Sociology 125 Lectures 18 & 19 Gender November 6 & 8, 2012

1. Sociology 125 Lectures 18 & 19 Gender November 6 & 8, 2012

2. I. GENDER & NATURE

3. Definitions of Sex & Gender • Sex = a biological distinction based on roles in the process of biological reproduction • Gender = a social distinction between roles and expectations linked to sex. • Gender is the social transformation of a biological difference – sex – into a social difference. • Gender norms are the rules of appropriate behavior and roles for men and women.

4. 2. What is Natural? I. Existing distribution of caregiving in a world with strong gender norms Gender gap in caregiving Men Women Low High The intensity of caregiving behavior

5. 2. What is Natural? I. Existing distribution of caregiving in a world with strong gender norms II. Hypothetical distributions of caregiving in a world with weak gender norms Gender gap in caregiving Gender gap in caregiving Women Men Men Women Low High Low High The intensity of caregiving behavior The intensity of caregiving behavior

6. II. THE EMPIRICAL STORY: MASSIVE TRANSFORMATIONS IN THREE GENERATIONS

7. Seven important elements of transformations of gender relations • Legal Rights • Labor force participation • Occupational Structure & Income • Power • Family structure • Domestic division of labor • Sexuality

8. 1. Legal Rights

9. Legal Rights gained by women • in 20th Century • Right to vote (1920) • Right to own passport (early 1930s) • Equal right to divorce (gradually since 1940s) • Reproductive rights (1973, but eroding) • Equal rights to university admission (1960s) • Equal rights to all jobs (1960s) • Equal rights to participate in sports (1972)

10. 2. Labor Force Participation

11. 2. Labor Force Participation Rates of Married Women with Children, 1950-2007

12. 3. Occupational Structure & Income

13. % of People in Selected Traditionally Male Professions who are Women, 1930, 1960, 1990, 2000, 2007

14. % Enrollments in Medical & Law Schools who are women, 1949-2007

15. % of Women in Selected Highly Gender-Segregated Jobs

16. Men’s and Women’s median wages, 1973-2004 Women’s wages = 63% of men’s wages Women’s wages = 82% of men’s wages

17. 4. Power

18. % of Large Corporations with at least one woman on board of directors 1969 1981 1988 1999

19. % of corporate officers and CEOs who are women

20. Women elected officials, 1979-2009

21. Women in national legislatures, 2009 (%)

22. 5. Family Structure

23. % of Households that consist of a Married Couple

24. % of Women ages 30-34 who have Never Married, 1940-2000 27.3% 14.3% 6.9%

25. 6. Domestic Division of Labor

26. mothers fathers

27. Time spent per week on child care for fathers and mothers in homes with children Ratio 2.0:1 Ratio 4.1:1 Ratio 3.2:1 mothers fathers

28. 7. Sexuality

30. III. EXPLAINING TRANSFORMATION

31. The Question • Women have always tried to increase their autonomy and reduce their subjection. But throughout most of history these struggles have produced at best minimal change. • Why do these struggles produce big changes sometimes and not others? Why in second half of the 20th century was there such massive transformation?

32. The general answer While women have tried throughout history to increase their autonomy and reduce their subordination, they could only succeed in doing this on a large scale once social conditions had changed in ways that made existing gender power relations fragile.

33. Three basic processes • Decline in a coherent interest among men to defend male domination • Erosion of institutional system of female domesticity which eroded women’s interest in traditional gender relations • Increase in capacity for challenge by women

34. 1.The decline of coherent male interests in male domination Central explanation: The rapidly increasing economic demand for literate labor by male employers undermined male interest in excluding women.

35. 2. The Crisis of Female Domesticity

36. Traditional social supports for domesticity = a coherent system • Stable marriage/personal relations fostered domesticity • blocked work opportunities increased the attractiveness of domesticity • A family wage made domesticity economically feasible • dense social networks supported domesticity (neighbors, churches, communities, etc.) • cultural norms and sexism reinforced identities and expectations

37. Collapse of the system of coherent domesticity beginning in the 1960s • decline of stable marriage means women cannot count of support of husbands • expansion of work opportunities increased the viability of alternatives to domesticity • decline of the family wage made domesticity economically difficult • erosion of dense social networks makes domesticity more isolated and difficult • challenge to cultural norms and traditional sexism contributes to new identities

38. 3. The Women’s movement & Feminism

39. V. THE WORLD TODAY: DILEMMAS AND PROSPECTS

40. 1. Imagine two possible worlds World #1 is like Sweden World #2 is like the United States

41. 2. IRREVERSIBILITY OF FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES • Dramatic decline in family size unlikely to be reversed: permanent erosion of lifetime domesticity as an ideal • Traditional marriage stability unlikely to be restored • Women’s labor force participation unlikely to be reversed • Women’s participation in powerful and influential positions unlikely to decline

42. 3. The problem of Winners & Losers • Gender equality imposes costs on some women and erodes some of the security that comes with traditional female dependency. • Certain ways of life, valued by many women and men, are threatened by gender equality. • Men have contradictory interests with respect to gender inequality: men have much to gain from gender equality, but some losses as well. • Gains for men = opening up of choices around parenting & work; the cult of masculinity blocks the full development of personhood in men. • Losses = more competition for higher jobs; end of gender-based privileges.

43. 4. Three reforms • Pay Equity: equal pay for comparable work • Quality public provision of childcare in neighborhoods and workplaces • Generous paid parental leaves

44. Paid Parental Leaves in Various Countries Weeks

45. The Family Ideals and Fallback Positions of Young Men and Women