Sociology of Gender and Global Inequality
Foundations of Gender and Inequality
Gender is fundamental to societal structure, individual self-understanding, and reflexivity.
Gender determines social difference and inequality across all global societies.
Inequality manifests in differing outcomes for groups, stemming from power relationships and social hierarchies.
Gender Gap and Economic Disparity in Australia
The Gender Gap Index evaluates disparities across countries based on economic participation, wages, education, health, and political representation.
In , Australia ranked globally.
Australia scores high in health and education, but low in political empowerment; the ratio of women to men in parliament and ministry was in (where is equal).
Full-time wage comparisons show women earn for every dollar a man earns; using all earnings data, the figure drops to .
Men with university degrees are likely to earn nearly twice as much as women with the same qualifications.
Men aged to hold almost twice as much superannuation as women in the same age bracket, making women more reliant on the aged pension.
The lone-parent household, frequently headed by women, is the poorest household type in Australia.
Conceptualizing Sex and Gender
Sex: The biological distinction between male and female based on physiology and genital organs.
Gender: The socially constructed categories of feminine and masculine dictated by cultural values.
Ann Oakley (Sex, Gender and Society, ): Challenged the assumption that biological sex and gender correspond, using anthropological studies to undermine the idea that male domination is natural.
Doing Gender: The theory that individuals perform gender constantly through social interaction and attribution based on appearance and behavior.
Theoretical Perspectives on Gender
Biological Determinism: Argues that gender differences are fixed by genes and hormones (e.g., testosterone linked to violence); however, psychological meta-analyses suggest gender differences are smaller than typically assumed.
Patriarchy: A social system of masculine domination. It is often criticized as a homogenizing term that overlooks the experiences of non-white or non-middle-class women.
Patriarchal Dividend: Raewyn Connell’s term for the economic and social advantages men obtain over women.
The Gender Order: Raewyn Connell’s concept describing the intersection of institutional structures (gender regimes) and individual identities. It is constrained by three structures: labour, power, and cathexis (emotion and sexuality).
Sexuality and Social Identity
Sigmund Freud: Believed babies are born without defined sexual direction, which is later imposed by civilization through repression.
Alfred Kinsey: Argued that sexual experience exists on a continuum rather than a strict binary.
Gagnon and Simon: Used symbolic interactionism to describe sexuality as organized through "sexual scripts."
Michel Foucault: Theory that modern homosexual identity emerged from psychiatric and sexological discourses and the "incitement to talk" about perversions.
Adrienne Rich: Coined "compulsory heterosexuality" as a tool for male power that defines women’s desire as contingent on men.
Global Gender Order
Globalisation facilitates the movement of women from poor to rich countries, often involving people-trafficking ( of victims are women, many forced into sex work).
Housewifization: An international division of labour where wealthy Western consumers depend on goods produced by women in the global South.
The patriarchal dividend of globalization primarily benefits a small international group of men.
Questions & Discussion
In what ways do you ‘do gender’ in your everyday life? Explore your clothing, your attitudes to what is male and female, and the language you use.
What examples of gender inequality persist today?
Why is gender socialisation an inadequate explanation of gender inequality?
Patriarchy and the gender order have been advanced as key concepts in explaining gender inequality. Define these concepts and, using examples from contemporary Australia, justify which concept provides a more persuasive account.
What does Connell mean by ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and ‘compulsory heterosexuality’? Do you agree that many men ‘do gender’ in this way?
What social reforms are necessary to address gender inequality?
Foundations of Gender and Inequality
Gender shapes societal structure, self-understanding, and reflexivity, leading to social differences and inequality.
Gender Gap and Economic Disparity in Australia
The Gender Gap Index ranks countries on economic participation, wages, education, health, and political representation; Australia ranked 25th in 2013 with high education and health metrics but low political empowerment (women to men in parliament was 0.19).
Women earn 82 cents for each dollar men earn full-time, dropping to 65 cents including all earnings; men with university degrees earn nearly double that of women. Men aged 55-64 have almost twice the superannuation savings, making women more reliant on pensions. Lone-parent households led by women are the poorest.
Conceptualizing Sex and Gender
Sex refers to biological differences, while gender is socially constructed. Ann Oakley challenged fixed notions of gender through anthropological research.
Theoretical Perspectives on Gender
Theories of gender include biological determinism, which is critiqued for overlooking social factors; the patriarchal dividend highlighting economic advantages men hold; and the gender order, which examines how institutional structures interplay with individual identities.
Sexuality and Social Identity
Sexual identity theories show sexuality on a continuum (Kinsey) and influenced by social norms, as per Freud and Foucault.
Global Gender Order
Globalization affects women's movement and employment, often perpetuating exploitation; the wealthy rely on labor from women in poorer nations.
Questions & Discussion
Key questions for discussion explore personal gender performances, ongoing inequalities, and necessary reforms to address these issues.