Gender Inequalities

Question 1

Gender Role Socialisation (Oakley)
Liberal

Answer 1

-Primary socialisation is a cause of gender inequality,with children being manipulated and canalised into gender appropriate behaviour and roles.

Question 2

Genderquake (Wilkinson)
Liberal

Answer 2

-Seismic cultural change in women’s attitudes-Willing to priorities education and career over family
-In conjunction to decline in manual labour jobs and crisis in masculinity,feminisation of the labour market has occurred.

Question 3

Legisalation and Representation
Liberal

Answer 3

-Women have greater progress in terms of the acquisition of Economic power through careers.
-Equal opportunities (Equality Act 2010)
-This has arguably led to patriarchal scarification being in decline and is evident in pay gap.

Question 4

Reserve army of labour (Benston)
Marxist

Answer 4

-Women are more likely to have children and work part-time.
-Economic Boom=Hired
-Economic Recession=Fired

Question 5

Domestic labour serves the needs of capitalism (Benston)(Zaretsky)
Marxist

Answer 5

-Women play a central role in the family through their domestic labour which serves the needs of capitalism.
-Reproduces the next generation of workers and socialises them into norms+values which benefit capitalism.

Question 6

Triple Shift (Dunscombe & Marsden)
Marxist

Answer 6

-Women hold down full-time paid jobs,are primarily responsible for domestic labour and take care of husbands and child’s emotional well-being.

Question 7

Lagged adaptation (Gershuny)
Marxist

Answer 7

-Women’s roles have changed more quickly that men’s.
-Men are less likely to accept this change.

Question 8

Sandwich Generation (Henrietta & Grundy)
Marxist

Answer 8

-Older middle-aged women,who have taken on the responsibility of caring for older relatives and adult children returning home.

Question 9

Patriarchal ideology (Oakley)
Radical

Answer 9

-Clearly prescribes proscribes particular types of masculine and feminine behaviour that aims to reinforce patriarchal stratification.

Question 10

Biological Element (Firestone)
Radical

Answer 10

-It is women who carry,give birth to and feed a child,and this has contributed to their position in society and inability to contribute economically.

Question 11

Patriarchal Terrorism (Johnson)
Radical

Answer 11

-When Patriarchal Ideology fails,men use patriarchal terrorism in the form of violence,sexual aggression and economic subordination against women to control them and maintain their domination

Question 12

Compulsory heterosexuality (Rich)
Radical

Answer 12

-Men use patriarchal ideology to enforce compulsory heterosexuality as a way to maintain their control and prevent women from separating from men into women only groups.

Question 13

Familiar Exploitation (Delphy & Leonard)
Radical

Answer 13

-Men are major beneficiaries of both marriage and family life because women contribute more but get less benefits.

Question 14

Misogyny & Gendered Cyberhate (Bates)
(Jane)
Postmodernist

Answer 14

-Growing trend of unacceptable sexual behaviour that has become normalised by society,including catcalling to other casual harassment.

Question 15

Empowerment (Cochrane) (Bates)
Postmodernist

Answer 15

-Digital forms of communication have given women greater levels of empowerment (Cochrane).
-The presence meant their voices are no longer muted and this has led to legal+social change.

Question 16

Criticisms of Liberal

Answer 16

-Not all Feminists see patriarchal stratification as in decline as Vertical Segregation in the workplace still exists
-Gender Pay Gap =7.7%
-Marxist and Radical Feminists claim Liberal Feminists fail to explain why men have more power than women.

Question 17

Criticisms of Marxist perspective

Answer 17

-Does not take choice of how females interpret their social situation into consideration.Hakim’s preference theory argues that women can simply choose to be housewives.
-Fails to explain why ,if women are cheaper to employ,Capitalist class do not replace male workforce for a female one.
-A little dated as it does not account for things such as Genderquake.

Question 18

Criticisms of Radical Perspective

Answer 18

-Portrays women as passively accepting their subordinate position but modern women reject this notion that they should be subordinate to men.
-Dated-does not account for recent social and economic changes.
-Over-exaggerate the exploitation of women in the family.(Somerville) believes that male-female relationships are often based off mutual love and respect instead of exploitation and domination.

Question 19

Instrumental v Expressive roles (Parsons)
Functionalism

Answer 19

-Men+ Women have desperate social roles that are based on biological differences which help to maintain social order and stability.
-Men=Instrumental
-Women=Expressive

Question 20

Human capital theory (Rastogi)
Functionalist

Answer 20

-Men+Women serve different roles and functions in society and are rewarded differently.
-Sees Human Capital as Knowledge,Competency,Attitude and Behaviour embedded in a person.

Question 21

Criticism of Functionalist Feminist Perspective

Answer 21

-(Olsen & Walby) argue that the main cause of women’s low pay is ‘systematic disadvantage in acquiring Human Capital.
-Liberal Feminists such as (Oakley) argue that gender roles are socially constructed rather than biological.

Question 22

Return to Nuclear Family (Murray)
New Right

Answer 22

-Concerned that changes in gender roles related to family diversity,such as the increase in line-parent families,dual career families and same sex families have led to social problems.
-Children who live in like-parent families lead by women miss out on the clearly defined roles of the father as the breadwinner+disciplinarian.

Question 23

Criticisms of New Right Perspective

Answer 23

-Seen as dated as it ignores the increasing number of people who choose to adopt non-traditional gender roles (Eg. Complicit Masculinity) and report those as positive experiences.

Question 24

Ownership of Private Property (Engels)
Marxist

Answer 24

-(Engels)-Claimed that Nuclear Family oppresses women,reducing them to their single role of child-making.Men face no restrictions.
-Women are controlled by capitalism to ensure that private property+wealth in healthy families could be efficiently handed down the male line.

Question 25

Vertical and Horizontal Segregation (Weber)
Weberianism

Answer 25

-Women face Horizontal Segregation as they are much more likely than men to work in low paid+status sectors like healthcare.
-Women also face Vertical as they are less likely to be promoted into positions of power and status.

Question 26

Dual Market Labour theory (Barron & Norris)
Weberianism

Answer 26

-Economy is divided into 2 sectors
-1.High status primary sector-Dominated by white men
-2.Low status secondary sector-Dominated by women.

Question 27

Social Closure-Old boy’s Network (Weber)
Weberianism

Answer 27

-Used to describe the exclusion of some people from membership of certain status groups,as a result of lack of social and business connections acquired through the ‘Old boy’s Network’.

Question 28

Criticisms of Weberianism-Gender Inequalities

Answer 28

-Fails to explain inequalities within the same sector (Eg. Teaching).
-Evidence suggests that Social Closure is dwindling.

Question 29

Preference Theory (Hakim)
Postmodernism

Answer 29

-Women’s rational choice to prioritise being a mother over a career.
-Marriage and Motherhood can be difficult but this is most fulfilling for women (Schlafly)

Question 30

Criticisms of Postmodernism-Gender Inequalities

Answer 30

-Ignores the power of patriarchy to subordinate and oppress women.