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Chapter 1
Sociology: Studying Social
Problems
Chapter 11: Gender
Inequality
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
What is Gender?
• Gender: the personal traits and life
chances that a society links to being female
or male
• Sex: the biological distinction between
females and males
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender Stratification and Patriarchy
• Gender is an important dimension of social
inequality.
– Gender stratification frequently takes the form
of patriarchy (social patterns by which males
dominate females)
– Patriarchy is widely evident in the U.S. and
around the world
– Sociologists see patriarchy - and the entire
range of gender - as the creation of society itself
– Matriarchy is a social pattern in which females
dominate males
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender Stratification and Patriarchy
• Explanations of Patriarchy
– Men’s greater body size and strength
– Brain power
– Greater aggressiveness (testosterone)
– Most sociologists reject the idea that any
behavior is “hard-wired” into human
biology
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
The Problem of Sexism
• Sexism is the assertion that one sex is
innately inferior to the other
• Sexism supports patriarchy by claiming that
men are “better” than women and therefore
should dominate them.
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Global Map 4-1
Women’s Power around the World
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and the Family
• The importance of gender to family life begins
with the fact that most expectant parents prefer
a son to a daughter.
– Female infanticide
• After reaching adulthood, gender makes marriage
two distinctive relationships
– Jessie Bernard’s “his” marriage and “her”
marriage (Life gets better, but for whom?)
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and Education
• Even before starting school, children are
exposed to gender bias in children’s books.
• Most college students are women
– social pressures still steer women toward
majors in English, dance, drama, or
sociology
– men still are directed toward physics,
economics, biology, mathematics and
computer science
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and Education
• Title IX- banned sex discrimination in any
educational program receiving federal
funding.
• Despite the passage of Title IX in 1972,
equality in athletic programs is more the
exception than the rule
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and the Mass Media
• There are more than 250 million televisions in
the U.S.
• TV directs its advertising toward women, but
ignores them in TV programming.
• Women often have supporting roles that
reinforce traditional gender roles.
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and Politics
• Women have played only a marginal role in
this nation’s political history
• Thousands of women now serve at the local
levels as mayors and council members
• In 2009, 24% of the state legislators were
women and 8 of the 50 state governors were
women.
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Table 4-1
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
National Map 4-1
Women’s Political Power across the United States
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and Religion
• Religion has traditionally been patriarchal
• In recent decades, more liberal denominations
have moved toward greater gender equality
– This liberal trend includes revising prayers,
hymnals, and even the Bible to reduce sexist
language, as well as ordaining both men and
women as priests
• Orthodox Judaism, Islam, and Roman Catholicism
have retained traditional male leadership
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and the Military
• Women have been part of the military
since the Revolutionary War
• During WWII, when the government
officially opened the military to both sexes,
women made up just 2% of the armed
forces
• Women make up to 14% of the U.S.
military fighting force in Iraq
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and Work
• 3 in 5 women are in the work force
• 60% of married women with children under
the age of 6 work
• 73% of women with children ages 6 to 17
work
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Figure 4-1
Women and Men in the U.S. Labor Force
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender and Work
• Even though more women work for pay, their
range of jobs is still limited
• Gender discrimination was outlawed by the
Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but even today it
continues to be an issue
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Figure 4-2
Gender and Housework
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Gender Stratification
• Inequality between men and women is
reflected in differences in income and in
responsibility for housework, as well as in
patterns of violence and even reproductive
issues
• Gender income inequality is the result of men
holding different kinds of jobs, family life, and
gender discrimination
• Glass Ceiling
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
National Map 4-2
The Salary Gender Gap across the United States
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Figure 4-2
Gender and Housework
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Violence Against Women
• Perhaps the most serious problem linked to
patriarchy is men’s physical violence against
women
– Assault, rape, and murder
• Why is violence a gender issue?
– Physical aggressiveness is a key element of
the cultural definition of masculinity.
– Gender violence is not so much sexual as an
expression of power
• When it comes to serious violence, the most
dangerous setting for women is the home
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Sexual Harassment
• Sexual Harassment: unwanted comments,
gestures or physical contact of a sexual nature
– Quid Pro Quo- sexual harassment that is
blatant and direct is a violation of civil rights
– Hostile Environment- more subtle behavior
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Sexuality, Beauty and
Reproduction
• Beauty is about power and inequality
• Social norms encourage females to wear
attractive clothes and to be attentive to men
• Women’s reproduction has been regulated
– regulation of birth control
– restricted access to abortion clinics
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Women: A Majority-Minority
• Numerically, women are a slight majority of
the U.S. population
• Women meet the test of being both a
physically distinctive and disadvantaged
category
– Women have less income, wealth, and
power than men
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Minority Women:
Intersection Theory
• Minority women are doubly disadvantaged
– They earn less than white women
– Minority women earn less than minority
men
– In 2008, African American women
earned 62% as much as white men and
Hispanic women earned 53% as much as
white men
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Structural-Functional Analysis:
Gender and Complimentarity
• Functionalists contend that differences
between men and women help build
families and integrate society as a whole
(instrumental and expressive roles)
• The structural-functional analysis of gender
was quite influential 50 years ago but is far
less today
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Structural-Functional Analysis:
Gender and Complementarity
• Critics contend that:
– functionalism ignores how men and
women can and do relate to one another
in a variety of ways that do not fit any
norm
– functionalism fails to take into account
the personal strains and social conflicts
produced by rigid gender patterns
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis:
Gender in Everyday Life
• The symbolic-interaction paradigm provides
a micro-level analysis of gender at work in
the everyday lives of individual people
– Personal behavior
– Use of space
– Language
• Gender directly affects personal behavior,
the use of space, and the language we use
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis:
Gender in Everyday Life
• Critics point out that symbolic-interaction
overlooks the fact that gender is a basic part
of social organization
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Social-Conflict Analysis:
Gender and Inequality
• Friedrich Engels expanded Marx’s theory to
include gender, arguing that the same process
that allows a ruling class to dominate a worker
places men in a dominant position over women
– Patriarchy is a system by which wealthy men
transmit their wealth to their sons
– The double problem of capitalism lies in
exploiting men in the factories and exploiting
women in the home
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Social-Conflict Analysis:
Gender and Inequality
• Critics of this perspective point out:
– Families perform vital task of raising
children
– Not everyone defines the differences as
unjust
– Patriarchy also occurs in socialist nations
such as Cuba and The People’s Republic of
China
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Feminism
• Feminism
– the study of gender with the goal of
changing society to make women and men
equal
– involves both theory and action
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Feminist Foundations
• There is no one version of feminism, but
almost all feminists agree on:
– the importance of gender
– the importance of change
– the importance of choice
– the need to eliminate patriarchy
– the need to eliminate violence against
women
– the importance of sexual autonomy
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Types of Feminism
• Types of feminists
– Liberal feminists - want women and men to
be treated as individuals but want change to
occur within existing social institutions
– Socialist feminists -claim that a Marxist-style
class revolution is needed to secure equality for
all people
– Radical feminists -argue that patriarchy is
built into the concept of gender itself and
nothing short of erasing gender will bring about
equality
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Politics and Gender: Constructing
Problems and Defining Solutions
• Conservatives focus on the value of families
– While most conservatives are willing to
support women in the workplace and even
in positions of national leadership, most
also support policies to strengthen families
– Believe that gender equality may weaken
the family
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Politics and Gender: Constructing
Problems and Defining Solutions
• Liberals focus on the pursuit of equality and speak
out in favor of the slow but steady progress that
has been made to expand rights and opportunities
– Families have changed because families need
two working adults to make ends meet
– Men must take greater responsibility for the
home and children
– The earning power of women must be raised
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Politics and Gender: Constructing
Problems and Defining Solutions
• Radicals argue that, at a minimum, basic change
must come to the economic and political system.
– The target of basic change is the family
– Some radical feminists promote the elimination
of gender itself
Social Problems, Fourth Edition by John J. Macionis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper