Chapter 6 Flashcards
what does the ambivalent sexism theory state?
that chivalry toward women constitutes a type of sexism (called benevolent sexism)
all known human societies have been patriarchal, what does that mean?
certain groups of men organize the society and control how it operates
what is a matriarchal society?
women organize the society and constitute the dominant group
what is the myth of matriatchy?
idea that dominant women governed early societies ancestral women ruled over peaceful, nature-loving societies and people worshipped goddesses over gods (many people believe this)
what is so special about bonobo chimpanzees?
they share about 99% of their genes with humans
what type of society do bonobo chimpanzees have?
dominant female apes govern bonobo groups
sexual (including some same sex sexual activity)
what are matrilineal societies?
trace descent through the mothers kinship line and pass inheritance down from mothers
what are patrilineal societies?
trace descent and pass inheritance through fathers
what is a matrilocal society?
a society in which husbands typically live near their wives families
what is a patrilocal society?
a society in which wives typically live near their husbands families
are matrilineal and matrilocal societies matriarchies?
no because women in these societies hold less overall political and decision making power than men
what is power?
the capacity to determine ones own and other peoples outcomes
what is structural power?
the power to shape societies and social systems (i.e. determining which groups of people have (or lack) access to resources, education, autonomy, jobs…)
patriarchal power is structural
what is dyadic power?
power to choose intimate partners and relationships and to control the interactions that occur within those relationships
who has dyadic power, men or women?
can be both
ex. women sometimes (depending on age, ethnicity, income) have more influence over private matters in relationships and the household
how does the sex ratio in a given environment influence levels of dyadic power that the sexes hold?
sex ratio theory: when men outnumber women, women should hold more dyadic power because they have a larger pool of potential partners and more alternatives to choose from if they grow dissatisfied with current partners (not always true)
how are structural and dyadic powers interconnected?
ex. womens levels of dyadic power impacting how much structural power they have
do all women experience increases in dyadic power when men outnumber them?
no
i.e. in india men outnumber women but women are at risk of bride purchase, partner violence and rape
what does it mean if theres a high sex ratio?
more men than women
what happens when women outnumber men?
men tend to have more dyadic power because they have a larger pool of potential mates
what does sex ratio theory say occurs when women outnumber men?
encourages male promiscuity
discourages male commitment (heterosexual marriage rates decline)
people marry later
divorce rates will climb
what are three different types of power?
force
resource control
cultural ideologies
what is force?
capacity to inflict physical or psychological harm
ex. domestic abuse, emotional abuse, rape, sexual harassment, murder, child abuse, slavery, human trafficking, imprisonment and capital punishment
what groups use force to exert power?
dominant groups
(men, to go against women)
(heterosexual and cisgender people to go against LGBTQ)
(white men against men of color)
what is resource control?
controlling the creation or distribution of essential and desirable goods (money, land, food)
how does resource control give power to dominant groups (i.e. men)?
having access to more resources correlates with safety, health, freedom and quality of life
white heterosexual men have more resource control than other groups, but what is one exception to this pattern?
custody following divorce
what are cultural ideologies?
sets of beliefs and assumptions about groups that explain and justify unequal social hierarchies (it represents reality the way dominant groups see it)
what are examples of group based power dominant groups? (dominant groups controlling cultural ideologies)
androcentrism
ethnocentrism
heterocentrism
what is androcentrism?
a cultural ideology that defines men and their experiences as universal and treats women and their experiences as deviations from the male norm
what is ethnocentrism?
tendency to view ones own culture as the universal standard and to judge other cultures as deviations from the norm
afghanistan doesnt have starbs so they must be poor
what is heterocentrism?
assumption that heterosexuality is the universal and that other sexualities are deviations from this norm
in respect to cultural ideologies how do subordinate groups feel?
allows them to accept their lower status
ex. heterosexual women accepting that her husbands status is above hers
what is privilege?
automatic, unearned advantages associated with belonging to a dominant group (privilege relates to power)
how can members of dominant groups create a bigger awareness for their privilege?
classroom discussions
when they have opportunities over time to interact positively with others from different backgrounds
what is the double jeopardy hypothesis?
hypothesis that individuals who belong to two or more subordinate groups face more discrimination that individuals who belong to only one subordinate group
ex. women of color
ex. women with disabilities
what is the intersectional invisibility hypothesis?
prediction that people with multiple subordinate identities are noticed less than those with one subordinate identity
what is known as the prototypical/ default sex
men
how are women prototypically viewed? what about gay men?
white and straight
white and male
(this is because prototypically if you are apart of a subordinate group, you are not apart of a second subordinate group)
how can invisibility serve as a protective function?
because non prototypical group members receive less notice and attention from others they can escape some discrimination
ex. black men experience higher rates of incarceration and employment bias than black women
why cant men be targets of sexism?
they have more structural power
what is sex based discrimination?
negative or unfair treatment based on sex
can men be targets of sex based discrimination?
yes
what is sexism?
negative attitudes toward individuals based solely on their sex, combined with institutional and cultural practices that support the unequal status of different sex categories
what is ambivalent sexism theory?
a theory proposing that gender relations are characterized by both negative attitudes toward women (hostile sexism) and seemingly positive attitudes toward women (benevolent sexism)
explains the distinction between hostile sexism and benevolent sexism
according to ambivalent sexism theory what characterizes the relations between women and men across time and cultures?
hostile and benevolent attitudes
what is hostile sexism?
negative, antagonistic and derogatory beliefs about women and their roles
(insults women)
ex. women manipulate and control men sexually
what do heterosexual women and men share more than any other pair of social groups?
physical and psychological intimacy
what is benevolent sexism?
subjectively positive attitudes towards women who conform to traditional gender role norms
(it flatters women, making it more socially acceptable)
ex. “you mean a woman can open it?”
what are negatives about benevolent sexism?
patronizes women because it portrays them as weak and in need of protection
what is an example of a cultural ideology that justifies mens need for women by portraying them as wonderful, pure and worthy of protection?
womens reproductive labor and childcare both benefit men
where do people who are high in benevolent sexism stand in respect to a rape case?
they assign less blame to the person who raped and assign more blame to survivors of rape and dont support if the person raped got pregnant from the incident
how do hostile and benevolent ideologies complement one another?
they both perpetuate a gender hierarchy where men have more power than women but depend on women
what are 2 examples of how hostile and benevolent sexism complement one another?
benevolent sexism rewards women who accept traditional roles without fuss and hostile sexism punishes women who reject these roles
hostile and benevolent sexism work to maintain mens dominance over women
what do hostile attitudes towards men consist of?
resentment toward men who are viewed as arrogant, power hungry, childish and sexually predatory
what do benevolent attitudes towards men consist of?
positive attitudes about mens roles as protectors and providers and beliefs that men out to be cared for domestically by women
what are gender role attitudes?
beliefs about the roles that women and men have to occupy in society
what did the attitudes toward women scale measure (AWS)?
beliefs about the rights and roles of women and men in the community, workplace and home
what is a recent downside of the attitudes toward women scale measure?
ceiling effect (most peoples scores cluster at the high end of the scale which reduces the scales usefulness as a statistical predictor)
what is the sex role egalitarianism scale and traditional- egalitarian sex role scale?
scales that assess both traditional and egalitarian beliefs about gender roles across a range of domains (education, marriage, parenting…) and tend to show ceiling effects
what was the modern sexism scale?
scale that made an effort to capture sexist beliefs that people may be reluctant to reveal on more traditional scales such as the AWS
(the MS scale measures a more socially acceptable way to express sexism toward women, i.e. denial that discrimination against women is no longer a problem in the US)
what is modern sexism?
acknowledges that gender discrimination was a problem in the past but asserts that women and men now have equal opportunities
what is the ambivalent sexism inventory and ambivalence toward men inventory?
scales that simultaneously reflect both hostile and benevolent beliefs about women and their roles
what did researchers find about the ambivalent sexism inventory and ambivalence toward men inventory?
scales are positively correlated (both positive and negative beliefs jointly fuel sexism and gender inequality)
what is the genderism and transphobia scale?
assesses beliefs about the naturalness of gender identities that fall outside the male- female binary
assesses attitudes about the legitimacy of transgender identity
what are social dominance and system justification theories useful for?
explaining more generally how unequal group hierarchies persist within societies
what is social dominance orientation (SDO)?
extent to which they believe that social groups are and should be equal versus hierarchical
what occurs to those low in social dominance orientation?
they reject status hierarchies
what occurs to those high in social dominance orientation?
they believe that inequality is right and fair because some groups should have more status than others
what sex scores higher on social dominance orientation?
men
how does social dominance orientation correlate with cultural ideologies?
both legitimize unequal hierarchies such as sexism, racism and prejudice against sexual minority individuals
what types of occupations do people with high social dominance orientation occupy?
jobs that protect the interests of high status groups (law, politics and business)
what types of occupations do people with low social dominance orientation occupy?
jobs that benefit members of subordinate groups (social work, counseling and special education)
what does social dominance theory have to say about why members of subordinate groups defend a system that denies their power?
as long as the social hierarchy is perceived as stable and unchanging, subordinate groups will generally internalize cultural ideologies that justify their own low status
what is system justificatin theory?
proposes that people are motivated to justify the sociopolitical system in which their lives are embedded
(can lead to subordinate group members endorsing more favorable stereotypes about the dominant group than about their own group)
what is the argument for the side of the debate that men do not experience sexism?
cant experience sexism because they have higher levels of structural power
what is the argument for the side of the debate that men do experience sexism?
many men occupy the lower status side of the social hierarchy
ex. men receive harsher prison sentences than women
it is also sexist for example if one says “men cant take care of children” this leads to them not having custody
what is gender discrimination?
unjust treatment based solely on ones sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity
what is the difference between gender discrimination and sexism?
gender discrimination can be directed to any social group (even dominant ones) whereas, sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior to the other
who experiences more gender bias, men or women?
women, but not by much
what is an example of overt gender discrimination?
employer refuses to consider well qualified women because they are women
employer doesnt allow their male employees to take paternity leave
women needing permission to get a passport
what are microaggressions?
common everyday insults and indignities directed toward members of subordinate social groups (can be verbal or behavioral)
what are examples of microagressions?
mansplaining
gay man gets asked to do decorations because “youre probably good at that kind of thing”
man telling a woman she should smile more
(microaggressions are not intended to be hurtful)
the world economic forum annually reports a global gender gap index, what is it?
its an index that attempts to capture the degree of equality between men and women in many countries by looking at health, survival, economic opportunity, education and political participation
what countries have high gender equality?
iceland
norway
finland
sweden
what is the gender gap between girls and boys going to school worldwide?
1.6% more girls are out of school then boys
when countries violence rates decrease what occurs to girls education levels?
increase
what are positive economic outcomes associated with girls education?
countries GDP (indicator of economic health) increases when girls receive an education
what is malala yousafzai known for?
being an advocate for girls’ education
won peace prize
assassinated for encouraging anti- taliban values
survived
continued with the malala fund
how is political representation between women and men an indicator of national gender equality?
in 2019 only 3 countries had 50% or more women in national legislative bodies (global representation of women in politics has doubled but the percentage of womens representation in politics is only 24% today)
how can we resist and reduce gender discrimination?
individuals can confront perpetrators of sexism in their daily lives
groups of like minded people can organize to agitate for social change
legal reforms can prohibit discrimination at the institutional level
what is affirmative action?
efforts to combat discrimination by increasing opportunities for protected groups (can include hiring quotas or numerical requirements regarding percentages of underrepresented groups who must be hired or promoted)
what are reasons why some people oppose affirmative action policies?
they believe that individuals should achieve or fail on their own merits and hard work and not receive any advantages due to affirmative action policies
they believe in modern sexism
they believe that those who benefit from the policy are then seen as less competent
what is title VII in the united states?
employers who do business with the government must hire people of different sexes and races at rates equal to their representation in the population (this helps to reduce sex and race disparities in employment)
ex. in a study women were asked if they would stand up for themselves if they faced gender discrimination, many said that they would stand up, when actually put in a situation of gender discrimination, no one spoke up
what makes confronting discrimination so difficult?
attributional ambiguity
what is attributional ambiguity?
difficulty that people have in attributing negative treatment to discrimination when other possible explanations are present
ex. youre a woman in a class and the male instructor encourages comments made by a male student, when you speak up the instructor doesnt encourage
what is personal group discrimination discrepancy?
tendency for individuals to think that their social groups experience more discrimination than they do personally
how does the tone in which discriminatory comments are delivered contribute to attributional ambiguity?
ex. jokes that convey insulting stereotypes (women belong in the kitchen) may mask the speaker’s intent and make listeners less likely to attribute the joke to discrimination
(this is because jokes may mask the speakers intent)
why is it that when women stand up to sexist comments they are seen as colder and negative?
because they arent confronting to gender role norms
what does confronting discrimination do?
increase peoples awareness of their own biases and motivate them to repair their actions
what is collective action?
behavior enacted on behalf of a group with the goal of improving conditions for the entire group
what two key factors must be present before people will engage in collective action?
recognition that a subordinate group is unfairly disadvantaged
anger on behalf of the group
what motivates people to engage in more collective action against discrimination?
hostile sexism
what are allies?
they publicly support and promote the rights of marginalized group members, despite not belonging to the group
what barriers do allies encounter?
stigmatization
