Gender Inequality

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Chapter 10

• Gender Inequality

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Sexism

• The belief that there are innate psychological,
  behavioral, and/or intellectual differences
  between women and men and that these differences
  connote the superiority of one group and the
  inferiority of the other.

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Double or Triple Jeopardy

• When a person is a member of 2 or more minority
  groups.

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Gender and Sex

• Gender is the social definitions and expectations
  associated with being female or male.
• Sex is one's biological identity.

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Gender Gap Rankings Top 10 Countries
Country Rank Country Rank
Sweden 1 Philippines 6
Norway 2 New Zealand 7
Finland 3 Denmark 8
Iceland 4 United Kingdom 9
Germany 5 Ireland 10
United States 23
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Gender Gap Rankings Bottom 10 Countries
Country Rank Country Rank
Mauritania 106 Nepal 111
Morocco 107 Pakistan 112
Iran 108 Chad 113
Egypt 109 Saudi Arabia 114
Benin 110 Yemen 115
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Muslim Societies

• In traditional Muslim societies, women are
  forbidden to show their faces or other parts of
  their bodies.
• Some women adhere to this out of fear, others
  believe veiling was first imposed out of respect
  for women and the desire to protect them.

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Structural Functionalist Perspective

• Pre-industrial society required a division of
  labor based on gender.
• Women nursed and cared for children.
• Men were responsible for material needs.
• Industrialization made traditional division of
  labor less functional, belief system remains.

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Conflict Perspective

• Continued domination by males requires a belief
  system that supports gender inequality.
• Two beliefs
• Women are inferior outside the home.
• Women are more valuable in the home. 

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Gender and gender roles are learned through
  socialization process.
• Women are socialized into expressive roles.
• Men are socialized into instrumental roles.

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Advertising and Sexism

• This billboard is a good example of the cultural
  emphasis placed on womens physical appearance.

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Traditional Roles

• Expressive roles
• Roles into which women are traditionally
  socialized, i.e., nurturing and emotionally
  supportive roles.
• Instrumental roles
• Roles into which men are traditionally
  socialized, i.e., task-oriented roles.

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Structural Sexism

• The ways in which the organization of society,
  and specifically its institutions, subordinate
  individuals and groups based on their sex
  classification.

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Education and Structural Sexism

• Worldwide, women are less likely than men to be
  literate.
• In U.S. men are more likely to have doctorate
  degrees.
• Women are socialized to choose marriage and
  motherhood over career preparation.

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Science and Engineering Doctorates Awarded to
Women, 2005
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Work and Structural Sexism

• According to the International Labor Office
  (ILO), in 2006, women made up 40 of the worlds
  total labor force.
• Worldwide, women tend to work in jobs that have
  little prestige and low or no pay, where no
  product is produced, and where they are the
  facilitators for others.
• Women are more likely to hold positions of little
  or no authority and to have more frequent and
  longer periods of unemployment.

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Highly Sex-Segregated Occupations 2003
Female-Dominated Occupations Female Workers
Child care workers 95
Dental hygienists 97
Dietitians 95
Elementary and Middle School Teachers 82
Librarians 85
Paralegals and legal assistants 86
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Highly Sex-Segregated Occupations 2003
Female-Dominated Occupations of Female Workers
Prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers 98
Receptionists 92
Registered nurses 92
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Highly Sex-Segregated Occupations 2003
Female-Dominated Occupations of Female Workers
Speech therapists 92
Teacher assistants 90
Travel agents 77
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Highly Sex-Segregated Occupations 2003
Male-Dominated Occupations Male Workers
Airplane pilots and navigators 95
Architects 76
Automobile mechanics 98
Civil engineers 87
Clergy 85
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Highly Sex-Segregated Occupations 2003
Male-Dominated Occupations Male Workers
Construction workers 97
Dentists 78
Firefighters 97
Grounds maintenance workers 92
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Highly Sex-Segregated Occupations 2003
Male-Dominated Occupations MaleWorkers
Lawyers 70
Mechanical engineers 94
Physicians 68
Police officers 86
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Glass Elevator Effect

• The tendency for men seeking or working in
  traditionally female occupations to benefit from
  their minority status.

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Pink-collar Job

• Jobs that offer few benefits, often have low
  prestige, and are disproportionately held by
  women.

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Glass Ceiling

• An invisible barrier that prevents women and
  other minorities from moving into top corporate
  positions.

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Income and Structural Sexism

• Women are twice as likely as men to earn at or
  below minimum wage.
• In 2005, full-time working women had median
  weekly earnings of 612, compared with full-time
  weekly earnings of 771 for men.
• The U.S. gender gap in pay has decreased over the
  years, from women making 60 of what a man made
  in 1980 to nearly 80 of what a man makes today.

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Effects of Education and Sex on Weekly Earnings
of Full-Time Workers, 2005
Educational Attainment Men Women
Total, 25 years and older 771 613
Less than 1 year of high school 413 321
Four years of high school 492 382
High school graduate 652 493
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Effects of Education and Sex on Weekly Earnings
of Full-Time Workers, 2005
Educational Attainment Men Women
Some college, no degree 753 571
Associate degree 791 614
Bachelors degree 1,071 813
Masters degree 1,333 983
Professional degree 1,558 1,131
Doctorate degree 1,536 1,214
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Gender Gap Hypotheses

• Devaluation hypothesis
• Argues women are paid less because the work they
  do is socially defined as less valuable than the
  work performed by men.
• Human capital hypothesis
• Argues that female-male pay differences result
  from differences in women's and men's education,
  skills, training, and work experience.

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Emotion Work

• Work that involves caring for, negotiating, and
  empathizing with people.

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Comparable Worth

• The belief that individuals in occupations, even
  in different occupations, should be paid equally
  if the job requires comparable levels of
  education, training, and responsibility.
• In a comparable worth lawsuit, nurses
  successfully sued the City of Denver for paying
  them less than other employees (e.g., tree
  trimmers, sign painters) who had less education.

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of Women Elected by Level of Government
Position, 2005
Position Number of Seats Number of Women
U.S. President 1 0
U.S. Vice President 1 0
U. S. Congress 535 96
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of Women Elected by Level of Government
Position, 2005
Position Number of Seats Number of Women
House 435 70
Senate 100 16
Governors 50 9
State Legislators 7,382 1,734
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Cultural Sexism

• The ways in which the culture of society (norms,
  values, beliefs, symbols) perpetuates
  subordination based on sex classification.

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The Second Shift

• According to Hochschild, women are expected to
  work second shifts by having gainful outside
  employment as well as performing household chores
  and child care once they arrive home after a
  days work.

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Explanations for a Continued Traditional Division
of Labor

• Time-availability approach
• Claims role performance is a function of who has
  the time to accomplish certain tasks.
• Relative resources approach
• The spouse with the least power is relegated the
  most unrewarding tasks.

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Explanations for a Continued Traditional Division
of Labor

• Gender role ideology
• The division of labor is a consequence of
  traditional socialization and accompanying
  attitudes and beliefs.

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The School Experience and Cultural Sexism

• 1990 study of storybooks used in schools found
• Males were depicted as clever, brave,
  adventurous, and income-producing.
• Females were depicted as passive and as victims
  in need of rescue.

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Gender Tourism

• The recent tendency for definitions of
  masculinity and femininity to become less clear,
  resulting in individual exploration of the gender
  continuum.

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The Feminization of Poverty

• Many female households are young women with
  children and women who have outlived their
  spouses.
• Report card released by U.S. Women Connect gave
  U.S. an F for efforts to reduce female poverty.

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Feminization of Poverty

• Called the feminization of poverty, the
  tendency for women to be disproportionately poor
  is evidenced in developing nations where suitable
  housing, clean water, food, health care, and
  sanitary living conditions are scarce.

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Boy Code

• A set of societal expectations that discourage
  males from expressing emotion, weakness, or
  vulnerability, or asking for help.

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Sexual Harassment

• In reference to workplace harassment, when an
  employer requires sexual favors in exchange for a
  promotion, salary increase, or any other employee
  benefit and/or the existence of a hostile
  environment that unreasonably interferes with job
  performance.

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Affirmative Action

• A broad range of policies and practices to
  promote equal opportunity as well as diversity in
  the workplace and on campuses.

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Mens Discriminatory Attitudes Toward Women by
Region of the World