SMP Papers
Gurven, Winking, Kaplan, von Rueden, and McAllister (optional)
"A Bioeconomic Approach to Marriage and the Sexual Division of Labor" 2009 - (PARENTING) Gary Becker's argument applied to the hunter-gatherer context: Complementary labor contributions to ensure survival of offspring. Men had more affairs in the wealthier, more developed communities where they had surplus resources. Children may be viewed as public goods whereby both parents receive equal genetic benefits yet one parent often invests more heavily than the other. We introduce a microeconomic framework for understanding household investment decisions to address questions concerning conflicts of interest over types and amount of work effort among married men and women. Although gains and costs of marriage may not be spread equally among marriage partners, marriage is still a favorable, efficient outcome under a wide range of conditions. This bioeconomic framework subsumes both cooperative and conflictive views on the sexual division of labor. We test hypotheses concerning marriage markets, assortative mating, and men's labor motivations among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of Bolivia and find that: (1) men and women both value work effort in marital partners, (2) marital labor contributions are complementary, (3) work effort is correlated between spouses, (4) total production is correlated with total reproduction, and (5) better hunters have higher fitness gains within marital unions.
Claudia Goldin
"A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter" 2014 - (WOMEN AND THE LABOR MARKET) Time Matters! Jobs that have long hours and inflexible hours put women at a disadvantage; leads to occupational segregation and women making less. Men paid more for being available "around the clock" The converging roles of men and women are among the grandest advances in society and the economy in the last century. These aspects of the grand gender convergence are figurative chapters in a history of gender roles. But what must the "last" chapter contain for there to be equality in the labor market? The answer may come as a surprise. The solution does not (necessarily) have to involve government intervention and it need not make men more responsible in the home (although that wouldn't hurt). But it must involve changes in the labor market, especially how jobs are structured and remunerated to enhance temporal flexibility. The gender gap in pay would be considerably reduced and might vanish altogether if firms did not have an incentive to disproportionately reward individuals who labored long hours and worked particular hours. Such change has taken off in various sectors, such as technology, science, and health, but is less apparent in the corporate, financial, and legal worlds.
Linda DeRiviere
"A Human Capital Methodology for Estimating the Lifelong Personal Costs of Young Women Leaving the Sex Trade" (SEX TRADE) -"sex workers retain only a small portion of their earnings from prostitution after feeding drug addictions and third-party extortion of net residual earnings" (in the long run, prostitution is NOT profitable) Pay premium because it is a hard job, pimps skim profits, risk of incarceration, violence, sickness, drug use. Prostitution is a short career. Prostitutes hurt their chances on the marriage market and other labor markets. De Riviere calculates a net income loss over a prostitution career. This article combines case study interviews with the tools of economic cost-benefit analysis to estimate the lifelong effects for individuals in Manitoba, Canada, who began engaging in prostitution as youths. The empirical findings reveal that sex workers retain only a small portion of their earnings from prostitution after feeding drug addictions and third-parties extortions of net residual earnings. The sex-trade worker typically suffers from debilitating addictions and health conditions that are symptomatic of the stress and danger of engaging in this lifestyle. After leaving prostitution, the former sex worker faces major challenges in rejoining the mainstream labor market. The issues engender multiple reasons for policy-makers to direct their attention to counteracting the conditions of vulnerability that bring youth into this lifestyle and, thereby, effectively disrupting the supply of sex workers.
Bursztyn, Fujiwara, and Pallais
"Acting Wife: Marriage Market Incentives and Labor Market Investments" 2017 - (MATE CHOICE) When placed in all-female groups, 68 percent of single women reported that they would prefer a job with a higher salary that required 55-60 hours of work per week over a job with a lower salary requiring only 45-50 hours per week. But , when placed with male peers, women were 26 percentage points less likely to make this choice. Similarly , in all-female groups, 79 percent of single women reported preferring a job with quicker promotion to partner but substantial travel over a job with slower and less certain promotion but no travel. When placed with male peers, women were 42 percentage points less likely to choose this option. Do single women avoid career-enhancing actions because these actions signal undesirable traits, like ambition, to the marriage market? While married and unmarried female MBA students perform similarly when their performance is unobserved by classmates (on exams and problem sets), unmarried women have lower participation grades. In a field experiment, single female students reported lower desired salaries and willingness to travel and work long hours on a real-stakes placement questionnaire when they expected their classmates to see their preferences. Other groups' responses were unaffected by peer observability. A second experiment indicates the effects are driven by observability by single male peers.
David Thorstad
"Balls and Chains" 2005 - (MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STRUCTURE) The "marriage sellout" Placing marriage equality as the primary goal of the LGBT lobby, which some contend was assimilationist Undermines more liberal movements Marriage isn't that beneficial "approval, not liberation"
Zeus Power
(War and Men) Robert Bly's idea that men need to initiate other men into manhood via ritual, with male authority being perceived as good for the community Pledge at fraternities Different from the men's rights movement
Michael Messner
"Changing Men and Feminist Policies in the U.S." (MEN IN A GENDER-EQUAL WORLD) The New Fathering, the mythopoetic men's movement (Zeus Power), and the increase in the prevalence of highly successful men weeping in public Although men are currently changing in a multiplicity of directions, the popular - and to a great extent, social-scientific - view of contemporary masculinity in the United States is that we now have basically two types: the emergent emotionally-expressive New Man, who is heavily involved in parenting, and the inexpressive, hypermasculine Traditional Man. One (very conventional and optimistic) view is that the New Man is the wave of the future, while the Traditional Man is an atavistic throwback. Another (radical feminist and pessimistic) view is that the New Man is more style than substance, that he is self-serving and no more egalitarian than the traditional man, and thus does not represent genuine feminist change. Both of these views of changing men are overly simplistic, but they are understandable, especially in the United States, given our lack of a sophisticated theorization of masculinity. In this article, I draw from recent theoretical insights to examine some current expressions of U.S. masculinity that have received a great deal of attention in popular media. Two general questions guide my analysis: (1) How can we assess the meanings and significance of contemporary men's changes? and (2) To what extent do the dominant expressions of men's changes support a feminist project of social transformation?
Scott Cunningham and Manish Shah
"Decriminalizing Indoor Prostitution: Implications for Sexual Violence and Public Health" (SEX TRADE) -in 2003, there was a brief decriminalization of prostitution in Rhode Island -prostitution increased, but rape and gonorrhea declined -supports legalization of prostitution Most governments in the world including the United States prohibit prostitution. Given these types of laws rarely change and are fairly uniform across regions, our knowledge about the impact of decriminalizing sex work is largely conjectural. We exploit the fact that a Rhode Island District Court judge unexpectedly decriminalized indoor prostitution in 2003 to provide the first causal estimates of the impact of decriminalization on the composition of the sex market, rape offenses, and sexually transmitted infection outcomes. Not surprisingly, we find that decriminalization increased the size of the indoor market. However, we also find that decriminalization caused both forcible rape offenses and gonorrhea incidence to decline for the overall population. Our synthetic control model finds 824 fewer reported rape offenses (31 percent decrease) and 1,035 fewer cases of female gonorrhea (39 percent decrease) from 2004 to 2009.
Dara Strolovich
"Do Interest Groups Represent the Disadvantaged? Advocacy at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender" (GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS) -women's rights groups are classist -feminist/women's rights organizations are less active when addressing issues that affect disadvantaged subgroups (dismissed as too narrow) -instead, feminist/women's rights organizations tend to focus on issues that affect more advantaged subgroups (painted as broader) -bias toward middle class, pursuit of narrow agendas/issues, pursuit of "safer" and more palatable issues -86% of women's organizations are active on violence against women, the majority issue -Welfare reform receives less attention How well do interest groups represent the disadvantaged? I examine the policy advocacy of national organizations that represent marginalized groups, focusing on the extent to which they advocate on behalf of intersectionally disadvantaged subgroups of their membership. Combining quantitative analysis of original data from a survey of organizations with information from in-depth interviews, I find that organizations are substantially less active when it comes to issues affecting disadvantaged subgroups than they are when it comes to issues affecting more advantaged subgroups. In spite of sincere desires to represent disadvantaged members, organizations downplay the impact of such issues and frame them as narrow and particularistic in their effect, while framing issues affecting advantaged subgroups as if they affect a majority of their members and have a broad and generalized impact. Consequently, issues affecting advantaged subgroups receive considerable attention regardless of their breadth of impact, whereas issues affecting disadvantaged subgroups do not.
Gottlieb, Grossman, Robinson
"Do Men and Women Have Different Policy Preferences in Africa?" (POLICY CONSEQUENCES OF THE FEMALE VOTE) Policies designed to increase women's representation in Africa are often motivated by the assumption that men and women have different policy preferences. This article finds that gender differences in policy priorities are actually quite small on average, but vary significantly across policy domains and countries. The study leverages this variation to show that the economic and social empowerment of women influences the size of gender gaps in the prioritization of two important domains. In particular, women's participation in the labor force - an indicator of economic empowerment - narrows the gender gap in the prioritization of infrastructure investment and access to clean water, while social vulnerability widens the gap on prioritizing infrastructure investment. Finally, the article shows that the places where women and men have the most divergent policy preferences - and thus where formal representation is most important - are precisely the places where women are currently the most poorly represented and least active in formal politics.
Amia Srinivasen
"Does Anyone Have the Right to Sex?" 2018 - (SEX ON CAMPUS) No one is obligated to desire anyone else, no one has a right to be desired, who is desired and who isn't is a political question.
Oriana Bandiera and Ashwini Natraj
"Does Gender Inequality Hinder Economic Development and Growth?" 2013 - (WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT) External validity: how well your study applies to similar situations in other places Applying study to the bigger picture Internal validity: how well your study's causal argument is correct Is your study correct in identifying cause and effect in that particular study Bandiera doesn't believe cross-country comparison are useful; they cannot account for all the variables beware of reverse causality, omitted variable bias Does the existing evidence support policies that foster growth by reducing gender in equalityP We argue that the evidence based on differences across countries is of limited use for policy design because it does not identify the causal link from inequality to growth. This, however does not imply that inequality-reducing policies are ineffective. In other words, the lack of evidence of a causal link is not in itself evidence that the causal link does not exist. Detailed micro studies that shed light on the mechanisms through which gender inequality affects development and growth are needed to inform the design of effective policies
United States v. Virginia
(War and Men) VMI's rule to only admit men is ruled to violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment; RGB ruled Led to more equal women's rights
Baldez, Epstein, and Martin
"Does the U.S. Constitution Need an Equal Rights Amendment?" 2006 - (WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE US) States with ERAs are twice as likely to use strict scrutiny. ERA has an indirect effect: to elevate the standard of law used to adjudicate claims of sex discrimination. For over 3 decades, those engaged in the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), along with many scholarly commentators, have argued that ratification of the amendment will lead U.S. courts (1) to elevate the standard of law they now use to adjudicate claims of sex discrimination, which, in turn, could lead them (2) to find in favor of parties claiming a denial of their rights. We investigate both possibilities via an examination of constitutional sex discrimination litigation in the 50 states—over a third of which have adopted ERAs. Employing methods especially developed for this investigation, we find no direct effect of the ERA on case outcomes. But we do identify an indirect effect: the presence of an ERA significantly increases the likelihood of a court applying a higher standard of law, which in turn significantly increases the likelihood of a decision favoring the equality claim.
Gerry Mackie
"Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account" 1996 - (SOCIAL NORMS) -assuming there are better ways for males to deal address paternity uncertainty, everyone is better off abandoning these practices; so why do they persist? -cost of resisting is too high if your child (who has not had the procedure) is not eligible to marry it's hard to "marry well" without following norms; if you don't adhere to norms your genes are less likely to be passed on -how can societies make the "non-mutilating" equilibrium viable? a critical mass of people has to agree at once (enough people have to sit down at the front of the amphitheater so everyone can see without getting tired); change conventions and strengthen female economic opportunities to lessen the "marry well" necessity
Francine Blau and Laurence Kahn
"Female Labor Supply: Why is the U.S. Falling Behind?" 2013 - (POLICY INTERVENTIONS) -US falling behind in female labor force participation -Outside of the U.S., more women work part time. -Working part time makes it possible for more women to work and take care of their families. -Part time work does not fix statistical discrimination and therefore the gender wage gap unless men are equally likely to work part time as well. -Women in the United States are more likely to become managers and high-level employees. -In countries where women work part time, women are less likely than men to become managers. -Wage compression in Europe reduces the gap between high and low paid jobs. In 1990, the US had the sixth highest female labor participation rate among 22 OECD countries. By 2010, its rank had fallen to 17th. We find that the expansion of "family-friendly" policies including parental leave and part-time work entitlements in other OECD countries explains 28-29% of the decrease in US women's labor force participation relative to these other countries. However, these policies also appear to encourage part-time work and employment in lower level positions: US women are more likely than women in other countries to have full time jobs and to work as managers or professionals.f
Siv Gustafsson (swedish econ)
"Feminist Neo-Classical Economics: Some Examples" (MARKETS/BARGAINS) Urges economists to consider individual utility rather than family utility as the starting point; critiques Becker's model of sexual division of labor
Kira Sanbonmatsu
"Gender Stereotypes and Vote Choice" 2002 - (FEMALE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION) Gender schemas: If you like policies that are associated with women (healthcare, welfare, education), you'll prefer women candidates There are two distinct bodies of research on candidate gender. The first argues that voters are not biased against female candidates. These studies are usually based on aggregate analyses of the success rates of male and female candidates. The second body of research argues that voters employ gender stereotypes when they evaluate candidates. These studies are usually based on experiments which manipulate candidate gender. This study seeks to unite these literatures by incorporating gender stereotypes and hypothetical vote questions involving two candidates in one model. I argue that many voters have a baseline gender preference to vote for male over female candidates, or female over male candidates. Using original survey data, I find that this general predisposition or preference can be explained by gender stereotypes about candidate traits, beliefs, and issue competencies, and by voter gender. I also argue that this baseline preference affects voting behavior.
Neal Devins
"How Planned Parenthood v. Casey (Pretty Much) Settled Abortion Wars" (ABORTION) -Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992) stabilized the abortion debate, aligns lawmakers with popular opinion: 1) reflects popular opinion (people generally support regulated abortion) 2) any attempt to amend the ruling would result in IMMENSE political backlash More than twenty-one years after Robert Bork's failed Supreme Court nomination and seventeen years after Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the rhetoric of abortion politics remains unchanged. Pro-choice interests, for example, argue that states are poised to outlaw abortion and that Roe v. Wade is vulnerable to overruling. In this Essay, I will debunk those claims. First, I will explain how Casey's approval of limited abortion rights reflected an emerging national consensus in 1992. Second, I will explain why the Supreme Court is unlikely to risk political backlash by formally modifying Casey—either by restoring the trimester test or by overruling Roe altogether. Third (and most important), I will explain how it is that Casey stabilized state abortion politics. The national consensus favoring limited abortion rights remains intact. Correspondingly, the template of laws approved by the Supreme Court in Casey were politically popular at the time of Casey and remain politically popular today. Indeed, since Pennsylvania has always been one of the most restrictive states when it comes to abortion regulation, very few states are interested in pushing the boundaries of what Casey allows. And while a handful of outlier states have pushed the boundaries of what Casey allows, these states (which account for a quite small percentage of abortions) have largely worked within parameters set by the Court in Casey. Perhaps most telling, neither the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court's approval of federal partial-birth abortion legislation has significantly impacted state antiabortion efforts. For all these reasons, pro-choice and pro-life interests would be better served shifting their energies away from legalistic fights over abortion regulation and toward shaping the hearts and minds of the women who may seek abortions and the doctors and clinics that may provide abortion services.
Amanda Clayton
"Women's Political Engagement in Quota-Mandated Female Representation: The Case of Lesotho" 2014 - (WOMEN AND DEMOCRATIZATION) -when quotas were introduced in Lesotho, female political engagement DECREASED -perhaps people thought female candidates were illegitimate and less qualified -communities more aware of issues/barriers women face = more likely to accept quota system Do affirmative action measures for women in politics change the way constituents view and interact with their female representatives? A subnational randomized policy experiment in Lesotho with single-member districts reserved for female community councilors provides causal evidence to this question. Using survey data, I find that having a quota-mandated female representative either has no effect on or actually reduces several dimensions of women's self-reported engagement with local politics. In addition, implications from the policy experiment suggest that the quota effect is not accounted for by differences in qualifications or competence between the different groups of councilors, but rather stems from citizens' negative reactions to the quota's design.
Joan Williams
"How Women Escape the Likability Trap" 2019 - (WOMEN AND THE LABOR MARKET) There has been a lot of talk recently in the political arena about the likability trap for women: Women who behave in authoritative ways risk being disliked as insufferable prima donnas, pedantic schoolmarms or witchy women. - Women need to use adjusted methods to succeed This is all a lot of hard work, and it's work that men don't have to do. Men, to be successful, just need to master and display masculine-coded traits; women, to be successful, need to master both those and some version of feminine-coded traits that do not undercut their perceived competence or authenticity. That's a lot trickier. What's the solution? Organizations have to be vigilant about challenging the biases that force women to do this in the first place. The workplace is often structured in ways that reward behavior that's considered socially appropriate in white men but socially inappropriate in women and people of color. This provides an invisible escalator for white men. "The goal is not to empower women to be as emotionally tone deaf and grabby as men are sometimes encouraged to be. Instead, we should work to make sure that both men and women are rewarded for displaying empathy or a willingness to put the common good above self-interest. These qualities have long been undervalued in work and in political life because they have been coded as feminine, and the world needs much more of them."
Gina Rippon vs. Simon Baron-Cohen
"Is the Brain Gendered?: The Debate" 2019 - (INTRODUCTION) In this debate, two leaders of their field go head-to-head to debate the evidence for and against the existence of sex differences in the mind and the brain. We sift fact from conjecture, science from nonsense, and explore the ramifications for education, employment, relationships, psychiatry, and how we identify ourselves. It's time to accept that brains should not be 'sexed', says Gina Rippon. It's misleading to attribute any differences in behaviour, abilities, achievements, or personality to the possession of either a female brain or a male brain. And she argues that new techniques can prove it. After centuries of ingrained neurosexism, neuroscience's cutting-edge breakthroughs should at last liberate us from outdated misunderstandings of what our brains can and cannot do. Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen takes a different perspective. Whilst he agrees that individuals' brains should not and cannot be 'sexed', he reminds us that group studies of males and females do reveal differences on average: men on average are better at analysing systems and women on average are better at empathising with people. And he marshals evidence from studies of prenatal hormones and genetics that these traits have both biological and cultural roots. In addition, Simon Baron-Cohen doesn't just study average sex differences for the sake of it: he does so to understand autism, a neurological condition that affects three times as many boys as girls, and which he argues is an extreme version of the typical male brain. Simon Baron-Cohen and Gina Rippon agree on their moral perspective: they both want a society free of discrimination on the basis of gender (or ethnicity, or disability). And they agree that pseudoscience is dangerous: men are not from Mars, or women from Venus. But they disagree on two key points: whether essential differences between males and females are part of human nature; and whether or not these should be ignored.
The Economist
"Manhood: Men Adrift" 2015 - (MEN IN A GENDER-EQUAL WORLD) "Men at the bottom" are doing worse, despite men dominating the top. Poorly-educated men in rich countries are having a hard time in this new world Tech and trade have devalued brawn they've traditionally benefitted from Education has benefitted women and given them more skills "No job, no family, and no prospects" Policies must adjust for this and help young men find their place in the world
Amartya Sen
"More than 100 Million Women are Missing" (GENDER DISCRIMINATION) Humans make sex selection choices consciously; depends on how women are valued in environments (economically, culturally); explains why more women some places and less in others (Kerala, India example - property inherited through female line so more women); overall, this has hurt women and millions are "missing"
Pasi Loman
"No Woman, No War" 2004 - (WOMEN AND WAR) Greek women were not mere spectators of war - far from being always passive, they had many active roles in warfare. The motivation, as well as emotional and spiritual support, which they provided their men, was invaluable. Women were also paramount in securing supplies - food in particular, but also arms and armour - for the armies, both at home and away. Although only a few exceptional women took part in actual fighting on the battlefields (and even fewer successfully), numerous ordinary women took up arms - or roof tiles as it often was - to protect their own cities and communities against invaders. Not infrequently their contribution in town defence was also valuable and effective; a fact occasionally acknowledged by ancient authors, such as Aristotle. The patriotism and bravery of Greek women is, however, nowhere else as evident as in the many recorded cases of mass suicides, committed to preserve the reputation of both their cities and themselves. The inclusion and importance of women among camp followers on military campaigns has mostly escaped the notice of both ancient and modern scholars. Female entertainers and prostitutes have sometimes received cursory notes in the works of historians, but their real value has not been acknowledged until now. It was their job to keep soldiers' spirits high. This was significant, for the morale of soldiers affects their fighting skills and ability to work as a unit. However, even more important than the presence of entertainers, especially in the Hellenistic period, was the fact that many soldiers took their wives and children with them on campaigns. Arguably, many campaigns would not have been fought unless the soldiers were given the right to bring their families along. To sum up, the various roles women had in warfare indicate that although war was still the business of men, it was a business that needed women too - no woman, no war.
Michael Ross
"Oil, Islam, and Women" (WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT) -oil production reduces the number of women in the labor force, which in turn reduces their political influence -oil-producing states are left with atypically strong patriarchal norms, laws, and political institutions Women without work options may rely on religious law to protect themselves (constrained preferences) Women have made less progress toward gender equality in the Middle East than in any other region. Many observers claim this is due to the region's Islamic traditions. I suggest that oil, not Islam, is at fault; and that oil production also explains why women lag behind in many other countries. Oil production reduces the number of women in the labor force, which in turn reduces their political influence. As a result, oil-producing states are left with atypically strong patriarchal norms, laws, and political institutions. I support this argument with global data on oil production, female work patterns, and female political representation, and by comparing oil-rich Algeria to oil-poor Morocco and Tunisia. This argument has implications for the study of the Middle East, Islamic culture, and the resource curse.
Iron Ladies
(War and Men) Women leaders are not necessarily peacemakers; they are trying to perform against gender stereotypes and want to prove that they are "tough" Margaret Thatcher Adaptionist view: women are less aggressive; this results from surroundings
Alberto Alesina, Paola Giuliano, and Nathan Nunn
"On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough." (SOCIAL NORMS) Any society based more on farming will have more gender inequality; men are more efficient at using the plough; women lose bargaining power When land is abundant, women can gather or tend fields extensively.When land is scarce, the need to till land intensively favors male brawn. The study examines the historical origins of existing cross-cultural differences in beliefs and values regarding the appropriate role of women in society. We test the hypothesis that traditional agricultural practices influenced the historical gender division of labor and the evolution of gender norms. We find that, consistent with existing hypotheses, the descendants of societies that traditionally practiced plough agriculture today have less equal gender norms, measured using reported gender-role attitudes and female participation in the workplace, politics, and entrepreneurial activities. Our results hold looking across countries, across districts within countries, and across ethnicities within districts. To test for the importance of cultural persistence, we examine the children of immigrants living in Europe and the United States. We find that even among these individuals, all born and raised in the same country, those with a heritage of traditional plough use exhibit less equal beliefs about gender roles today.
Dawn Teele
"Ordinary Democratization: The Electoral Strategy that Won British Women the Vote" 2014 - (POWER) Partisan competition AND Women's organization brought suffrage
Friedrich Engels
"Origins of the Family" (MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STRUCTURE) Property brought monogamy and patriarchy. In human history before the establishment of private property, humans engaged in group marriage or pairing; with civilization, monogamy was enforced on females while males were free to supplement within-marriage sex with adultery and prostitution. Monogamy - Ball and chain to control property Primitive communism, according to both Morgan and Engels, was based in the matrilineal clan where women lived with their classificatory sisters According to Morgan, the rise of alienable property disempowered women by triggering a switch to patrilocal residence and patrilineal descent: It thus reversed the position of the wife and mother in the household; she was of a different gens from her children, as well as her husband; and under monogamy was now isolated from her gentile kindred, living in the separate and exclusive house of her husband. Her new condition tended to subvert and destroy that power and influence which descent in the female line and the joint-tenement houses had created. If men needed only to be concerned with sex-love and no longer with property and inheritance, then monogamy would come naturally.
William Tulio Divale and Marvin Harris
"Population, Warfare, and the Male Supremacist Complex" (WOMEN AND WAR) We present cross-cultural data on the existence of a pervasive institutional and ideological complex of male supremacy in band and village sociocultural systems, and we identify warfare as the most important cause of this complex. We explain the perpetuation of warfare in band and village society and its interaction with selective female infanticide as a response to the need to regulate population growth in the absence of effective or less costly alternatives. Our hypothesis is supported by a demographic analysis of 561 local band and village populations from 112 societies. IN THIS PAPER1 we (1) confirm the existence of a pervasive institutionalized material and ideological complex of male supremacy in band and village societies; (2) identify the practice of pre state warfare as the most important cause of this complex; (3) explain the perpetuation and propagation of warfare among band and village societies as a response to the need to regulate population growth in the absence of effective or less costly alternatives; (4) relate the complex of warfare and male supremacy to additional widespread cultural phenomena. By warfare we mean all organized forms of intergroup homicide involving combat teams of two or more persons, including feuding and raiding.
Ronald Dworkin
"Pornography and Hate" and "McKinnon's Words" (PORNOGRAPHY) -pornography is free speech, and we should be careful about imposing our social norms on others (censorship curtails knowledge production and fruitful debate)
Anna Dechant and Florian Schulz
"Scenarios for the Equal Division of Paid and Unpaid Work in the Transition to Parenthood in Germany" (PARENTING) Education and egalitarian ideals are not sufficient to break down traditional gender-specific structures in intimate relationships. On the basis of a qualitative longitudinal study of 14 German couples, the conditions that are necessary and sufficient for an equal division of labour in the transition to parenthood are examined in an explorative way. Based on the assumption that couples with educational homogamy on a high level are probably more prone and sufficiently assertive to establish egalitarian relationships, we show that such arrangements cannot be sustained or achieved without the existence of specific contiguous conditions. A comparison of attitudes, family values and norms with actual everyday routines also suggests in many cases the well-known "verbal open-mindedness and rigid behaviour"
Leslie McCall
"Sources of Racial Wage Inequality in Metropolitan Labor Markets: Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Differences" (GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS) -there are greater wage disparities between racial/ethnic groups than binary gender categories -immigration leads to lower wages for Asian and Latinx people -manufacturing jobs (couples with unionization) leads to higher wages for Black people -within industries that require highly skilled employees, people of lower socioeconomic status get crowded out Research on racial inequality has become increasingly specialized, often focusing on a single explanation and subgroup of the population. In a diverse society, a broader comparative framework for interpreting the causes of wage inequality for different racial, ethnic, and gender groups is called for. The effects of a range of different factors on the wages of Latinos, Asians, and blacks, relative to whites and separately for women and men, are examined. New sources of racial wage inequality are also considered. Significant differences are found in the sources of wage inequality across race, ethnicity, and gender. Differences are generally greater between racial and ethnic groups than between men and women. Key findings include a large negative effect of immigration on the relative wages of Latinos and Asians and only a small effect on the relative wages of black women (and no effect on black men). In contrast, the relative wages of blacks remain most affected positively by the presence of manufacturing employment and unions. New economy indicators of high-skill services and flexible employment conditions play only a secondary role in explaining metropolitan racial wage inequality.
Sisonke Msimang
"The Backlash Against African Women" (WOMEN AND DEMOCRATIZATION) -South Africa witnessed a proliferation of "decency" bills + shaming that hurt women -shaming women's clothing was a method of lashing out/revolution against their rising social, economic, and political power
Women in Parliament
"The Female Political Career" (FEMALE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION) Reflecting continuing effects of family roles, female politicians tend to start their careers later, have fewer children, spend more time caring for their families, and arrange their lives to have shorter commuting times than their male counterparts. It appears that only females with supportive families run for office, whereas men are more likely to mention running in spite of discouragement from their families. The survey suggests systematically different levels and types of networks of political support. Female politicians receive fewer private donations on average than their male counterparts, and rely relatively more on party sponsorship and support. Media portrayal and voter perceptions of "the woman's place" seem to cast a longer shadow over female politicians' decisions about whether or not to run for office and their decisions to pursue higher office. While both men and women express concern about the many pitfalls of political campaigning, females are more worried overall, particularly about gender discrimination, the difficulty of fundraising, negative advertising, the loss of privacy, and not being taken seriously. Considerably more men hold ministerial positions in their sights whereas women seem to settle for lesser levels of advancement.
Nona Aronowitz
"The Feminist Pursuit of Good Sex" 2018 - (SEX ON CAMPUS) Both pornography and men could be misogynistic and predatory, she told me. But they weren't the causes so much as the symptoms of a sexist society. And the answer wasn't sexual repression. Women's liberation should not be "about fending off men's sexuality," she said, "but being able to embrace your own." "Feminism is a vision of active freedom, of fulfilled desires, or it is nothing."
Rick Geddes and Dean Lueck
"The Gains from Self-Ownership and the Expansion of Women's Rights" (POWER) Women couldn't own property until it was efficient for them to do so. Growing demand for female labor increased the relative value of women's effort—from which men hoped to benefit. THE PRINCIPAL- AGENT STORY: Within family, principal-agent problem arises If you don't get to keep the money you earn, you'll begin slacking So husband doesn't take entire paycheck of woman Woman will work harder if she keeps to keep rewards of her labor The entire family thus benefits from the woman working harder
Michael Martell and Leanne Roncolato
"The Homosexual Lifestyle: Timeuse in Same Sex Households" 2016 - (MARKETS/BARGAINS) We are among the first to use American time-use data to investigate non-market behavior in gay and lesbian households. We contribute to a literature that has documented a gay disadvantage and lesbian advantage in the labor market. Many have proposed that this pattern reflects, relative to their heterosexual counterparts, higher levels of household labor among gay men and lower levels of household labor among lesbian women. Results show that gay men, parents in particular, spend more time in household production than heterosexual men. We find evidence of different time-use patterns for lesbians, but they are driven by characteristics not sexual orientation. These results also contribute to the economics of the household showing that time use in same-sex households with weaker gender constructs does not conform to the predictions of models that highlight comparative advantage as a source of specialization.
Lena Edlund and Rohini Pande
"Why Have Women Become Left Wing?" (POLICY CONSEQUENCES OF THE FEMALE VOTE) Theory on Womens Support for PolicyL Women used to be dependent on males and conservatives because they favored "family values" and policies that made their husbands better off; Women in the labor force in countries with high divorce rates moved to the left. The last three decades have witnessed the rise of a political gender gap in the United States wherein more women than men favor the Democratic party. We trace this development to the decline in marriage, which we posit has made men richer and women poorer. Data for the United States support this argument. First, there is a strong positive correlation between state divorce prevalence and the political gender gap—higher divorce prevalence reduces support for the Democrats among men but not women. Second, longitudinal data show that following marriage (divorce), women are less (more) likely to support the Democratic party.
Melvin Konner
"Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy" (INTRODUCTION) Women's time has come: Modern work environments require empathy and sociability, at which women excel. •Are women hard-wired that way? To what extent? •Is empathy a "weapon of the weak"? •What are the consequences of possessing it? •Natural and sexual selection—what have they done to us?
Mark M. Gray, Miki Caul Kittilson and Wayne Sandholtz
"Women and Globalization" (GENDER AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY) The adoption of CEDAW, even if for window dressing, at least sparks domestic debate. How do rising levels of international interconnectedness affect social, economic, and political conditions for women? Research on gender and international relations frequently offers clear propositions, but seldom submits them to broad, quantitative testing. This paper begins to fill that gap. We advance the hypothesis that, on balance and over time, increasing cross-national exchange and communication lead to improvements in women's status and equality. Economic aspects of globalization can bring new opportunities and resources to women. But equally important, globalization promotes the diffusion of ideas and norms of equality for women. In an analysis of 180 countries from 1975-2000, utilizing cross-sectional time-series regression techniques, we examine the impact of several measures of globalization on women's levels of life expectancy, literacy, and participation in the economy and parliamentary office. International trade, foreign direct investment, membership in the UN and World Bank, and ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), are associated with improved conditions for women.
Adrianne Zihlman
"Women as Shapers of Human Adaptation" 1981 - (MATE CHOICE) Females chose mates who are nurturing, generous, steady, able to commit; this shapes evolution; Female choice on its own has shaped the content of the male psyche through human adaptation; Gathering was just as important for the economic survival of the species as hunting was Large, plant-grinding teeth; sexual dimorphism - Relatively small amount of aggressive sexual behavior; women still likely had choice; Zihlman discounts warfare and violence among hunter-gatherers
Merike Blofield
"Women's Choice in Comparative Perspective: Abortion Policies in Late Developing Catholic Countries" (ABORTION) -abortion reform requires a leftist government (or opposition), feminist mobilization, and solidarity across socioeconomic class (strong political coalitions across socioeconomic class are necessary) -bad combination = weak feminists + strong conservatives
Nonlinear Occupations
(Jobs and Globalization)
Occupational Segregation
(Jobs and Globalization)
World Systems Theory
(Jobs and Globalization) "Core Periphery Theory of trade" Emphasis that the world system (and not nation states) as the primary (but not exclusive) unit of social welfare analysis
Human Capabilities Approach
(Jobs and Globalization) An alternative to welfare economics by Amartya Sen, which measures well-being in terms of sensitive freedoms rather than utility; was key in formulating the UN's Human Development Index Alternative to measuring utility and welfare
CEDAW
(Jobs and Globalization) Convention for Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) Countries that ratify have higher literacy and better health outcomes The US does not ratify because it requires access to family planning (abortion)
M-curve
(Jobs and Globalization) Women's salaries never fully recover from the hit they take upon having a child Curve looks like an m Age is the x axis Y axis is either female labor force participation or income when women leave the labor force to have children and return to the labor force, they do temporary/part-time work
Egalitarian Values Model
(Marriage and Parenting) Both parents contribute equally to parenting 14 German couples; although both parents intend to contribute equally, it rarely happens; women almost always contribute more
Coverture
(Marriage and Parenting) Men owned women as property and women had no economic rights as they were entirely under their husband's authority Example: Increased demand for women labor lowered ability of coverture to take place; bargaining power for women increased.
Marriage Sellout
(Marriage and Parenting) Placing marriage equality as the primary goal of the LGBT lobby, which some contend was assimilationist Undermines more liberal movements
Grandmother Hypothesis
(Marriage and Parenting) Women undergo menopause earlier than men and become infertile because they can help care for their grandchildren Women have few child-bearing years; links to female choosiness; may help younger women contribute to labor force
Statistical Discrimination
(Policy) Judgement based on actuarial patterns Example: Women are more likely to take family leave, so you assume a potential hire will take family leave
The Great Gender Convergence
(Policy) The roles of men and women have converged over time, but government intervention alone cannot bridge the gap; the hourly structure of labor must be reworked Because of this, the system may need to be worked; adjust for things like nonlinear occupations
Implicit Bias
(Policy) Unconscious and unwarranted judgement; assume women are less qualified without a basis
Edlund-Pande Theory on Womens Support for Policy
(Policy) Women used to be dependent on males and conservatives because they favored "family values" and policies that made their husbands better off But, if divorce is easy, they have less security from family unit; instead, they want to protect their assets via government spending so they become more left-wing Example: women have became more left-wing
Pro-Censorship Feminism
(Sex and Abortion) Feminists that object to pornography because they contend the libertarian position fails to deal with female subordination to men; to them, porn is the eroticization of inequality
Nordic Model
(Sex and Abortion) It's illegal to buy sex but prostitution itself is not illegal. Because prostitutes may be coming from a place of constrained preferences you want to discourage the sale of sex but you don't want to make it a criminal offence
Rhode Island's Prostitution Loophole
(Sex and Abortion) Legalized indoor prostitution from 1980-2009 During this period incidences of gonorrhea and rape declined Not entirely bad
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
(Sex and Abortion) Restrictions on abortion allowed as long as they do not pose an "undue burden" Replaces trimester test; limits "trap" laws
Griswold v. Connecticut
(Sex and Abortion) Right to privacy in marital relations (birth control) Precedent for Roe v. Wade, Lawrence v. Texas, Loving v. Virginia
Soccer Mom
(War and Men) Mama Bear - women can be aggressive Women exhibited high levels of support for W Bush because they exhibited anxiety over terrorist potentially harming their children
Unfunded Mandate (Parental Leave)
A regulation that requires an organization to perform certain action; but provides no money for fulfilling the requirements Example: the requirement that firms pay maternity leave in CMEs
Monogamy vs. Polygamy
A single spouse at a time versus multiple spouses at a time
Gary Becker
Applies neoclassical reasoning to human behavior, and to families in particular; Assumes the family is a utility maximizing unit, where utility includes income and child wellbeing. MODEL OF SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR The household gains from each partner specializing in his or her task and then trading with each other. If a couple has a child, and hands-on parenting increases the utility of the family, the family maximizes its utility if one parent stays home and the other parent works.
Triver's Parental Investment Model
Females are choosier about who they mate with because they have a greater minimum parental investment (have to carry the baby, nurse etc.)
Infanticide and Femicide
Ovulation is suppressed while breastfeeding, so mothers may kill their young in resource-limited environments; when a female baby is killed due to her gender, this is femicide
Sexual Dimorphism
Physical differences between male and female members of the same species Example: Brawn premium for men
Polygyny vs Polyandry
Polygyny = man w/ multiple wives Polyandry = women w/ multiple husbands
Female Choosiness
Pregnancy has a higher cost than male reproduction, so women are more choosy in finding a mate than men (Triver's Parental Investment Model) -Females can get pregnant (and pass their genes) only so fast -They need support to raise children--leads to females being more discriminating.
Abortion
Roe v. Wade (1973) The Supreme Court case that held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus. The case involved a Texas statute that prohibited abortion except when necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Blackmun, recognized a privacy interest in abortions. In doing so, the court applied the right to privacy established in Griswold v Connecticut (1965). At stake in this matter was the fundamental right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The underlying values of this right included decisional autonomy and physical consequences (i.e., the interest in bodily integrity). Because there was a fundamental right involved, the court applied the strict scrutiny test. The Court divided the pregnancy period into three trimesters. During the first trimester, the decision to terminate the pregnancy was solely at the discretion of the woman. After the first trimester, the state could "regulate procedure." During the second trimester, the state could regulate (but not outlaw) abortions in the interests of the mother's health. After the second trimester, the fetus became viable, and the state could regulate or outlaw abortions in the interest of the potential life except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. The decision in Roe faced a great deal of controversy, and 46 states needed to change their abortion laws as a result of the holding. Almost 30 years later, the Supreme Court revisited the issue of abortion in Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992). The Casey court kept three finding made in Roe: 1. Women have the right to abort pre-viability (ability to survive outside the uterus) without undue interference from the state 2. The state may restrict abortion post-viability 3. The state has a legitimate interest in protecting woman's health and life of the fetus In Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), the Court upheld a federal statute that banned partial-birth abortions. This was the first time since Roe that the Supreme Court upheld a ban on a type of abortion. In Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt, the Court found that "[t]wo provisions in a Texas law - requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and requiring abortion clinics in the state to have facilities comparable to an ambulatory surgical center - place a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking an abortion, constitute an undue burden on abortion access, and therefore violate the Constitution." For more on the impact of Hellerstedt, see this Harvard Law Review note.
adaptationist framework
humans, like other organisms, have evolved to maximize their genetic contribution to future generations through producing offspring and assisting other relatives. These strategies often differ between the sexes; Humans behave in ways that, given the environments they find themselves, maximize their inclusive fitness.
inclusive fitness ("Hamilton's Rule")
the ability of an organism to pass along its genes to the next generation
