Chapter Summary

Chapter 4: GENDER INEQUALITY

Women experience discrimination based on their sex, despite the fact they compose 51 percent of the population in the United States. As a result they typically do not possess as much wealth, power, or prestige as men.

The terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably, but sociologists view each as being significantly different. Sex is the biological difference between males and females. Gender is the culturally and socially constructed difference between males and females associated with masculinity and femininity.

Gender roles are the rights, responsibilities, expectations, and relationships of women and men in society. Gender roles have both a biological and social basis. Differences in primary and secondary sex characteristics between males and females are based on biological factors. The social basis for gender roles is known as the gender-belief system, the ideas of masculinity and femininity that are held to be valid in society. To explain gender inequality some sociologists use a gender-role approach that focuses on socialization differences. Sociologists who use the structural approach focus on how large-scale, interacting, and enduring social structures determine the boundaries of individual behavior. Numerous studies support the belief that gender-role stereotyping is a consequence of childhood gender socialization. This process begins at birth. Parents maintain gender distinctions between girls and boys through differential treatment. This includes physical treatment as well as the choices made of clothing, toys, and chores expected of sons and daughters. While boys wear t-shirts with He-Man or Superman on them as they take out the garbage or clean up the yard, girls can be seen wearing clothing associated with Cinderella and Winnie the Pooh as they help mom clean the house or fold the laundry.

As children grow older, peer groups continue to reinforce existing gender stereotypes. Gender-appropriate behavior becomes a powerful motivating force for acceptance. Peer influence will also continue well into adolescence, through young adulthood, and through the later years of social development. In school gender distinctions are reinforced through gender-segregated activities, unnecessary competition between the sexes, and stereotypes of what is appropriate behavior for boys and girls. The threat of sexual harassment as boys and girls establish secondary sex characteristics adds to gender bias. Although equal opportunity in sports programs is the major emphasis of Title IX legislation passed in 1972, boys participate in sports programs at about one and a half times the rate of girls. The media also serves as a powerful source of gender stereotyping. Newspapers, magazines, television, and movies have a unique ability to shape ideas through everything from children’s cartoons to daytime soap operas. Advertising further reinforces ideas about what constitutes physical attractiveness, especially for women. The concept of ideal beauty is primarily responsible for women developing eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

Feminist scholars believe that gender inequality in contemporary society is maintained through individual and institutionalized sexism. This pattern of male domination and female subordination is known as patriarchy, a system of social organization where men control cultural, economic, and political structures of society. Women have been delegated to serving primarily in pink-collar occupations that are lower-paying positions traditionally classified as “women’s work.” Women are also over represented in the contingent work force that is part-time, temporary, or subcontracted work offering advantages to employers at the expense of workers’ welfare. It is noted, however, that the degree of gender segregation in the workplace has decreased. It remains substantially higher among Latina and African American women compared to white women. The differences in work available to women create a significant disparity between women’s and men’s earnings known as the wage gap. The wage gap varies by age. Older workers experience a greater gap in their earnings. Related to the wage gap are the concepts of the glass ceiling and glass escalator.

A form of intentional, institutionalized gender discrimination that costs American workers and businesses millions of dollars each year is sexual harassment. Any unwelcome sexual attention that affects an employee’s job conditions or creates a hostile work environment classifies as sexual harassment. The basis of sexual harassment is not sexual attraction, but an abuse of power. The causes of sexual harassment include the economic power men hold over women and the gender based power men hold.

In the business world, women often experience a phenomenon referred to the glass ceiling, an invisible barrier that prohibits them from reaching top positions in major corporations. Men who hold positions traditionally classified as female-based occupations experience the glass escalator effect. This effect is the rapid promotion of men in fields such as nursing, elementary education, and clerical work. Women also face the “second shift” responsibility which means they must take on the role of mother, homemaker, and wife when returning home from completing a full shift as a paid employee in industry and business.

Gender inequality is studied from the three sociological perspectives. Symbolic interactionists concentrate on the small group and individual interaction between people to explain prejudice and discrimination based on sex. Linguistic sexism is a good example of the symbolic interactionist application. This encompasses the use of words or phrases showing male dominance or female inferiority such as “chairman,” or “female doctor,” “fox,” “bitch,” and “babe.” Functionalists focus on macrolevel issues affecting gender inequality. They examine differences in employment opportunities, wage gaps, and gender inequality based on a biological division of labor. Human capital, the training and experience a person brings to the labor marker, is also an issue addressed by functionalists. Conflict theorists also use the macrolevel of analysis. They base gender inequality on the assumption that social life is a continuous struggle in which members of the most powerful group (men) seek to maintain control of scarce but valuable resources by dominating women.

Globally, gender-based inequality includes a significant degree of violence directed against women in addition to economic and political discrimination. Around the globe, women’s problems also include illiteracy, the lack of educational and employment opportunity, and poor medical care.