1. Chapter Eleven
Sex and Gender

2. Outline Sex: The Biological Dimension Gender: The Cultural Dimension
Gender Stratification in Historical Perspective
Gender and Socialization
Contemporary Gender Inequality
Perspectives on Gender Stratification
Gender Issues in the Future

3. Sex and Gender
Sex
Hermaphrodites/Transsexuals
Sexual Orientation

4. Sex
Defined: the biological and anatomical differences between females and males Sources:
Chromosomes: XX: Female XY: Male
Primary sex characteristics: the genitalia used in reproductive process
Secondary: the physical traits that identify an individual’s sex like breasts, hips, pubic hair, larger physical size of males

5. Sex Hermaphrodites/Transsexuals
Hermaphrodite: a person in whom sexual differentiation is ambiguous or incomplete
Transsexual: a person who believes that he or she was born with the body of the wrong sex

6. Sex
Berdaches (hijras or xaniths): biological males who behave, dress, and work as females and are treated as women Transvestite: a male who lives as woman or a female who lives as a man but does not alter the genitalia

7. Sex
Sexual Orientation: a preference for emotional-sexual relationships with members of the opposite sex (heterosexuality) or the same sex (homosexuality)
Homosexual and gay usually refers to men
Lesbian usually refers to women

8. Sex
Three criteria for identifying people as being homosexual or bisexual:
(1) sexual attraction
(2) sexual involvement
(3) self-identification
Some researchers have found that some consider being gay or lesbian from youth while others in a shift from heterosexual to homosexual

9. Sex Several other terms:
Transgender: those who do not conform to being male or female and may include: transsexuals (those who cross-dress) or those who at times exhibit heterosexuality and other times, homosexuality
Homophobia: extreme prejudice directed at gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and others who are perceived as not being heterosexual

10. Gender
Defined: the culturally and socially constructed differences between females and males found in the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with “femininity” and “masculinity”
Theme: socially or culturally constructed

11. Gender
Gender Role: the attitudes, behaviour, and activities that are socially defined as appropriate for each sex and are learned through the socialization process
Gender Identity: a person’s perception of the self as female or male

12. Gender
Body Consciousness: how a person perceives and feels about his or her body; it includes an awareness of social conditions in society that contribute to this self-knowledge
Gender Belief System: includes all of the ideas regarding masculine and feminine attributes that are held to be valid in a society

13. No wonder many women are extremely concerned about body image

14. Gender The Social Significance of Gender
Gender has important consequences in everyday life
Examples from the following slide:

15. Common Gender Stereotypes
Men
Women
strong
weak
rational
emotional
dominant
nurturing
independent
dependent
no care for appearance
care for appearance

16. Gender The Social Significance of Gender
One major health problem for girls and women: eating disorders
Thesis: to look like a women who is idealized in the media to be thin and shapely
Types:
Anorexia: loss of weight by fasting

17. Gender
Types:
Bulimia: one who eats a lot and then purges herself by vomiting and the use of laxatives
Bodybuilding: another gendered experience—a process of cultivating an increase in mass and strength of the skeletal muscles by means of lifting and pushing weights

19. Sexism
Defined: the subordination of one sex, usually female, based on the assumed superiority of the other sex Elements:
1. negative attitudes
2. stereotypical beliefs that reinforce, complement, or justify prejudice
3. discrimination

20. Sexism
Examples:
Undervaluing women’s labour
The “Glass Ceiling”: restricting access of women to top levels of power
Pornography
Patriarchy: a hierarchical system of social organization in which cultural, political, and economic structures are controlled by men

21. Sexism
Matriarchy: a hierarchical system of social organization in which cultural, political, and economic structures are controlled by women
Very few, if any, societies exhibit this kind of system

22. Gender Stratification in Historical Perspective
Hunting and Gathering Societies
Horticultural or Pastoral Societies
Agrarian Societies
Industrial Societies
Postindustrial Societies

23. Hunting and Gathering
Basic theme: Men hunt for game and women gather roots and berries
Relatively equitable relationship exists
Women are full economic partners with men
Little social stratification
Examples: Bushmen of Africa, the Aborigines of Australia, the Yanomamo of South America

24. Horticultural
Basic theme: People were able to grow their own food and women’s economic contribution, computable with child care, was vital
A fairly high degree of gender equality exists because neither sex controls the food supply

25. Pastoral Theme: the domestication of large animals to provide food
Herding primarily is done by men and women contribute relatively little to subsistence production in such societies
Women: their primary value is their ability to bear children

26. Pastoral
Polygyny: Marriage of many women to one man; contributes to power differences between men and women
Menstrual taboos: during menstruation, women are put into “menstrual huts”
Bridewealth: payment for a woman; makes women into property

27. Agrarian Societies
Theme: gender inequality and male dominance became institutionalized
Because the economy is agriculturally based and labour intensive it becomes a mans job
Kinds: all the ancient societies: China, India, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Greece and Rome; Medieval societies (Christian and Muslim)
Men are involved in food production and women are caregivers and child bearers

28. Four Examples of Female Subordination in Agrarian Societies
Purdah:
Hindus and Muslims
Seclusion of women
Deference to men
Extreme modesty in dress
Footbinding:
China
Thwarting the growth of women’s feet
Suttee:
India
Sacrificial killing of a widow upon the death of her husband
Genital
Mutilation
Cutting off parts of the labia and clitoris

29. Industrial Societies
Defined: a society in which factory or mechanized production has replaced agriculture as the major economic base As societies industrialize, the status of women declines further
Division of Labour: (see next slide)

30. Gendered Division of Labour in Early Industrialized Canada
Men:
Public
breadwinners
Factory work
Office work
Women:
Private
Domestic labour
Homemakers
Care of Children

31. Industrial Societies Term:
Cult of domesticity or cult of the true womanhood
Women are natural keepers of the domestic sphere
Effect: the economic and political subordination of women

32. Postindustrial Societies
Defined: ones in which technology supports a service and information based economy
Formal education is essential
Will this change the gendered division of labour?
Yes: Access to power via education
No: Still higher power is in the hands of men

33. Postindustrial Societies
Effects on the family: Two earner families is the norm
With 60% of adult women in the labour force, finding time to care for children, her partner, aging parents as well as to meet the demands of work places strain in women’s lives
Issue of female headed, single parent families—poverty and stress

34. Gender and Socialization
By Parents
Peers
Teachers and Schools
Sports
Mass Media

35. Parents Boys and girls are seen differently
Children’s clothing and toys reflect this
Boys are encouraged not to play in girls games
Chores in the home vary with gender
Girls: care for siblings and domestic responsibilities
Boys: computers, outside work

37. From an early age, a number of societal influences encourage us to learn gender-appropriate behaviour.

38. Peers Same sex groups are most common in early education
Children are more accepted by peers if they conform to gender stereotypes
In adolescence, peers become even stronger
Male bonding is to encourage male identity
Evidence for gender “bullying”

39. Peers
Young Adulthood
peers play an important role in career preparation
in university, women and men are organized around gender relationships
Strong on “appearance norms”

40. Teacher and Schools
During the early years of education, a teacher is very powerful
Evidence for unintentional gender bias
Gender bias: showing favouritism toward one gender over the other
Examples: teachers devote more time, effort, and attention to boys rather than to girls

41. Teacher and Schools Effects: not only learning but self-esteem
Setting frequently for sexual harassment
Yet, more women are in undergraduate education than are men
Specialization in professions

42. Gender Majors Women Men Social Sciences Engineering Education
Computer Technology
Health Sciences
Physical Sciences

43. University Degrees by Sex 2003

44. Sports
Boys: socialized to participate in highly competitive, rule-oriented sports such as hockey and football
Why? Some say to construct a masculine identity
One study of women: on the basketball court, they pushed, shoved, ran hard and the like; after, they showered, dressed, applied makeup, and styled their hair

46. Mass Media Theme: media as a powerful source of gender stereotyping
Gender bias:
More men than women
Men more aggressive than women
Soap operas as a classic media format or the Oscars
Advertising:
If people accept traditional gender stereotypes, they will be successful

47. Contemporary Gender Inequality
Gender Division of Paid Work
The Gender Wage Gap
Pay Equity and Employment Equity
Paid Work and Family Work

48. Gender Division of Paid Work
Gender-segregated work: the concentration of women and men in different occupations, jobs and places of work
Women continue to be more represented in clerical work while men in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics
Labour market segregation: division of jobs into categories with distinct working conditions results in women having separate and unequal jobs

49. Gender Division of Paid Work
Effects:
Women and men are excluded from certain occupations (think of a male nurse)
Once broken into a gendered occupation, there are more rewards
By 1999, 50% of dentists, doctors, and financial professionals were women
2000: 35% of managers are women

50. Gender Division of Paid Work
Racial-gendered segregation does has not changed
Gender segregation exists in Sweden, The United States and others
Occupational gender segregation is part of the overall stratification system in Canada

52. Gender Wage Gap
Defined: the disparity between women’s and men’s earnings
In 2002, women make about 80% of what men make
Marital status makes a difference
Single, never-married women 96%
Married women 77%

53. Professional Wage Gaps (2001)
Men
Women
Dentists
100%
66%
Lawyers
68%
University
Professors
77%

56. Pay Equity and Employment Equity
Pay Equity: reflects the belief that wages ought to reflect the worth of a job, not the gender or race of the worker
Employment Equity: a strategy to eliminate the effects of discrimination and to fully open the competition for job opportunities to those who have been excluded historically

57. Pay Equity and Employment Equity
Targets of these strategies: visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Aboriginals and women
Other related issues: recruitment, selection, training, development, promotion, conditions of employment and layoffs

58. Paid Work and Family Work
Paid work: work for a wage or salary
Family work: unpaid work such as housework, child care and kin care
Norm: the married woman combines both paid and family work
The division of family work has not essentially changed: women still do the bulk of family work

59. Paid Work and Family Work
Some statistics:
Couples without children: women do 60% of family work
Couples with children: women do even more
Special term: double day or double shift: having dual responsibilities for paid and family work

60. Paid Work and Family Work
Sandwich generation: women caught between the needs of their young children and their elderly parents

62. Perspectives on Gender Stratification
Functionalist or Neoclassical Economic
Conflict
Feminist
Symbolic Interactionist perspectives

63. Functionalist Importance of traditional gender roles
Again, the instrumental and expressive roles
The division of family roles will ensure that important societal tasks will be fulfilled and the provision for family members

64. Functionalist Variations: The Human Capital Model:
Human capital is acquired by education and job training and can be measured in terms of the return on the investment
When women leave paid work to have children, they lose elements of human capital
When they return to paid work, they have less human capital

65. Functionalist Problems and issues:
Work is beyond personal choice and is, in part, linked to the economic system
Does not address the problem of pay inequity between men and women
However, it is the one perspective that places the importance of the valorization of family work

66. Conflict Men still hold the major sources of power Resources of men:
Education
Strength
Receive more than women in wages
Resources of women
Sexual resources
Companionship
Emotional support of others

67. Conflict
Goal: to equally value the paid work of men and women as well as their unpaid, family work
Why gender stratification?
From private ownership of the means of production
Families as reflections of class

68. Feminist Perspectives
Feminism: the belief that women and men are equal and that they should be valued equally and have equal rights
Key terms: subordination, male power, patriarchy, oppression and domination

69. Five Feminisms Liberal:
Gender equality is linked to equality of opportunity
To change laws, customs of inequality
Radical:
Male domination causes all kinds of domination
Source: patriarchy and biology
Socialist:
Men and women are exploited in Capitalism
Women more than men

70. Five Feminisms Antiracist or Multicultural:
Beyond middle class liberal feminism
Focus: women of minority groups with dual inequality
Postmodernist
Discourses are all totally social constructions
Sex is as much as social construct as is gender
No such thing as a “woman”

71. Feminist Perspectives
Research example: Eating disorders
Beyond psychological problems
Focus: on women’s oppression
A study: 50% of women with disorders had been victims of sexual abuse, racism, anti-Semitism, and/or homophobia

72. Symbolic Interactionism
Micro-level analysis
Gender and gender identity is a product of interactions between men and women, women and women and men and men
Doing gender: “whenever he or she is interacting with another in a way that displays characteristics of a particular gender…is a process not an end product”

73. Symbolic Interactionism
Note the case study of the construction of gender using this process of a person who was transsexual as a boy until she adopted a female identity at seventeen.

74. Questions Explain the different types of Feminisms.
What sociological questions does Dr Kirby’s presentation make you ask? Provide at least three.
Are there cases where gender stereotypes are appropriate?
How are gender roles changing in a post-industrial society?