Richard T. Schaefer
Sociology Matters
Fourth Edition
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 2
Inequality by Gender
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The Social Construction of Gender
Sociological Perspectives on Gender
Women: The Oppressed Majority
Women in the Workforce of the United States
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 3
Social Construction
of Gender
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Gender roles: expectations regarding
proper behavior, attitudes, and activities
of males and females
– We socially construct our behavior to create
or exaggerate male-female differences
U.S. still focuses on “masculine”
and “feminine” qualities
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 4
Gender Role Socialization
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Homophobia: fear of and prejudice
against homosexuality
Adults, older siblings, mass media, religious
institutions, and educational institutions exert
important influence
Parents normally first and
most crucial agents of socialization
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 5
Women’s and Men’s Gender Roles
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Created in part by identifying with
females and males in families and
neighborhoods and in the media
– Women experience a mandate to
marry and become mothers
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 6
Gender Roles in
the United States
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Society defines men’s roles in terms of
economic success
– Brannon and Doyle: male gender role
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Antifeminite element
Success element
Aggressive element
Sexual element
Self-reliant element
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 7
Gender Roles in
the United States
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Increasing numbers of men in U.S.
criticized restrictive aspects of tradition
male gender role
– Multiple masculinities: men play variety of
gender roles, including a nurturing-caring role and
effeminate-gay role, in addition to traditional
gender role of dominating women
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 8
Cross-Cultural Perspective
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Anthropologists have documented highly
diverse constructions of gender
There appear to be no innate or biologically
determined gender roles for men and women
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 9
Sociological Perspectives
on Gender
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The functionalist view
– Contributes to overall social stability
• Instrumentality: emphasis on tasks
• Expressiveness: maintenance of harmony
and internal emotional affairs of family
Dividing tasks between spouses was
functional for the family as a unit
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 10
Sociological Perspectives
on Gender
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The conflict response
– Functionalist approach masks underlying power
relations between men and women
– Relationship between females and males
traditionally one of unequal power
– View gender differences as reflection of
subjugation of one by another group
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 11
Sociological Perspectives
on Gender
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The feminist perspective
– Engels argued women’s subjugation coincided
with rise of private property
– Many contemporary theorists view subordination
as part of overall exploitation and injustice
inherent in capitalist societies
– Matrix of domination: convergence of social
forces that contribute to subordinate status of
poor, non-white women
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 12
Sociological Perspectives
on Gender
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The interactionist approach
– Tend to examine gender stratification
on micro level
– We “do gender” by reinforcing traditionally
masculine and feminine actions
– Continuing investigation of role of gender
in cross-sex conversations (crosstalk)
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 13
Table 7-1: Sociological Perspectives
on Gender
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 14
Sexism and Sex Discrimination
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Sexism: ideology that one sex is
superior to the other
– Individual acts of sexism and
institutional sexism
– Sexual harassment: behavior that occurs
when work benefits are made contingent
on sexual favors or when touching, lewd
comments, or pornographic material creates
hostile environment in workplace
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 15
The Status of
Women Worldwide
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Women’s and men’s worlds
have different access to
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Education
Health
Work
Personal security
Human rights
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 16
Women in the
Workforce of the U.S.
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Gender bias limits women’s
opportunities for employment
outside of home and forces
them to carry disproportionate
burden inside the home
– Labor force participation
– Glass ceiling
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 17
Figure 7-2: Trends in U.S.
Women’s Participation
in the Labor Force, 1890-2004
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 18
Table 7-2: U.S. Women in
Selected Occupations, 2005
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 19
The Social Consequences of
Women’s Employment
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Clear gender gap in the performance of
housework, although differences narrowing
– Second shift: work outside the home
followed by child care and housework
Feminists advocate greater institutional
support for child care, more flexible family
leave policies, and other reforms designed
to ease the burden on nation’s families
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.