Chapter 06 - Power, Sexism, and Discrimination

weakness

Benevolent treatment can privilege women in a specific moment while reinforcing assumptions of ________ or dependence

No, it is broadee than that - sexism can persist in more subtle ways

Is sexism as simple as overtly negative attitudes?

power

Dominant groups generally have greater access to valued resources and decision making ______, which shaoes education, work, healthcare, safety, leisuire, and political influence

Patriarchal

________ societies are organized so that groups of men hold disproportionate structural power

No, there is no evidence in which women dominate men structurally

Has there ever been a true matriarchy?

Structural power

Control over social, economic, political, and institutional resources at the group level

Examples of structural power

Political leadership, wealth ownership, and organizational authority

Dyadic power

Power that one person has over another within a specific interpersonal relationship

• depends on who controls valued resources or is less dependant on the relationship

• women can have more power than men in this relationship

Structural power

• group level and institutional

• control of resources and rules

• political and economic systems

• persistent across many interactions

Dyadic power

• relationship specific

• depends on relative dependence

• can reverse traditional group patterns

• varies from one relationship to another

Privilege

Unearned advantages and benefits that people receive because of membership in socially dominant groups

• can be difficult to notice because it often feels like the normal way the world works

Intersectional

analysis avoids treating “women” and “men” as internally uniform groups

• overlapping of different aspects of identity can form one’s experience of privelege and discrimination

Cultural norms and economic arrangements

What are two things that shape how sex-ratio differences matter?

Sexism

Attitudes, beliefs, and practices that support gender inequality and maintain unequal status and power between gender groups

Ambivalent sexism theory

The theory that sexism toward women combines hostile sexism with subjectively positive but patronizing benevolent sexism

Hostile sexism

Overtly negative and resentful attitudes toward women who are viewed as challenging men’s power or traditional gender roles

• often portrays women as manipulative, overly demanding, or seeking control over men

• especially targets women who cjallenge traditional gender roles

• easier to recognize because it is overt

Benevolent sexism

Subjectively positive but patronizing beliefs that idealize women who conform to traditional gender roles as pure, fragile, and deserving of men’s protection

• emphasizes protection, purity, romantic dependence, and complementary roles

• can feel flattering or caring to both giver and reciever

• not as easy to recognize

It is socially acceptable in manu contexts because it rewsembles courtesy or romance, it is subtle, targets sometime experience immediate benefits from tyreatment, can reudce perception that the gender system is unfair

Why does benevolent sexism still persist?

Hostility may portray men as arrogant, juvenile, sexually predatory, or power hungry, benevolence may portray men as protectors and providers who should be cared for domestically - these beliefs reinforce traditional gender roles for both sexes

Ambivalent attitudes towards men

Gender role attitudes

Beliefs about the roles women and men ought to occupy

Modern sexism

The belief that gender discrimination is no longer a problem and that policies designed to increase women’s equality are unnecessary or unfair - this belief is socially easier to express than openly claiming women are inferior

Ceiling effects

Scale used for ratings aren’t nuances enough for accurate measurement of variable of interest, making scores cluster at the top (ceiling) of data collected

Ambivalent Sexism Inventory

This measures hostile and benevolent sexism toward women

Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory

This assesses parallel attitudes toward men

Modern sexism scales

This assesses denial of ongoing discrimination

Social dominance theory

A theory proposing that societies organize groups into hierarchies and that individuals differ in the extent to which they prefer group-based inequality (in-group bias)

greater acceptance

Higher SDO is associated with _____________ of unequal group status

System justification theory

A theory proposing that people are motivated to view existing social arrangements as fair, legitimate, and desirable, even when those arrangements disadvantage their own group - can reduce motivation for social change

Social dominance theory characteristics

• focuses on preference for group heirarchy

• individual differences

• some groups should have have more status

• heirarchy-enhacing ideologies and roles

System justification theory characteristics

• focuses on defending existing system

• motivation for legitimacy and certainty

• even disadvantaged groups may justify the status quo

• stability can reduce pressure for change

Gender discrimination

Unjust treatment based solely on one’s sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity - ranges from explicit exclusion to subtle and ambiguous treatment

Microaggressions

Common, everyday insults and indignities direct toward members of subordinate social groups

• covers wide range of verbal and behavioral experiences

• intentional harm is not required by common definition

Overt discrimination characteristics

• explicit and recognizable

• group members clearly drives treatment

• can be written into rules or openly stated

• examples incluse exclusion from jobs or education

Microaggression characteristics

• everyday slights or indignities

• often subtle or ambiguous

• may occur without conscious intent

• can communicate stereotypes or lack of belonging

countries

Gender equity varies widely across __________

schooling

Access to ______ is not equal for girls and boys in all regions

poverty

Educational inequality is especially consequential where ________ forces families to ration opportunities

Political

______ power is one indication of structural gender equality - more women representation in systems that shape structural power

Affirmative action

Active efforts to combat discrimination by increasing opportunities for protected groups - increase opportunities for individuals who are systematically dfiscriminated against (being proactive vs reactive)

Employment nondiscrimination and law

Legal protections can prohibit discrimination in hiring, promotion, and workplace treatment - law changes formal rules but doesn’t automatically eliminate informal bias (organizational practices and cultural norms affect whether protections work)

• example - DEI

Meritocracy

emphasizes the belief that outcomes should reflect individual effort and ability (equity focused) - modern sexism includes denial that meaningful discrimination is still happening

Attributional ambiguity

Difficulty in attributing negative treatment to group-based discrimination when other possible explanations are present

• ambiguity can reduce confidence in labeling an event discrimination

• subt;e discrimination is therefore harder to challenge than explicit discrimination

Personal-group discrimination discrepancy

The tendency for individuals to think that their social groups experience more discrimination than they do personally

• targets may not now whether group bias, performenace, personality, or chance caused the outcome

• group-level patterns can be easier to recognize than the cause of one individual event

• atttributional ambiguity helps explain the discrtepancy

jokes

Sexist ideas delivered as ________ can seem less serious than the same ideas stated directly - this can reduce accountability w/o changing stereotype content

Costs and benefits of confrontation

• Confronters can be judged negatively, especially when they use an accusatory tone

• Women who confront sexism may violate expectations of niceness or conflict

• Confrontation can also reduce later stereotypic responding and increase awareness

• How a confrontation is delivered can influence its interpersonal effectiveness

Collective action

Behavior enacted on behalf of a group with the goal of improving conditions for the entire group

• differs from individual coping because the goal is broader social change

physiological arousal

Hostile sexism can produce anger, disgust, and __________

Anger and awareness

_________ and ________ can motivate confrontation and collective acton

Allies

Individuals who publicly support and promote the rights of disadvantaged group members but who are not themselves part of the disadvantage group

• most useful when it supports the goals and perspectives of the affected group