Chapter 9 – Gender Stratification: She/He —Who Goes First?

Chapter 9 – Gender Stratification: She/He—Who Goes First?

Sex, Gender, and the Stratification System Key Ideas • Gender roles and identities are not biological, but socially constructed • Gender roles vary widely; each society has its own way of assigning tasks in order to meet its needs • Gender roles may change over time

Sex, Gender, and the Stratification System Sex • Ascribed physical and/or anatomical differences between men and women • All societies divide roles based on sex and insist on assigning a sex to all infants • Intersexed: persons with ambiguous genitalia, such that sex is difficult to assign • Transgender: identification as someone who is challenging, questioning, or changing gender from that assigned at birth to a chosen gender • Heteronormativity: expected attraction to members of the other sex; taken for granted norm in society

Sex, Gender, and Stratification Sexuality • Sexuality • how culture shapes the meanings of our experiences with our own bodies and our bodies in relation to others • Like sex and gender, sexuality is socially constructed

Sex, Gender, and Stratification Gender • Gender: • socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity • Gender identity: • how individuals form their identity using gender categories • Gender roles: • commonly assigned tasks or expected behaviors linked to an individual’s sex-determined statuses

Sex, Gender, Sexuality: The Micro-Level • Through socialization, we learn the gender roles assigned to our sex and established by our culture • Gender expectations are inculcated by many agents of socialization • Failure to comply often results in sanctions

Sex, Gender, Sexuality: The Meso-Level • Institutions: the roles we play in institutions differ by sex, as well as age • Some institutions segregate people by sex and age • Some institutions allow leadership roles to be held only by men • Institutionalized rites of passage, or rituals which mark changes in status, often differ by sex and age • Women’s reduced power in micro-level settings is often related to lack of power in meso-level organizations and institutions

Sex, Gender, Sexuality: The Macro-Level • Institutionalized privilege & disprivilege: • Patterns of action embedded in a social system which provide unrecognized advantages and disadvantages • Contribute to sex inequality at the global/national level that is independent of personal prejudices

Gender Socialization Micro-Meso Level • Gender role socialization: process by which people learn the cultural norms, attitudes, behaviors appropriate to their gender • Proper gender behavior is reinforced and improper behavior is punished through sanctions • Stages in gender socialization: • In infancy & childhood, parents/family play major role (Names) • Later, meso-level agents are important: • Corporations • Mass media (Electronic games, television) • Educational systems • Religious organizations

Gender Stratification Meso-Macro Level • Glass ceiling: • social forces that keep women from reaching the highest levels of corporate and public responsibility • Sticky floor: • social forces that keep the majority of the world’s women stuck in low-paid jobs • Glass escalator: • social forces that push men up the organizational hierarchy even if they do not seek to climb it, especially in female-dominated occupations • The workplace itself is gendered

Gender Stratification Gendered Organizations and Work • Workplaces have a gender configuration: the ratio of men to women affects work experiences • Women do not earn as much as men • Some workplaces are supportive of workers’ family responsibilities; others are not • This impacts women more than men; according to dominant gender expectations women must balance work and family needs, while men are seen primarily as workers

Gender Stratification Institutionalized Gender Discrimination • Institutional discrimination: woven into the social structure and taken for granted • Side effect discrimination: rests on links between practices in different institutions • Past-in-present discrimination: practices from the past that may no longer be allowed still affect people

Theories of Gender Stratification Micro-level theory: Symbolic interactionism • Physical, biological sex differences act as symbols that differentiate rights and rewards • Gender is socially constructed; it is not intrinsically related to sex • Emphasizes human agency, or ability to influence society • Humans do not just passively adopt gender roles; we actively “do” gender in everyday interaction

Theories of Gender Stratification Meso- and macro-level theories: Structural-functionalism • Each sex has a role to play in society • As societies change, so do roles & relationships • Society: from mechanical to organic solidarity • Gender: from similar to differentiated roles • Different but complementary roles

Theories of Gender Stratification Meso- and macro-level theories: Conflict theory • Sees males as “haves” (power, wealth), women as “have nots” • By keeping women in subordinate roles, men protect their privileges • Male dominance justified by traditional ideologies • Men will not voluntarily give up their privileged positions

Theories of Gender Stratification Micro- to Macro-Level Feminist theory • Patriarchy: • a few men dominate all others, including women, children, less powerful men • Patriarchy is primary cause of women’s oppression • Class, race, and gender intersect in a way that privileges some women over others, though most women are still subordinate to most men • Despite intersections, women are a “minority group” subject to stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination • Feminism actively advocates change to the social order to eliminate patriarchy

Theories of Gender Stratification Micro- to Macro-Level Gender, Homosexuality, & Minority Status • Sexuality exhibits a broad range of combinations; societal expectations impose categories • Treatment of homosexuality often determined by the government and dominant religious groups • Gay men and lesbians are often minority groups subject to prejudice and discrimination • Heterosexism: social reinforcement of heterosexuality, marginalization of those who don’t conform (rural areas) • Homophobia: intense fear and hatred of homosexuality and homosexuals

Costs & Consequencesof Gender Stratification Micro-level: Psychological & Social consequences • Rigid gender stereotypes are constraining • For women: superwoman image and beauty image can lead to depression and health problems • For men: image of “perfect” male body & unemotional male role can lead to guilt, anxiety, neuroses

Costs & Consequencesof Gender Stratification Meso- to macro-level: Societal Costs and Consequences • Stratification has consequences for all social institutions: • Poor educational achievement of female children • Loss of talents, resources of half of the population • Lack of health care impacts women and their children • Social divisiveness can lead to alienation, hostility • In occupations and professions, • Men “take gender privilege with them” • Women take disprivilege, which lowers their positions and wages

Changing Gender Stratification& Social Policy • Practices used by other groups may be effective • Non-violent protests, sit-down strikes and walkouts • Mutual support groups • Using the internet to carry the message to others • Boycotts • Building on traditions of community & church activism • Difficulty of ending women’s subjugation: many women agree on the goal, but not the means of achieving it

Chapter 9 – Gender Stratification: She/He —Who Goes First?