Sociology 1111 Chapter 12: Gender, Sex and Sexuality
What are the causes of gender inequality?
1) Gender stratification 2) Gender discrimination
Why does gender inequality persist today?
1) Glass ceiling 2) Gender roles 3) Patriarchy 4) Socialization 5) Sexism 6) Institutional sexism
What types of evidence are used to demonstrate that full gender equality does not yet exist?
1) Roles and stereotypes that begin as children 2) Wages 3) Jobs
Sex
A term that denotes the presence of physical or physiological differences between males and females.
Why is gender a core status?
Because it is such a primary dimension of identity, socialization, institutional participation and life choices.
Feminism
Critical sociology that examines inequalities in gender-related issues.
Why do sociologists argue that the difference between sex and gender is important for understanding gender inequality?
Gender inequality is cultural/social and therefore changeable
Why do sociologists argue that this difference is important for understanding gender inequality?
Gender inequality is cultural/social and therefore changeable
What are the causes of gender inequality?
Gender stratification Gender discrimination
What types of evidence are used to demonstrate that full gender equality does not yet exist?
Roles and stereotypes that begin as children Wages Jobs
What is patriarchy?
Set of institutional structures (like property rights, access to positions of power etc) which are based on the belief that men and women are dichotomous and unequal categories.
What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex - Physical or physiological differences between males and females Gender - Social or cultural distinctions and roles associated with being male or female.
Contrast structural functionalist, critical, feminist, and symbolic interactionist perspectives on gender differences and gender inequality.
Structural - Family most integral, assumptions about gender roles, complimentary roles Critical - Power and domination (women vs. men), dominate groups exploiting, women become wage earners but still carry domestic burden. Feminist - Type of critical that examines the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities. Men seen as more valuable, women property. Symbolic - Meanings attached to symbols of gender, reactions according to current assigned meanings.
Bifurcated consciousness
The experience of a division between the directly lived, bodily world of women's lives and the dominant, masculine, abstract, institutional world to which they must adapt.
Given the contemporary condition of women in Canadian society, is patriarchy dead?
Women are not working in occupations that pay as well or offer as many hours of work per week as men. Men's wages have stagnated so it looks artificially better for women.
