CHAPTER 5 SLIDES

Gender

The set of social expectations for how men and women are supposed to behave according to cultural standards.

• ‘Masculine’ and ‘feminine’ feelings, attitudes and behaviours that are typically associated with being male or female.

• Gender norms vary over time and place.

Gender Identity

One’s identification with, or sense of belonging to, a particular sex, biologically, physically, and socially.

• Cisgender – people whose experience of their gender matches their assigned sex at birth.

• Transgender – people whose gender identity is not consistent with their assigned sex at birth.

Sexuality

A topic that refers to individuals’ sexual desires, behaviours, and identities.

- Early psychological theories focused on ‘sexual orientations’ (e.g., heterosexual / homosexual).

- New terms for sexual identity categories include straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, pansexual, asexual.

Gender difference arguments adopt one of two perspectives:

Essentialism

A school of thought that views gender differences as a reflection of biological differences between women and men.

Social Constructionism

A school of thought that views gender differences as a reflection of the different social positions occupied by women and men.

Critique of Essentialism

1. Ignores historical and cultural variability.

2. Ignores how the environment can influence individuals’ physical and psychological traits over time.

3. Ignores the role of social structure and individual relations in influencing differences in gender and sexuality.

Social Constructionism

Gender differences and sexuality are the products of social structure and culture (NOT biology).

• Patriarchy—a gendered belief system that privileges men above women in matters of power and authority.

• Gendered Division of Labour—institutionalized as work and tasks came to be based on sex differences.

Doing Gender

Gender is also produced and reproduced daily in people’s actions and interactions with others.

• Gender is not an assigned status but something that we constantly strive to achieve.

• Gender is a deeply social process, continuously negotiated while people interact with others.

Social Inequality

The significant differences across social categories in access to valued goods, services, rights, and experiences.

- Power is the ability to impose one’s will on others despite resistance.

- Resources are valued assets that individuals draw on to help achieve their goals.

- Responsibilities are the obligations that people are expected to meet.

Gender-Based Legislation

- Women’s right to vote.

- Women’s right to serve in government.

- The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees equal treatment under the law for everyone in Canada.

Without legal barriers to equality, why have we not achieved full gender equality?

LGBTQ-Based Legislation

- Consensual sex between same-sex adults decriminalized in 1969.

- Judges interpret the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms to include protections for LGBTQ persons.

- Laws have been changing to recognize the legal equal standing and full citizenship of LGBTQ people.

Despite these changes, why have we not achieved full equality for LGBTQ people?

Occupational Segregation

1. Horizontal segregation

• Unequal gender distribution across occupations.

2. Vertical segregation

• Domination of one gender (typically men) in positions of high authority and power within each occupation.

Figure 5.1 Women's Representation by Occupation Sector, 1987–2015

• Percentage

• 1987 (red)

• 1995 (blue)

• 2005 (yellow)

• 2015 (green)

• Categories:

  • Natural and applied sciences and related occupations

  • Physical science professionals

  • Life science professionals

  • Civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineers

  • Other engineers

  • Architects, urban planners, and land surveyors

  • Mathematicians, statisticians, and actuaries

  • Computer and information systems professionals (Source: Melissa Moyser, 2017. "Women and Paid Work." Women in Canada: A Gender-Based Statistical Report. Statistics Canada. Catalogue No. 89-503-X.)

Bar graph showing women's representation in various occupation sectors over the years 1987, 1995, 2005, and 2015. Each year is represented by a different color bar for comparison.

Gender Wage Gap

Is the discrepancy between men’s and women’s earnings.

• Has hovered around 30 percent since 1992.

Precarious Employment

• May be part-time, seasonal, or contract-based.

• Characterized by low pay, instability of employment, and lack of benefits (e.g., employer pension, dental benefits).

Supply-Side Arguments

- Some people invest more time, energy, and education in work, so they are rewarded more highly than those who invest less.

Demand-Side Arguments

- Participation in paid work is constrained by institutional and structural barriers.

Supply-Side Explanations

Human Capital Theory

A person’s location in the labour market depends largely on that person’s rationally chosen investment in education and skills, which constitute that person’s human capital.

Sex-Role Socialization

Women and men are socialized to have different work preferences.

Demand-Side Explanations

Employer Preferences

Employers may prefer hiring certain individuals over others.

Discrimination

Occurs when employers use stereotypes to focus on visible characteristics of people and, on that basis, decide that some people will be more productive workers than others.

Domestic Responsibilities

Gender Differences

In most Canadian households, domestic tasks, including housework and child care, are still disproportionately delegated to women.

LGBTQ Differences

Some same-sex couples are more egalitarian than others; however, studies show that gender dynamics of household labour are present, complex, and contested.

Individual-Centred Theories

Relative Resources

- Family welfare is maximized when the spouse that can earn higher income works outside the home and the spouse that cannot earn higher income does most of the unpaid domestic labour.

Time Availability

- Time spent in paid work limits the amount of time spent on domestic chores.

Cultural Theory

- Highlights the way cultural ideologies of motherhood and fatherhood influence men’s and women’s behaviour.

Intensive Motherhood

- Refers to the predominant cultural model of the loving, maternal figure selflessly devoting most of her time and energy to her children.

Social Groups and Political Action

• Government laws, policies, and regulations help reduce the gendered division of labour and discrimination by gender and sexuality in the workplace.

– e.g., access to affordable, high-quality day care

Human Rights Policies

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

• Guarantees equal rights under the law

The Human Rights Code

• Prohibits discrimination

Employment Policies

1995 Employment Equity Act

• Aimed at increasing the representation of disadvantaged groups in Canada’s paid labour force.

• Study (period 1997–2004) found employment equity increasing but the rate of increase slowing.

Employment Policies (cont’d)

Employment Standards Act (Ontario, 2000)

- Men and women must receive equal pay for equivalent work.

Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (Bill 148)

- Employers must pay equal wages to people of similar employment status.

Policies that increase the minimum wage.

Family-Friendly Policies in the Workplace

- On-site daycare

- Flexible work schedules

- Paternity leave

Changing Perceptions of Gender Roles

• Addressing the gendered work stereotypes in movies, commercials, TV programs, literature, and video games.

  • Surveys show younger people to be more gender-egalitarian due to exposure to women in nontraditional roles.

No visual elements, text-based slide.

The Gendered Division of Labour

Employment rate for women with children:

• 32 percent in 1976

• 70 percent in 2015

• Gender differences in labour force participation vary across minority groups.

FIGURE 5.2

Percentage

100

86.0 | All persons | 78.6

82.5 | Visible minorities | 70.1

82.2 | Recent immigrants | 58.5

78.5 | Lone parents | 60.0

71.8 | Indigenous people off-reserve | 66.5

60.8 | Persons with disabilities | 55.7

45.8 | Indigenous people on-reserve | 48.3

Men are represented in blue and Women in red.

A bar graph comparing the labor force participation percentage by gender for various underrepresented groups. Blue bars represent men and red bars represent women, with categories such as All persons, Visible minorities, Recent immigrants, etc.

• Representation of women has increased in prestigious, traditionally male-dominated occupations.

• Science, engineering, technology, accounting, law, politics, and senior management.

• Research has documented greater equality in domestic work in recent decades.

• A shift in gendered distribution of child care has occurred.

Changing Perceptions of LGBTQ People

• Attitudes toward LGBTQ people have become more positive since 1981.

• Each cohort in the population changes at similar rates.

• A large majority of Canadians support equal rights for LGBTQ people.