Gender Blackboard Version

7/28/2019 Gender Blackboard Version

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Week Three

SS-1065D


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Last week.. Theory: Marx, Weber, Durkheim/Parsons, Bourdieu

Life-chances how well people get on in life acrossvarious domains including e.g. income, housing, health,

education Class identification: to what extent do people identify as

belonging to a particular class?

Social mobility the extent to which a person can

move out of one class and into another Think about: how class divisions intersect with ethnicity

and gender divisions.

Feedback from last weeks discussion


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This weekWhat is the difference between sex

and gender?

Gender and power

Gender as a social division

Feminist theories of why and howgender operates as a social division


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Definitions Sex biological differences anatomical, hormonal

Gender the social identity that has become

historically and culturally attached to being male orfemale. Masculinity and femininity used to

describe the social roles, expectations and

behaviours linked to each gender. (e.g.see Ann

Oakley Sex, Gender and Society [1974]) Simone de Beauvoir (1949)The Second Sex

one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.

Performing gender(Judith Butler).


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Social construction of gender Social construction social

identities attached to maleness and

femaleness are not natural. They

are produced and interpreted byhuman beings in society.

Primary socialisation or sex role

socialisation (birth young

childhood) (e.g. Bem 1989, Durkin

1995, Oakley1972)

Education (Murphy & Elwood 1998)

Advertising (Goffman 1976 Gender

Advertisements)

Everyday gender relations


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Gender and power Knowledge is a human product not an objective truth out

there waiting to be found (see Foucault).

Knowledge produced by men privileging masculine

standpoint which has been thought of as neutral. Women as Other, not men. He is the Absolute. She is the

Other.(Simone de Beauvoir 1949)

Patriarchy a system of social structures and practices inwhich men dominate, oppress and exploit women (Walby:

1990:20). Operates through paid work, domestic labour,sexuality, the state, violence and culture.

Hegemonic masculinity an idealised form of masculinitybased on assumptions of mens greater physical and mentalprowess. Oppresses women AND men.


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Masculine and feminine

attributes and roles Masculinities imposed on men and femininities imposed on

women. Social control

Natural qualities of men and women (Gove and Wat

2000):

Men active, commanding, unemotional, decisive, assertive

Women anxious, gentle, perceptive, vulnerable, co-operative

Implications:

What occupations are men thought to be suited to and what

occupations are women thought to be suited to?

How should men and women act in personal relations with one

another? Who performs which roles in families/households?


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Gender and social divisions Not just that men and women have different roles in

society but that these are structural, social in origin andthat men hold more power than women (Abbott 2006).

Gender forms universal categorisation in all societies.Hierarchy in which men and mens activities andattributes are more highly valued. However, whatconstitutes masculinity + femininity differs betweencultures because SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED.

Women as second sex - but men can also beconstrained by ideas of masculinity

BUT social construction of these values and practicesmeans can change! Agency.


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Gender and education Changing trends: girls doing better academically at all

levels of education up to degree level

Subject choices: young women social sciences,medicine, creative arts. Young men maths, engineering,technology.

Concerns about working-class boys

More boys at the extremes doing very well or verybadly. Overall although girls improving at a faster rate,

boys performance at school has improved too over past20 years.

The culture of school who does it work out for?

Intersections with ethnicity and class (see Week 10Education)


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Gender and labour-force: Sex

and Power report 2011 (EHRC) Middle management/professionals

45% of solicitors are women, majority of full timeteachers are women (but only a third of heads)

Top jobs If women had equal representation among UKs

26,000 top positions of power, estimates that around5,400 more women would rise to these levels

Very small increase since 2008 in number of women intop jobs

Only 12.5% of FTSE 100 directors are women,secondary school heads 35.5%, chief execs ofvoluntary orgs. 48%


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Gender and the labour-force Gender and economic activity

http://www.poverty.org.uk/48/b.pdf (data from Labour ForceSurvey May 2011 data is 2010)

Types of jobs: Occupations still heavily gendered (Abbott 2006)(although

see Sex and Power report)

from control by men in the home to control in the workforceor the state (wife/secretary, mother/primary school

teacher)? (Abbott 2006) More women than men in part-time work:

In 2003 21 % or women and 5.3% of men in p/t (Abbott2006)
http://www.poverty.org.uk/48/b.pdfhttp://www.poverty.org.uk/48/b.pdf


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Gender and labour-force cont. Gender and pay:

Young men and women start out on similar earnings butmen then outstrip womens earning s in mid-life (Social

Trends 2000, ONS) (not totally explained by p/t work) in all occupations, women earn less than men. Inequality is

greatest in the higher paid jobs (Janes 2006)

Gender and orientation to work (Catherine Hakim1991, 1995)preference theory - home-centred,

adapters, work-centred women. Says women chose +often satisfied with low-status, p/t, low-paid jobs to fitwith domestic roles. Critiqued by feminist sociologists!

Gender and poverty


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Unpaid domestic labour Domestic labour although women are more likely

to be in paid employment outside the home, they still

do most of the domestic labour as well

Women still take primary responsibility for childcare

even when in paid work (Family and Working Lives SurveyDepartment for Education and Employment 1998)

Emotional labour

Division of household tasks is more equal among

younger couples and those with higher educational

qualifications (British Social Attitudes Survey 1998)


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Violence Domestic violence against women of reproductive age causes

as many deaths as cancer, and more deaths than road traffic

accidents and malaria combined. (World Bank, 1993)

Statistics on domestic violence in the UK (Womens Aid)

1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their life-

time

2 women a week are murdered by their current or formerpartner

1 incident of domestic violence is reported to the police

every minute.


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FeminismFirst recorded use of the word in English in

1894

Feminism is focussed on socialtransformation with womens emancipation

at its core (Lynne Segal 2000)

But also free men from social control andconstraints exerted by hegemonic

masculinities


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Feminist approachesAbbots (2006) categorisation:

Realist gender divisions have an

existence in society beyond the lives ofindividuals who make them up

Socially constructed - genderdivisions are bound up in our personalbeliefs and how these are acted out inour day-to-day interactions with otherpeople


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Liberal feminism Mary Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of

Woman(1792).

Women associated with nature (bodies) and passion.Men with reason (Rousseau) and culture

Women oppressed because confined to reproduction andprivate sphere (body and passion)

Solution: Desexualise reason, passion, nature andculture. Men AND women capable of reason so womenshould have rights to education, entry into public sphere.Equal opportunities.

Problem: Ignores social value of what is done in theprivate sphere. Also if women socially and economicallydependent on men, cant take advantage of formalequality.


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Socialist feminism Public/private spheres are interdependent

Problem with liberal feminism: to be equal women mustaccept male standards, but no reciprocal role reversal

expected of men in home The personal is political

Second wave feminism (1960s/70s) focuses on domesticsphere as site of womens oppression

Economic inequalities, unpaid domestic labour (AnnOakley 1974 Housewife)

Womens inequality because of systematic operationof capitalism and patriarchy working together.


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Radical feminism Patriarchy is primary source of oppression - explainingoppression as women rather than workers

Sexuality, marriage, motherhood, domestic violence

aspects of womens intimate experiences in privatedomain

Links between sexuality and social control of womenthrough violence

Womens commonality, celebrating womens difference

from men - sisterhood, women centred culture Private experience into politics not previously seen in

scope of politics before

Rape crisis and womens aid centres


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As a forty nine-year-old BlackLesbian socialist mother of two,including one boy, and memberof an inter-racial couple, I usuallyfind myself a part of some groupdefined as other, deviant, inferioror just plain wrong (Audre Lorde1984)

Sojourner Truth (1852)Aint I awoman?

Anna Julia Cooper -intersectionality (A Voice from theSouth 1892)

Intersectionality

Anna Julia Cooper


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Black feminists 1980s black feminist criticise ethnocentric basis of

mainstream feminist

bell hooks (1987) if men are not equals in white

supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal class structure,

which men do women want to be equal to?

Home as a site of oppression or as a positive site of

refuge against racism? (bell hooks) Sari Squad, Southall Black Sisters


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Feminism and post-modernism Post-modernism - turn to culture move away from material

structures. No absolute truth.

The power of language to construct our understanding of

the world Foucault and discoursea group of statements which

provide a language for talking about a topic (Stuart Hall

1992: 291)

Dominant discourse of femininity cluster of generally

accepted ideas of what constitutes appropriate femininity

(Janes 2009). Control and surveillance.

From patriarchy (top-down power) to gendered power in

everyday practices and relationships at every level of

society


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Discussion


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What is gender? How is

it socially constructed?


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Young women now earn more thanmen article

To what extent do you think womenhave broken the glass-ceiling?Give evidence for your answers

Things to think about:What kinds of jobs do women get?

Are women in positions of power?

How does womens pay compare tomens?


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Essays Read marking criteria

HOW DO DIFFERENT SOCIAL DIVISIONS INTERACT?

Learning Strategies class, Learner Development Unit

Questions?

Come to see me with essay plans (V. IMPORTANT)

What will your arguments be?

What will you focus on? How will you structure it?

What references will you use?


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References Beauvoir, S. de (1953)The Second Sex, London: Jonathan Cape.

First published 1949.

Bem, S. L (1989) Genital knowledge and gender constancy in pre-

school children, Child Development, 60: 649-62.

Durkin, K. (1995) Developmental Social Psychology, from Infancy to

Old Age, Oxford: Blackwell.

Gove, J. & Watt, S. (2000) Identity and Gender. In K. Woodward

(ed.) Questioning Identity: gender, class, ethnicity, London:

Routledge. Hakim, C. (1991) Grateful slaves and self-made women: fact and

fantasy in womens work orientations, European Sociological

Review, 7: 101-21.


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References continued hooks, b. (1987)Feminism: a movement to end sexist

oppression in Philips, A. (ed.) Feminism and Equality,Oxford: Blackwells

Janes, L. (2002) Understanding gender divisions:feminist perspectives. In P. Braham and L. Janes SocialDifferences and Divisions, Blackwell: Oxford.

Lorde, A. (1984) Sister Outsider, Trumansburg, NY: TheCrossing Press

Murphy, P. & Elwood, J. (1998) Gendered experiences,choices and achievementsexploring the links, Journalof Inclusive Education, 2(2): 95-118.

Oakley, A. (1972) Sex, Gender and Society, Aldershot:Gower Publishing

Documents

Gender Blackboard Version