Chapter 9
Inequalities of Gender and Sexual
Orientation
Gender
• Sex – biological distinctions between male and
female.
– Includes primary and secondary sex organs
• Gender – the expectations and behaviors which
varies from one society to another and refers to what
is considered proper for males and females; acquired
through socialization.
• Gender identity – an awareness of being masculine
or feminine, based on culture.
Gender Inequality
• Gender Stratification – refers to men’s and
women’s unequal access to power, property,
and prestige
– Gender/Sex = master status that cuts across all
other identities in life
– Label that guides our behavior and serves as a basis
of power and privilege.
The Problem in Sociological Perspective
• Sex is the major sorting device in every society in the world.
• The development of sexism as a social problem
• Waves of Feminism
• Helen Hacker: first to apply the term minority to women
• Sexism: belief that one sex is innately superior to the other
and the discrimination that results
The Scope of the Problem
• Is male dominance universal?
• Men’s domination of society has been in continuous existence
throughout the globe from the earliest times to the present.
• Most work is sex-typed: associated with one sex or the other
• Universally, men’s activities are always given greater prestige.
• It is the sex that is associated with the work that provides its
prestige, not the work itself.
Major Areas of Discrimination
• Political and legal
• Education
• Economic
• Social
• Women’s three major roles—sister/daughter, wife, and
mother—fit this pattern of discrimination
Biological Evidence
• Biological determinism – attribution of behavioral
differences to inherited physical characteristics.
• Obvious differences between sexes include muscle
and bone structure and fatty tissue composition.
• Dominant Position in Sociology
– Social Factors Primary, Not Biological
– If Biological, Should Be Less Variation
Functionalist Theory
• Theories of male dominance
• Rewards for warriors
•
•
 Social—the necessity to survive warfare
 Biological—innate differences in the physical strength of men and women
Reproduction
 Throughout history, a woman has been encumbered physically—unable to
participate fully in the labor market
Ultimate result was a patriarchal society
• Division of responsibilities between males and females survived because it was
•
beneficial for human living.
• Early humans found sex-based division of labor efficient and endured
because it promoted the survival of the species.
The traditional division of labor has dysfunctions, especially for modern society.
Conflict Theory
Principles of Power
• Men and women have differential access to the necessary resources outsidethe-home success.
• By keeping the traditional division of labor intact, men can maintain the status
quo and preserve the privileges they enjoy; protect their dominance of women
and society.
• Marxist and socialist feminists – position of women in capitalist society:
– patriarchal (male-dominated) institutions and
– the historical development of industrial capitalism.
Symbolic Interaction
• Socialization
• Parents teach gender roles subconsciously.
• Most symbolic interactionists assume that gender differences are
learned.
• Gender definitions are imparted through socialization.
• They are learned and reinforced through interaction with parents,
teachers, peers, and the media.
• Gender socialization occurs through elements of the mass media
such as books, television, and advertising.
• Stereotypes applied at birth tend to become reality through the selffulfilling prophecy and continued socialization practices.
The Struggle for Equality
• Until the 20th century, US women did not have the
right to vote, hold property, make legal contracts, or
serve on a jury
– While women enjoy more rights today, gender inequality
still continues to play a central role in social life.
• Gaps continue to be reflected in the continuing
occupational, economic, legal, and political
inequality experienced by American women.
Everyday Life
• Masculinity and machismo represent strength while femininity is
perceived as weakness.
• Derogatory feminine terms
• Most dismiss remarks as insignificant
• Such comments reveal derogatory attitude toward women and
things feminine
• Attitude that women face as part of their everyday lives
Media Contribution to Gender Socialization
• In general, the media present the most stereotypical version of gender
definitions, thus reflecting and reinforcing the limits on the options available
to both sexes.
• Nowhere in the mass media are gender role stereotypes more prevalent than
in advertising.
• There are more than 250 million televisions in the US
• TV directs its advertising toward women, but ignores them in TV
programming.
• Women often have supporting roles that reinforce traditional gender roles
• Hypersexualization
Gender Inequality in the US
• Evidence of educational gains made by women.
–
–
–
–
More females than males enrolled in college.
Females earn 56% of all bachelor degrees
Women complete bachelor degrees faster than men
Proportion of professional degrees earned by women has
increased sharply.
College Students by Sex and Race-Ethnicity
Gender Changes in Professional Degrees
Gender Inequality
• Despite gains some old practices persist
– Women’s sports are still underfunded
– Gender tracking – channeled into different fields
• 81% of engineering degrees – males
• 88% of library science degrees – women
– Higher education
• Women professors less likely to be in the higher ranks of
academia
• Paid less than their male counterparts
• Less likely to be taken seriously
Gender Inequality in the Workplace
The Pay Gap
– Women earn about 80 cents to the dollar of
what men are paid.
– All industrialized nations have a pay gap.
– Research found that half of the gender gap is
due to women choosing lower-paying
careers.
– The other half is due to gender
discrimination and the “child-penalty” –
women missing out on work experience
while they care of their children.
– At all ages and at all levels of education and
no matter the type of work, the average
man is paid more than the average woman.
– Between the ages of 25 and 65, the average
man who graduates from college earns
about a million dollars ($1,100,000) more
than the average woman who graduates
from college.
What Women Earn Compared to Men
Female-to-Male Earnings: 2004
Reasons for the gender pay gap
 Tracking in education
 Women are more likely to work at types of
jobs that pay less.
 Women professionals, such as physicians,
work fewer hours than men in same
profession.
 Above factors account for about half
the pay gap
 Other half may be attributed to pure gender
discrimination
• Women of all races and ethnic groups earn less
than men
• African American and Latino women have a
significantly lower wage gap with their male
counterparts than white and Asian women
experience.
Sexual Harassment
• Unsolicited sexual advances, comments, gestures, or physical contact, made
•
•
•
•
by a person in power
Traditional view makes it a personal problem
Sexual harassment is a structural matter; built into the marketplace
Sexual harassment as a social problem
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Used to be perceived as an exclusively female problem
Violence Against Women
• Perhaps the most serious problem linked to patriarchy is men’s
physical violence against women
• Assault, rape and murder
• In U.S., women are disproportionately victims of spousal abuse
and rape
• Why is violence a gender issue?
• Physical aggressiveness is a key element of the cultural
definitions 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
Symbolic Interactionism and Violence
Against Women
• Sociologists also use symbolic interactionism to understand
gendered violence
• In American culture, men learn machismo
• Males are surrounded with models of violence
Homosexuality
• Homosexual behavior
•
•
•
•
•
 Sexual relations between people of the same sex
Homosexuality
 Sexual orientation involving an attraction or preference for people of one’s
own sex
Americans more tolerant of those practicing full-time homosexuality
Women are more likely to favor the legality of homosexual relations
Hate crimes
 Ordinary crimes motivated by dislike or hatred of the victim’s personal
characteristics
Homosexuality is a social problem because of subjective concerns.
Social Policy: Constructing Problems & 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
Believe that heterosexual gender distinctions are natural and desirable and
ought to be encouraged
• Liberals focus on the pursuit of equality and speak out in favor of the
slow but steady progress that’s been made to expand rights and
opportunities
• Families have changed because they need 2 working adults to make ends
•
•
meet
Men must take greater responsibility for the home and children
The earning power of women must be raised
• Radicals argue that basic change must come to the economic and
political system.
• The target of basic change is family
• Some radical feminists promote the elimination of gender itself
 Insist that society is so discriminatory that it must be restructured
Gender Roles in the Future
• Women are living longer, bearing fewer children,
becoming better educated, and entering the labor
force in greater numbers than at any other time in
history.
• If these trends continue, certain gender role
changes should occur.
• Barriers Coming Down
• Activities Degendered
• New Consciousness
Gender Inequality
• More progress toward gender equality has
occurred in developed countries than in
developing countries, and gender parity remains
a future goal around the world, despite some
progress over the last two decades.