Gender Inequality in US
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Gender Differences In Behavior
--Biology or Culture?
 What is some proof that biology is the
most important determinant in gender?
 Sociology?
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How Females Became
a Minority Group
 Origins of Patriarchy: a theory
 Early On, Life was Short
 Females Limited by
Childbearing
 Men Became Dominant as
Hunters and Warriors,
Women developed
agriculture
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 Weapons, Trade, and
Knowledge gained
from Contact with
Others Gave Men
Power
 Power yields privilege
What’s Gender
Stratification?
“Unequal Access to Power, Prestige,
and Property on the Basis of Sex.”
How did Gender Stratification show itself a
hundred years ago?
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Feminism
 the view that
biology is not
destiny and that
gender
stratification is
wrong and should
be resisted.
First Wave Feminism
1848-1920
 The Seneca Falls
Convention
 Elizabeth Cady
Stanton –
“Declaration of
Sentiments”
First Wave Feminism
1848-1920
 Suffragists
(Suffragettes)
 19th Amendment –
ratified 1920
Suffrage March
Declaration of Sentiments
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Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law
Women were not allowed to vote
Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation
Married women had no property rights
Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent
that they could imprison or beat them with impunity
Divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women
Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the
levying of these taxes
Most occupations were closed to women and when women did work they were
paid only a fraction of what men earned
Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law
Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university
would accept women students
With only a few exceptions, women were not allowed to participate in the
affairs of the church
Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were made
totally dependent on men
How did women fight for
their rights?
 Speaking around the country
 Stanton, along with Susan B. Anthony, Lucy
Stone, Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Frederick
Douglass, etc. traveled the country for the next
40 years. The Civil War slowed down the
movement, but it picked up again afterwards.
 Volunteering during WWI, campaigning
for war bonds, etc
 During WWI women helped a great deal in the
war effort, filling in at some jobs when men went
to war, but also campaigning for war bonds and
other patriotic things.
How did women fight for their
rights?
 Demonstrating and parades
 Hunger strikes and civil disobedience
 Susan B. Anthony kept illegally trying to vote – and was
tossed in jail for doing so
 Especially picked up steam after some British women go
the vote (women over the age of 30 who were:
householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of
property with an annual rent of £5, or graduates of British
universities.)
 Post WWI demonstrations featured massive marches and
demonstrations; women circled the white house in a
human chain (some chained themselves to the White
House fence– when they refused to stop, many were
arrested and went on hunger strikes.
 Despite great opposition from many, and only hesitant support
from Woodrow Wilson, the 19th Amendment would be ratified
in 1920 and women would have the right to vote!
Second Wave Feminism–
1960s-70s
 Betty Friedan
The Feminine
Mystique
 Goals: end sex
discrimination
in the
workplace and
society
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Second Wave Feminism– 1960s-70s
 1964 Civil Rights
Act –
 prohibited
employment
discrimination on
the basis of sex as
well as race,
religion, and
national origin.
Successes of Feminist Movement
 If you're female and...
 ...you get paid as much as men doing the same job, thank a feminist.
 ...you went to college instead of being expected to quit after high
school so your brothers could go because "You'll just get married
anyway", thank a feminist.
 ...you can apply for any job, not just "women's work", thank a feminist.
 ...you can get or give birth control information without going to jail,
thank a feminist.
 ...your doctor, lawyer, pastor judge or legislator is a woman, thank a
feminist.
 ...you play an organized sport, thank a feminist.
 ...you can wear slacks without being excommunicated from your church
or run out of town, thank a feminist.
 ...your boss isn't allowed to pressure you to sleep with him, thank a
feminist.
 ...you get raped and the trial isn't about your hemline or your previous
boyfriends, thank a feminist.
 ...you are on trial and are allowed to testify in your own defense, thank
a feminist.
 ...you own property that is solely yours, thank a feminist.
 ...you have the right to your own salary even if you are married
or have a male relative, thank a feminist.
 ...you get custody of your children following divorce or
separation, thank a feminist.
 ...your husband beats you and it is illegal and the police stop him
instead of lecturing you on better wifely behavior, thank a
feminist.
 ...you are granted a degree after attending college instead of a
certificate of completion, thank a feminist.
 ...you marry and your civil human rights do not disappear into
your husband's rights, thank a feminist.
 ...you have the right to read the books you want, thank a
feminist.
 ...you can testify in court about crimes or wrongs your husband
has committed, thank a feminist.
 ...you can see yourself as a full, adult human being instead of a
minor who needs to be controlled by a man, thank a feminist.
Third Wave
Feminism present
While women enjoy more rights
today, gender inequality still exists.
(Education)
 Long term results of different thinking?
 Despite evidence of educational gains made by women—more
females than males are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities and
females earn 57 percent of all bachelor’s degrees—some traditional
male-female distinctions persist.
 At college males and females are channeled into different fields;
87 percent of library science degrees are awarded to females; 82
percent of engineering degrees are awarded to males.
 The proportion of females decreases in post-graduate work.
 There is gender stratification in both the rank and pay within higher
educational institutions. Women are less likely to be in the higher
ranks of academia, and at all levels are paid less than their male
counterparts.
 Changes are taking place; the proportion of professional degrees
earned by women has increased in recent years.
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Gender Inequality in Education
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Science and Math? Yuck!
 Less women in
higher level math
courses
 Women are
socialized out of
math and science –
its not seen as for
girls, or too hard.
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Differences between
females and males
 Much debated:
 Are there differences between male and
female brains?
 Maybe
 Regardless:
 There is evidence that stereotypes do longterm damage
Gender Inequality in
Healthcare
 Doctors sometimes dismiss complaints
(because women are hypochondriacs)
 Unnecessary treatments
 Hysterectomies
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Gender Inequality in
the Workplace
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Gender Inequality in
the Workplace
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Problems in the Workplace
 The Glass Ceiling
 For women
 The Glass Escalator
 For men
 Sexual Harassment
and Worse
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Violence-some statistics
Changing Face of
Politics
 Women Less
Likely to have
Supportive
Spouse
 Men Reluctant to
Incorporate
Women in
Decision Making
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Glimpsing the
Future With Hope
 Structural Barriers Coming Down
 New Consciousness
 Change in Relationships
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Microsoft Images
 Abandoning Stereotypes
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 Women Majority in
Population
 Women Underrepresented
in Law and Business Careers
 Irregular Hours
Incompatible with
Role as Mother
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Microsoft Images
It doesn’t make sense…
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008
 http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/04/upd
ate-on-increasing-college-degreegap.html (graph data from Dept. of Ed.)