Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10 Sex, Gender and Sexuality

2. Chapter Outline  • Sexual Differentiation • Perspectives on Gender Inequality • Gender as Social Construction and Social Structure • Differences in Life Chances by Sex • Gender and Power • The Sociology of Sexuality

3.  Sex and Gender • Biology differentiates the sexes. • Society differentiates male and female roles. • Gender roles ascribed to men and women vary greatly from culture to culture.

4.  Gender Roles Across Cultures In virtually all cultures: • Women are expected to focus on child-raising. • Men tend to have more power. • Male children are valued over female children.

5. Violence Toward Women • In the U.S. in 1996 more than 840,000 women were murdered, raped, assaulted or robbed by an intimate. • More than 100 million women, in African countries and in Asia, South America, and Europe, have undergone genital mutilation. • In India 6,006 new brides were known to have been murdered in 1997 by their husbands or in-laws.

6. Structural-functional Theory of Gender Inequality Focuses on the functions of gendered division of labor: • Reduces competition between men and women. • Makes both sexes specialists in their roles. • Requires an interdependence of men and women.

7. Conflict Theory of Gender Inequality • Subjugation of women to subordinate roles benefits men and capitalism. • Capitalists benefit from a labor market that splits the interests of men and women workers—in favor of men. • Segmented labor market provides a low-wage female labor reserve.

9. Symbolic Interaction and Gender Inequality • Sexism arises through culturally patterned interaction in everyday life. • Studies demonstrate differences in the ways boys and girls are are treated by teachers and each other.

10. Symbolic Interaction and Gender Inequality • Teachers tend to ask boys analytical questions. • Boys in a summer camp setting tend to be ranked based on athletic prowess and aggressiveness. • Girls are devalued and denied power relative to even the lowest status boys.

11. Differences in Life-chances by Sex • There is a gap between the sexes when it comes to doctoral or professional degrees. • The care of children makes it difficult for women to be considered on an equal occupational footing with men. • Labor-force participation by women approaches that of men.

12. Bachelor’s Degrees Earned, by Field, 1971 and 2000

13. Bachelor’s Degrees Earned, by Field, 1971 and 2000

14. Labor-Force Participation of Men and Women 16 and Over

16. Reasons Why Women and Men Have Different Jobs • Gendered jobs.Lower paying jobs like nursing and teaching tend to be “women’s work”. • Different qualifications.Women are less likely to have as much experience or education as men. • Discrimination, often based on sexism, works against women’s options in the world of work.

17. Same Job, Different Earnings • Three reasons why men earn more than women who do the same work: • Different titles. • Segmented labor market. • Family responsibilities.

18. Sex Differences in Earnings from the Same Occupation

19.  Male Disadvantages • Men also pay for the imbalances of power and privilege in gender roles. • Mortality rates for men are higher throughout the life cycle partly due to norms that encourage men to suppress their feelings.

20. Male Disadvantages • The male role does not encourage the cultivation of emotionally supportive relationships. • Men may suffer serious stress from associating self-esteem with net worth.