Social Problems, 13eD. Stanley EitzenMaxine Baca ZinnKelly Eitzen Smith

Chapter 9Gender Inequality

Gender Inequality

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Learning Objectives

9.1 Compare the nature versus nurture arguments regarding gender differences in behavior.

9.2 Understand how the socialization process molds individuals into gendered beings.

9.3 Explain how institutions reinforce gender inequality.

Learning Objectives continued

9.4 Explain the factors that contribute to the earnings gap between women and men.

9.5 Discuss the social and individual costs of gender inequality.

9.6 Understand the three stages of feminism.

Introduction

• Sex refers to the biological differences between males and females.

• Gender refers to the social and cultural patterns attached to women and men.

• Social factors make women unequal to men.

9.1 - Women and Men Are Differentiated and Ranked

• Is Gender Biological or Social?

• Gender and Power

• What Causes Gender Inequality?

• Socialization Versus Structure: Two Approaches to Gender Inequality

LO 9.1 - Is Gender Biological or Social?

• Nature or nurture?

• Biological Basis for Gender Roles– Males and females are different from the

moment of conception

• Social Basis for Gender Roles– Societies vary in their division of labor

LO 9.1

LO 9.1 - Gender and Power

• Gendered Institutions

• Male Dominance

• Patriarchy

• Intersections

• Compulsory Heterosexuality

• Sexuality

LO 9.1 - What Causes Gender Inequality?

• Social structural conditions– Male control over valued resources

• Division of labor

• Macrostructural explanations

LO 9.1 - Video: Gender and Inequality

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/sociology/videos/MSocL_Intelecom/INT_OFO_05K_002.html

LO 9.1 - Socialization Versus Structure: Two Approaches to Gender Inequality

• Gender Roles Approach

• Gender Structure Approach

LO 9.1

The fact that our economic, political, and religious systems are organized means that we operate with __________ institutions.

A. structured

B. gendered

C. evolutionary

D. equal

LO 9.1

The fact that our economic, political, and religious systems are organized means that we operate with __________ institutions.

A. structured

B. gendered

C. evolutionary

D. equal

LO 9.1

Every known society makes gender a major category for organizing social life.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.1

Every known society makes gender a major category for organizing social life.

A. True

B. False

9.2 – Learning Gender

• Children at Home

• Children at Play

• Formal Education

• Socialization as Blaming the Victim

LO 9.2 - Children at Home

• From birth we are gendered:– Clothing– Books– Toys– Language

• Androgyny

LO 9.2 - Children at Play

• Same-sex peers exert a profound influence on how gender is learned

• Girls are often involved in cross-gender or neutral toy behavior

• African American children are less dichotomous in gender roles than Whites

LO 9.2 - Formal Education

• Title IX (1972)

• Curriculum

• Teacher-Student Interactions

• Sports

• Female Role Models

Many forms of gender bias exist in education. For example, girls receive less attention and different types of attention from classroom teachers.

LO 9.2

LO 9.2 - Socialization as Blaming the Victim

• Gender is learned.

• Socialization alone does not explain the place of women in society.

LO 9.2

Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act was passed to make _________ equal.

A. only sports

B. all education

C. the job market

D. standardized testing

LO 9.2

Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act was passed to make __________ equal.

A. only sports

B. all education

C. the job market

D. standardized testing

LO 9.2

According to the textbook, the key reason gender inequality exists is socialization.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.2

According to the text, the key reason gender inequality exists is socialization.

A. True

B. False

9.3 - Reinforcing Male Dominance

• Language

• Interpersonal Behavior

• Mass Media

• Religion

• The Law

• Politics

LO 9.3 - Language

• He means us

• Mankind

• Studs versus bimbos

LO 9.3 - Interpersonal Behavior

• Gender inequalities can be reproduced and resisted in everyday interactions

• Differences in mixed-sex groups

• Non-verbal communication

LO 9.3 - Mass Media

• The media have tremendous power.– Power to distort– Power to change

• Television

• “New Woman”

LO 9.3 - Religion

• Men are clergy

• Worshipers are women

• Language

• Women in leadership roles

LO 9.3 - The Law

• Right to vote in 1920

• 1963 Equal Pay Act

• Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

• 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act

LO 9.3 - Politics

• In 1920, women received the right to vote.

• Today, they still don’t hold their fair share of political offices.

The United States lags behind other countries in the number of women elected officials.

LO 9.3

LO 9.3

LO 9.3

Which of the following best represents the “new woman” in the media, as described in the textbook?

A. a stay-at-home mom

B. a single, career woman with no kids

C. a working mother still able to keep a clean house

D. a female-headed household in poverty

LO 9.3

Which of the following best represents the “new woman” in the media, as described in the textbook?

A. a stay-at-home mom with a “perfect” house

B. a single, career woman with no kidsC. a working mother still able to

keep a clean houseD. a female headed household in

poverty

LO 9.3

Language perpetuates male dominance by ignoring, trivializing, and sexualizing women.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.3

Language perpetuates male dominance by ignoring, trivializing, and sexualizing women.

A. True

B. False

9.4 - Structured Gender Inequality

• Occupational Distribution

• The Earnings Gap

• Intersection of Race and Gender in the Workplace

• How Workplace Inequality Operates

• Gender in the Global Economy

LO 9.4 - Occupational Distribution

• Work is “normal”

• Dramatic increase in workforce participation of women

• Typical female worker

• Gender segregation

LO 9.4

LO 9.4

LO 9.4

LO 9.4 - The Earnings Gap

• In 2010, women earned 81 cents for every dollar men earned.

• Women of color.

• Why the gap in wages?

LO 9.4

LO 9.4 - Intersection of Race and Gender in the Workplace

• Most women of color segregated

• Privilege in the workplace is the result of “combined” characteristics

LO 9.4 - How Workplace Inequality Operates

• Human Capital Theory– Education, experience

• Dual Labor Market Theory– Primary vs. secondary market

• Social Structure

• Glass Ceiling

• Glass Escalator

9.1 - Explorer Activity: Power Dynamics in the Workforce: the Case of Sexual Harassment

http://www.socialexplorer.com/pearson/plink.aspx?dest=http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialexplorer.com%2fSpiceMap%2f%3fv%3d50efd5c6c5254631

Please log into MySocLab with your username and password before accessing this link.

LO 9.4 - Gender in the Global Economy

• Transnational corporations

• Displacement of men– Global assembly line

• Disruption of male dominance

LO 9.4

Which of the following is an example of how the workforce creates a gender gap in wages?

A. Job prestige diminishes as women enter certain markets.

B. Women have less education than men.

C. Women must take time off to have children.

D. Men are better workers than women.

LO 9.4

Which of the following is an example of how the workforce creates a gender gap in wages?

A. Job prestige diminishes as women enters certain markets.

B. Women have less education than men.

C. Women must take time off to have children.

D. Men are better workers than women.

LO 9.4

Women of color are the most segregated group in the workforce.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.4

Women of color are the most segregated group in the workforce.

A. True

B. False

9.5 – The Costs and Consequences of Sexism

• Who Benefits?

• The Social and Individual Costs

LO 9.5 - Who Benefits?

• Inequality is profitable – Corporations– Men

• “Daily maintenance”

LO 9.5 - The Social and Individual Costs

• Sexism diminishes the quality of life for all people – Society– Women– Children– Men

LO 9.5

Which of the following is an example of how men suffer from sexism?

A. Men are able to advance in careers faster, which creates pressure.

B. Men don’t suffer as a result of sexism.C. Men are not able to move into female-

dominated careers without some ridicule.D. Men maintain the status quo in the

workplace.

LO 9.5

Which of the following is an example of how men suffer from sexism?

A. Men are able to advance in careers faster, which creates pressure.

B. Men don’t suffer as a result of sexism.C. Men are not able to move into

female-dominated careers without some ridicule.

D. Men maintain the status quo in the workplace.

LO 9.5

Transnational corporations benefit from gender inequality.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.5

Transnational corporations benefit from gender inequality.

A. True

B. False

9.6 - Fighting the System

• Feminist Movements in the United States

• Women’s Struggles in the Twenty-First Century

LO 9.6 - Feminist Movements in the United States

• First stage grew out of abolition movement of the 1830s

• Second stage focused on women’s suffrage

• The 1960s and other protest movements

• Opposition to the movements

LO 9.6 - Women’s Struggles in the Twenty-First Century

• The women's movement remains an influential sources of social change, even though no unified organization represents feminism.

LO 9.6

Why did a strong antifeminist opposition emerge in the mid-1970s?

A. Women gave up trying to gain equality.

B. Recession and unemployment led to a backlash against advances made.

C. Politicians did not want women to have the right to vote.

D. Women felt that they had achieved equality and stopped the movement.

LO 9.6

Why did a strong antifeminist opposition emerge in the mid-1970s?

A. Women gave up trying to gain equality.

B. Recession and unemployment led to a backlash against advances made.

C. Politicians did not want women to have the right to vote.

D. Women felt that they had achieved equality and stopped the movement.

LO 9.6

There is a unified global feminist organization fighting for women’s rights.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.6

There is a unified global feminist organization fighting for women’s rights.

A. True

B. False

LO 9.6Question for Discussion

Discuss the global influence of women in the workforce.