Chapter 8, Gender Inequality

1
Chapter 8, Gender Inequality

• The Global Context The Status Of Women And Men
• Sociological Theories Of Gender Inequality
• Gender Stratification Structural Sexism

2
Chapter 8, Gender Inequality

• The Social Construction Of Gender Roles Cultural
  Sexism
• Social Problems And Traditional Gender Role
  Socialization
• Strategies For Action Toward Gender Equality

3
Gender Inequality Around the World

• 500,000 women die each year from complications
  related to childbirth.
• 2/3 of women worldwide are illiterate.
• 1 in 3 women has been abused, beaten, or coerced
  into sex.
• Millions of women have undergone female genital
  mutilation.

4
Gender Inequality in the U.S.

• Women in the U.S.
• Have lower incomes.
• Hold fewer prestigious jobs.
• Earn fewer academic degrees.
• Are more likely than men to live in poverty.

5
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.

6
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. 

7
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

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

8
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.

9
Income and Structural Sexism

• Women with same level of education will earn, on
  average, 60 of what men earn.
• The higher the percentage of females in an
  occupation, the lower the pay.
• Employers channel women and men into different
  jobs that have different wages.

10
Work and Structural Sexism

• Women make up 1/3 of worlds labor force.
• Women tend to work in jobs with little prestige
  in roles where they are facilitators for others.
• Women are more likely to have little or no
  authority in workplace.

11
Occupational Sex Segregation Reasons

• Through socialization, females and males learn
  different skills and acquire different
  aspirations.
• Women are given fewer opportunities in
  higher-paying male-dominated jobs.
• Women have primary responsibility for childcare
  and choose professions withflexible hours and
  career paths.

12
Politics and Structural Sexism

• U.S. women received right to vote in 1920 with
  passage of Nineteenth Amendment.
• In 2001, women comprised only 10 of all
  governors and held only 13.5 of all U.S.
  Congressional seats.
• 80 of U.S. women believe that by 2024, a woman
  will be in the White House.

13
Focus on Technology Women, Men, and Computers

• Study of top-selling video games found 54
  contained female characters 92 contained male
  characters.
• Of female characters displayed, over 1/3 had
  exposed breasts, thighs, stomachs, midriffs, or
  bottoms, and 46 had unusually small waists. 

14
The School Experience and Cultural Sexism

• 1990 study of storybooks used in schools
• Males were depicted as clever, brave,
  adventurous, and income-producing.
• Females were depicted as passive and as victims
  in need of rescue.
• Timed, multiple-choice tests favor males.

15
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.

16
International Womens Bill of Rights

• Adopted by united nations in 1979.
• Establishes rights for women in education,
  politics, work, law, and family life.
• Has not been ratified by required 2/3 vote of the
  U.S. Senate.
• Every industrialized country except Switzerland
  and the U.S., has ratified the treaty.