Introduction to Sociology SOC-101

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Introduction to SociologySOC-101

• Unit 10 Sex, Gender, and Age

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Issues of Sex and Gender

• Gender stratification refers to the unequal (or
  differing) access to power, prestige, and
  property possessed by men and by women
• Sex and gender reflect different bases for
  stratification
• Sex
• Biological characteristics distinguishing males
  and females
• Primary sex organs (organs related to
  reproduction)
• Secondary sex organs (physical distinctions not
  related to reproduction)

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Issues of Sex and Gender

• Gender
• A social characteristic, and its impact varies
  from one society to another
• It refers to the behaviors and attitudes the
  group considers proper for its males and females.
• The sociological significance of gender is that
  it serves as a sorting device by which society
  controls its members and thus is a structural
  feature of society

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Issues of Sex and Gender

• There is disagreement as to what produces gender
  differences in behavior.
• Some researchers argue that biological factors
  (two X chromosomes in females, one X and one Y in
  males) result in differences in the behavior of
  males (more aggressive and domineering) and
  females (more comforting and nurturing)
• The dominant sociological position is that gender
  differences result from sex being used to mark
  people for special treatment
• Males and females then take on the relative
  positions that society assigns to them

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Issues of Sex and Gender

• Alice Rossi suggested that women are better
  prepared biologically than men for mothering
• Nature provides biological predispositions that
  are overlaid with culture preferences
• Medical accidents and studies such as the one
  involving Vietnam veterans suggest that the
  relationship between biology and social learning
  is a complex one
• Example one child in 1963 was forced to have a
  sex change operation after a botch circumcision
  burned off his penis
• Child was raised as a girl and behaved like a
  girl
• Example study of Vietnam Veterans showed that
  men who had higher testosterone were more
  aggressive and tend to have more problems than
  men with lower levels

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• Gender Inequality

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Gender Inequality

• Around the world, gender is the primary division
  between people
• Every society sets up barriers to deny women
  equal access
• They are therefore referred to as a minority even
  though they outnumber men
• Although the origin of patriarchy (male
  dominance) is unknown, one theory points to the
  social consequences of human reproduction
• As a result of pregnancy and breast-feeding,
  women were limited for much of their lives and
  they assumed the tasks associated with the home
  and child care

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Gender Inequality

• Men took over those tasks requiring greater speed
  and longer absences such as hunting animals
• This enabled men to make contact with other
  tribes and to wage war
• Male prestige resulted from their accumulation of
  possessions through trade and war with other
  groups
• Little prestige was given to womens routine
  tasks, in part because they were not perceived as
  risking their lives for the group
• Eventually men took over society, using their
  weapons, possessions, and knowledge to guarantee
  that they held more social power than did women

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Gender Inequality

• There is no way to test this theory because the
  answers lie buried in history
• There may be many different causes other than the
  biology of human reproduction
• Marvin Harris argued that in prehistoric times,
  each group was threatened with annihilation by
  other groups
• They had to recruit members to fight enemies in
  dangerous, hand-to-hand combat
• Bigger and stronger men were coaxed into this
  bravery by promises of rewardssexual access to
  females

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Gender Inequality

• Frederick Engels suggested that male dominance
  developed in society with the emergence of
  private property
• However, he did not explain the connection
• Today, male dominance is a continuation of
  millennia-old patterns

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• Gender Inequality in the U.S.

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Womens rights resulted from a prolonged and
  bitter struggle.
• U.S. women could not vote, own property, or serve
  on a jury until the 20th century
• Males did not willingly surrender these
  privileges, but used social institutions to
  maintain their position
• Feminism
• The view that biology is not destiny and that
  gender stratification is wrong and should be
  resisted
• This met with strong opposition

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• The first wave of the womens movement had a
  radical and conservative branches
• Radicals wanted to reform all social institutions
• Conservative branch concentrated on winning the
  vote for women and thus dominated
• Both branches of the movement more or less
  disappeared after suffrage was achieved
• The second wave began in the 1960s
• Its goals ranged from changing womens work roles
  to changing policies on violence against women
• While women enjoy more rights today, gender
  inequality still exists

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Researchers have found sex discrimination in the
  area of medicine and health care
• Physicians sometimes dismiss the complaints of
  female patients as not serious
• This neglect could be a matter of life and death
• One example is in the area of diagnosing and
  treating heart disease
• Physicians regard womens reproductive organs as
  potentially disease producing and largely
  unnecessary after childbearing years
• They frequently recommend their removal
• Surgeons make a lot of money from the unnecessary
  removal of these organs

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Despite evidence of the educational gains made by
  women some traditionally male-female distinctions
  persist
• In college, males and females are channeled into
  different fields
• 90 of library science associate degrees are
  awarded to females
• 95 percent of associate degrees in construction
  trades are awarded to males
• The proportion of females decreases in
  postgraduate work, though this too is slowly
  changing
• There is also gender stratification in both the
  rank and pay within higher educational
  institutions.
• Women 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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• Changes in College Enrollment by Sex

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• There have been significant changes in the
  workforce as the number of working women has
  increased
• However, discrimination against women is still
  very visible
• In 1900, one in five workers was female today it
  is almost one in two
• Women who work full-time average only 72 percent
  of what men are paid despite their level of
  educational achievement
• This is true even when they have more
  qualifications than their male counterparts
• Half of this pay gap results from women entering
  the work force in lower-paying jobs

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• The glass ceiling describes an invisible
  barrier that women face in the work force
• Men, who dominate the executive suites,
  stereotype potential leaders as people who look
  like themselves
• In addition, women lack mentors as male
  executives are reluctant to get close to female
  subordinates because they fear gossip and sexual
  harassment charges, or they believe that women
  are weak
• In recent years women who are highly motivated,
  fiercely competitive, and play by mens rules,
  have begun to crack the glass ceiling

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Until the 1970s, women did not draw a connection
  between unwanted sexual advances on the job and
  their subordinate positions at work
• But as women began to discuss the problem, they
  named it and came to see unwanted sexual advances
  by men in powerful positions as a structural
  problem
• The change resulted from reinterpreting womens
  experiences and giving them a name

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• As more women move into positions of authority
  over men, the problem of sexual harassment is no
  longer exclusively a female problem
• Ongoing court cases have resulted in changes as
  to what is and is not included within the legal
  definition of sexual harassment
• The Court has ruled that sexual harassment laws
  also apply to homosexuals who are harassed by
  heterosexuals on the job

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Women are more likely to be victims of violence
  than men
• Every year in the United States, 0.59 of every
  10,000 females is raped
• The typical rapist is under the age of 30
• Of increased concern today is the widespread
  incidence of date rape
• Studies show that only 5 percept of date rape
  cases at universities are reported
• Males are more likely to commit murder than
  females, and males commit 89 percent of the
  murders involving women victims

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Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Women are also disproportionate victims of family
  violence and of genital circumcision
• Feminists use symbolic interactionism to
  understand violence against women
• They stress that U.S. culture promotes violence
  by males as it teaches men to associate power,
  dominance, strength, virility, and superiority
  with masculinity
• Men use violence in an attempt to maintain a
  higher status
• To solve violence we must first break the link
  between violence and masculinity
• Could be done through educational programs in
  schools, churches, homes, and the media

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• Changing Face of Politics

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The Changing Face of Politics

• Despite the gains U.S. women have made in recent
  elections, they continue to be underrepresented
  in political office, especially in higher office
• Trends from the 1990s indicated that women
  participated in political life in greater numbers
  than in the past
• Indicators that things will change include
• More women going into careers in law and business
• Traveling and establishing wider networks of
  support
• Fact that child care is increasingly seen as the
  mutual responsibility of both parents

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The Changing Face of Politics

• As women play a more full role in society, the
  structural obstacles to womens participation
  will give way
• Relationships between men and women will change
  and some of the distinctions between the sexes
  will disappear
• The goal is greater appreciation of sexual
  differences coupled with increased equality of
  opportunity

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• Aging

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Aging in Global Perspective

• Every society must deal with the process of
  people aging
• The Tiwi (Australia) have a custom of covering
  up aged women who have become too feeble to look
  after themselves
• They dig a hole, place the elderly woman in it,
  cover her body with dirt, and leave her to die
• In their culture, when the woman is later found
  dead, it is from natural causesshe has died
  because she is too old and frail to dig herself
  out of the hole and survive

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Aging in Global Perspective

• In Abkhasia (Caucasus region), the people
  commonly live to be 100, or even older
• Possible reasons for their longevity include
• Diet and eating customs (overeating is considered
  dangerous)
• Lifelong physical activity (they dont begin to
  slow down until age 80)
• Social integration (the elderly are active,
  valued, contributing members of the society,
  never isolated from family and community)
• This reveals an important sociological principle
• Aging is socially constructed
• Attitudes towards aging are rooted in society and
  therefore differ from one social group to the next

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Aging in Global Perspective

• In industrialized nations, life expectancy
  increases because of a more plentiful food
  supply, a safer water supply, and the control of
  certain diseases
• As the elderly population increases, so does the
  cost of meeting their particular needs
• This has become a major social issue in the Most
  Industrialized Nations as the young members face
  a growing tax burden to pay for benefits to the
  elderly
• In the Least Industrialized Nations, there are no
  social security taxes and families are expected
  to take care of their own elderly

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Aging in Global Perspective

• The graying of America refers to the proportion
  of older persons in the U.S. population
• Almost 13 percent of the population has achieved
  age 65
• The maximum length of life, the life span, has
  not increased

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• Theoretical Perspectives on Aging

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The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Robert Butler coined the term ageism to refer
  to prejudice, discrimination, and hostility
  directed at people because of their age
• In U.S. society today, the general image of old
  age is negative, but researchers have found that
  at one time, old age had some positive meanings
• Few made it to old age, so those who did were
  respected
• In the days before Social Security provided for
  retirement, the elderly worked and were seen as
  wise and knowledgeable about work skills

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The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Industrialization eroded traditional bases of
  respect
• With improved sanitation and health care, living
  to an old age was no longer unique
• The mystique that the elderly possess superior
  knowledge was stripped away by mass education
• The aging baby boom generation, because of their
  numbers and their better financial standing, will
  very likely contribute to more positive symbols
  of aging

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The Functionalist Perspective

• Functionalists examine age from the standpoint of
  how those persons who are retiring and those who
  will replace them in the work force make mutual
  adjustments
• Elaine Cumming and William Henry developed
  disengagement theory to explain how society
  prevents disruption to that society when the
  elderly retire
• The elderly are rewarded (pensions) for giving up
  positions rather than waiting until they become
  incompetent or die
• This allows for a smooth transition of positions
• This is criticized because it assumes that the
  elderly disengage and then sink into oblivion

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The Functionalist Perspective

• Activity theory
• Examines peoples reactions to this exchange of
  one set of roles for another
• Older people who maintain a high level of
  activity tend to be more satisfied with life than
  those who do not
• Level of activity is connected to key factors
  such as social class, health, and individual
  orientation

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The Conflict Perspective

• Conflict theorists examine social life as a
  struggle between groups for scarce resources
• Social Security legislation is an example of that
  struggle
• In the 1920s30s, two-thirds of all citizens in
  the United States over 65 had no savings and
  could not support themselves
• Francis Townsend enrolled one-third of all
  Americans over 65 in clubs that sought a national
  sales tax to finance a monthly pension for all
  Americans over age 65
• To avoid the plan without appearing to be opposed
  to old-age pensions, an alternative, Social
  Security, was enacted by Congress

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The Conflict Perspective

• Conflict theorists state that Social Security was
  not a result of generosity, but rather of
  competition among interest groups
• Since equilibrium is only a temporary balancing
  of social forces, some form of continuing
  conflict between the young and the old appears
  inevitable
• The huge costs of Social Security have become a
  national concern
• One out of every four tax dollars goes to support
  the Social Security and Medicare programs

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The Conflict Perspective

• Some argue that the needs of the elderly and of
  children are on a collision course
• Data indicate that as the number of elderly poor
  decreases, the number of children in poverty
  increases
• It has been argued that the comparison is
  misleading because the money that went to the
  elderly did not come from money intended for the
  children
• Framing the issue in this way is an attempt to
  divide the working class, and to force a choice
  between the needs of children and those of the
  elderly

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• The Greying of America