Gender Stratification Flashcards
Gender Stratification
A dimension of social stratification
The unequal distribution of wealth, power and privilege between men and women
Gender
refers to the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male
Gender shapes how we interact with one another and even what we think of ourselves
The ISRAELI KIBBUTZ study
its goal is gender equality
men and women engaged in the same everyday jobs,
*taking take of babies,
*repairing buildings
*making decisions in the group
Margaret Meads Research
Culture is the key to gender distinction
different societies define masculine and feminine differently
Both sexes are cooperative and sensitive to owning another (feminine)
both sexes are typically selfish and aggressive (masculine)
Geroge Murdocks research
Found global agreements that which tasks are feminine and masculine
hunting and warfare fall on men
cooking and childcare women
PREINDUSTRIAL societies turn to the other sex rather than others.
Musuo
is a society in the west where women control property and select their partners
This appears to be the case of matriarchy
Matriarchy
A form of social organization in which females dominate the males
Patriarchy
A form od social organization in which males dominate females
Sexism
The belief that one sex is innately superior to the other
Institutional sexism
found throughout the economy
women are concentrated into low paying jobs
the legal system has excused violence against women specially from husband, boyfriends and fathers
Gender roles or sex roles
attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex
Importance of gender to socialization
From birth to death, Gender shapes human feelings, though and actions
how they see themselves
Children learn that society considers females and males different
teaches us how to behave (gender roles)
Gender and family
The first thing we ask is “is it a boy or a girl”
Males are more aggressive with babies while females are tender and caring
It is clear that females revolve around emotion and corporation while males vales independence and action
Gender and peer group
Female peer groups promote the interpersonal skills of communication ad cooperation
Girls consider morality a matter of responsibility to others
Gender and Schooling
Men predominate in many fields
Females are more likely to enroll in dance and drama classes
Working women and men
Women are lmore likely to work part time jobs than men but the fact that earning income is a mans job is no longer true
Factors that contributed to change in the Canadian force
decline in farming
growth of cities
the ascendance of neoliberalism
shrinking family sizes
rise in divorce
Gender and occupations
Women work “pink-collar jobs” such as assistants, nurses, educators, receptionists
Men dominate other categories like welder, electrician, mechanic
Neil Guppy and Nicole Luongo
point out that while, over the last century, women have made significant progress in closing the wage gap, the “gender equality revolution” has now stalled
How are women kept out of certain jobs?
by defining some kinds of work as “men’s works,” society defines women as less competent compares to men
Describe what is Glass Ceiling
The higher in a company we look, the fewer women we see, many may not say it by feeling that women do not belong at the top levels of the company which prevents women from being promoted. this barrier is called the glass ceiling
Gender and unemployment
The unemployment of M and F typically rise and fall together, with men having higher level of joblessness
Gender, Income and wealth
Women have more income than men,
For every dollar that men earn, women earn 79 cents
these differences are greater among older working women as they have less educated and lesser in younger felames because they have the same schooling as men
reasons why women earn less
1) because of the type of work they do
2) the way society views family and responsibilities (women care for children, maternity leave)
3) Discrimination against women
Comparable worth policy
Paying people not according to the historical double standards but according to the level of skill and responsibility involved in the work
Housework (women’s second job)
As women enter the labour force, their housework goes down, but the “share” done by women has stayed the same.
therefore women have less leisure time than men
Gender and education
At first, education for men was considered necessary, but now doors have opened for women too, and the difference in majors among both genders is smaller too
women predominate the institution of education
Gender Gap
Women are more likely to expand social programs and provide a safety net, and men are more likely to favour conservative positions such as building a stronger military
this difference in political attitudes s called the gender gap
gender and military
Combat roles are opened to women as now they can join the force rather than just nursing
though for years, women have been experiencing sexual harassment from their peers
define minority
any category of people distinguished by the physical and cultural differences that society sets apart and subordinates
Are women a Minority?
Given the economic disadvantage of being a woman, yes, women are a minority even though they outnumber men
At every class level, women have less income, wealth, education and power
Patriarchy makes women dependent on men
Violence against women
1,266,00 women are victims of violence
Men claim to be head of the household to the extent of abusing
Sexual Harassment
Comments, gestures and physical contact of a sexual nature that are deliberate, repeated ad unwelcome
Violence against men
While women are victims of violence, men are too,
they are at risk of loneliness and serious crimes like murder
The suicide rate for men is three times higher and live about 5 fewer years than women
pornography and gender stratification
A sexually explicit material that causes sexual arousal
People raise concerns about pornography as a moral issue and also a power issue as it dehumanizes women
Structural functionalist approach to gender stratification
Gender serves as a means to organize social life
With human muscle power no longer the main energy source, the physical strength of men becomes less important
TALCOTT PARSON: gender and complementarity
gender helps integrate society
gender forms a complementary set of roles that link women and men into family units and gives each a responsibility for carrying out important tasks.
women do day-to-day jobs and childcare
while men connect the family to the larger world as they participate in the labour force
TALCOTT PARSON AND TRAITS
Instrumental qualities
rational
self-assured
competitive
Expressive qualities
Emotional response
sensativity
child caring
Symbolic interaction and gender stratification
mico-level view of society focusing on how people “do” gender as part of face-to-face interaction in everyday life
Differential
Women show respect for other in high social position
Social conflict theory and gender stratification
1)Gender involves much more than differences in behaviour
2)gender is a structural system of power that provides privileges to some and disadvantages to others
3)Gender is a social structure that creates division and tesion
Gender and class inequality
The desire to control both women’s sexuality and property brought the monogamous marriage
Rise of capitalism and gender inequality
capitalism makes male domination even stronger
1) it uses production to create more wealth
2) expanding capitalist economy depends on turning people into consumers, especially women
3) society assigns women to the task of maintaining the home to free men to work
Intersection theory
Analysis of the interplay of race, class, gender, which often results in multiple dimensions of disadvantages
class, gender and ethnicity, race form a multi layered system that provides advantage and disadvantage for some and other
Feminism
Views the everyday lives of women and men through the lense of gender.
Basic feminism ideas
+Taking action to increase equality
+expanding human choice
+eliminating gender stratification throughout
+ending sexual violence
+promoting sexual freedom
Types of feminism
Liberal feminism
+individuals should be free to develop their own talents and pursue their own interest
Radical feminism
+Society must eliminate gender itself as patriarchy is firmly entrenched
Radical feminism
Society must eliminate gender itself as patriarchy is firmly entrenched
Liberal feminism
individuals should be free to develop their own talents and pursue their own interests
both women and men capable of improving their lives as long as society removes legal and cultural barriers
Socialist feminism
involve karl marx and friedrich engels
capitalism increases patriarchy by concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a small number of men
they critique radical feminists for failing to appreciate the links between patriarchy and class
