Sociology 235: Gender Stratification
Spring 2007
MWF 2:30-3:20
King 341
Dr. Daphne John
King 305 B
x58377
Office Hours:
M, W: 3:30-4:30
Th: 11:00-12:15
This course is intended to introduce students to the sociological study of gender. Many
areas relating to gender inequality will be covered. Emphasis will be placed on the social
production of gender as well as how structural forces shape the experiences of women
and men with emphasis on race, ethnicity, economy, and institutions. The goal of the
course is to give students general knowledge in the area of gender stratification and allow
them to understand how and why gender inequality pervades social existence.
Required Texts:
Ferree, M.M., Lorber, J. and Hess, B.B. 1999. Revisioning Gender. Sage Publications,
Inc.: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Padavic, I. and Reskin B. 2002. Women and Men at Work, 2nd Ed. Pine Forge Press:
Thousand Oaks, CA.
Salzinger, L. 2003. Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global
Factories. University of California Press: Berkeley, CA.
Williams, C.L. 1995. Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work. University of
California Press: Berkeley, CA
Assignments:
Critical Essay
15%
Due:
February 28
Quantitative Exercise #1
Quantitative Exercise #2
15%
15%
Due:
Due:
March 14
April 18
Research Report Proposal
Research Report
5%
20%
Due:
Due:
April 4
May 11
Mid-Term Exam Essay (take home)
Final Exam Essay (take home)
15%
15%
Due:
Due:
March 23
May 18
1
Description of Assignments:
Critical Essay, Mid-Term Exam Essay, Final Exam Essay: These assignments require
you to answer an essay question using materials from the class readings. You will be
given a choice from at least 3 questions. The essay should integrate materials in a
synthetic way. That is, the material should be used to underscore and illuminate concepts
from the readings, not just provide summated statements. Materials should be utilized in
a critical manner to indicate both consensus and contrasting arguments regarding the
essay topic. Proper citation must be used throughout the paper and a bibliography of
sources cited is required. The essay should be approximately 5-6 pages in length,
exclusive of the bibliography.
Research Report Proposal: This assignment is preparatory for the Research Report. You
will declare a research topic to investigate as well as provide a one page description of
concepts, issues, data, etc. that you plan to include. A preliminary list of at least 5
sources should be included.
Research Report: This assignment is intended to be a focused analysis of an issue
relevant to stratification which includes a review of literature on the topic as well as a
discussion of empirical information (quantitative and/or qualitative). The paper should
organize information around relevant concepts and issues related to the topic as well as
incorporate a discussion of empirical evidence that helps support (or possibly refute) the
literature. The paper should be approximately 8-10 pages (exclusive of bibliography) in
length and use appropriate citation and referencing of sources.
Quantitative Assignment #1: This assignment will be based upon quantitative data on
occupations, earnings and other factors relevant to our discussions of stratification. You
will be asked to compute rate and ratio calculations as well as create graphical
representations of data.
Quantitative Assignment #2: This assignment will consist of questions requiring
interpretations of data from journal articles. Calculations based on data related to the
articles also will be included.
Instructor policies:
(1) Assignments are due by 9pm the day they are due. A one day extension will be
automatically applied to all assignments. This means, without asking, you may turn your
work in up to one day late without penalty (Friday due dates extend to Monday). After
this grace period, 1/3 of a letter grade (e.g. an A would be reduced to an A-) will be
deducted for each day of lateness, unless you have previously made arrangements with
the instructor because of illness or emergency. I prefer assignments to be handed in on
paper (double sided is fine), but will accept assignments via the Digital Drop Box on the
course Blackboard site. NOTE: Any material placed in the Digital Drop Box MUST be
formatted as an MS Word file or in Rich Text Format. Regardless of whether you hand
2
papers in as digital or physical—please retain a copy of this work for yourself. Please
use the Times New Roman 12pt font or an equivalent.
(2) Office Hours are listed at the top of this syllabus. If you would like to meet at a
specific time during my office hours, please sign up on the sheet next to my office door.
You may also drop in if no one has signed up for the time. Upon special request, I will
meet with students at times outside of my office hours. Please see me IN PERSON to set
up such an appointment.
(3) I receive up to 30 or more e-mails per day. Please do not expect me to reply
immediately to an e-mail question or request. If something is urgent, please CALL ME
in my office or signify in the e-mail header that it is urgent.
(4) In order to receive QPh credit you must average a B- or better on the quantitative
assignments.
(5) Honor Code: This course will follow the policies described in the Oberlin College
Honor Code and Honor System. Please include the statement “I affirm that I have
adhered to the Honor Code in this assignment” in all written work. Please contact me if
you have any questions about citation, or the relationship of the Honor Code to your work
in this course. For more information on the Honor Code, see
http://www.oberlin.edu/students/student_pages/honor_code.html.
(6) Students with Disabilities: If you need disability-related accommodations for your
work in this course, please let me know. Support is available through Student Academic
Services—please contact Jane Boomer, Coordinator of Services for Students with
Disabilities, (Room G27 Peters Hall, ext. 58467) for assistance in developing a plan to
address your academic needs.
(7) I reserve the right to modify the syllabus during the semester, if needed.
Readings:
(Please complete the readings by the day they are listed.)
2.5
2.7-2.9
Introduction to Course
Revisioning Gender: Section I- Reconceptualizing Gender
Glenn: The Social Construction of Gender and Race: An Integrative
Framework
Acker: Rewriting Class, Race, and Gender: Problems in Feminist
Rethinking
Scott: Some Reflections on Gender and Politics
3
2.12-2.14
On Blackboard
From Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological
Perspective
Firestone: The Dialectic of Sex
Hartmann: The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a
More Progressive Union
Szelenyi: The “Woman Problem” in Stratification Theory and Research
From Class Counts
Wright: Conceptualizing the Interaction of Class and Gender
2.16-2.21
Revisioning Gender: Section II- The Macrosocial Organization of Gender
Borchorst: Feminist Thinking about the Welfare State
Moghadam: Gender and the Global Economy
Brush: Gender, Work, Who Cares?! Production, Reproduction,
Deindustrialization, and Business as Usual
On Blackboard
From Race, Gender and Class, 12, 2, 2005:34-52.
Christopher: The Poverty Line Forty Years Later: Alternative Poverty
Measures and Women’s Lives
From Sociological Perspectives, 45, 3, 2002: 219-242.
Christopher, England, Smeeding and Phillips: The Gender Gap in Poverty
in Modern Nations: Single Motherhood, the Market, and the State
From Race, Gender and Class, 10, 3, 2003: 173-192.
Brush: Impacts of Welfare Reform
2.23
On Blackboard
From Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological
Perspective
Lieberson: Understanding Ascriptive Stratification: Some Issues and
Principles
Grusky and Charles: Is There a Worldwide Sex Segregation Regime?
Bielby: The Structure and Process of Sex Segregation
2.26
Revisioning Gender: Section III- Gender, Discourse and Culture
4
Sered: Women as Symbol and Women as Agents: Gendered Religious
Discourses and Practices
Walters: Sex, Text and Context: (In) Between Feminism and Cultural
Studies
2.28-3.2
Revisioning Gender: Section IV- Gender in Social Institutions
Collins: Moving Beyond Gender: Intersectionality and Scientific
Knowledge
Martin and Collinson: Gender and Sexuality in Organizations
Roschelle: Gender, Family Structure, and Social Structure: Racial Ethnic
Families in the United States
Dworkin and Messner: Just Do… What? Sports, Bodies, Gender
3.5-3.7
Revisioning Gender: Section V: Gendering the Person
Glick and Fiske: Gender, Power Dynamics and Social Interaction
Rothman: Now You Can Choose! Issues in Parenting and Procreation
Lorber: Embattled Terrain: Gender and Sexuality
Connell: Making Gendered People: Bodies, Identities, Sexualities
On Blackboard
From Gender and Society, 19, 3, 2005: 465-490.
Dozier: Beards, Breasts, and Bodies: Doing Sex in a Gendered World
3.9
Women and Men at Work
Chapter 1: Work and Gender
Chapter 2: Gendered Work in Time and Place
3.12
Women and Men at Work
Chapter 3: An Overview of Sex Inequality at Work
Chapter 4: Sex Segregation in the Workplace
3.14-3.16
On Blackboard
From Gender and Society, 20, 1, 2006: 87-107.
Welsh, Carr, MacQuarrie and Huntley: “I’m Not Thinking of it As Sexual
Harassment”: Understanding Harassment across Race and Citizenship.
From Everyday Sexism in the Third Millennium
Espinosa: Sexual Harassment Protection for Whom? The Case of Women
in Part-Time, Temporary and Independent Contractor Employment.
5
From Gender and Society, 20, 4, 2006: 465-490.
Schilt: Just One of the Guys? How Transmen Make Gender Visible at
Work
From International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy,21, 8/9/10,
2001: 92-100.
Hirata and Kleiner: New Developments Concerning Sexual Orientation
Discrimination and Harassment
3.19
From Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological
Perspective
Jacobs: Revolving Doors: Sex Segregation and Women’s Careers
Reskin: Labor Market Queues: A Structural Approach to Changing
Occupational Sex Composition
From Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American
Women
Goldin: The Political Economy of Gender
3.21
Women and Men at Work
Chapter 5: Moving Up and Taking Charge
On Blackboard
From Class Counts
Wright: The Gender Gap in Workplace Authority
3.23
VIDEO in Class—Out at Work
SPRING BREAK
4.2-4.4
Women and Men at Work
Chapter 6: Sex Differences in Earnings
On Blackboard
From Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological
Perspective
Petersen and Morgan: The Within-Job Wage Gap
4.6
Women and Men at Work
Chapter 7: Paid Work and Family Work
6
On Blackboard
From Sociological Focus, 32, 3, 1999: 287-302.
Shelton and John: Who Does What and How Much Do They Do? Gender
and Total Wok Time
From Class Counts
Wright: The Noneffects of Class on the Gendered Division of Labor in the
Home
4.9-4.11
Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work
Methodological Appendix
Chapter 1: Gendered Jobs and Gendered Workers
Chapter 2: The Rise and Fall of “Women’s Professions”
4.13
Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work
Chapter 3: An Unconventional Career Choice
4.16
Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work
Chapter 4: Token Men in Training
4.18
Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work
Chapter 5: Riding the Glass Escalator
4.20
Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work
Chapter 6: Masculinity in “Feminine” Occupations
4.23
Still a Man’s World: Men Who Do Women’s Work
Chapter 7: Occupational Segregation and Gender Inequality
Chapter 8: Conclusion
4.25
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 1: Ways of Seeing
Chapter 2: Producing Women: Femininity on the Line
4.27
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 3: Trope Chasing: Making a Local Labor Market
4.30
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 4: Bringing Fantasies to Life: Panoptimex
5.2
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 5: Re-forming the “Traditional Mexican Woman”: Particimex
5.4
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 6: Manufacturing “Workers”: Andromex
7
5.7
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 7: Gendered Meanings in Contention: Anarcomex
5.9
Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories
Chapter 8: Why Femininity(ies)?
5.11
Research Report Due, Course Evaluations in Class, Wrap-Up
8