Sociologists describe gender roles as learned patterns of behavior that a society expects of men and women. In other words, what we know as masculinity is

CHAPTER

11

STRATIFICATION BY GENDER AND SEXUALITY

CHAPTER OUTLINE

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER

Gender Roles in the United States

Cross-Cultural Perspective

LABELING AND HUMAN SEXUALITY

Gender and Human Sexuality

Labeling and Identity

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER

Functionalist Perspective

Conflict Perspective

Feminist Perspective

Intersections with Race, Class, and Other Social Factors

Interactionist Perspective

WOMEN: THE OPPRESSED MAJORITY

Sexism and Sex Discrimination

The Status of Women Worldwide

THE WORKFORCE OF THE UNITED STATES

Labor Force Participation

Compensation

Social Consequences of Women's Employment

EMERGENCE OF A COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

SOCIAL POLICY AND GENDER STRATIFICATION: WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Boxes

Sociology in the Global Community: No Gender, Please: It’s Preschool!

Research Today: Measuring Discrimination Based on Sexual Identity

Sociology in the Global Community: Gender Inequality in Japan

Research Today: Who Does the Housework?

	LEARNING OBJECTIVES			WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 11
· Explain the meaning of the phrase the social construction of gender. · Describe women’s and men’s gender roles and the process of gender-role socialization in the United States. · Analyze the functionalist, conflict, feminist, and interactionist explanations of gender stratification. · Describe the effects of sex discrimination. · Summarize the status of women in the United States and worldwide. · Compare and contrast the labor force participation and compensation of U.S. men and women in various occupations. · Explain second shift in terms of women’s employment. · Summarize the concept of collective consciousness within the context of the development of feminism in the United States. · Analyze the battle over abortion through a sociological lens.		· Excerpt updated to Everyday Sexism: The Project That Inspired a Worldwide Movement by Laura Bates. · Updated and expanded coverage of gender roles, with photo. · Revised and updated Sociology in the Global Community box, “No Gender, Please: It’s Preschool!” · Enhanced coverage of gender fluidity in text. · Research Today box, “Measuring Discrimination Based on Sexual Identity.” · Added definition for intersectionality · Updated table, “U.S. Women in Selected Occupations: Women as a Percentage of All Workers in the Occupation.” · Discussion of increased domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic. · Table 11-3, “The Global Gender Gap,” with Think About It question. · Sociology in the Global Community box, “The Gender Gap in Japan,” with photo. · Figure 11-2, “Women’s Participation in the Labor Force, 1975–2018.” · Research Today box, “Who Does the Housework?” with figure. · Updated coverage of women’s activism, including recent efforts to revive the ERA. · Updated Social Policy section, “Workplace Sexual Harassment,” with cartoon.
	CHAPTER SUMMARY

Gender roles are defined as expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. Social behavior is socially constructed so that male–female differences are created and then reinforced by social institutions. Gender-role socialization in the United States has followed a traditional pattern in that boys are taught to be active, aggressive, tough, daring, and dominant, whereas girls are taught to be soft, emotional, sweet, and submissive. One important element in these traditional views is homophobia, fear of and prejudice against homosexuality. Gender-role socialization occurs through the influences of parents, older siblings, the mass media, religious and educational institutions, and other adults. Studies around the world have shown, however, that gender roles can vary greatly from one physical environment, economy, and political system to the next.

Gender identity refers to how people see themselves: as male or female or something else. Most people, but not all, develop a gender identity that conforms to their biological sex at birth. Sexual identity is the awareness of being romantically or sexually attracted to a defined group of people. Labeling theorists have studied how labels have been used to sanction certain sexual behaviors and identities as “deviant.” The process has varied significantly over time and in different cultures. In the United States and many other countries, people have been increasingly accepting of the existence of multiple sexual identities, as well as a gender spectrum no longer dominated by two fixed categories.

Sociologists have turned to the major sociological perspectives to understand stratification by gender. Functionalists maintain that gender differentiation has contributed to social stability. Some argue that in order to function most efficiently, the family requires adults who specialize in particular roles and that the division of tasks between spouses is functional for the family unit. Parsons and Bales contended that women’s role is expressiveness, concern for the maintenance of harmony and internal emotional affairs of the family, while men’s is instrumentality, an emphasis on tasks, distant goals, and the external relationship between one’s family and other institutions. This perspective does not convincingly explain why men should be assigned categorically to the instrumental role and women to the expressive role. Conflict theorists see gender differences as a reflection of the subjugation of one group (women) by another group (men). Men’s instrumental skills are more highly rewarded than women’s expressive skills; men’s work is uniformly valued, while women’s is devalued. The feminist perspective argues that the very discussion of women and society has been distorted by the exclusion of women from academic thought. Intersectionality refers to the overlapping and interdependent system of advantage and disadvantage that position people in society. Awareness of intersectionality grew as female scholars noted that the emphasis on race could conceal other related processes of domination. Patricia Hill Collins refers to this as the matrix of domination. Interactionists examine gender stratification with micro-level analysis. Gender is socially constructed in everyday interactions. They suggest that cross-sex conversations and male-dominated behaviors are one more battleground in the struggle for sexual equality.

Women are viewed as the oppressed majority when looking at the political structure of the United States, in that women are noticeably underrepresented. Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior to the other. Men control all the major institutions in our society. Institutional discrimination is defined as the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society. The general pattern of male dominance is found everywhere, with women in developing nations facing the most severe challenges.

A majority of women in the United States are now members of the paid labor force, but they find their options in the job market restricted in important ways. The glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment. Women from all groups (and men from minority groups) sometimes encounter attitudinal or organizational bias that prevents them from reaching their full potential. This is especially the case in white male-dominated occupations. The term glass elevator refers to the advantages men experience in occupations dominated by women. There is a substantial gender gap in the median earnings of full-time workers. The phrase second shift refers to the double burden—work outside the home, followed by childcare and housework—that many women face. The burden of additional (unpaid) work at home is felt especially by mothers of young children.

Feminism is the belief in social, economic, and political equality for women. The first wave of feminists worked for voting and other rights for women, and they won many victories, including the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The second wave of feminism emerged in the 1960s with the realization that suffrage had not led to social or economic equality. Women today do not necessarily call themselves feminists, but there is a growing acceptance of women in nontraditional roles.

LECTURE OUTLINE

Introduction

• Excerpt from Everyday Sexism: The Project That Inspired a Worldwide Movement by Laura Bates.

I. Social Construction of Gender

• Gender roles are expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females.

• Gender roles are socially constructed so that male–female differences are either created or exaggerated. Example: In a heterosexual couple, the man should be taller than the woman.

A. Gender Roles in the United States

1. Gender-Role Socialization

• Boys must be masculine, and girls must be feminine.

• Homophobia contributes significantly to rigid gender-role socialization. Example: Deviation from traditional expectations leads to the presumption of being gay.

• Parents play a critical role in guiding children into gender roles.

• There are often clear boundaries to conventional gender behavior (see Table 11-1).

2. Women’s Gender Roles

• Girls identify in part with families, neighbors, and the media for their development of a feminine self-image.

• Women are often portrayed in television and books as helpless, passive, and incompetent.

• Females tend to be portrayed mostly in traditional roles such as mother, grandmother, or volunteer.

• Traditional gender roles have restricted females more severely than males.

3. Men’s Gender Roles

• Men’s gender roles are socially constructed, much like those of women.

• The male gender role includes proving one’s masculinity at work and in sports and initiating and controlling sexual relations.

• Men pursuing nontraditional jobs often encounter negative responses from others. Example: male nurses, preschool teachers

• Many men find that traditional masculinity does not serve them well in the service-oriented job market.

• Multiple masculinities refer to how, although society reinforces the dominant male role, most men do play other roles, such as nurturer.

B. Cross-Cultural Perspective

• Margaret Mead pointed to the importance of cultural and environmental conditioning—rather than biology—in defining the social roles of males and females.

• Every society has women and men who resist and successfully oppose stereotypes. Maintenance of traditional gender roles requires constant social controls that are not always effective.

• UN intervention has helped Afghanis begin to recognize that violence against women is a social problem.

II. Labeling and Human Sexuality

A. Gender and Human Sexuality

• Gender identity and sexual identity are related but different.

• Gender identity refers to how people see themselves: as male or female or something else.

• Most people, but not all, develop a gender identity that conforms to their biological sex at birth.

• Sexual identity is the self-awareness of being romantically or sexually attracted to a defined group of people.

B. Labeling and Identity

• The use of labels to sanction certain sexual behaviors and identities as “deviant” has varied significantly over time and in different cultures.

• Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association considered homosexuality a “sociopathic personality disorder.”

• Because the social stigma lingers, many prefer terms such as gay and lesbian or even queer. Others note the categories of homosexual and heterosexual ignore other sexual identities such as bisexual.

• Today in the United States and many other countries, people have been increasingly accepting of the existence of multiple sexual identities, as well as a gender spectrum no longer dominated by two fixed categories.

• While many people see themselves as either male or female, others may identify as transgendered, transsexual, or transvestite. The traditional Native American concept of the two-spirit is a personality that blends the masculine and the feminine.

III. Sociological Perspectives on Gender

A. Functionalist Perspective

• Gender differentiation contributes to overall social stability. Family requires specialized roles.

• Parsons and Bales contended women take the expressive role and men the instrumental.

• Instrumentality refers to an emphasis on tasks, a focus on more distant goals, and a concern for the external relationship between one’s family and other social institutions.

• Expressiveness denotes concern for the maintenance of harmony and the internal emotional affairs of the family. Example: Women become anchored in the family as wives, mothers, and household managers.

• Women’s interest in expressive goals frees men for instrumental tasks and vice versa.

B. Conflict Perspective

• The relationship between men and women has traditionally been one of unequal power.

• Gender differences reflect the subjugation of one group (women) by another group (men). Example: Marx’s bourgeoisie and proletariat

• Men’s work is uniformly valued, while women’s work is devalued.

C. Feminist Perspective

• Much of the conflict approach to gender stratification draws on feminist theory.

• Women’s subjugation is part of the overall exploitation and injustice inherent in capitalist societies.

• Radical feminists view the oppression of women as inevitable in all male-dominated societies.

• Women have been excluded from academic thought. Example: Jane Addams and Ida Wells-Barnett

D. Intersections with Race, Class, and Other Social Factors

• Contemporary feminists also recognize the effect of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on differential treatment of women.

· Intersectionality refers to the overlapping and interdependent system of advantage and disadvantage that position people in society.

• Patricia Hill Collins calls the convergence of these social forces that contributes to the subordinate status of these low-status women the matrix of domination.

• Low-status minority women are oppressed much more by their race and ethnicity than by their gender.

· Critics argue that intersectionality overemphasizes “identity politics” or the formation of alliances based on allegedly shared social groupings.

• In the discussion of gender roles among African Americans, some contend feminism simply divides the Black community, while others argue little is to be gained by accepting the gender-role divisions of the dominant society.

• At the time of European settlers’ arrival, some southern Native American tribes were matriarchal, an orientation that European missionaries set out to transform.

• Latinas are usually considered part of either the Hispanic or feminist movements, their distinctive experience ignored.

E. Interactionist Perspective

• Interactionists focus on the microlevel of everyday behavior, whereas functionalists and conflict theorists focus more on the macro level.

• People can both conform to and challenge gender roles in day-to-day interactions.

IV. Women: The Oppressed Majority

• Women remain noticeably underrepresented in political structures. Example: At the beginning of 2018, only six of the nation’s 50 states had a female governor.

• Women have, however, made slow but steady progress in certain political arenas. Example: As of 2018, three women sat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

A. Sexism and Sex Discrimination

• Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior to the other.

• Institutional discrimination contributes to sexism. All major institutions are controlled by men and are biased in their treatment of women. Example: government, armed forces, large corporations, the media, and universities

B. The Status of Women Worldwide

• According to a detailed overview of the status of the world’s women, issued by the World Bank in 2015, women in many parts of the world still lag far behind men in their earnings and in their ability to speak out politically.

• Regardless of culture, women everywhere suffer from second-class status.

• The feminization of poverty is a global phenomenon.

• Despite the challenges, women are mobilizing, individually and collectively.

• Much of the exploited labor in developing nations (especially in the nonindustrial sector) is performed by women.

• In industrialized countries, women’s unequal status can be seen in the division of housework, as well as in the jobs they hold and the pay they earn.

V. The Workforce of the United States

A. Labor Force Participation

• In 2015, women accounted for approximately 47% of the paid labor force of the United States.

• Women are underrepresented in occupations historically defined as “men’s jobs.” Example: civil engineers, computer systems analysts

• The glass ceiling prevents women from reaching their full potential.

• Worldwide, women hold less than 1% of corporate managerial positions.

B. Compensation

• When men and women hold the same jobs, men usually make more money.

• The gender gap persists even after controlling for age, education, and work experience.

• Legally, sex discrimination in wage payments is difficult to prove.

• While women are at a disadvantage in male-dominated occupations, men are often at an advantage in female occupations, a phenomenon known as the glass escalator.

C. Social Consequences of Women’s Employment

• Women’s juggling of work and family puts pressure on childcare facilities, public financing of day care, and the food industry, and it raises questions about male wage earners’ responsibility in the household.

• Sociologist Arlie Hochschild has described the double burden of housework and childcare following work outside the home as the “second shift.”

• A 2017 survey found that 43% of working women are still primarily responsible for childcare and housework.

• Feminists have advocated greater government and corporate support for childcare, family leave policies, and other reforms.

VI. Emergence of a Collective Consciousness

• Feminism is an ideology that favors equal rights for women.

• The first wave of feminists worked for voting and other rights for women, and won many victories, including the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

• The second wave of feminism emerged in the 1960s, with the realization that suffrage had not led to social or economic equality.

• By the 1980s, the movement’s influence was beginning to wane; many women and men believe the word feminist has negative implications.

• Women today do not necessarily call themselves feminists, but there is a growing acceptance of women in nontraditional roles.

• Congress had placed a time limit for states to ratify an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution that came close to ratification in the 1970s of 1982. Despite not getting two thirds of the states’ support by then, supporters continued to work for approval in the remaining states. In 2020, Virginia became the required 38th state to ratify the amendment, so efforts began to have Congress revoke the 1982 deadline. Although the outcome and legality remain unclear, the persistence of women to work collectively for social change remains certain.

VII. (Box) Social Policy and Gender Stratification: Workplace Sexual Harassment

A. Looking at the Issue

• Sexual harassment is recognized as unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances that interfere with a person’s ability to perform a job and enjoy the benefits of a job.

· National interest increased in 2017 as a number of public figures were accused of harassing others they worked with.

· The Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that sexual harassment by a supervisor violates the federal law against sexual discrimination in the workplace.

B. Applying Sociology

• Functionalists acknowledge that the persistence of gender roles in a given culture may make it more likely for men to take advantage of women sexually.

· Interactionists have noted that while “sexual harassment” has become a useful label for a broad range of unacceptable workplace behavior, it remains vicious behavior, and its commonplace use in conversation should not ignore that fact.

· Conflict theorists and feminists see sexual harassment as a product of unequal power—men wielding their authority over women, and bosses over employees.

C. Initiating Policy

• Federal government considers sexual harassment a form of discrimination; this applies to all levels of government and to private employers with 15 or more employees.

· Each month, about $40 million in benefits is paid to victims of successful sexual harassment lawsuits.

· A 2013 Supreme Court ruling made it difficult to win a judgment against an employer unless the perpetrator is a supervisor with the ability to hire and fire. Lawsuits must be filed within 180 days after the alleged incident.

· It is unlikely that Congress will tighten protections against workplace sexual harassment.

KEY TERMS

Expressiveness Concern for the maintenance of harmony and the internal emotional affairs of the family.

Feminism An ideology that favors equal rights for women.

Gender identity How people see themselves, as male or female or something else.

Gender role Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activ