Week 8: Gender

Question 1

According to sociologists, what is gender inequality?

Answer 1

the difference in the status, power, and prestige that women and men have in groups, collectives and societies

Question 2

What is the difference between sex and gender?

Answer 2

sex refers to the physical differences of the body whereas gender concerns the psychological, social, and cultural

*sex is something we’re born with, gender is something we learn and do

Question 3

What is gender role socialization?

Answer 3

the process through which we learn about male and female-typed roles and practices from socializing agents

Question 4

What is biological essentialism?

Answer 4

the belief that differences between men and women are natural and inevitable consequences of the intrinsic biological natures or men and women

Question 5

According to Paula England, how has social change to the gender system in the U.S. been uneven and asymmetrical?

Answer 5

There persists the devaluation and under-payment of predominantly female occupations. The devaluation of these roles has pushed more women into male-dominated fields.

Question 6

What is gendered job segregation?

Answer 6

the concentration of men and women into select occupations due to beliefs about ‘appropriate’ jobs for men and women

Question 7

How is gendered job segregation related to the gender wage gap?

Answer 7

the gender composition of a job contributes to the wage gap because occupational pay and prestige tend to follow sex

Question 8

What is the gender wage gap?

Answer 8

differences in income earnings between an average man and average woman who work full-time, year-round

Question 9

What is the androcentric pay scale?

Answer 9

a strong correlation that exists between wages and the gender composition of the job

Question 10

What is the devaluation hypothesis?

Answer 10

women are payed less because the work they perform is socially defined as less valuable than the work men perform

Question 11

According to Paula England, what two co-occuring trends have defined the gender system in the U.S.?

Answer 11

gender egalitarianism and gender essentialism

Question 12

According to the Pew Research Center, what are the different pressure points for American men and women?

Answer 12

Women face a lot of pressure to be an involved parent and physically attractive, while men face a lot of pressure to be successful in their career and support their family financially

Question 13

What is the ideology of intensive motherhood?

Answer 13

the belief that women’s conduct is constrained because they are expected to be the primary care-giver, devote large amounts of time, energy, and materials to their children, and prioritize them

Question 14

What is the motherhood penalty?

Answer 14

women feel pressured to choose family-friendly occupations that permit flexible hours and career paths

Question 15

What is the employer selection hypothesis?

Answer 15

employers often rely on gender stereotypes when making decisions related to hiring or job assignment

Question 16

According to Caitlyn Collins, what normative conflict do mothers experience?

Answer 16

Mothers feel caught between the competing devotions of ideal worker norms and intensive mothering norms

Question 17

According to the human capital hypothesis, what differences between men and women account for the inequality in pay?

Answer 17

inequalities in pay occur due to differences in the kind and amount of human capital men and women acquire such as levels of education, continuous work experience, and job-related skills

Question 18

According to Kathleen Gerson, what is the new gender divide?

Answer 18

men’s desire to protect work prerogatives collides with women’s growing desire for equality and need for independence