 78.1 years
Forty-ninth in the world
Age groups Training years
› Birth to teens› Learning skills› Relatively low status
The productive years› Late teens until 65› Raising families and obtaining work› Highest achievable status during this time
Retirement years› 65 years of age› Status declines constantly due to the fact that their
contribution to society seems to diminish Not universally true (Asian cultures)
Baby boom generation occurred from 1946-1964
Attitudes about old-age Ageism
› Prejudice and discrimination against older persons
› Reinforced by the media Cranky persons who
Can’t drive Speak with sentences “When I was your
age” Always complain Have an unusually difficult time reading
things Use words like “dear” and “sonny”
The Subculture of the Elderly
Fixed incomes› Automatically budgeted› Have trouble paying certain expenses
There are more women than men› Many live alone without emotional support
Clustering in certain areas› Florida, but there are other areas
Age-based inequality In employment
› You cannot fire someone due to age, but you may lay off older workers if economic reasons are in place
› If you are over fifty, there is a distinct disadvantage to find work
Healthcare› Medicare works for persons above 65, but
it does not cover all expenses Prescriptions, dental, vision
Health and Society
Disease Control Infectious diseases are spreading
› Tuberculosis, malaria, and cholera have reemerged since 1973
HIV is running rampant in Africa Since 1973, new illnesses, such as
Ebola, Hepatitis C, and HIV have emerged
Health Care
Health care expenditures by percentage of Gross Domestic Product
# 1 United States:
13.9 % of GDP
# 2 Switzerland:
10.9 % of GDP
# 3 Germany: 10.8 % of GDP = 4 Canada: 9.4 % of GDP = 4 France: 9.4 % of GDP = 4 Greece: 9.4 % of GDP # 7 Portugal: 9.3 % of GDP # 8 Iceland: 9.2 % of GDP # 9 Australia: 9.1 % of GDP # 10 Belgium: 9 % of GDP
Quality of Health CareAs ranked by the World Health Organization
The United States is Thirty-seventh
1 France 2 Italy 3 San Marino 4 Andorra 5 Malta 6 Singapore 7 Spain 8 Oman 9 Austria 10 Japan
So why is this stuff so expensive?
New equipment (see your notes in Psych)
Breakthroughs in surgery Fear of malpractice suits Patients and doctors with an “insurance
will pay for it” attitude Health service charges patients don’t
understand Unreasonable profit expectations Preexisting conditions
Access to healthcare Your parents probably get health insurance through
their work› True for a majority of American children
If not, the may purchase it individually About 52 million Americans are uninsured Free clinics and churches do provide basic access to
healthcare in some cases› Medicare and Medicaid for those who are older or poor› Some states have SCHIP laws
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires that all businesses conform with laws that allow for equal access for all persons with disabilities› Wheelchair access, Braille, free TDD for phones
So, how do we fix it? Tort reform
› Capping damages Single payer
› Single-payer is a term used to describe a type of financing system.
› It refers to one entity acting as administrator, or “payer.”
› In the case of health care, a single-payer system would be setup such that one entity—a government run organization—would collect all health care fees, and pay out all health care costs
Increase payroll taxes for Medicare and Medicaid
HR-3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act
What it does› Small businesses will get tax credits for offering health insurance› Seniors get drug benefits› High-risk patients can purchase health insurance in a high risk
pool› Children CANNOT be denied health insurance for any reason› Children can also stay on their parents insurance until they are 26› Patients cannot be dropped from their health insurance due to
illness› Insurance companies cannot place lifetime limits on coverage› Insurance companies are required to spend 80-85% of premium
money on medical care› Medicare patients get no cost preventative care
January 1, 2014› No insurance company can ban any person for a pre-existing
condition › Annual limits on benefits end
