Soc 2010 Chapter 10 Henslin

Inequalities of Gender and Age

GENDER AND AGEChapter 10 Overview

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• Gender and Age are Very Important in Sociology because they are Masters Statuses

– They cut across all aspects of social life

• They are also usually Ascribed Statuses

– We are labeled Male or Female

– We are Assigned an age category

– These labels are powerful – they convey expectations and images about how we should look and act


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Difference between Sex and Gender

Sex• Refers to biological

characteristics

• Sex is inherited

• Sex is Ascribed Status

• Sex is also a Master Status

• Girl = XX Chromosomes

• Boy = XY Chromosomes

Gender• Refers to social characteristics

“Male” & “Female”

• Each culture has its own definitions of gender

• Consists of whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females

• Gender is learned

• Is a Masters Status

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Gender stratification is: “Unequal Access to

Power, Prestige, and Property on the Basis of

Sex.”

Gender discrimination = action

Gender prejudice = attitude

The social significance of gender is

that it’s a device by which society sorts

and controls its members


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• This chapter should not be taken as “pick on men” day issues of access and privilege exist for both sexes

• Around the world Gender is the primary division between people

• Remember from last chapter- a group can be numerically large but still be a “minority”

– Sociologist classify women as a “minority” group because every society has barriers that, on the basis of sex, prevent equal access to property, power and prestige that favor men “as a group”


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1) Origins of Patriarchy (one theory of how this happened)

– Early On, Life was Short

– Females Limited by Childbearing

– Men Became Dominant as Hunters and Warriors

– Weapons, Trade, and Knowledge gained from

Contact with Others Gave Men Power

– Ideology developed that women were less

dominant than men

2) Patriarchy came with the development of

private property (Frederick Engles)


GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE U.S.

History, Feminism, Health Care, Education, Work place, Sexual Harassment, Violence

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• A husband and wife were legally one person-him

• Women could not vote until 1920

• Women could not buy property in her name

• Women could not make legal contracts

• Women could not serve on juries

• *How have things changed so much in the last 100 Years?


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Feminism – the belief that biology is not destiny and

that stratification according to gender is wrong

Three Feminist Movements1st Feminist movement – 1920s- Trying to win the

right to vote for women

2nd Feminist movement – 1960s- Trying to earn

equal pay for women This came about partially because of the Quiet Revolution-

the large number of women entering the workforce in the

50s and 60s.

3rd Feminist movement – (Current) Focus on

problems of women in Least Industrialized Nations


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• Assumptions regarding medical care made on gender

For example Women and hearth disease (increased number of coronary bypass deaths)– Drs. were ten times more likely to give men stress

tests than women

• Men and Breast Cancer


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Herland

Utopian novel from 1915, written by feminist author Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogensis(asexual reproduction). The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination.

Themes of Book:

1) Gender is Socially Constructed

2) Gender Reversal- (men have long hair)

If you want to read it online for free: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/GilHerl.html


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• 57% of all college students are women

• Women earn 57% of all Bachelors degree

• Women earn 59% of all Masters degrees

• Gender Tracking- degrees tend to follow gender, which reinforces male-female distinctions – Think about gender in STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, and

Math) Fields


15See also tables on page 261


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• Women who work for wages are not distributed evenly throughout the U.S. (see page 276)

• Of the nation’s top 500 corporations (Fortune 500) only 10 are headed by women.

• Glass ceiling- mostly invisible barrier that prevents women from reaching the executive suite

• Glass escalator- men in traditionally female jobs are given higher-level positions


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• Pay Gap ($1,356 per month between ages 25-65).

• Women who work full time average only 72% of what men are paid.

• Why does this pay gap exist?– Child penalty

– Women more likely to choose lower paying jobs

– Gender discrimination (men start at higher salaries than women for the same job with same level experience)


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• Society teaches both Males and Females appropriate behavior from a very young age.

– Some examples include: Cartoons, Commercials, Toys, Media (TV, Music, Magazines), Books etc.

• All the single ladies

– Women are taught????

– Mena are taught ???

• How does this differ on (household work, paid work, child care, affection, definition of success, ability to cry, ability to be sick, physical appearance… )

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• About 1 per 1,000 females between age of 12 an 50 is raped each year.

• Overlooked rape: Men in prison

• Date (Acquaintance) Rape- most go unreported

• Murder- Females make up 51% of population (but they don’t even come close to making up 51% of the nations killers-see page 280)

• Gender violence in the media (MTV)


• Structural Barriers Coming Down

– Women in politics (Clinton, Palin, Pelosi)

– Abandoning Stereotypes

• Men as stay at home dads

– New Consciousness

– Change in Relationships

• Both parents need to work

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AGING

Social construction of Age:

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All societies must decide how to allocate

limited resources among their citizens

Social Construction of Aging

Tiwi vs. Abkhasians

Every society treats the elderly in different ways

• Like Gender, Age is socially constructed25


Graying of America – the growing elderly

population in the U.S.

• 8 million more elderly than teenagers today in the U.S.

• Why: Life expectancy has increased with industrialization

• Graying of the globe is such a new concept, 2/3rds of all people who have ever lived past 50 in the history of the world are alive today.

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See page 270


Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.28

Figure 10.14 As Florida Goes, So Goes the Nation

Source: By the author. Based on Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009:Table 17. Projections to 2015.


AGELets apply our 3 theories

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• Ageism – Prejudice, discrimination, and hostility directed against people because of their age

• The “meaning” of growing old has changed through the years – Historically in the U.S. the elderly used to be seen as an asset

(source of knowledge)– Today elderly are seen more as a financial liability (cost of

medical care)

• Why has this occurred? • Mass education (increased # of people going to college) and Fast pace

change of technology has decreased the importance of elders knowledge

• What does it mean to be old? How is it changing again?• Dating, Employment, Returning to College

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Focus on Age Cohorts- people who were born around the same time (e.g. Baby Boomers)

Disengagement Theory – There needs to be a smooth transition between those leaving their jobs and those entering the workplace (this is why society offers pensions or retirement benefits)

Activity Theory – the more informal and formal activities the elderly engage in the more they find life fulfilling

Continuity Theory – The more roles one continues to possess in retirement the more fulfilling life will be. Also, people with greater $$ and resources (higher social class) adjust better to aging

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• Assumption: Struggle between social groups

for power

• The conflict perspective looks at the rising

costs of the elderly and how money is being

taken away from other age cohorts

• Looks at how the Dependency Ratio is

affecting Social Security

– The ratio of workers paying into Social Security vs.

those who are collecting Social Security


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Page 277


• Even in old age, our gender roles remain part of us

• Stereotypes of Age

– Sex,

– Driving,

– Fun,

– Deviant Behavior

– Dating / Social Activities34

Soc 2010 Chapter 10 Henslin

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