Download Chapter 11 Gender, Age, and Health

Gender, Age, and Health
Introduction
• Race and Ethnicity are not the only factors
that affect a person’s standing in society.
– Individuals social structure is influenced by
whether he or she is male or female, young or old,
able-bodied or disabled
• To be female, old or disabled is be in a position o lesser
power in society
Examples
• 8% of America’s engineers are female
• 20% of nations doctors, lawyers and judges are
female
• Only 60% of the medical bills of the elderly are
covered by Medicare and Medicaid
• More than 14% of Americans are not covered by
health insurance
• Most Americans with disabilities want to work,
only 42% of working-age men with disabilities
and 20% of working age women with disabilities
are employed
Gender
• Behavioral and psychological traits considered
appropriate for males and females
– Unlike biological traits, which are the same in all
societies, gender traits are socially created and
thus may vary from culture to culture
What are some examples of
gender roles in your culture?
Gender continued…
• It is gender, not biology that determines the
majority of the roles males an females play in
society
Gender Roles
The specific behaviors and attitudes that a
society establishes for men and women
In a division of labor based on gender, women are generally
assigned child-care and domestic duties. Men are often
charged with providing economic support and physical safety
for the family
Gender Identity
What does it mean to be a boy or a girl?
• Gender Identity is formed and how this identity
influences social behavior
– The identity is the awareness of being masculine or
feminine as those traits are defined by culture
– Cultural values that influence gender identity and
roles are not static and have changed in recent
decades
– The degree in which a person takes on a gender
identity affects his or her response to the gender roles
established in society
Example
Baby X-1
Example
Baby X-2
Write down if the words are male or
female
• Strong, tough, leader, power, confident,
mastered, skilled, cool, angry, fast
• Love, delicate, soft, shy, doll, honey, caring,
happy, dancing, crafty
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Prediction that results in
behavior that makes the
prediction come true
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Sexism
• People who see women as incapable of holding
positions of power make choices based on this
belief  Men who see women as inferior oppose
women entering powerful positions  Women
who accept an inferior role do not pursue
traditionally male roles  Thus, not enough
women are in positions of power to push for
greater access  The fact that few women hold
positions of power is used to justify the opinion
that women must be capable of holding such
positions
The Good Wife’s Guide
• 1955 Article in the magazine Housekeeping Monthly
provided the following tips for wives to prepare for
their husbands’ return from work.
– Have dinner ready…
– Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be
fresh looking…
– Clear away the clutter
– Make the evening his..
– Don’t greet him with complaints and problems
– Make him comfortable...have a cool or warm drink ready
for him.
– Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in
a low, soothing and pleasant voice
– A good wife always knows her place
• How has American society changed?
Margaret Mead
• Study of 3 New Guinea Societies
– Found there are exceptions in societies to traditional
men/women roles
• In Tchambuli, men and women care for the
children. Women provide food for the family.
• Even more variation exists in the psychological
characteristics considered appropriate for men
and women.
– Found that among Tchambuli, the women were bossy
and efficient, while the men were gossipy and artistic
– Men wore cosmetics and curled their hair
Gender Continued…
• In the United States, a gender role is
reinforced at birth
– Infant girls dress in pink/ nursery's have pink,
flowers, ruffles
– Infant boys dress in blue/ nursery’s have blue,
animals, cameo, more solid colors
Gender Continued…
• Gender-typing is not as widespread as it was
20 or 30 years ago
– Most people no longer discourage girls from
playing with traditionally male toys such a model
trucks, cars and airplanes
– Boys rarely dress in pink, or in clothing that has
ribbons, lace or other frills
• Boys are more encouraged to NOT play with dolls or
other traditionally feminine toys
Physical Trappings of Gender are the
Expectations that most people hold for Boys and
Girls
• 1800’s Nursery Rhyme:
• What are little boys made of? What are little
boys made of? Frogs and snails, and puppydog tails, That’s what little boys are made of.
• What are little girls made of? What are little
girls made of? Sugar and spice and all that is
nice, That’s what little girls are made of.
Gender Roles and Social Inequality
• Different and Unequal
– To be female is to be in a position of lesser power
in society
• Growth of primitive societies depends on the birth and
survival of children
• Women spent many adult years in pregnancy or nursing
young children
– Resulted in roles that made them stay close to home
– Men were hunters and gathers; traveling for work, protecting
the group through fighting and wars
What are some TV shows or movies in
today’s society that reinforce
patriarchy?
Examples
Gender Roles and Social Inequality
• Men who see women as inferior often oppose
the entrance of women into powerful
positions in business, politics, and the
professions
– Women who accept this stereotype do not
attempt to pursue careers in traditionally male
fields
• Not enough women in positions of power
Gender Inequality in the United States
• Less than 150 years ago, women in the United
States were very much second-class citizens
– Had few rights.
• Could not vote, sign contracts, or sit on juries
• Few opportunities for higher education
–Jobs not available/lower wages
Sufferin’ til Suffrage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGHGDO_b_q0
Suffrage
• The right to vote
– Women chained themselves to public buildings,
harassed public officials and when imprisoned,
went on hunger strikes.
• 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
adopted in 1920, gave women the vote
The Political Arena
• Women make up 52% of the voting-age population,
outnumbering men by some 7 million
• More likely to vote than men
• Men dominate the political arena
Women’s Movement
• Some American women took steps to end
gender discrimination
– Women’s Movement-Held that the sexes were
socially, politically and economically equal
• July 1948, delegates at women’s rights
convention in Seneca Falls, NY, issued a
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.
– Called for reforms to strengthen women’s
standings in society
• Allowed women to control their own property and
earnings
Women’s Movement
The Feminine Mystique
• Betty Friedan
– Sparked the movement into action once more
– Rejected notion that women were content with
the roles of wife and mother
– Argued in the media there is a glorification of
these roles
• Simply a way to keep women in a secondary position in
society
• Book struck a chord with women in society
and began to demand greater educational
opportunities and fairer treatment at work
Education
• Today women make up 57% of total college
population
• Earn 56% of all bachelor’s degrees awarded
• Earn 58% of the master’s degrees awarded
each year
Education
• In early 1970s funding for women’s athletics
was nonexistent at most coeducational
colleges and universities
– Education Amendment Act of 1972: Title IX
of the act bars any discrimination on the
basis of gender in any program, receiving
federal funds
• 40% of all college athletes are women
What is this?
The World of Work
• Wage gap:
– Level of women’s income relative to that of
men
– 75 cents to the dollar
– Difference in the yearly median earning of
female and male full-time workers is nearly
$10,000
– Exists in all age groups and at every level of
education
The World of Work
Glass Ceiling
• Invisible barrier that prevents women from
gaining upper-level positions in business
– 12% of corporate officers in America’s 500 largest
companies are women
– Men in traditionally female occupations (nursing,
social work, library administration) do not face a
glass ceiling
Arlie Hochschild
• Married women face a gender inequality
• After their day at work, they also have
household duties to complete, such as
cooking, cleaning and child care
• Most wives feel that their husbands should
share in these tasks
Second Shift
• Hochschild observed that most husbands
adopt “strategies of resistance” to avoid them
– If husbands do undertake a task, some may make
a mess of it in that hope they will not be asked
again
• Where husbands DO share the second shift,
wives still do most of the work
• Women in the United states have on average
at least 10 hours per week less leisure time
than men
The Media’s Influence on Gender
Jean Kilbourne: “Killing Us Softly”
• Looks at men and women in the media and
gender discrimination
• Double Standard in society for portrayal of
women
• Sets unrealistic expectations for men and
women in our society
The Good Men Project
• “Guys, are you comfortable in your own skin?”
• Paving the way for men is Dove
– Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p8LkuWIRs8&feature=relmfu
Dove Body Image Campaign
• Paving the way for real images for women is
Dove
– Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U