LECTURE 9: GENDER AND INEQUALITY

Question 1

master statuses

Answer 1

in most social situations, will overpower or dominate all other statuses
- coined by american sociologist everett hughes in the 1940s
- allows us to acknowledge that not all statuses are equal to the societies we live in

Question 2

verstehen

Answer 2

empathetic understanding of human behaviour
- coined by max weber
- imagining walking in someone else’s shoes

Question 3

standpoint theory

Answer 3

how knowledge stems from social position
- coined by sandra harding
- rejects that science is objective

Question 4

epistemology

Answer 4

the branch of philosophy that examines the nature and origins of knowledge
- argues that knowledge is always socially situated

Question 5

matrix of oppression

Answer 5

is the combined disadvantage of being female and black and systematically economically marginalized
- coined by Patricia Hill Collins and extended standpoint theory to include the experiences of black women

Question 6

feminism

Answer 6

the belief in social, economic, and political equality for the sexes

• is an ideal type

Question 7

4 tenants of feminism

Answer 7

1. focuses on various aspects of patriarchy
2. holds that male and female are determined not by biological necessity but by power structures
3. examines the operation of patriarchy in both a macro and micro setting
4. gender inequality should be changed

Question 8

gender roles

Answer 8

parts of gender that are prescribed by society, outside of ones self the rules with gender roles are made by the society, not by the individual

Question 9

where is the backlash against gender studies come from?

Answer 9

gender studies acknowledging and challenging the notion that there are two binary genders (man & woman) and sexes (male & female)

Question 10

xenogender

Answer 10

• a nonbinary gender identity that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender
• fills what we call a Lexical Gap: an absence of a word in a particular language

Question 11

intersex

Answer 11

• a general term used for the variety of ways in which a person is born with an anatomy that doesn’t fit the conventional bio. definition of male or female
• around 1.7% people are born intersex

Question 12

heternormativity

Answer 12

• the belief that sexual activity between people of “opposite” sex is the natural expression of sexuality
• our modern societies have been organized around heternormativity

Question 13

cultural diffusion

Answer 13

• the spreading of ideas and issues between countries

Question 14

male priveledge

Answer 14

the social, economic, and political advantage or rights that are available to men solely on the basis of their sex

Question 15

structural sexism

Answer 15

• aka institutional sexism, which refers to the ways in which the organization of society and specifically its institutions, subordinate individual based on their sex
• ex: girls in education system which is due primarily to gender soicalization

Question 16

cultural sexism

Answer 16

• refers to the ways in which the culture of society perpetuates the subordination of individual based on their sex
• women doing a SECOND SHIFT: where they work full time and also work more hours than men at home with childcare, cooking, associated with keeping the household running

Question 17

how are we socialized into our gender roles

Answer 17

1. transmission of expectations through first-hand observation of those immediately around us such as our role models or family through primary sources
2. transmission of expectations through observation of role models on TV, movies, social media, sport, in books, and through other secondary sources
3. learning feminity as oppositional to masculinity and masculinity as oppositional to feminity

Question 18

traditional masculinity

Answer 18

• the normal societal expectations for men
• not necessarily problematic on their own, but they are also not always positive
• includes all types of masculinity including hegemonic and toxic masculinity

Question 19

hegemonic masculinity

Answer 19

• the aspects of masculinity that promotes the dominant social position of heterosexual men
• for ex: the motion that men should be big, strong, and dominant protectors that are quick to anger and not to be messed with
• are toxic

Question 20

toxic masculinity

Answer 20

• essentially the way that hegemonic masculinity is referred to outside of academia/ sociology
• the slight difference is that hegemonic masculinity is the traits that promote heterosexual men’s dominance over others, whereas toxic masculinity is used more to refer to any part of traditional masculinity that is negative or toxic for any reason

Question 21

bad apple theory

Answer 21

• always argues that there is no longer problem or issue
• instead the problem exists at the individual level as just one or a few assholes
• problematic because there really isn’t many solutions to stop specific bad individuals

Question 22

why does gender pay gap actually exist?

Answer 22

1. difference in occupational choices
2. societal expectations around childbirth
3. discrimination