THEORIES AND RELEVANT CONCEPT -MYTH VS CULTURE -

MYTHS Definition : A traditional story accepted as history ; An anonymous tale emerging from the traditional beliefs of a culture or social unit. Myths use supernatural explanations for natural phenomena Often thought to be a lesson in story form which has deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for preliterate cultures, who preserve and cherish the wisdom of their elders through oral traditions by the use of skilled story tellers.

-MYTH VS CULTURE -

CULTURE Definition : The integrated system of socially acquired values, beliefs, and rules of conduct which delimit the range of accepted behaviors in any given society. Cultural differences distinguish societies from one another. Culture is based on the uniquely human capacity to classify experiences, encode such classifications symbolically, and teach such abstractions to others. process through which an older generation induces and compels a younger generation to reproduce the established lifestyle; consequently, culture is embedded in a person's way of life.

GENDER MYTHS provide a series of images of women and men that encourage us to understand what they do or do not do in particular ways.
It gives the opportunity to revisit some of the ideas that we have come to take for granted, to review where they have got us and to use this as a starting point to look to the future and to the new myths we may need.

 We live in a world of gender stereotypes. We are surrounded by messages about women being weak and men being strong, about women being better careers and men being better at earning money; Feminists have fought against these stereotypes. Sometimes arguments have been simplified in order to get the message across, and counter-stereotypes have been created in the process: men drink, women are sober and reliable, men perpetrate violence, women are capable, men are lazy and so on.

Myths and Realities EXAMPLE :MYTH: Girls learn better from female teachers. Related myths: Role models must always be of the same sex as the student. Results: Some female teachers feel that being a woman is enough to encourage girls, and it isnt necessary to do anything else. Some male teachers feel that it isnt possible to reach girls so it isnt necessary to try. Some adults and students feel that girls avoid classes taught by men. Reality: it makes little difference to most students whether they are taught by a man or a woman. It is the quality of the teaching, not the gender of the teacher, that matters.

GENDER CULTURE

Gender refers to the widely shared expectations and norms within a society about appropriate male and female behavior, characteristics and roles. It is a social and cultural construct that differentiates women from men and defines the ways in which women and men interact with each other. Gender is a culture-specific construct there are significant differences in what women and men can or cannot do in one culture as compared to another.

ROLE OF CULTURE MAY AFFECT WOMENS HEALTH - VULNERABLE TO HIV / AIDS TRIGGERING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

ROLE OF CULTURE AFFECT WOMENS HEALTH

In most cultures of the world it is assumed that men should play the dominant role of initiating sex and that women should be ever ready to consent to having sex with their husbands. Women grow up believing that sex happens to them and men are taught that sex is something that they do. Negotiations for safe sex are not a right of women.

 Negotiation is perhaps not even an option considering the fact that women are less educated and therefore do not have access to health information which can save her life (studies have shown that some HIV positive women had never heard of a condom until they were diagnosed as being positive). She may also be economically dependent on her husband and this makes her even less able to challenge the demands of her husband even if her life could be in danger.

ROLE OF CULTURE TRIGGERS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Violence Against Women is deeply embedded in all cultures, so much so that millions of women consider it a way
Violence against a woman is a crime, and a violation of her human rights. Not all men are abusive, but overwhelmingly, men are the abusers and women are the victims. Men batter because they feel they have the right to or think that their feelings are superior to a woman's.

of life.

GENDER GAP
Gender : refers to personal traits and social position that members of a society attach to being female and male. Gender Gap : A disproportionate difference, as in attitudes and voting preferences, between the sexes. It also can be defined as a disparity between genders involving quality or quantity.

ISSUE : GENDER GAP IN COMPENSATION

Gender gap in compensation was one of the social inequities between men and women. Women on average earn less than men and are predominantly stuck in low-paid sectors of the economy.

FACTORS
The key factor is gender segregation in the labor market. Women are paid less than men for doing the same jobs. Women segregation in labor market takes two forms : vertical (industrial) and horizontal (occupational). Women are clustered into a small range of female dominated industries and are clustered at the bottom of occupational hierarchies.
The skills women perform in jobs have been undervalued.

SOLUTIONS TO THE GENDER GAP

1. New job evaluations are necessary to value womens work objectively without the intrusion of gender bias. 2. The operation of bias needs to be carefully monitored in any job evaluation scheme. 3. Affirmative action seeks to tackle the fact segregation itself by encouraging women to move into industries and occupations dominated by men. 4. Women would be distributed throughout the labor market, thus fulfilling the condition of employment equity. 5. Comparable worth measures are needed.

The conclusion of the solutions : antidiscrimination, affirmative action and comparable worth measures would help to reduce the gap and to increase womens chances of economic independence.

GENDER STRATIFICATION
Definition

Unequal distribution of wealth, power and privilege between men and women.

Examples of Gender Stratification:

Workplace discrimination (women are in a double bind; being a mother is socially encouraged but that reduces status in the workplace). Comparable worth (same job, less pay). Sexual harassment (comments, gestures or physical contact of a sexual nature that are deliberate, repeated and unwelcomed. Lack of political power. Women hold primary responsibility for household duties.

GENDER SEGREGATION
Definition The restriction of members of each sex group to different statuses and roles.
- We can compare mens and womens education, occupation and incomeand also consider how other aspects of our everyday are influenced by our sex and gender.

GENDER SEGREGATION OF JOBS FROM THREE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Structural Functional Explanation : Gender segregation is a system for efficiently allocating jobs in the market. Matches economic institutions with family and education system. Human capital theory : a compensating differentials argument.

 Male-female differences in educational level, type of degrees, job experience, training, job interruptions, job commitment. Men in instrumental roles and women in expressive roles, thus benefits society as a whole.

Symbolic Interaction Perspectives :

Impact of socialization and its reinforcement in daily interactions. Early socialization affects job aspirations. Classroom environments treat boys and girls differently.

Conflict Perspectives (Institutionalized Discrimination) :

Formal and informal administered practices institutionalize mens privileges in workplace norms, recruitment procedures and the division of labor. Men control search processes, criteria, screening and interviewing. Men dominate nomination and insider information networks.

 Men are gate keepers for on-the-job training. Men determine the division of labor (job categories and titles). Men dominate unions and professional association. Thus : the power differential between the sexes is built into the system.

PATRIARCHY v MATRIARCHY
Meaning of Patriarchy : A social system in which the father is the head of the family and men have authority over women and children. A family, community or society based on this system or governed by men. (Power was in the hands of men).

Meaning of Matriarchy : A social system in which the mother is the head of the family. 1.A family, community or society based on this system or governed by women.

THE THEORIES OF PATRIARCHY AND MATRIARCHY.

Different view concerning the theory of social evolution. Sir Henry Maine ( a sociologist) maintained : that the patriarchal system of authority was the original and universal system of social organization. Maine postulated that the earliest social unit was the family; which existed before tribe or nation appeared. Maine saw each society as evolving from isolated patriarchal families into a patriarchal tribe or nation.

 In contrast, Bachofen ( a sociologist) : maintained that matriarchy was the original primitive stage of culture, everywhere preceding patriarchy. Bachofen postulated that before matriarchy, there had been a state of sexual promiscuity, with no stable family life. Anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sandy favors redefining the matriarchy to matrilineal societies like the Minangkabau.

THE REAL MODERN POSITION

to formulate Patriarchy over matriarchy. There are certain reasons for this. There was a compelling interest in societies fact : Patriarcy controlled the sexuality of the female kinship system and held women bound to the subservient superior position, of being controlled both sexually and socially by the male successful kinship system.

People see that the men become a provider to the wife and children. The invention of modern Civilization was borne because each subsequent generation did better than the last, for they inherited what the father accrued from his leadership and life.

 Patriarchal societies are benevolent societies. The male kinship model offered a stability. Under the female kinship model, anarchy reigned due to the fact that no-one was in charge of the family nor could be sure of who the children really whose. The patriarchy was a model that imbued liberty and justice.

 Patriarchy provided a man with a role within society, which directly benefited civilization.
Under the management of Patriarchy, both wife and child were well protected by the father.

TQ