Chapter 9: Gender Inequality

  • intersectionality - ways women’s and men’s multiple identities and social locations shape experiences

  • gender binary - belief only two genders exist, male and female

    • erases understanding of intersex people

  • sex - physical differences of the body

    • born with

  • gender - psychological, social, cultural differences between males and females

    • many differences between males and females are not biological in origin

    • what we learn and do

  • nonbinary - gender identity not exclusively masculine or feminine

  • biological essentialism - differences between men and women are natural and inevitable consequences of intrinsic biological natures of men and women

    • neglects and minimizes social influences

      • (Sandra Lipsitz Bem)

  • “doing gender” - theory that gender is performance, varies by cultural factors

  • gender socialization - ways individuals learn gender roles from socializing agents

    • biological distinction between sexes is starting point for differences that become culturally elaborated and amplified in society

    • ex. family, peers, schools, media

  • social construction of gender - gender identities emerge in relation to perceived sex differences in societies and cultures which shape and perpetuate differences

    • reject biological bases for gender differences

  • hegemonic masculinity - social norms dictating men should be strong, self-reliant, competitive, unemotional

  • cisgender - person whose gender identity matches biological sex

  • transgender - chose to identify as gender different than one assigned at birth

  • intersex - possess both male and female genitalia and those with ambiguous genitalia

  • patriarchy - organized male dominance in society

    • degree of patriarchy varies widely across culture

    • construction of gender worldwide placed men superior to women

  • gender inequality - differences in status, power, prestige women and men have in different groups, collectives, societies

  • gender-typed - occupation seen as mainly “man’s job” or “women’s job”

  • sex segregation - concentration of men and women in different occupations

    • may cause gender gap in earnings

  • Lolita effect - patriarchal process, sexual images and naratives delivered to women in societies especially under capitalism

    • boys choose sexy girls

    • one kind of sexy (slender, curvy, white beauty)

    • girls should strive to be sexy

    • strive to appear young

  • Liberal Feminist Theories - address gender disparities through legislation and public policy

    • focus on idea of work and family inequality

    • separate factors that contribute to inequalities between men and women rather than larger system or structure

    • bring about reform in gradual way

      • more moderate in aims and methods

      • may not have been successful in dealing with root causes of gender inequality

    • from 1st and 2nd wave feminism

  • Radical Feminist Theories - system too far broken because of patriarchal structures, need to start over from scratch

    • focus on women’s sexuality and reproductive health, appropriation of womens bodies

    • family main source of women’s oppression

      • men exploit women by relying on free domestic labor women provide in home

    • change through culture, revolution

    • argue patriarchy always existed and is source of oppression

      • however concept of patriarchy has historical and cultural variations

      • ignores importance of class, race, ethnicity in nature of subordination

    • stems from 2nd wave and 3rd wave feminism

  • glass ceiling - promotion barrier that prevents women’s upward mobility within organization

    • don’t have sponsorship of well-placed, powerful senior colleagues to articulate value to organization/proffession

    • tend to progress to mid-level management positions, not beyond

  • glass escalator - men in traditional female occupations placed on fast track to promotion

    • ex. Male teachers more likely to become principals

    • (Christine Williams)

  • sexual harassment - unwanted or repeated sexual advances, remarks, behaviors that are offensive to the recipient and cause discomfort or interfere with job performance

    • power imbalances facilitate harassment, more common for men in positions of authority to harass women

  • hostile work environment - pattern of sexual language, circulation of lewd imagery, or sexual advances makes worker so uncomfortable it’s difficult for worker to do job

  • motherhood penalty - difficulties mothers face in the workplace

    • perception work comes second to having children

    • mothers less likely to be hired than childless women with same work experience and qualifications

    • mothers offered lower starting pay for same jobs

    • considered primary caregivers and perceived as less reliable and less productive workers

  • second shift - women perform housework and child care before and after paid work day

    • women work longer hours than men

    • (Arlie Hochschild)

  • housework - unpaid work carried out in home usually by women

    • large gender gap in time women spend doing chores than men

    • women save husbands an hour of housework a week, men create seven hours of housework for wives

    • household work exchanged for economic support

    • ex. cooking, cleaning, shopping

  • infanticide - crime of killing child within year of its birth

    • maybe by mother

  • rape - forcing of nonconsensual vaginal, oral, anal intercourse without consent

    • majority men against woman and relatives

    • often goes unreported

    • act of violence perpetrator commits to wield power and control over victim

    • often carefully planned

    • may use alcohol or drugs

  • rape culture - men socialized to regard women as sexual objects, feel sexual entitlement, instill fear in women by dominating them

    • makes men insensitive to difference between consensual and nonconsensual sex, contribute to high levels of sexual violence against women

  • toxic masculinity - potentially destructive values/behaviors historically part of boys’ socialization

    • ex. domination, devaluation of women, homophobia, violence

  • Manhood Acts - masculinity based around devaluing femininity both publicly and privately

    • learned as children, policing of behaviors and emotions

    • masculinity entraps men

  • hegemonic masculinity - ideal form of masculinity associated with traits like aggression, power, competitiveness

    • ex. Christian Grey

  • surface acting - convincing others you are feeling a certain way

  • deep acting - changing emotions to match with expectations in given situation

  • cognitive work - change ideas or attitudes

  • bodily work - control physical reaction to emotions

    • ex. facial expressions, posture

  • expressive work - altering actions to change how you feel

  • commodification of feelings - selling emotions for a profit

    • ex. cigarette ads telling consumers they will be cool and sexy if buy product

  • emotional labor - emotion work included in job

    • common in jobs with communication with clients, making clients feel certain way, frequent supervision

    • different gender expectations

      • women subordinate status relative to men

      • different consequences for emotion work

      • emotional management as alternative resource to power, status, money

      • women undeserving of being protected from others’ feelings

    • ex. customer service workers act happy

  • black feminism - focused on particular problems facing Black women

    • influence of powerful legacy of slavery, segregation, civil rights movement on gender inequalities in Black community

    • suffragettes supported campaign for women’s rights but race couldn’t be ignored

    • any theory of gender equality that doesn’t take racism into account can’t explain Black women’s oppression

    • multiply disadvantaged by color, sex, and class

  • suffragettes - early womens rights movements who pressed for equal voting rights

  • transnational feminism - intersections among nationhood, race, gender, sexuality, economic exploitation against global capitalism

    • global processes (colonialism, racism, imperialism) shape gender relations and hierarchies

    • liberal feminism themes not relevant for many women in Global South

    • research integral to social change

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