Gender Inequality

Question 1

Sex vs. Gender

Answer 1

Sex:
The biological and anatomical differences distinguish females from males.

Gender:
Social expectations about behavior regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex. Gender refers not to the physical attributes distinguishing men and women but to socially formed traits of masculinity and femininity.

Gender socialization distinguish them:
infants are born with sex and acquires gender over
the life course.

Question 2

Gender identity

Answer 2

one’s definition of self as male, female, both, either, or movement between the two

not necessarily linked to sexual identity/sexual preferences

Question 3

gender binary vs. nonbinary

Answer 3

Binary:
The classification of sex and gender into two discrete, opposite, and nonoverlapping forms of masculine and feminine.

Non-binary:
A gender identity that does not fit squarely into the male/female gender binary classification.
a broad category including transgender, gender-queer, gender non-conforming

Question 4

intersectionality

Answer 4

A sociological perspective holds that our multiple group memberships affect our lives in ways that are distinct from the effects of any single group membership.
For example, the experience of a Black female may be distinct from that of a White female or a Black male.

importance:
A conceptual framework that acknowledges how
multiple, simultaneous, and structurally embedded
social locations influence the life experiences,
opportunities, investments, and constraints of individuals
and groups.

Question 5

biological determinism

Answer 5

Behavior and action differences by
gender is attributable to biological differences in
chromosomes (XY vs. XX) and hormones (e.g.,
testosterone vs. estrogen).

Supporters point out that men tend to hunters and
participate more in war.
Retractors: levels of aggressiveness vary by culture.

Question 6

misuse of biological theories

Answer 6

The 19th-century belief that academic work and
stress would damage women’s reproductive
organs. Used to exclude women from college,
work.

Belief that specialization in family vs. work is
“natural” and thus immutable.

Belief that men’s poorer life expectancy is
biological and thus cannot be improved?

Question 7

nature vs. nurture perspective on gender

Answer 7

Biology is important in shaping behavior to some extent but
does not play an exclusive or even most dominant role.
E.g., testosterone is associated with heightened aggression but
studies on animals show that providing monkeys with
opportunities to be aggressive increases testosterone.

social context matters: social shapes production of
hormone.
E.g., identical twins have the exact same genetic profile but
often exhibit very different behaviors.

Question 8

gender socialization

Answer 8

the learning of gender roles through agents such as school, the media,
and family.

The process begins at birth as people interact with babies, toddlers, and children differently based on their assumed gender.

Children, thus, “learn” gender through
interaction

Question 9

social construction of gender

Answer 9

A perspective holding that gender differences are a product of social and cultural norms and expectations rather than biology.

Question 10

doing gender (West & Zimmerman)

Answer 10

Gender is a performance. Not necessarily one we are continuously aware
of, but still, something we do; NOT something we ARE.

Physical signs of gender like hair, clothing, vocal pitch, are interpreted and responded to by others in the course of social interaction.

The “doing” of gender varies by factors such as race, space, and cultural
context (examples in your text like bacha posh).

Heightened tendency to “do gender” when one feels their gender
identity threatened.
Some evidence has suggested that heterosexual women who perform well on academic tasks “play dumb” or underplay professional ambitions in presence of men – esp. potential male romantic partner (e.g., Harvard MBA Study).
In heterosexual married couples, men do less housework than their wives when the man is unemployed (Brinton) or earns considerably less (Cassino & Cassino)

Question 11

gender norms

Answer 11

Men and women learn the expectations associated
with their biological sex via socialization.

violation of gender-based norms are subtly sanctioned

norms and sanctions are perpetuated by family, peer group, media, educational and religious groups

Question 12

Hegemonic masculinity

Answer 12

Social norms dictating that men should be strong, self-reliant, competitive, and unemotional.

Question 13

Cross-cultural examples of gender

Answer 13

In Arapesh society, both men and women generally exhibited characteristics and behaviors that would typically be associated with the Western female role. Both sexes among the Arapesh were passive, gentle, unaggressive, and emotionally responsive to the needs of others. In contrast, Mead found that in another group, the Mundugumor, both men and women were characteristically aggressive, suspicious, and, from a Western observer’s perspective, excessively cruel, especially toward children. In both cultures, however, men and women were expected to behave very similarly. In a third group, the Tchambuli, gender roles were almost exactly reversed from the roles traditionally assigned to males and females in Western society. Women “managed the business affairs of life,” while “the men . . . painted, gossiped and had temper tantrums”

Among the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert, who refer to themselves as Zhun/twasi or “the real people,” it is very common for both men and women to engage in child care

Question 14

Cisgender

Answer 14

A person whose gender identity matches their biological sex.
Statistically, this is the most common gender, including persons who are born female who identify as female and persons born male who identify as male.

Question 15

Transgender

Answer 15

A person who identifies as or expresses a gender identity that differs from their sex at birth.
Transgender persons differ from nonbinary persons, who may have a fluid identity that shifts between male and female or who may identify as neither male nor female.

Question 16

data sources for understanding transgender youth

Answer 16

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) of U.S. high school students (Center for American Progress, 2016)
Studies based on smaller or regional samples estimate that 1.5 percent of people under 18 and just 0.6 percent of adults ages 18 to 64 identify as nonbinary, although surveys have also found that as many as 5 percent answered “don’t know” when asked about their gender identity

Question 17

intersex

Answer 17

An individual possessing both male and female genitalia. Although statistically rare, this subpopulation is of great interest to gender scholars.

Question 18

patriarchy

Answer 18

“Rule of Fathers”
Dominance of men over women
Authority and decision-making favor men or are guided by values
that privilege men
This is very widespread in human societies (although obviously not
all human groups)

Question 19

sexism

Answer 19

The belief that one sex is innately superior to the other

Justification for gender stratification / patriarchy

Question 20

gender inequality

Answer 20

The inequality between men and women in terms of wealth, income,
and status
Gender inequality is manifest in many different areas of social life

Question 21

examples of gender inequality in education

Answer 21

unequal treatment in the classroom:

teachers interact differently– male more

Question 22

gendered patterns of college majors

Answer 22

Men and women differ dramatically in the majors they choose
women into “female-typed” majors and men into “male-typed” majors
e.g., nursing

Question 23

gender pay gap: patterns and trends

Answer 23

Historically, women who worked were young, not married, poor, immigrants or ethnic minorities.
There are now roughly equal percentages of men and women in the US labor market.
Women are increasingly entering male-dominated professions, although actual numbers remain fairly low.
A dramatic increase since mid-20th century in the number of women with young children working full-time.

Question 24

family wage

Answer 24

Through early 20th century, men were systematically paid more because they were perceived to be family breadwinners.

Question 25

marriage bars

Answer 25

Institutional practices barred women from the
workplace

Marriage bar prohibited employers from hiring married women, or retaining women workers after they married.

Marriage bars were abandoned in the 1950s

Question 26

human capital theory

Answer 26

economic theory (Gary Becker): intellectual roots in rational perspectives

women earn less than men bc they invest less intheir ‘human capital’ and have lower ‘productivity’ thus they deserve less pay. input=output
HC=education, work experience, hours worked

women select occupations that are easy to move in and out, and/or afford part-time opportunities, to accommodate their acutal or anticipated childcare obligations
employers invest less in women, anticipating they will leave or cut back on work

evidence: week. men and women are matched on education, years of work experiences, and hours worked, a pay gap (though diminished) persist

Question 27

gender segregation theory

Answer 27

women tend to ‘select’ themselves into jobs that pay less, such as teaching and nursing

evidence: strong. female-dominated professions pay significantly less than male-dominated professions with similiar educational and work expreience requirements

Question 28

overt gender-based discrimination in the workplace

Answer 28

dominant groups purposely pay women less, due in part to their advantaged position and sexist beliefs

eveidence: weak. formal discrimination is difficult to operationlize and prove
e. g., Dukes vs. Walmart

Question 29

sex segregation theory

Answer 29

The concentration of men and women in different occupations. These differences are believed to contribute to the gender pay gap.

Question 30

Devaluatoin of women’s work

Answer 30

Even within specific jobs, the more female-typed jobs pay less:
medicine- gerontology/pediatrics vs. cardiology
law- family law vs. corporate law
academia- professor of social work or nursing vs. business or engineering

evidence: very strong. jobs that require ‘female’ skills pay lower wages, and men who work in these job exit them faster than women (glass elevator)
e. g., nurturing professions consistently pay low

historical analysis by Roos and Reskin: jobs like bank teller, journalist, some medical specialists have witnessed decline in wages prestige with influx of women

Question 31

glass ceiling

Answer 31

a promotion barrier that prevent a women’s upward mobility within an organization
in part due to senior managers preference for hiring others like themselves

Question 32

glass elevator/escalator

Answer 32

men move up to higher positions in female-dominated occupations in disproportionately higher numbers
e.g., principals vs. teachers; bank managers vs. bank teller

Question 33

sexual harassment

Answer 33

unwanted or repeated sexual advances, remarks, or behaviors that are offensive to the recipient and cause discomfort or interfere with job performance
women are victims more frequently than men mostly bc men usually occupy position of power

Question 34

impact of sexual harassment on gender wage gap

Answer 34

women harrased:
 Greater perceived financial stress.
 More likely to leave their job and look for another.
 Took lower-paying, less competitive jobs to avoid hostile climate.
 More female colleagues
 Minimal contact with clients or coworkers

Question 35

“second shift”

Answer 35

excessive work hours borne by women relative to men
these hours are typically spent on domestic chores before and after a day of work outside the home
some recent research suggest women also take on more added or emotionally-laden tasks in the workplace

Question 36

motherhood wage penalty

Answer 36

mothers are less likely to be hired; earn lower wages; and are less likely to be promoted
both due to employer percpetions and real constraints of parenthood on work
partly due to gender gap in housework

Question 37

cross-national differences in family leave policies

Answer 37

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA, 1993) requires that
employers reinstate workers to the same or similar position upon
re-entry to workplace:
- very narros eligibility requirements, so low uptake rate

US– 0 Weeks
- one of the seven contries without national paid maternity leave

Avergae length is 29 weeks

Question 38

sociological study of housework

Answer 38

women do more housework
disparities are getting closer in recent years

men:
-lawn and garden care

women:
- total, housework, food preparationand cleaup, household management

Question 39

types of violence against women

Answer 39

sexual violence, ritualized violence, physical abuse

Question 40

rape

Answer 40

The forcing of nonconsensual vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse.

Question 41

infanticide

Answer 41

The intentional killing of a newborn. Female babies are more likely than male babies to be murdered in cultures that devalue women.

Question 42

definitions and examples of “rape culture”

Answer 42

Social context in which attitudes and norms perpetuate the treatment of women as sexual objects and instill in men a sense of sexual entitlement.
-e.g, toxic masculinity; aquaintance rape.

Question 43

toxic masculinity

Answer 43

A cluster of potentially destructive values or behaviors that historically have been part of boys’ socialization, such as devaluation of and aggression toward women.

Question 44

functionalist perspective on gender

Answer 44

e. g., Talcott Parsons
- women give birth and infants are helpless –> women become caregivers (domestic life) excluded from public life (the second sex)
- a gendered division of labor, though not biologically based, facilitates social solidarity and integration and is necessary for the functioning of society
- women is ‘expressive’ roles, men in ‘instrumental’ roles

critiques:

• why have these roles changed so much over time (clearly our biology has not changed so quickly)
• socialization not biology

Question 45

conflict perspective on gender/ feminist theory

Answer 45

problem is the gendered division of labor, which is devised by men to maintain their privilege and power and/or which devalues work that is done in the home

Question 46

the variety of feminist perspective on gender

Answer 46

1. Liberal feminism
   - form of feminist theory that believes that gender inequality is produced by unequal access to civil rights and certain social resources, such as education and employment
   - seek solutions through legislation–> work within the existing system
2. Radical feminism
   -believes that gender inequality is the result of male domination in all
   aspects of social and economic life.
   -End inequality by overthrowing patriarchy (the ‘system’)
   -Critique: misses race, class, and gender by focusing exclusively on
   patriarchy as a universal phenomenon.
3. Black feminism
   -highlights the multiple disadvantages that shape the
   experiences of specifically non-white women in the US and
   around the world (e.g., absence of male-headed households)
4. Postmodern feminism
   -challenges the idea of a unitary basis of identity and experience
   shared by all women –> all women are not the same and do
   not have the same experiences.
   -Plurality/heterogeneity
   -Celebrates the “otherness” of different groups, and the
   multiple gendered pathways individuals may choose.