How Equal are Women and Men Now?

1
How Equal are Women and Men Now?

• Lecture 4

2
last week

• The linguistic or cultural turn things to
  words
• Material inequalities in power, wealth,
  opportunities (education and jobs)
• shift
• Symbolic (or cultural) focus on language,
  discourse and representation

3
last week

• Barrett charts a shift to focus on symbolic in
  explaining gender differences (late 1970s
  onwards)
• critique of universalism not all women the same
• critique of rationalism and of the subject
  masculine?
• the gendering of modernity- modernmasculine is
  feminism indebted to modernist liberalism?
• critique of materialism are we determined by
  social structure or are meanings and experiences
  important?

4
lecture outline

• has equality between (amongst?) women and men
  been achieved?
• evidence of significant changes?
• consider evidence you collected summarise your
  findings

5
lecture outline

• family, education, workplace, sexual harassment,
  gender pay gap/age, political representation,
  policy
• Theorising Patriarchy and Gender
  Transformations (Walby 1990, 1997)
• feminist degendering movement?
• (Lorber 2000)

6
Family Status Criticism of Gender Inequality at
Home at Work

• Emily W. Kane Laura Sanchez (1994)
• Kirsty

7
Criticism of Gender Inequality at Home at Work

• Family and marriage breeds gender inequality.
• Women often expected to do the Second Shift
  (Hochschild, 1990) which is suited to male
  interests.
• Men will accept womens involvement in the
  workplace so long as their role is not altered.
• Yet women often experience inequality in the
  workplace which can lead to economic dependence
  on husbands, especially where children are
  involved.
• As a result, women are often reluctant to
  criticise the situation of gender inequality in
  the home for fear of losing their partner and
  economic stability.

8
(Margaret)Gray Leith (2004) Perpetuating
gender stereotypes in the classroom a teacher
perspective, Educational Studies, 30(1)

• 3 main themes
• the extent that teacher training addresses gender
• teacher perception of gendered behaviour in the
  classroom
• teacher perception of occupational stereotyping
  in the classroom

9
main points

• teachers insist that children treated equally
  but this has been challenged
• subjects studied by boys and girls gendered
• gender not central training teaching
  resources perpetuate gender stereotypes?
• National curriculum ineffective in addressing
  gender inequality in schools?
• impact on future life chances and opportunities
  of the child?

10
(Alan)Gender Gap 101(2002)

• Report from News Hour Extra.
• College seats filled more frequently by females
  than males.
• Attendance vs Power?
• Where did the guys go?
• Reverse Gap behind the scenes.
• Maintaining the Inequality Gap?
• The Future?

11
Crompton et al (1990), Gender Relations and
Employment

• How equal are men and women? Areas of marked
  improvement
• (Patrick)

12
Areas of Marked Improvement

• the economic activity rate amongst women of
  working age in Britain has grown from an
  inter-war plateau of just under 40 to well over
  60 by the mid-1980s
• a lower percentage of women leave school with no
  qualifications compared to men (9 of women
  compared to 13 of men)
• the number of women going into further education
  has also increased
• 1970 women accounted for 32 of undergraduates
  and by 1986 this figure was up to 43
• Between 1971 and 1981 the proportion of women in
  professional and managerial jobs increased by
  45, compared to that of men 16

13
(Laura Murphy)Mustafa F. OzbilginIs the
practice of equal opportunities management
keeping pace with theory? Management of sex
equality in the financial services sector in
Britain and Turkey

• Research conducted in Turkey in 1996 and Britain
  in 1997.
• Generated 45 interviews- 25 in Britain and 20 in
  Turkey.
• Completed 362 questionnaires- 50 in Britain and
  312 in Turkey.
• Looked at the differences between part and full
  time employment and the divide between the sexes.
• Between 1973 and 1994 womens economic activity
  increased from 63 to 71 and males activity
  decreased from 91 to 85.
• Humphries 1992 suggested two reasons for the
  changes in economic activity, these were
• Technological developments
• Extended opening hours

14
continued

• This research also revealed seven different
  approaches four in Britain and three in Turkey
• Conservative Approach Liberal Approach
• Liberal Approach Traditionalist Approach
• Radical Approach Progressive Radical Approach
• Transformation Approach
• Overall research appeared to show that women had
  the same opportunities as males within their
  companies.
• 94 of Turkish respondents believe that barriers
  no longer existed for women in their companies
• 68.8 of British respondents claimed that there
  were no restricting factors restricting equality
  of opportunities for women in their companies.

15
(Bruce)The Equal Treatment Amendment Directive
(ETAD)

• In the UK
• no statutory definition of sexual harassment
• no attempt in the UK to introduce a domestic law
  specifically dealing with sexual harassment in
  the workplace
• 1998 EU commission recognised sexual harassment
  as problem throughout EU
• Amended ETAD aimed to develop the law against
  sexual harassment and to provide a definition.
• The implementation of the principle of equal
  treatment for men and women concerning access to
  employment, vocational training and promotion,
  and working conditions
• Interesting that article focused only on women
  subject to sexual harassment
• Legislation recognised equal treatment for women
  AND men, and need to protect both women AND men,
  from sexual harassment.

16
(Dawn)Gunning, W (2006) Women still face
unequal wage gap, www.nyunews.com/vnews/display.v
/ART/2006/02/22/43fc05d705dab

• US Survey National Association for Female
  Executives gender pay gap
• no progress despite equal pay and employment
  legislation
• problem enforcing such legislation
• ethnic minority women even more disadvantaged
• but some argue that the findings are out of
  context pay levels linked to experience
  others challenge this explanation
• difficult to pin down an explanation for the pay
  discrepancy?

17
(Wendy)Ginn Arber (1991) Gender, Class and
Income Inequalities in Later Life, British
Journal of Sociology, 42(3) 369-396.

• ageism masks structured gender inequalities
• occupational and private pensions linked to the
  sexual division in the workplace?
• cost of caring?
• General Household Survey data (1985-86)
• discontinuous work record child care etc
• elderly people not a homogenous group income
• non-state pension perpetuate such financial
  inequalities?

18
(Laura Cruickshank)Busby MacLeod (2001)
Maintaining a balance the retention of women
MPs in Scotland, Parliamentary Affairs Website
no address given

• Scottish parliament increase access to
  political participation
• compares Holyrood with Westminster
• strategy to promote equality zipping
• 37 all MSPs - women
• Scotland 3rd world league table whilst
  Westminster is 26th
• implications of women being more involved in
  parliamentary issues?

19
Gender Equality and Gender MainstreamingMira
Vakily

• Targets for gender equality
• womens rights as human rights
• equal participation in political and public life
  
• the economic independence
• the empowerment of girls and boys through the
  education systems
• remove imbalances in society
• Gender Mainstreaming
• Gender mainstreaming is the (re)organisation,
  improvement, development and evaluation of policy
  processes, so that a gender equality perspective
  is incorporated in all policies at all levels and
  at all stages, by the actors normally involved in
  policy-making.
• Why is gender mainstreaming important (to the
  EC)?
• policy-making is more people focussed
• it leads to better government
• involves both men and women
• gender (in)equality becomes more visible
• considers the diversity among men and women

20
Fundamental transformations?(Walby 1990 1997)

• See Theorising Patriarchy 6 structures of
  patriarchy -
• (paid employment, household production, the
  state, male violence, culture, sexuality)
• there have been many changes - shift from private
  to public patriarchy?
• convergence between women and men?
• polarisation between women?
• - e.g. education (Walby 1997 see ch. 2)

21
Fundamental transformations?(Walby 1990 1997)

• last fifty years public form more dominant?
• age significant- generational differences?
• exclusion to segregation?
• improved by womens political
  participation, but male resistance?
• patriarchy affects women differently
• e.g. class, age, life course, ethnicity

22
Feminist degendering movement?(see e.g. Lorber
2000)

• feminists want women and men to be equal
• dividing people into two unequally valued
  categories underpins gender inequality (social
  constructionist perspective)
• dismantle binary gender divisions?
• universally applicable?

23
Next week

• Are there gendered interests that require
  political representation?
• explore two main strands
• certain identities (especially gender identities)
  produce a certain type of politics?
• what the personal is political might mean.