SOCIOLOGY Richard T. Schaefer

1. SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer 12 Stratification by Gender

2. 12. Stratification by Gender • The Social Construction of Gender • Explaining Inequality by Gender • Women: The Oppressed Majority • Intersection of Gender, Race, and Class • Social Policy and Gender Stratification

3. The Social Construction of Gender • Gender Roles • Expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females • Evident in work and in how we react to others • Most people do not display strictly “masculine” or “feminine” qualities all the time

4. The Social Construction of Gender • Gender-Role Socialization • Boys must bemasculine: • Active • Aggressive • Tough • Daring • Dominant • Girls must be feminine: • Soft • Emotional • Sweet • Submissive

5. The Social Construction of Gender • Gender-Role Socialization • Homophobia: fear of and prejudice against homosexuality Parents normally first and most crucial agents of socialization Other adults, older siblings, mass media, religious institutions, and educational institutions also exert important influence

6. The Social Construction of Gender Table 12-1. An Experiment in Gender Norm Violation by College Students Source: Nielsen et al. 2000:287

7. The Social Construction of Gender • Gender-Role Socialization • Women’s Gender Roles • Traditional gender roles have restricted females more than males

8. The Social Construction of Gender • Women’s and Men’s Gender Roles • Men’s Gender Roles • Attitudes toward parenting changing, but studies show little change in tradition male gender role • Boys who successfully adapt to cultural standards of masculinity may grow up to be inexpressive men who cannot share their feelings with others

9. The Social Construction of Gender • Cross-Cultural Perspective • Gender stratification requires: • Individual socialization into traditional gender roles within family • Promotion and support of traditional roles by other social institutions • Every society has men and women who resist and successfully oppose stereotypes

10. Explaining Inequalityby Gender • The Functionalist View • Gender differentiation contributes to overall social stability • Instrumentality: emphasis on tasks, a focus on more distant goals, and concern for external relationship between one’s family and other social institutions • Expressiveness: concern for maintenance of harmony and internal emotional affairs of family

11. Explaining Inequalityby Gender • The Conflict Response • The relationship between men and women traditionally one of unequal power • The Feminist Perspective • Very discussion of women and society distorted by exclusion of women from academic thought

12. Explaining Inequalityby Gender • The Interactionist Approach • Study micro level of everyday behavior • Men more likely than women to: • Change topics of conversation • Ignore topics chosen by women • Minimize ideas of women • Interrupt women

13. Explaining Inequalityby Gender Table 12-2. Sociological Perspectives on Gender

14. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Sexism and Sex Discrimination • Sexism: ideology that one sex is superior to the other • U.S. society run by male-dominated institutions The power and privilege men enjoy are no guarantee of well-being

15. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Sexual Harassment • Occurs when work benefits are contingent on sexual favors or when touching, lewd comments, or appearance of pornographic material creates a “hostile environment” in the workplace Must be understood in the context of continuing prejudice and discrimination against women

16. Women: The Oppressed Majority • The Status of Women Worldwide • Women’s and men’s worlds differ in access to education and work opportunities • Women in the Workforce of the U.S. • Women’s participation in paid labor force in U.S. increased steadily throughout the 20th century • Census bureau found 2 occupations out of 821 in which women typically earn about 1% more income than men

17. Women: The Oppressed Majority Figure 12-1. Gender Inequality in Industrial Nations Source: Fuwa 2004:757

18. Women: The Oppressed Majority Figure 12-2. Trends in U.S. Women’s Participation in the Paid Labor Force, 1890—2003 Sources: Bureau of the Census 1975; 2004a:396

19. Women: The Oppressed Majority Table 12-3. U.S. Women in Selected Occupations, 2003; Women as Percentage of All Workers in the Occupation Source: Bureau of the Census 2004a:385—388

20. Women: The Oppressed Majority • The Social Consequences of Women’s Employment • Second Shift: women work outside the home followed by child care, sometimes elder care, and housework Women spend 15 fewer hours each week in leisure activities than their husbands • Women: Emergence of a Collective Consciousness

21. Women: The Oppressed Majority Figure 12-3. Why Leave Work? Source: Hewlett and Luce 2005:45

22. Intersection of Gender,Race, and Class • Women must add the effects of their race and social class to disadvantages of being a woman • Activist minority women do not agree on which goal they should give priority to: • Gender equality • Racial, ethnic equality • Class issues

23. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • The Battle over Abortion in a Global Perspective • The Issue • In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court granted women the right to terminate pregnancies • Pro-choice groups believe women have right to make decisions about their bodies • Pro-life believe life begins at the moment of conception, so abortion is an act of murder

24. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • The Battle over Abortion in a Global Perspective • The Setting • Parental authority becoming important issue • RU-486 “day-after” pills approved

25. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • The Battle over Abortion in a Global Perspective • Sociological Insights • Gender and social class defining issues surrounding abortion • Feminists tend to support abortion; antiabortion activists tend to believe men and women are different • Poor have less access to legal abortions

26. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • The Battle over Abortion in a Global Perspective • Policy Initiatives • Supreme court continues to hear cases • Most decided on a 5-4 basis • Most European nations liberalized abortion laws beginning in the 1970s • Through 1980s and 1990s, Congress often blocked foreign aid to countries that might use the funds to encourage abortion

27. Social Policy and Gender Stratification Figure 12-4. Restrictions on Public Funding for Abortion Source: NARAL Pro-Choice America 2005

28. Social Policy and Gender Stratification Figure 12-5. The Global Divide on Abortion Sources: Developed by author based on Gonnut 2001; United Nations Population Division 1998, 2004