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Chapter 4:
Gender
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Core Concepts
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The Difference Between Gender and Sex

Gender
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
The behavioral, cultural, and psychological traits
associated with being male or female
Sex
• Refers to the biological makeup of males and females,
especially in terms of their reproductive organs and
bodily structures
• Difficult to find significant differences between baby
boys and girls, especially right after birth
• Not until early childhood the gap between genders
widens
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Continued
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
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Girls have strong tendency to be more
verbal, compliant, and empathetic
Boys exhibit more aggression and
independence
Studies suggest that socialization is part
of the cause
Process of learning gender roles continues
throughout childhood and into adolescence
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Gender Construction and Identity

Idea regarding what is and is not “normal”
for a particular gender not based on
biological set of traits
• Product of social behavior

Childhood is primary time for developing
and understanding these standards
• Children follow cultural rules and try to meet
the expectations of gender they perceive
themselves to be
 Gender Identity
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Continued

Sociologists West and Zimmerman
• There is a difference between “doing gender”
and “having gender”
 “Doing gender” refers to act of matching
one’s behavior to certain set of genderrelated standards
 “Having gender” refers to simply being male
or being female
• Constructs can become so fixed that children
who don’t fit the mold are often ostracized
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Patriarchy

Patriarchy
• Social system in which men control majority of power
and exert authority over women and children

Matriarchies
• No pure matriarchies exist in the world
• Some women may seem to have more influence than
men

In most cultures, there are clear lines of male
dominance in the social system
• Women in general have less power in society
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Sexism

Sexism
• Belief that one sex is superior to the other

In a patriarchy
• Women typically viewed as weak and incapable
of matching man’s physical or intellectual
prowess

Even in societies that give women same
civil rights as men
• Different standards placed on women
 Income inequality
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The Lolita Effect

Dr. M. Gigi Durham
• The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls
and What We Can Do About It
• 5 common myths about sex and sexuality:
 Girls don’t choose boys. Boys choose girls, but only
sexy ones
 There is only one kind of sexy—preferably Caucasian
 Girls should work to be that type of sexy
 The younger a girl is, the sexier she is
 Sexual violence is sexy
• Myths believed to be true by impressionable girls
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Gender Roles

Gender Roles
• Society’s expectations of how males and
females should think and act
• Men assumed to be tough and authoritarian
 Policemen, politicians, businessmen
• Women nurturing and tolerant
 Nurses, social workers, housewives
• Our society still imposes gender roles on
children
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History of Gender Differences
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Rooted in Religion

Gender differences and stratification often
have their roots in religion
• Early Christians blamed Eve for fall of man
• Over time, Christianity transferred this belief
to society

Gender inequality stems from and
contributes to religious beliefs around the
world
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Present in the Early Colonies


Same themes followed women to the
colonization of the Americas
Although women important to functioning
of new society
• Still treated as second-class citizens
• Couldn’t own property or inherit land

Colonization was a small step toward
female rights
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Effects of the Feminist Movement

Feminism
• Philosophy based on political, social, and
economic equality of sexes
 Specifically, woman’s right to have same
opportunities as a man

Mary Wollstonecraft
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792
 One of earliest examples of feminist thought
 Argued for woman’s right to education
 Set off other forms of feminist thought
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Continued

Three distinct “waves”
• First wave started by early feminists:
 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
• Protested legal inequality
• Led to passage of the 19th Amendment ratified in 1920
• Second wave began in the 1960s with rise of women’s
liberation movement
 Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique
• Introduced idea that a woman could and should seek
personal fulfillment outside home and family

Era also brought to light other controversial issues
• Women’s reproductive rights and domestic violence
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Continued

Third wave began in early 1990s
• Branched out to protect rights of minorities
and underprivileged women
• Maxine Hong Kingston, Gloria Anzaldua, bell
hooks (née Gloria Jean Watkins), and Audre
Lorde
 Called attention to how race, capitalism, and
gender affect the lives of women throughout
the world
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Does Gender Make a
Difference?
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Education



52 percent of college graduates are women
Men earn majority of science and engineering
degrees
Income Gap
• Difference in earnings between different demographics
• Becomes wider with higher levels of educational
background
 Woman’s education is not valued as much as a
man’s?
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Work
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Income gap between men and women
created great divide in the workplace
Women earn just $0.77 for every $1 that
a male counterpart makes
Gap is a financial burden and stifles
woman’s career advancement and
devalues her efforts
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Continued

Choices women make in workplace have
an effect on how much they’re paid
• Women choose positions that offer flexibility
rather than high salary
• Avoid extensive overtime or business travel
because of home responsibilities
• Tend to take breaks in work careers due to
maternity leave or child-rearing duties
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Continued

2007 Cornell University study
• Mothers are penalized in the workplace
• Perceived by employers as less competent and
offered lower starting salaries than equally
qualified childless women
• Men aren’t similarly penalized for being
parents
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Politics

2008 presidential election groundbreaking on
many levels
• Realization of the first African American president
• Potential for first female president or vice president of
the United States
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Only 17 of the 100 members of the Senate are
women
Women account for only 17% of House of
Representatives
Women face same double standard in politics as
they do in educational institutions, social
settings, and workplace
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Health


Women have a life expectancy seven years
longer than men
Women start to outnumber men by around age
35
• Gap continues to grow with age

Despite longer life expectancy, women often
suffer from health disadvantages
• Heart disease is number-one killer of women in US
• Females not always given same aggressive treatment
for heart attacks
 Due in part to faulty idea that women are not as
susceptible to heart attacks
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Theories of Gender Related to
Social Problems
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Feminist Theory


Feminist theory examines how gender
affects experiences and opportunities of
men and women
Feminists seek to achieve the following:
• Greater equality in the workplace and in
schools
• Equal opportunities for men and women
• A world in which rights, opportunities, and
income are no longer stratified by gender
• An end to sexual violence
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Continued
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Central theme of feminism is equality for all
people
Two major groups
• Radical feminism and Liberal feminism

Liberal feminists tend not to stray from primary
focus of feminism
• Equal rights
 Women should receive equal pay for equal work
 The right to hold political office
 Same educational and professional opportunities as
men
 Safety from domestic violence
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Continued

Radical feminists
• Believe in the same core concepts as liberal feminists
• See men as the social dominators
• Blame patriarchal system for all forms of oppression in
society
 Class oppression and racial oppression
• Believe that radical action must be taken
 Women should avoid taking on any traditional roles
through marriage or childbearing
 Women should avoid participating in capitalism
because structure favors men
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Functionalism
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View society as system of many parts working
together to form a whole
Examine how different gender roles complement
each other and help society run smoothly
Children watch and learn from parents and step
into these roles early in life
• Girls expected to help mothers with domestic chores
• Boys primed to work outside the house as fathers do
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Conflict Theory

Interested in the struggle for power between
groups
• Especially economic power

“Feminization of Poverty”
• Women more likely to be poor than male counterparts
• Result of job and wage discrimination in system

Friedrich Engels
• Women were actually the first group to be oppressed
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Symbolic Interactionism


Look at micro-interactions of daily life and
how they influence the ways in which
issues are perceived
Gender role definitions more fluid in
society today than 50 years ago
• Societal views on household labor have been
modified
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Social Policies in Place to
Prevent Domestic Violence
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Preventing Domestic Violence

Oppression becomes abuse
• When it starts to cause physical, emotional, sexual, or
psychological harm

National Institute of Justice and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention 2000 survey
• A large number of these crimes go unreported
 Only 1/5th of rapes, 1/4th of physical assaults, and
1/2th of stalking committed against women by their
intimate partners are reported
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Continued

Abuse is about power and control and can
come in many forms
• Some abusers use intimidation
• Children involved in the relationship may be
used as pawns in the struggle
• Abuse can occur through no contact at all
 Isolating the victim and making her feel
insecure and alone
• Any physical attack is considered abuse
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Continued

Resources available to help victims
• Often too scared or ashamed to come forward
• Don’t understand that what they’re
experiencing is illegal and undeserved.

Law enforcement and community
organizations
• Initiated campaigns against sexual assault and
domestic violence
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Title IX

1972, Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in
Education Act (Title IX)
• Prohibits exclusion of any person from
participation in an educational program on
basis of gender
• Most extreme controversial effect
 Allocation of funding to female
extracurricular activities, specifically sports
• Though women’s participation in athletics has
increased, goal of equality still not met
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued

Still fail to receive equal funding for sports
programs in girl’s schools
• receive 45% of Division I scholarship money
and only 32% of recruiting dollars
 Title IX requires equal treatment of male
and female teams
 Does not require schools to spend equal
amounts of money on male and female
athletes
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.