Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sexism refers to the range of attitudes, beliefs, policies, laws and behaviors that discriminate on the basis of gender Results in a system of gender inequality Power and Male Hegemony Male hegemony refers to the political and ideological domination of woman in society
Gender bias: favouritism toward one gender, e.g., aggressive boys and dependent girls get attention
The Family
Traditionally, the role of wife and mother has been a subordinate role in society Increase in working wives and moms and the juggling of work and family See Table 5.1 on Unpaid Housework (p.190) On average, women do 4.3 hours daily while men do 2.8 hours Women also responsible for bulk of senior care
i.e. Policeman vs. police officer, or calling women girls Underrepresent women, and Reinforce stereotypical ideas about women and physical attractiveness
Organized Religion
Religion has reinforced secular traditions and gender roles in many cultures, including our own Religion has been male dominated In the last few decades some religions have begun to ordain women as ministers
Sexism in Schools
Gender gap in higher education and in certain disciplines is narrowing but still persists today However, research show sexism still a significant factor in schools
Teachers pay less attention to girls than boys Girls lag behind in math and science scores Girls tend not to choose careers in math and science Textbooks and gender stereotypes still persist Biased tests Minority girls tend to be ignored
However
The Gender Gap (2004) text p. 197 Montreal study on gender differences in achievement in school
Boys falling behind especially in language skills More likely to drop out or not continue Have more behavioural, learning and social problems in school
Study notes that girls see educational achievement as key to better life, whereas boys rely on traditional masculinity to get ahead
Sexual harassment is also a growing problem in schools The results of a recent U.S. survey found that 83 percent of girls and 79 percent of boys have been harassed
Both boys and girls are limited by sexual harassment and stereotypical notions
Pink-collar ghetto: jobs held by women that are low-paying and semi-skilled. Contingent work: part-time work, temporary work, and subcontracted work that offers advantages to employers, but detrimental to workers. Years of work experience women are more likely to have interruption in their work histories Hiring and promotion practices For minority women, there is even a larger wage gap
Pay equity: equal pay for work of equal or comparable (worth of the job) worth
2004 Census
Approximately 58% of women worked full time vs. 68% of men in Canada 83% of 2 parent families have 2 income earners Women made up 46.8% of workforce 72.5% of women with children under 16 in the home work
2004 Census
Average income
In 2004 women made 70.5 cent for every $1 men earned 3.4% of clout positions (CEOs, presidents, etc.) of Fortune 500 companies held by women At age 40, 90% of working men vs. 35% of working women had at least one child Women still concentrated in teaching, nursing, service and clerical jobs (67% of employed women)
Double shift: women are wage earners and also do most of unpaid household work, now recorded in the census
90% of Canadians do unpaid work, but the majority, especially child care, is done by women
However, roles in homemaking have been changing Women still continue to bear the primary responsibility for homemaking Husbands and fathers with working wives that support non-traditional roles are taking on a larger share of homemaking responsibilities
Perspectives: Symbolic
Interactionist
Focus on socialization and labelling Also note existence of double standard Language is extremely important in defining social realities
Linguistic sexism: communication that ignores, devalues, or makes sex objects of women. Genderlects: mens and womens styles and contents of language differ. Non-verbal communication: men control more space, than women, including sexual harassment
Perspectives: Functionalist
Early thinking (Parsons, Kingsley-Davis): Men are more suited to instrumental (i.e., goaloriented) tasks Women perform expressive tasks This was functional for society More recently: Differences in human capital of men and women (capital diminishes with time off for child-bearing and childcare)
Perspectives
Conflict
Social life is a continuous struggle in which the powerful seek to control economic and social resources Gender inequality results from capitalism and private ownership of the means of production
A result of structural and historical relations Beneficial to capitalists to have unpaid female workforce
Perspectives: Feminist
Socialist: men gain control over property and women Radical: mens oppression of women is deliberately supported by media and religion Liberal: inequality is rooted in gender-role socialization Black, Indigenous, and other women of colour face inequalities compounded by racialization, class, and gender
and Freedoms