Gender Stratification

Gender Stratification: The Social Side of Sex

Gender vs. Sex

• Gender: Personal traits and social position connected with being male or female.
• Sex: Biological makeup of a male or female.

Gender Construction

• Gender Identity: Our perception of ourselves as male or female.
  • The process of gender identity starts in childhood.
  • Children and adults are socialized to see differences rather than similarities in genders.

The Second Shift

• Hochschild's Findings: Married working women often have a "second shift" at home.
  • Expected to cook, do laundry, and take care of children after working full time.
  • Women generally accept this situation.
• South and Spitze's Findings: National data show more equality in work for married couples.
  • Men perform about 18 hours of housework per week.
  • Women perform over 32 hours of housework per week.
  • Men work more hours outside the home, making the total labor almost identical.

Patriarchy and Sexism

• Patriarchy: A social system where the father is the head of the family, and men have authority over women and children.
• Sexism: Belief system that one sex is superior to the other, often resulting from patriarchy.

Matriarchy

• Matriarchy: A rare social system in which women are the main authority and hold power over men.

Gender Roles

• Gender Roles: Society’s expectations of how males and females should act and think.
  • Children’s toys are an example of socialization to gender roles.
  • Gender roles are not fixed but constantly changing.

Gender Roles and the Media

• Media reinforces gender roles.
  • Males and females are affected by media portrayals from a young age.

The Fluidity of Gender Roles in Indonesia’s Bugis People

• The Bugis in Indonesia have a different view of gender and gender roles.
  • The pronouns 'he' and 'she' do not exist in their language.
• Gender stratification is more complex than in the U.S.
  • Oroane: Masculine males.
  • Makkunrai: Feminine females.
  • Calalai: Anatomical females who assume characteristics of men.
  • Calabai: Anatomical males who adhere to some of the responsibilities of women.
  • Bissu: Androgynous members who embody a mixture of male and female.

Gender and Inequality

• A hierarchy exists between the sexes in many societies, including the U.S., represented by differences in wealth and power.
  • In 2008, the median annual income for full-time working men was 46,367, compared to 35,745 for full-time working women.
  • Women are more likely to live in poverty.

Gender and Education

• Women are earning degrees in greater numbers than men in the U.S., but income stratification persists.
  • High school diploma: Men earn 30,876, women earn 18,293.
  • Bachelor’s degree: Men earn 57,278, women earn 36,294.
  • Doctorate degree (2008): Men earn 90,575, women earn 60,619.

Gender and the Workplace

• Women make up almost half of the U.S. labor force; however, there are differences in job types and compensation.
• Three Models Explaining Differences:
  1. Human Capital Model: Assumes men and women bring different natural skills to the workplace.
  2. Choice Model: Explains the income gap by analyzing the kinds of jobs women choose.
  3. Patriarchy Model: Assumes a male-dominated society that prevents women from holding upper-tier jobs.
     • Glass Ceiling: An invisible barrier preventing women from reaching executive-level positions in the workplace.

Gender and Politics

• A woman has never held the highest political office in the U.S.
• Three Theories to Explain This:
  1. Women are not interested in politics: This theory has been disproven; women vote more regularly than men.
  2. The structure of women’s lives does not lend itself to the rigors of political office: This theory sets different standards for men and women.
  3. Society forces women into a politically passive role: Less true now due to changing gender roles, but still present due to beliefs about women's capabilities in politics.

Feminism

• Feminism: A collection of social movements and theories about gender differences, proposing social equality for all people.

First-Wave Feminism

• Began in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Revolved around the women’s suffrage movement.
  • Women were granted the right to vote in 1920.

Second-Wave Feminism

• Occurred during the women’s liberation movement that began in the 1960s.
  • Women demanded equal rights in education, the workplace, and reproductive rights.

Third-Wave Feminism

• Began in the 1990s.
  • Included multiple racial and socioeconomic groups.
  • Some feminists associated race, gender, and capitalism.

Feminist Theory

• Studies how gender affects experiences and opportunities of men and women.
• Four General Beliefs of Feminists:
  1. Increasing equality in work and education.
  2. Expanding human choice for outcomes.
  3. Eliminating gender stratification.
  4. Ending sexual violence.

Liberal vs. Radical Feminism

• Liberal Feminists: Dedicated to women’s equality in the workplace, education, politics, and reducing violence toward women.
• Radical Feminists: Focus on capitalism, patriarchy, and men’s control over women.

Conflict Theory and Gender

• Conflict theorists argue that capitalism and patriarchy are deeply intertwined.
  • Women make less money than men.
  • Women engage in unpaid labor in the household, which is undervalued by men.
  • Women are subordinate to men.

Symbolic Interactionism and Gender

• Symbolic interactionists believe that people’s definition of gender develops from everyday interaction with others.
  • Men and women often follow scripted behavior.
  • Men display machismo or overt and exaggerated displays of masculinity.

Functionalism and Gender

• Functionalists view society as a system of inter-related parts working in concert with each other.
  • Parsons believed that gender differences were essential for society's operation.
  • Traditional gender roles are functional for society's operation.

Social Policy: Stopping Sexual Harassment

• Sexual harassment and gender violence are serious problems.
  • The National Violence Against Women Survey found that 25% of women and almost 8% of men claimed they were raped or physically assaulted by a spouse or partner.