Chapter 8

Gender Inequality

Gender Stratification

Sources of Gender Differences

Sociological Perspectives on Gender Stratification

McGraw-Hill © 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

8-2

Gender Stratification

Sex: genetic definition; determines role in reproduction

Gender: sociological distinction between males and females

Gender identity: one’s self-concept of being male or female

Gender roles: cultural expectations about behavior of each sex

What is the difference

between Sex and Gender? SEX GENDER

Primarily refers to physical attributes-body

characteristics notably sex organ which are

distinct in majority of individuals.

Is the composite of attitudes and behavior

of men and women (masculinity and

femininity)

Is biologically determined – by genes and

hormones media; thus it

Is learned and perpetuated primarily

through: the family, education, religion

(where dominant) and is an acquired

identity

Is relatively fixed/constant through time

and across cultures

Because it is socialized, it may be variable

through time and across cultures.

8-3

8-4

Gender Stratification

Sexism: gender inequality perpetuated by complex processes

― Individual level: belief that one sex is superior to the other

Roles are primary cause of differential distribution of power, status, and income

― Institutional level: policies, procedures, and practices that produce unequal outcomes for men and women

8-5

Gender Stratification

Do women constitute a minority group?

Prejudice and discrimination

Physical and cultural traits

Self-conscious social group

Membership is involuntary

Only endogamy does not apply to women

8-6

Gender Stratification

Patriarchy: system of social organization in which men have disproportionate share of power

Lorber: early societies were egalitarian

Davis-Kimball: archaeological evidence of female military and social power

8-7

Gender Stratification

World Gender Inequality

U.S. State Department Annual Human Rights Report of 194 nations

Sex trade and forced labor

Ghana, Bangladesh, and others

Honor killings

Worldwide, an estimated 350,000 women annually die during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first six weeks after delivery

8-8

8-9

Gender Stratification

World Gender Inequality (continued)

Women sexually victimized throughout the world

Female genital mutilation

Transmission of HIV to young women and girls by older men

2/3 of world’s illiterates are female

Some women around the world do better than U.S. women in some areas

8-10

Gender Stratification

U.S. Gender Inequality (continued)

Sexual inequality sustained by assigning economic-provider role to men and child-rearing role to women

Today, marriage and family less of an organizing force in women’s lives

Delay marriage and childbearing

More help from males at home

Women still carry most of the child care and housework burden in families

8-11

8-12

Gender Stratification

U.S. Gender Inequality (continued)

U.S. women’s labor-force participation is 59% (2010)

Women entering college in higher numbers than men

Little change in gender segregation of occupations between 1900 and 1970

8-13

8-14

Gender Stratification

U.S. Gender Inequality (continued)

The Glass Ceiling

Number of women top executives and board directors increased over years, but top positions still elude women executives

16.1% of Fortune 500 companies’ board seats were held by women (2011)

14.1% of their corporate officer positions were filled by women (2011)

7.5% of the country’s top earners were female (2011)

8-15

Gender Stratification

U.S. Gender Inequality (continued)

Disparities in Pay

On average, women employed full-time in 2010 earned only 81.2 cents for each dollar earned by males, up from 60.7 cents per dollar in 1960

8-16

8-17

8-18

8-19

Gender Stratification

U.S. Gender Inequality (continued)

Career Patterns: Out of Sync with Family Life

Women who have children encounter substantial career disadvantages

Equal opportunity for women in public sphere remains substantially frustrated by gender-role differentiation within family

8-20

Gender Stratification

Sexual Harassment and Rape

Sexual harassment

“Unwelcome” sexual attention, whether verbal or physical, that affects an employee’s job conditions or creates a “hostile” working environment

Rape most violent form of sexual victimization

Culture and gender inequality combine to powerfully influence prevalence of rape and sexual aggression

8-21

Gender Stratification

Politics and Government

Number of women in politics in U.S. increased in recent years

35 states have had female governors

U.S. Senate had 17 women serving in 2011; 76 representatives were women

Women have turned out in greater numbers than men to vote in recent elections

8-22

Gender Stratification

Politics and Government (continued)

Political success not steady pace

Structural factors include low “supply” of women candidates

Political factors include low “demand” for women candidates

Ideological beliefs

8-23

Gender Stratification

Women’s Movement

Substantial impact on way Americans think and act; legal and social equality

Opportunities for women changed over past several decades

Women still significantly disadvantaged

As more women reach positions of economic, political, and social power, changes may occur at more rapid pace

8-24

Sources of Gender Differences

Gender and Biology

Hyde: 78% of gender differences in meta-analyses were small or close to zero

Males and females differ little in life satisfaction, happiness, self-esteem, attitudes about work, approaches to leadership, reading, and mathematics abilities

Hyde: information showed some gender differences change with growth and development

Others depend on social context

8-25

Sources of Gender Differences

Gender and Culture

All societies assign gender roles

Born into societies with well-established cultural guidelines for behavior of men and women

Great variation in gender roles from one society to another

Gender roles largely social definition and socially constructed messages

8-26

Sources of Gender Differences

Gender Identities

Cultural Transmission Theory

Acquisition of gender identities and behaviors is gradual process of learning that begins in infancy

Children given cues to their gender roles

Cognitive Development Theory

Children label themselves “boys” or “girls” between 18 months and 3 years of age

Use stereotyped images to organize behavior and cultivate gender-based attitudes and actions

8-27

8-28

Sources of Gender Differences

Gender Identities

Self-Construals and Gender

Independent self-construal model describes men better than it does women in U.S.

Interdependent self-construal model describes U.S. women best

8-29

Sociological Perspectives on

Gender Stratification

The Functionalist Perspective

Gender division of labor promoted survival of species

Critics: view becomes powerful justification for existence of gender inequality

8-30

Sociological Perspectives on

Gender Stratification

The Conflict Perspective

Gender inequality benefits men, who use the power it gives them to ensure its perpetuation

Exploitation of labor

Availability of sexual gratification

Availability of tools for procreation

Acker: in industrial capitalist societies, production is privileged over reproduction

8-31

Sociological Perspectives on

Gender Stratification

The Interactionist Perspective

Gender socially constructed and internally based

Societal behavior follows internal meanings of gender

Linguistic usages of gender terms such as “men,” “he,” “she,” “boys,” and “girls”

8-32

Sociological Perspectives on

Gender Stratification

The Feminist Perspective

Johnson: patriarchal culture favors instrumental functions over expressive ones

Ferree and Hall: grouping process is socially costly repression of individual variation and potential

Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin: everyday interactions recreate the gender system