School of Business Administration
IU – VNU HCMC
BA116IU
Introduction to Social Sciences
Semester 1, 2010-2011
Instructor:
Dr. Truong Thi Kim Chuyen
USSH – VNU HCMC
1
Chapter 11
STRATIFICATION BY GENDER AND AGE
Chapter Outline
•Social Construction of Gender
•Explaining Stratification by Gender
•Women: The Oppressed Majority
•Aging and Society
•Explaining the Aging Process
•Age Stratification in the United States
•Social Policy and Gender Stratification
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McGraw-Hill 2006
Social Construction of Gender
 Gender Roles in the United States
– Gender roles: expectations regarding proper
behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and
females
– Gender roles evident in work and in how we
react to others
3
Social Construction of Gender
 Gender Roles in the United States
– Gender-Role Socialization
• Boys must be:
– Masculine
– Aggressive
– Tough
– Daring
– Dominant
• Girls must be:
– Feminine
– Soft
– Emotional
– Sweet
– Submissive
4
Social Construction of Gender
 Gender Roles in the United States
– Gender-Role Socialization
• Homophobia: fear of and prejudice against
homosexuality
Parents normally first and most crucial
agents of socialization
Other adults, older siblings, mass media,
religious institutions, and educational
institutions also exert important influence
5
Social Construction of Gender
6
Social Construction of Gender
 Gender Roles in the United States
– Women’s Gender Roles
• Self-image develops in males and females
through:
– Identification with the
same gender
– Families
– Media
7
Social Construction of Gender
 Gender Roles in the United States
– Men’s Gender Roles
• Boys who successfully adapt to cultural
standards of masculinity may grow up to be
inexpressive men who cannot share their
feelings with others
Increasing number of men in U.S. criticize
restrictive aspects of traditional male
gender role
8
Social Construction of Gender
 Cross-Cultural Perspective
– Gender stratification in any society
requires:
• Individual socialization into traditional
gender roles within the family
• Promotion and support of these traditional
roles by other social institutions
– Every society has men and women
who resist and successfully oppose
stereotypes
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Explaining Stratification by Gender
 The Functionalist View
– Gender differentiation contributes to
social stability
• Expressiveness: concern for maintenance
of harmony and internal emotional affairs of
family
• Instrumentality: emphasis on tasks, a
focus on more distant goals, and concern
for external relationship between one’s
family and other social institutions
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Explaining Stratification by Gender
 The Conflict Response
– The relationship between men and
women, traditionally one of unequal
power
– Men in dominant position over women.
– Gender differences result of subjugation
of women by men
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Explaining Stratification by Gender
 The Feminist Perspective
– Women’s subjugation coincided with rise
of private property during
industrialization
– Oppression of women inevitable in all
male-dominated societies
– In U.S. male dominance goes far
beyond economic sphere
12
Explaining Stratification by Gender
 The Interactionist Approach
– Study micro level of
everyday behavior
• Men are more likely than
women to:
– Change topics of
conversation
– Ignore topics chosen by
women
– Minimize ideas of women
– Interrupt women
13
Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Sexism and Sex Discrimination
– Sexism: ideology that one sex is superior to
the other
• Generally used to refer to male prejudice
and discrimination against women
• U.S. society run by male-dominated
institutions
Institutional Discrimination: denial of opportunities
and equal rights to individuals and groups that
results from normal operations of society
14
Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Sexual Harassment
– Behavior that occurs when work benefits are
made contingent on sexual favors or when
touching, lewd comments, or the appearance
of pornographic material creates a “hostile
environment” in the workplace
Must be understood in the context of continuing
prejudice and discrimination against women
15
Women: The Oppressed Majority
 The Status of Women Worldwide
– Women’s subordination is institutionally
sanctioned
– Women remain in second-class positions in
most of the world
– Women are exploited for labor in many
developing countries
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Figure 11.1: Labor Force Participation Rates by Gender and Country, 2001
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Women in the Workforce of the
United States
– Women entering job market find options
restricted in important ways
– Women underrepresented in occupations
historically defined as “men’s jobs”
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Women in the Workforce of the
United States
– A Statistical Overview
• In 2001, women accounted for
approximately 47% of paid labor force in
U.S.
• Only 16% of women-owned businesses
have any paid employees
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Women in the Workforce of the
United States
– Glass Ceiling: invisible barrier that blocks
promotion of qualified individual in work
environment because of person’s gender,
race, or ethnicity
Women earn less money than men
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Women in the Workforce of the
United States
– Social Consequences of Women’s
Employment
• The “Second Shift”: double burden that working
women face—work outside the home followed by
child care and
Women spend 15 fewer
housework—
and which few men
hours each week in
share equitably
leisure activities than
their husbands.
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Figure 11.2: Trends in U.S. Women’s Participation in the Paid
Labor Force, 1890–2002
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Figure 11.3: Gender Differences in Child Care and Housework, 1997
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Women: Emergence of a Collective
Consciousness
– The feminist movement of U.S. originated in
upstate New York in 1848
– Movement re-emerged in 1960s to battle
sexist attitudes and the position of women in
the workforce
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Women: The Oppressed Majority
 Women: Emergence of a Collective
Consciousness
– Feminism is very much alive today in the
growing acceptance of women in
nontraditional roles
Basic acknowledgment that married mother not only
can be working outside the home but perhaps
belongs in the labor force
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Social Policy and Gender Stratification
 The Battle over Abortion from a
Global Perspective
– The Issue
• Roe vs. Wade, 1973, was based on a
woman’s right to privacy and granted a
woman the right to terminate pregnancies
• The ruling was condemned by pro-life
groups who believe that life actually begins
at the moment of conception and that
abortion is an act of murder
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Aging and Society
 “Being old” is master status that
commonly overshadows all others in
U.S.
• Once people labeled “old,” this designation
has major impact on how others perceive
them and how individuals view themselves
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Aging and Society
 Properties of minority or
subordinate group
– Elderly experience unequal employment
treatment
– Elderly share physical characteristics
– Membership is involuntary
– Strong sense of group solidarity
– Generally married to others of comparable
age
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Explaining the Aging Process
 With increase in life expectancy, writers
beginning to refer to people in their 60s
as the “young old”
Gerontology:
Scientific study of the sociological
and psychological aspects of
aging and problems of the aged
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Explaining the Aging Process
 Functionalist Approach
– Disengagement Theory
• Society and aging individuals mutually
sever many of their relationships
– Social roles passing to another generation
ensures social stability
– Some gerontologists object to the implication
that older people want to be ignored
31
Explaining the Aging Process
 Interactionist Approach
– Activity Theory
• Argues that elderly persons who remain
active and socially involved will be the bestadjusted
• Contends that old people have same need
for social interaction as other groups
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Explaining the Aging Process
 The Conflict Approach
– In developing countries, transition from
agricultural economies to
industrialization and capitalism not
always beneficial to elderly
– Elderly victimized by social structure
• Social roles relatively unchanged but
devalued
33
Role Transitions Throughout
The Life Course
34
Age Stratification in the United States
 The “Graying of America”
– We are, as a nation, getting older
– In 1900, 4.1% of the population of the
United States was age 65 or older, but
by 2005, 12.6 % of the population of the
United States will be age 65 or older
– Phenomenon can no longer be ignored
35
Age Stratification in the United States
 Figure 11.4: Actual and Projected Growth of the Elderly Population
of the U.S.
36
Age Stratification in the United States
 Wealth and Income
– Significant variation in wealth and
poverty among nation’s older people
• Typical elderly person enjoys a standard of
living higher than at any point in nation’s
past
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Age Stratification in the United States
 Ageism
– Ageism: prejudice and discrimination
based on a person’s age
– For many, old age symbolizes disease
In 2002, the Senate Special Committee
on Aging sharply criticized media and
marketing executives for their negative
portrayals of the aged.
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Age Stratification in the United States
 Competition in the Labor Force
– Participation in paid work not typical
after age of 65
– Younger adults tend to view older
workers as “job stealers”
– Older workers can be asset to
employers
39
Age Stratification in the United States
 The Elderly: Emergence of a
Collective Consciousness
– Largest organization
representing nation’s
elderly is AARP
– Elderly in U.S. are better
off today financially and
physically than ever
before
40
Social Policy and Gender Stratification
 The Battle over Abortion
– The Setting
• The debate following Roe vs. Wade revolves
around prohibiting abortion altogether or, at the
very least, putting limits on it
• Changing technology, such as the “day-after” pill
available in some nations, makes abortions easier
to perform
• As of 2004, people of U.S. appeared to support
their right to legal abortion, but with reservations
41
Social Policy and Gender Stratification
 Figure 11.6: Restrictions on Public Funding for Abortion
42
Social Policy and Gender Stratification
 The Battle over Abortion
– Sociological Insights
• Sociologists see gender and social class as
largely defining the issues surrounding
abortion
• First major restriction on the legal right to
abortion affected poor people
• From conflict perspective, one more
financial burden that falls heavily on lowincome women
43
Social Policy and Gender Stratification
 The Battle over Abortion from a
Global Perspective
– Policy Initiatives
• The Supreme Court currently supports the
general right to terminate a pregnancy
• Many European nations also legalized
abortions in the 1970s
• Primarily in Africa, Latin America, and parts
of Asia women are not allowed to terminate
a pregnancy upon request
44
Social Policy and Gender Stratification
 Figure 11.7: The Global Divide on Abortion
45
SUMMARY
Gender and age are ascribed statuses that
provide a basic for social differentation. This
chapter examines the social construction of
gender, theories of stratification by gender,
women as an oppressed majority group,
theories of aging, age stratification and
ageism, and the growing political activism of
the elderly.
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1.
In the United States, the social construction of
gender continues to define significantly different
expectations for females and males.
2.
Gender roles show up in our work and behavior
and in how we react to others.
3.
Though females have been more severely
restricted than men by traditional gender roles,
those roles have also restricted males.
4.
The research of anthropologist Margaret Mead
points to the importance of cultural conditioning in
defining the social roles of males and females.
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5.
Functionalists maintain that sex differantiation
contributes to overall social stability, but conflict
theorists charge that the relationship between
females and males is one of unequal power, with
men dominating women. This dominance shows
up in people’s everyday interactions.
6.
Women around the world suffer from sexism,
institutional discrimination, and sexual
harassment.
7.
As women have taken on more and more hours of
paid employment outside the home, thay have
been only partially sucessful in getting their
husbands to take on more homemaking duties, in
cluding child care,
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8. Many women agree with the posititions of feminist
movement but reject the label feminist.
9. Like other forms of stratification, age stratification
varies from culture to culture.
10.In the United States, being old is a master status that
seems to overshadow all othes.
11.The particular problems of the aged have become the
focus for a specialized area of research and in quiry
known as gerontology.
12.Disengagement theory implicitly suggests that
society should help older people to withdraw from
their accustomed social roles. In contrast, activity
theory suggests that the elderly person who remains
active and socially involved will be better adjusted.
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13. From a conflict perspective, the low status of older
people is reflected in prejudice and discrimination
against them and in unfair job practices.
14. An increasing proportion of the population of the
United State is composed of older people.
15. Ageism reflects a deep uneasiness about growing
old on the part of younger people.
16. The AARP is a powerful lobbying group that backs
legislation to benefit senior citizens.
17. The issue of abortion has bitterly divided the
United States (as well as other nations), pitting
pro-choice activsts against pro-life activists.
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