Sociology Exam 3

symbolic interactionism

-Case Study; Male-and Female-Dominated Occupations: Girls and boys are socialized differently and may be encouraged to seek out gender-appropriate training, college majors, and career goals, leading them to enter male-and female-dominated occupations

conflict theory

-Case study; Male-and Female-Dominated Occupations: Male-dominated occupations generally hold more prestige and are better paid; women may encounter difficulties entering male-dominated occupations, whereas men may more easily succeed in female-dominated occupations

functionalism

-Cast study; Male- and Female-Dominated Occupations: Women are naturally more nurturing and thus make better nurses and teachers of young children; men are naturally more logical and thus make better lawyers and computer programmers

conflict theory

-Have this Approach to Gender Inequality: Because of the traditional division of labor in families, males have had more access to resources and privileges and have sought to maintain their dominance

symbolic interactionism

-Have this Approach to Gender Inequality: Gender is learned through the process of socialization; gender inequalities are reproduced through interactions with family, peers, schools, and the media

functionalism

-Have this Approach to Gender Inequality: Sex determines which roles men and women are best suited to; it is more appropriate for men to play instrumental roles and for women to play expressive roles

sex

-an individual's membership in one of two biologically distinct categories--male or female

gender identity

-an individual's self-definition or sense of gender

feminism

-belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes; also the social movements organized around that belief

patriarchy

-literally meaning "rule of the father"; a male-dominated society

intersexed

-term to describe a person whose chromosomes or sex characteristics are neither exclusively male nor exclusively female

feminization of poverty

-the economic trend showing that women are more likely than men to live in poverty, caused in part by the gendered gap in wages, the high proportion of single mothers compared to single fathers, and the increasing costs of child care

human sexual dimorphism

-the extent, much debated in recent years, to which inherent physical differences define the distinctions between the two sexes

gender

-the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers normal for its male and female members

second shift

-the unpaid housework and child care often expected of women after they complete their day's paid labor

essentialists

-those who believe gender roles have a genetic or biological origin and therefore cannot be changed

constructionists

-those who believe that notions of gender are socially determined, such that a dichotomous system is just one possibility among many