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Gender Two Primary Issues The Cultural construction of Gender Gender Relations Sex Versus Gender Sex refers to biological differences,
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Two Primary Issues • The Cultural construction of Gender • Gender Relations
Sex Versus Gender • Sex refers to biological differences, • Gender refers to the cultural construction of male and female characteristics. The ways members of the two sexes are perceived, evaluated and expected to behave. (what different cultures make of sex.)
Gender Boundaries • In our society we demand that the categories of male and female are discrete • since gender is culturally constructed the boundaries are conceptual ones rather than physical ones • the boundaries need not remain static and are changing, eg. now it is acceptable for men to wear earrings. • Boundaries require markers to indicate gender some of which are natural such as • voice • physique • Dress • Behaviour • Hair style • Kinetics • Language use
Gender identity Why is it important How do we react when someone seems to have some traits of each category? social intercourse requires that the interacting parties know to which gender category `the other' belongs Felicita Vestvali1824 - 1880 New York opera star who specialized in singing contralto "trouser roles."
If the categories `man' and `woman' are culturally constructed then there can be no essential or universal meaning to the category woman or man. Only what it means to be a man or a woman in a particular society. It also means that we do not have to be restricted to two genders • transsexual – gender/ sex incongruent, “trapped in wrong body” but with the gender identity of their organs • transvestite – dressing as other gender, biological sex (cross-dresser) • homosexual • bisexual • eunuch – castrated male • hermaphrodite – both sets of biological organs
The Hijras of India and Pakistan • Hijra meanshermaphrodite in Urdu but most Hijras are homosexual transvestites, some of whom have gone through a crude sex-change operation • Cultural descendants of the court eunuchs of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858),
getting dressed for a job entertaining at a Pakistani wedding Hijras now earn their living as beggars, and prostitutes.and by dancing at carnivals, weddings and births. The Hijras are both feared and pitied in Pakistan, feared for their supposed ability to place curses, pitied for being outcast children of Allah. Perceived neither as men nor women but as a third gender,
Gender roles: • tasks and activities that a culture assigns to the sexes. Gender stereotypes: • oversimplified but strongly held ideas of the characteristics of men and women. Gender stratification: • an unequal distribution of rewards (socially valued resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom) between men and women, reflecting their different positions in social hierarchy.
ROSIE THE RIVETER All the day long,Whether rain or shine,She's a part of the assembly line.She's making history,Working for victory,Rosie the Riveter.Keeps a sharp lookout for sabatoge,Sitting up there on the fuselage.That little girl will do more than a male will do.Rosie's got a boyfriend, Charlie.Charlie, he's a Marine.Rosie is protecting Charlie,Working overtime on the riveting machine.When they gave her a production "E,"She was as proud as she could be.There's something true about,Red, white, and blue about,Rosie the Riveter. Gender Roles Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb,"Rosie the Riveter," (New York: Paramount Music Corp., 1942
In the 1940s, women were encouraged to help the war effort by getting a job outside the home. But it was family and country rather than money, status, or power that they were encouraged to toil for . Coke 1942 “For whether she rears a family or mans a rangefinder, a woman needs the physical support of a good foundation." and "Amongst other munitions of war, Berlei are still making foundations.". November 1942
1950s - mass consumption in high gear, TV ads idealized the woman as the wife and homemaker, and the man as the bread winner. But also the sex kitten
1960s Educated women started exhibiting their discontent with the status quo. Armed with diplomas and new sophisticated birth control methods, they demanded for the right to have both career and family. The great social change in the sixties allowed a variety of depictions of women: sex kitten, nurturing mother and independent working girl. 1970s Issues like woman's lib, ethnic heritage, and critiques of capitalism. Women are shown as independent only when inexpensive items or simple decisions were involved Advertisers realized that not just white people were buying products. Ethnic people were placed in advertisements.
1980s independent woman freedom
1990s 2000s She is a "multifaceted success machine”. She is a nurturer and a seducer. She is the twenty-four hour a day woman, and she never sleeps. Men are domesticated. Sex objects
OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN SHOWN IN ADVERTISNG • Business Executive 1958=0% 1970=0% 983=4% • Professional 1958=0% 1970=0% 1983=15% • Entertainment/sports 1958=11% 1970-58% 1983=33% • Sales/Midlevel business 1958=6% 1970=8% 1983=33% • White Collar 1958=72% 1970=17% 1983=4% • Blue Collar 1958=0% 1970=17% 1983=4% Sullivan and O'Connor (1988)
Content analysis on the Portrayal of Sex Roles in Canadian Television Advertising, commissioned by the CRTC (1985) • WOMEN AS HOUSEWIFE/MOTHER • For 50% of the major female characters, the primary setting is the home. • Among men, 29% appear primarily in the home. • The paid work setting includes 9% of women and 22% of men. • The outdoor setting includes 11% of women and 19% of men. • The number of ads showing men only is significantly greater at 24% than the 13% of women-only ads. • Of the ads with voice-overs, 94% are male.
Females are usually shown performing domestic tasks relating to the product. • Male product representatives are mostly depicted using the product or giving instructions or advice. • Men are shown as the beneficiaries in 54% of the food ads and 81% of the cleaning product ads. • Ads that show the preparation and consumption of food tend to be populated with women and girls.
Images of women improving? From June 1999 issue of Glamour Part of outstanding ad campaign that accompanied the Women’s World Cup “You pass on more to your children and your grandchildren than your eye color, . . . You provide the living example that they can become more than they ever thought they could. Because you did. Just do it.”
Conclusions • Advertising generally portrays women as: • dependent on or subservient to men • primarily in the home or domestic settings • preoccupied with physical attractiveness • sex objects • decorations for men • product users/demonstrators
What is the thinnest book in the world?What men know about women!What do you call a man with an I.Q. of 50?Gifted!What is the difference between men and government bonds?Bonds mature!How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper?We don't know - it's never happened. What's the difference between a man and E.T.?E.T. phoned home! How do men exercise at the beach?By sucking in their stomachs every time they see a bikini.What's the best way to force a man to do situps?Put the remote between his toes.
Be a Man What does this statement mean? What comes to mind • Men never cry • Should not show emotion • Not quitters • Physically brave • Independent • Heroic and patriotic ideals • Adventurous • Shaving • First day at work - earning a wage • Initiations • tough • Courageous • Drinking • Physical strength • Sex
Masculine Traits self promotion & achievement
“Men are Supposed to be Strong” • What message does this ad send to men? Women? • Do we usually see more scantily clad men or women? • Is this what a man looks like? Should men look like this? Why or why not? • Where do our ideals of beauty come from?
Go Against the Flow: Write Outside the Margins • How is this model “acting like a man?”
Act like a Lady What does this phrase mean? What comes to mind?
Feminine Traits focus on others, community
Victoria’s Secret is Revealed • What does this ad suggest women should look like? • Are these women, “Acting like Ladies?” How / Why or why not? • The current ideal of female beauty is difficult to achieve. The ideal being a young Caucasian female, height 5'8"- 5'10", weighing 110-120 pounds or less. Make-up, lighting and air-brushing are used to slim down the images even more. Less than 10% of the female population are genetically destined to fit this ideal. Victoria’s Secret, “Angels’ Collection”
Changing beauty standards • In 1957, Miss America was 5'7" and weighed 150 pounds. • In 2002 Miss America was 5'9 " and weighed 117 pounds Marian McKnight Manning, S.Carolina Katie Harman Gresham, Oregon
Recent advertising trends are just as harmful to men • Unforgiving & unrealistic images • Men’s magazines encourage obsession with body image, aging & sexual prowess
Healthy Women • What does this ad suggest about women? About men? • Why aren’t the men drinking the orange juice?
Want Candies? • The text in this ad (on the computer screen) says: “To: All Hot Babes; SWRS (Single White Rock Star) looking for some sugar! Reply to candies.com” • What messages does this ad send men? Women? • How do these models fulfill the stereotype of men or women?
What Men and Women Really Think • What do the models’ thoughts suggest? • What does this say about the roles of women? And of Men? • How are these people acting like a man or lady? • How are they not? Crutchfield; Catalog for car stereo equipment.
Gender is an important dimension of social inequality • Gender stratification frequently takes the form of patriarchy whereby men dominate women • Are women in our society subordinate (i.e. of less important or subservient) to men. If so How? • Politics • Economics • Education • Employment • Health • Religion Sexism is the assertion that one sex is innately superior or inferior to the other
Gender Relations • In the1970s it was argued that women are universally subordinate to men in political, economic, and public life • I.e cultures everywhere give man, as a category opposed to women, higher social value and moral worth. • the secondary status of women is one of the true cultural universals
How does one measure gender stratification . • economic power • prestige • Autonomy • ideology • Legal rights • How deferential they are expected to be towards men. • Freedom to choose marriage partner, profession, and conception. Etc. • One has to look at the roles played by women and the value society places on those roles
Explanations for the Universal subordination of Women • 1. The biological argument • women's subordination to men is natural and due to biological differences: • Men’s testosterone naturally leads them to be more aggressive and to dominate others. • Women’s oestrogen makes them more compliant • Women biologically programmed to bear and raise children which affects their economic roles
Do you think these difference can explain such things as • male aggression • juvenile delinquency, for violent crime in general • the biological basis of warfare • the emotional nature of women • the political and economic dominance of men
In other words does biology influence behaviour? • implies that the relationship between biology and social life is one of cause and effect. • If biological explains the political and economic dominance of men then surely one must simply accept that fact. • biological differences cannot provide a universal basis for social definitions of `man' and `woman', `male' and `female'
