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SOCI 100: Introduction to Sociology Instructor: Deniz Yükseker Spring 2013 1- Definitions: Sex, gender, gender stratification, gender roles, gender identity, patriarchy, sexism 2- Gender differences: biology or culture? 3- Gender stratification in global perspective 4- Women’s movements and feminism Gender stratification: males’ and females’ unequal access to property, power and prestige Sex: biological characteristics that distinguish females and males Gender: the behaviors and attitudes that a society considers proper for its males and females; masculinity (erkeklik) and femininity (kadınlık) The meanings of masculinity and femininity, of being a man or a woman show great variety from society to society. Biological sex is made up of the following: Chromosome make-up, reproductive organs, external genitals, hormonal states, internal genitals, secondary sex characteristics Female: XX chromosomes, vagina, ovaries, estrogen hormones, breast development. Male: XY chromosomes, penis and testicles, testosterone hormones Hermaphrodite (derived from the Greek Hermaphroditus – offspring of Hermes and Aphrodite): a human being with some combination of female and male internal and external genitalia Sex is a biological category Gender is a socially constructed category Gender role: learning and performing the socially accepted characteristics for a given gender. It is possible to have cross-cutting gender identities and roles. Example: transvestism Gender performance: “doing gender”: the ways in masculinities and femininities are acted out. “Gender is not simply an aspect of what one is, but also, it is something that one does.” Gender identity: subjective state in which a person comes to say “I am a man” or “I am a woman” Transgender: having the gender identity opposite to one’s biological sex Transsexualism: surgically altering one’s sex (genitals) to match it with the sex that one believes one belongs to. Homosexuality: being sexually attracted to people of one’s own sex Warning: homosexuality and transsexuality are not the same thing. Homosexuality is about sexual orientation; transsexuality is about gender identity Sociolobiology: a field of biology which claims that most social facts are related to human biology Sociobiologists argue that gender differences between men and women are biologically determined. Examples: men are naturally more aggressive; motherhood is natural to women; men are naturally inclined to be promiscuous (have sex with too many women), etc. Sociologists argue against sociobiology: Of course, there is a biological substratum of gender and sex. But historical and anthropological studies show us that there are significant variations in human experience across cultures and historical periods. What it means to be a woman, a man; to be masculine, feminine; the meaning of family, marriage or mothering changes greatly from one culture to another. Examples? GENDER STRATIFICATION Gender stratification: a society’s unequal distribution of wealth, power and prestige between men and women. Sexism: the belief that men are innately superior to women. Historically, sexist ideologists have justified the social domination of women by men. Patriarchy: a social order in which some men dominate, oppress and exploit women and other men. The nature and strength of patriarchy change from society to society and also across different historical periods. There is not a single type of patriarchy that has existed across all human history. Women are subordinated to men in the economy and society: They are concentrated in low-paying, lowprestige jobs; Some laws may discriminate against women There is violence against women, including sexual violence Women have less education than men There are gender inequalities in health and access to healthcare Media portrayals of women might be negative or emphasize traditional gender roles They have less access to political power Gender Empowerment Measure (Developed by the UN): an indicator of opportunities for women based on: female share of parliamentary representation; proportions of legislators, senior officials, managers, professional and technical employees who are women; ratio of female to male earnings. See: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2007200 8_GEM.pdf What is Turkey’s ranking in GEM? In many places in the world, women’s and girls’ access to healthcare is worse than men. Women and girls may also be unhealthier than men and boys due to nutritional differences. Nobel laurate economist Amartya Sen argued in 1990 that there might be 100 million “girls missing” in the world population, especially in South Asia and North Africa. Find out why. Read: http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/gender_morta lity.php Gender inequalities in health can be reflected in the sex ratio (the ratio of females to males) in populations. See the following maps: http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/gratio.html Maternal mortality Excess males in primary education Excess males in secondary education Excess males in tertiary education Everywhere in the world, women earn less than men for similar jobs, even in industrialized countries. Moreover, women are often concentrated in jobs that are lower skilled and pay lower wages. What are some examples? Why is this the case? Discrimination against women in hiring, in the workplace Sexual harrassment Negligence of the needs of women who work Any act of gender-based violence that results in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. (from “The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women” adopted by the UN in 1993) About one fifth of the world’s female population has been physically or sexually abused by a man or men at some point in their lives. Forms of violence against women: Domestic violence Sexual violence Economic violence Psychological violence Petpetration of violence in the media Many states support patriarchy in society through laws and formal politics. Examples from Turkey: The old criminal law’s clauses on rape and “honor” killings The old Civil Code’s clauses on men as head of family, custody of children born to unmarried women, on family names of women, etc. Women are misrepresented in the media and public culture in many ways: Objectification of the female body in advertisements and in films Until the 1980s, women used to be portrayed in films as dumb trouble-makers, too emotional, and too fragile In films, main protagonists were usually male; women used to play roles that emphasize sexual attractiveness TV commercials portray women in traditional gender roles Books, magazines and TV propagate “the beauty myth,” which is an unattainable standard of SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER STRATIFICATION Different roles for men (hunting) and women (mothering, gathering) started in hunting and gathering societies, and later on, they were institutionalized into a gender division of labor. By contrast, in industrial society men’s physical strength is no longer important in organizing society. Therefore gender inequalities have gradually narrowed in industrialized societies Why were men the hunters? Is this explanation satisfactory and conclusive? How can we criticize it? FEMINISM AND THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT Feminism: the advocacy of social equality for the sexes, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism. “First wave” feminism: 19th century and early 20th century: campaign for equality of men and women before the law, for the right to vote, and for equality in education. First feminist text: Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Women. “Second wave” feminism: 1970s onwards. need for change: feminists are deliberately political. They emphasize positive social change for the purpose of gender justice eliminating gender stratification ending sexual violence promoting sexual autonomy for women women should control their sexuality, their bodies and reproduction Some figures on Turkey and comparing Turkey For the Global Gender Gap Index, see: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gendergap-report-2012/ Girls’ and Boys’ Schooling in Turkey Primary Education Year 20002001 20052006 20112012 Secondary Education Schooling Ratio Boys Girls Schooling Ratio 95.28 99.58 90.79 43.95 48.49 39.18 89.77 92.29 98.56 56.63 61.13 51.95 98.67 98.77 98.56 67.37 68.53 66.14 Boys Girls *Schooling ratio is calculated by (total number of students / total population in the theoretical age group)*100 Physical Violence against Women in Turkey: Slapping, shoving, beating by the husband All of Turkey Eastern Turkey (23 provinces) Never 65.5 60.5 Only once 6.7 3.6 Several times 8.2 9.7 Occasionally 6.1 11.1 Frequently 4.1 4.5 Used to happen in the past 9.1 10.5 Source: Ayşe Gül Altınay and Yeşim Arat: Türkiye’de Kadına Yönelik Şiddet Sexual Violence (percentage): With what frequency have you been forced into sexual relations against your will? Never 81.9 Once 0.6 Several times 3.0 Occasionally 5.9 Often 3.2 Only in the past 1.4 No response 3.9 Source: Ayşe Gül Altınay and Yeşim Arat: Türkiye’de Kadına Yönelik Şiddet INDICATORS Economic Participation and Opportunity GLOBAL GENDER GAP INDEX AND FEMALE/MALE RATIOS OF THE INDICATORS KAZAKHST IRAN TURKEY BRAZIL AN Rank Ratio Rank Ratio Rank Ratio Rank Ratio 130 0.41 129 0.41 73 0.65 19 0.76 Labor force participation 122 0.44 125 0.35 72 0.75 18 0.91 Wage equality for similar work (survey) Estimated earned income (PPP US$) Legislators, senior officials and managers Professional and technical workers 87 0.63 85 0.63 120 0.52 14 0.77 130 0.21 121 0.30 64 0.61 63 0.61 97 0.15 103 0.11 30 0.56 21 0.62 97 0.50 93 0.63 1 1.00 1 1.00