Chapter 10: Inequalities of Gender
and Age
Mrs. McVey
Sociology
CHAPTER 10 NOTES
Sex-
Occupational Sex segregation:
Sexism
GenderFunctionalism:
Age stratification:
Ageism:
Symbolic Interactionism:
Functionalism:
Conflict Theory:
Symbolic Interactionism:
Conflict Theory:
NAME_______________________ Sociology / McVey
Sex and Gender Identity
 Sex is classification of people as male or female based on
biological characteristics
 Your boy parts or girl parts
 Gender identity is a sense of being male or female based on
learned cultural values
 How do we learn to be a boy or a girl?
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/sex-and-genderin-society-differences-preferences-characteristics.html#lesson
What do you think…..true or false?
 Women talk more than men.
 Women are more likely than men to touch each other (non-
sexually)
 Women use less personal space than men.
Biology, Culture, and Behavior
 Biological determinism: principle that behavioral differences
are the result of inherited physical characteristics
 Biological differences
 Muscle-to-bone ratio/storage of fat
 Brains differ slightly in structure
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/sex-and-genderin-society-differences-preferences-characteristics.html#lesson
(7 min)
Culturally…
 Men
 More aggressive
 More likely to commit suicide
 More competitive
 More secretive
 More likely to drink/smoke
 Women
 Better health
 Live about six years longer
Functionalism and Gender
 Division of responsibilities between males and females
survived because it benefitted society
 Division of labor based on sex was efficient-- because of their
size & muscular strength, men hunted/protected/fought.
Women had babies
Functionalism and Gender
 Functionalists agree that the tradition of labor division has
created dysfunctions for modern society.
Function of Gender over time and in
different cultures
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/sex-and-genderin-society-differences-preferences-characteristics.html#lesson
 (8 min) Educational Portal
Conflict Theory and Gender
 It is an advantage for men to prevent women from gaining
any power (political, social, economic, etc.) to maintain their
status
 Page 317
Symbolic Interactionism and Gender
 Gender socialization: the social process of learning how to
act as a boy or a girl
 Parents gender socialize by…
 Gifts/color appropriate to child’s sex
 Girls cuddled more, talked to more, and handled more gently
by their parents than boys
 Assignment of chores
 Schools gender socialize by…
 Boys more likely to call out answers in class but teachers
accepted their answers but not when girls called out
 P. 319
Symbolic Interactionism and Gender
 Peers contribute to gender socialization by….
 Desire to be accepted so they are trying to “mirror” societies
traditional gender roles/expectations
 Feminine girls = more socially accepted
 Masculine boys = more socially accepted
Gender Inequality
 Sexism is the set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used
to justify sexual inequality.
 Occupational Sex Segregation: the concentration of women
in lower-status positions
 Pink collar jobs: Secretaries, clerks, etc. support jobs that get
little pay
Gender socialization (sex stereotyping): the
process of learning to act as a boy or a girl
Sex stereotyping
 Do you agree that “Sex stereotyping hurts all kids”?
 Any other suggestions to avoid sex stereotyping your child?
 Do you think that you can completely AVOID gender
socialization?
 Compare your “F/M/Bs” chart
Sexism
 http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/sexism-
gender-differences-and-contexts.html#lesson
Legal and Political Inequality
 National, state, and local legal codes reflect a sexual bias that
results in differences of political power held by men and
women
 Some states traditionally have refused women to keep their
surnames (maiden names) after marriage
 Maternity Leave
 Laws against prostitution enforced by male customers go free
Legal and Political Inequality
 Women make up ½ the population but hold a very small
percentage of the important political positions
 The number of women holding public office in the United
States is among the lowest in the Western world
Ageism
 Age stratification is the unequal distribution of scarce
resources based on age
 Ageism is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to
justify age-based prejudice and discrimination
 AGEISM – Education Portal
 http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/graying-of-
america-birth-rate-death-rate-life-expectancy.html#lesson
Gerontology
 Gerontology is the scientific study of the process and
phenomena of aging
 Social Gerontology is the study of the nonphysical aspects of
the aging process
Young Old: 65-74
Middle-Old: 75-84
Old-Old: 85 and older
Adulthood & Aging
 Periods of Adulthood page 98
 Social clock is the culturally preferred timing of social events
 Marriage
 Retirement
 Parenthood
Physical Changes
 Later Adulthood
 Immune system weakens, however, antibodies have been built
up so less likely to have a cold
 Slows down neural pathways which means it requires more time
for older adults to react, remember names, or solve puzzles
 Brain starts to atrophy—use it or lose it!
 Senses
Old Age: Sensory Abilities
After age 70, hearing, distance perception, and the sense of
smell diminish, as do muscle strength, reaction time, and
stamina. After 80, neural processes slow down, especially for
complex tasks.
Michael Newman/ PhotoEdit
22
Physical Changes
 Diseases related to aging
 Alzheimer’s disease: progressive & irreversible brain disorder
characterized by deterioration of memory, reasoning, language,
and physical functioning
 8-15% of people over 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s
 Senile dementia: mental disintegration accompanies alcoholism,
tumor, stroke, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease
Functionalism and Age
 U.S. society doesn’t value elderly population as most cultures
do
 Adult’s value lessens when he or she no longer “contributes”
to the common good (retirement??) so aging leads to lower
status
Conflict Theory and Age
 Competition over scarce resources lies at the heart of ageism
 Elderly compete for economic resources, power, prestige
 Prejudice and discrimination are used by the dominant group
to keep control over the elderly
Symbolic Interactionism & Ageism
 Ageism involves negative stereotypes—children learn
negative images of older people by socialization
 Negative stereotypes as young as 3 years-old!!
 Senile
 Forgetful
 Slow
 Wrinkled
Elderly as a Minority
 Why a minority group?
 Distinctive physical or cultural characteristics that can be used to
separate from society
 Dominated by majority
 Often believed to inferior
 Common sense of identity, strong group loyalty
 Majority determines who belongs to minority
 Experience same discrimination and stereotyping as other
minority groups
Economics/Politics of the Elderly
 16% over 65 is considered poor
 Spend more on housing and health care but earn way less
 Politically, voting turn out increases with age—therefore,
voting is a way to express political power/opinions
Challenges of Aging: Retirement,
ageism, and social isolation
 http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/challenges-
of-aging-retirement-ageism-social-isolation.html#lesson
Groups of 2 or 3—1 piece of paper
 Do page 332 #2
 Do page 340 Critically Thinking #2-5
 Turn in one sheet of paper with all names
 Work on EO3 review from yesterday
 When you are done, starting studying vocab from chapters 8,
9, and 10 for EO3 which is Monday