gender equality and experiences of family life

Question 1

egalitarian

Answer 1

the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities

Question 2

first wave of feminism

Answer 2

ideas that appeared in the 18th and the 19th century that challenged male domination of the family and eventually led to women being able to vote

Question 3

suffrage

Answer 3

the right to vote

Question 4

second wave of feminism

Answer 4

liberal, radical and Marxist feminist ideas that appeared in the 1960s and 1970s, often collectively known as the ‘women’s liberation movement’

Question 5

liberal feminism

Answer 5

a collection of feminist sociologists who highlighted gender inequality in areas such as education and put pressure on governments to challenge it by introducing equal rights and opportunities legislation and social policies

Question 6

civil rights

Answer 6

the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality

Question 7

radical feminism

Answer 7

a group of feminists who attempted to explain gender inequality by constructing structural theories that saw patriarchy as a complex inter-dependent social system. The theory was often seen as men-hating because it is hyper-critical of what it saw as male exploitation and oppression of women

Question 8

liberate

Answer 8

to free somebody from oppression or exploitation

Question 9

socialist/Marxist feminism

Answer 9

a type of feminism that argued that gender inequality was linked to class inequality. Both were seen to be the product of capitalism- e.g., capitalist employers profit from women’s unpaid domestic labour

Question 10

third wave of feminism

Answer 10

refers to two unrelated forms of feminism that appeared about the same time (1980s/1990s)- intersectional feminism and post-feminism

Question 11

intersectional feminism

Answer 11

a critique of liberal and radical feminism which implied that the experience of patriarchy was the same for all women. Black and Asian feminists, and Marxist feminists pointed out that gender often interacts with social class, race and patriarchy to produce unique experiences of patriarchy

Question 12

post-feminism

Answer 12

a 1990s trend that suggested that females no longer had any need for second-wave feminism because they now had girl power. Many critics saw it as a media construction and as reflecting a male backlash against radical feminism

Question 13

theoretical imperialism

Answer 13

the insistence that one particular type of experience should take precedence over all other experiences. Radical feminism was accused of this by intersectional feminists for implying that all women experienced patriarchal control in the same way

Question 14

ethnocentrism

Answer 14

judging one’s own cultural experience to be ‘better’ than that of other cultures

Question 15

power-feminism

Answer 15

another term for post-feminism

Question 16

ladettes

Answer 16

a term used by the media in the 1990s to describe young women who used their leisure time to act in the same way as men

Question 17

girl power

Answer 17

a media-invented term which claimed that females wielded cultural power in the 1990s because they imitated role models such as Madonna

Question 18

fourth wave of feminism

Answer 18

type of feminism, particularly the digital feminism practised by millennials

Question 19

digital feminism

Answer 19

feminists, who mainly belong to the millennial generation, who challenge sexism and misogyny using online digital sites such as Twitter and Facebook and by setting up internet websites such as Everydaysexism.com

Question 20

misogyny

Answer 20

dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women

Question 21

toxic masculinity

Answer 21

a type of masculinity which exhibits negative traits such as violence, sexual aggression and an inability or reluctance to express emotions because of a belief that it is weak to do so

Question 22

LGBTQ+ community

Answer 22

a loose grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning organisations, and subcultures, united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrated pride, diversity, individuality and sexuality

Question 23

millennial feminism

Answer 23

feminists who were born in the late 1980s and who in the early 21st century were in their 20s and early 30s. This generation, especially if it has experienced higher education, is thought to be highly politicised. Surveys suggest that they see females as equal to males and consequently they are less likely to tolerate inequality, sexism and misogyny and more likely than previous generations to challenge patriarchal processes

Question 24

transphobia

Answer 24

refers to a range of negative attitudes, feelings, actions or hate crimes toward trans people

Question 25

gender binary

Answer 25

the classification of sex and gender into two distinct, opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine

Question 26

malestream

Answer 26

a concept developed by feminist theorists to describe the situation when male sociologists carry out research which either ignores or neglects women's experiences and/or focuses on a masculine perspective and then assumed that the findings can be applies to women as well

Question 27

manipulation

Answer 27

a component of gender role socialisation in which parents encourage behaviour which is culturally acceptable for boys or girls but discourage behaviour that might be interpreted as not fitting cultural norms

Question 28

canalisation

Answer 28

a component of gender role socialisation where parents lead or channel their children's interests and activities to gender-appropriate areas. E.g., toys often classified as suitable for either boys or girls

Question 29

institutional sexism

Answer 29

ideas and practices that may be consciously or unconsciously embedded in the regulations and actions of an organisation such as a school or police force

Question 30

genderquake

Answer 30

a radical change in attitudes compared with previous generations, so radical that it symbolises a seismic (earthquake-type) upheaval

Question 31

reproductive rights

Answer 31

the right of females to control their own bodies; e.g., the right of women to decided whether they want to have children or be child-free, when to have children and how many children to have

Question 32

matriarchal

Answer 32

a society or community dominated by women- the opposite to patriarchal

Question 33

matrifocal

Answer 33

a society or culture based on the mother as the head of the family or household

Question 34

meritocratic

Answer 34

the socialist feminist perspective that rewards in the form of status, power, jobs, income, qualifications and social mobility should be neutrally based on merit (levels of ability, talent, skill, hard work measured by objective examination), regardless of gender

Question 35

cultural hegemony

Answer 35

domination or rule maintained through ideological or cultural means

Question 36

baby strike

Answer 36

a call by radical feminists for women to refuse to have babies, claiming that motherhood is the biggest obstacle to women's progress and that it reinforces patriarchy

Question 37

triple systems theory

Answer 37

a feminist theory of patriarchy associated with Walby which argues that there are three crucial influences on a woman's experience of inequality and oppression- gender, social class and ethnicity

Question 38

private patriarchy

Answer 38

a type of male domination found exclusively in the home, family and in personal relationships

Question 39

public patriarchy

Answer 39

institutionalised forms of sexual prejudice and discrimination found across a range of social institutions, including government, education and the law

Question 40

glass ceiling

Answer 40

the unseen, yet unbreachable, barrier that keeps women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements

Question 41

dowry system

Answer 41

refers to the cash and property that the bride's family gives to the bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives as a condition of the marriage

Question 42

domestic labour

Answer 42

unpaid labour- housework, childcare and so on- carried out within the home, often by women

Question 43

conjugal roles

Answer 43

the roles played by a male and female partner in marriage or in a cohabiting relationship

Question 44

domestic division of labour

Answer 44

the way that men and women divide up housework and childcare between themselves

Question 45

symmetrical family

Answer 45

a type of nuclear family identified by Young and Willmott in which husband and wife supposedly share domestic labour, decision-making and leisure time

Question 46

partnership penalty

Answer 46

an idea associated with Craig. She claims that the decision of a couple to live together or marry benefits the male but penalises the female, in that she ends up responsible for the bulk of domestic labour

Question 47

motherhood penalty

Answer 47

Craig claims that motherhood often means that women have more responsibility for domestic labour and less time for leisure

Question 48

chore wars

Answer 48

the conflict that results between a couple about who should be responsible for domestic labour

Question 49

time-budget study

Answer 49

a type of social survey which asks respondents to estimate the amount of time they spend on a particular task

Question 50

second shift/ dual burden

Answer 50

the idea that married women have two jobs and consequently no leisure time. They spend their day in paid work but still do most of the unpaid labour in the home

Question 51

emotion work

Answer 51

the idea that women are responsible for the emotional health and well-being of family members

Question 52

triple shift

Answer 52

the idea that women have three pressures on their time- paid work, unpaid domestic labour and emotion work

Question 53

gender bound

Answer 53

the idea that men and women are culturally obligated to perform certain tasks- for example, that men provide for their families and women are emotional caretakers

Question 54

emotional participation

Answer 54

sharing ones feelings, experiences and emotions, particularly within an intimate relationship or family context

Question 55

gender scripts

Answer 55

the idea that male and female behaviour is performed according to cultural expectations about masculinity and femininity

Question 56

ethnographic

Answer 56

sociological research which studies social groups in their own environment going about their everyday business

Question 57

femicide

Answer 57

the murder of females

Question 58

'honour'- related murders

Answer 58

the murder of a girl or woman by a family member for an actual or assumed sexual or behavioural transgression, including adultery, sexual intercourse or pregnancy outside marriage, or even for being raped

Question 59

crisis of masculinity

Answer 59

the idea that men are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression because their traditional roles as breadwinner and head of household are fast disappearing

Question 60

radical psychiatry

Answer 60

a school of psychiatric thought that believes psychiatric problems are caused by alienation brought about by the intensity of family relationships