CHAPTER
11
STRATIFICATION BY
GENDER AND SEXUALITY
CHAPTER OUTLINE
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
GENDER
THE WORKFORCE OF THE UNITED
STATES
Gender Roles in the United States
Cross-Cultural Perspective
Labor Force Participation
Compensation
Social Consequences of Women's
Employment
LABELING AND HUMAN SEXUALITY
Gender and Human Sexuality
Labeling and Identity
EMERGENCE OF A COLLECTIVE
CONSCIOUSNESS
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
GENDER
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Perspective
Feminist Perspective
Intersections with Race, Class, and Other
Social Factors
Interactionist Perspective
SOCIAL POLICY AND GENDER
STRATIFICATION: THE BATTLE
OVER ABORTION FROM A GLOBAL
PERSPECTIVE
Boxes
WOMEN: THE OPPRESSED
MAJORITY
Sexism and Sex Discrimination
The Status of Women Worldwide
Sociology in the Global Community:
Women in Combat Worldwide
Sociology in the Global Community: No
Gender, Please: It’s Preschool!
Sociology in the Global Community: The
Head Scarf and the Veil: Complex Symbols
Research Today: Give Me a Male Boss,
Please
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WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 11
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Explain the meaning of the phrase the
social construction of gender.
2. Describe women’s and men’s gender roles
and the process of gender-role
socialization in the United States.
3. Analyze the functionalist, conflict,
feminist, and interactionist explanations of
gender stratification.
4. Describe the effects of sex discrimination.
5. Summarize the status of women in the
U.S. and worldwide.
6. Compare and contrast the labor force
participation and compensation of U.S.
men and women in various occupations.
7. Explain second shift in terms of women’s
employment.
8. Summarize the concept of collective
consciousness within the context of the
development of feminism in the U.S.
9. Analyze the battle over abortion through a
sociological lens.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Think About It questions about
conventional gender behavior, social
implications of the matrix of domination,
and women’s labor force participation
Key term treatment for gender identity and
sexual identity
Discussion of gender identity as a spectrum
Main section, “Labeling and Human
Sexuality,” with Thinking Critically
question
Figure, “Women's Labor Force
Participation Rates, Selected Countries”
Sociology in the Global Community box,
“No Gender, Please: It’s Preschool”
Updated table, “U.S. Women in Selected
Occupations”
Updated figure, “Mapping Life Worldwide:
The Global Divide on Abortion”
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
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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. Contemporary feminists have also drawn attention to the intersections of gender with
race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, which can further limit women’s status; Patricia Hill Collins
refers to this as the matrix of domination. Interactionists examine gender stratification with microlevel 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 U.S. 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 Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and
American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni
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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.
Examples: male nurses, preschool teachers
• Many men find that traditional masculinity does not serve them well in the serviceoriented job market.
• Multiple masculinities refers 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.
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•
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 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.
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•
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.
• 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.
• In 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 Europeans 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 micro level 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:
Entering the 2016 election season, only 6 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 2015, 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. Examples:
Government, armed forces, large corporations, the media, 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.
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V.
The Workforce of the United States
A. Labor Force Participation
• In 2015, women accounted for approximately 47 percent of the paid labor force of
the United States.
• Women are underrepresented in occupations historically defined as “men’s jobs.”
Examples: Civil engineers, computer systems analysts
• The glass ceiling prevents women from reaching their full potential.
• Worldwide, women hold less than 1 percent 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 juggling work and family puts pressure on child care 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.”
• Women spend 15 fewer hours per week in leisure activities compared to men; and in
a year, they work an extra month of 24-hour days because of the second shift.
• 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.
VII. (Box) Social Policy and Gender Stratification:
The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective
A. Looking at the Issue
• The debate over legalized abortion stirs as much intense conflict, or more, than any
other issue.
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•
•
In Roe v. Wade, a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the ruling was based on a
woman’s right to privacy. The debate that has followed this ruling revolves around
prohibiting abortion altogether, or at the very least, limiting it.
In the U.S., people seem to support a woman’s right to a legal abortion, but with
reservations. According to a 2015 national survey, 42 percent say that abortion
should be legal in any case or under most circumstances; 36 percent, legal only under
certain circumstances; and 19 percent, illegal in all cases. There is a relatively small
gender difference in opinion: 54 percent of women and 46 percent of men identify
themselves as “pro-choice.”
B. Applying Sociology
• Gender and social class are defining issues surrounding abortion.
• The conflict reflects broader differences over women’s position in society. Feminists
largely defend abortion rights; antiabortion activists tend to believe that women are
best suited to child rearing, and are troubled by women’s growing participation in
work outside the home.
• Access to abortion providers is a problem for the poor.
• State and local policies that hamper the doctors and clinics that provide abortions
have increased.
C. Initiating Policy
• A Supreme Court majority of 5–4 supported abortion rights in 1973. Pro-life activists
continue to hope for Roe v. Wade to be overruled, but focus in the interim on
weakening the decision.
• About two-thirds of countries worldwide permit abortion when the woman is in
danger; and half when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. About one-third
of countries permit abortion for economic or social reasons or on request. The legal
grounds for abortion are most restrictive in the least developed countries.
• Antiabortion members of the U.S. Congress have often blocked foreign aid to
countries that might use the funds to encourage abortion.
• Forty percent of abortions worldwide are performed illegally, in many cases because
the woman lives in a country where abortion is illegal or severely restricted.
KEY TERMS
Brass ceiling An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a woman in the military because of her
official (not necessarily actual) exclusion from combat.
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 activities of males and females.
Glass ceiling An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work
environment because of the individual's gender, race, or ethnicity.
Glass escalator The advantage men experience in occupations dominated by women.
Homophobia Fear of and prejudice against homosexuality.
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Institutional discrimination The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups
that results from the normal operations of a society.
Instrumentality 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.
Matrix of domination The cumulative impact of oppression because of race and ethnicity, gender, and
social class, as well as religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, and citizenship status.
Multiple masculinities A variety of male gender roles, including nurturing-caring and effeminate-gay
roles, that men may play along with their more pervasive traditional role of dominating women.
Second shift The double burden—work outside the home followed by child care and housework—that
many women face and few men share equitably.
Sexism The ideology that one sex is superior to the other.
Sexual identity The self-awareness of being romantically or sexually attracted to a defined group of
people. Also referred to as sexual orientation.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. What is meant by the “social construction of gender”?
2. Why is homophobia relevant to traditional gender-role socialization in the United States?
3. How do the media contribute to gender-role socialization?
4. Summarize the findings of anthropologists regarding the constructions of gender across diverse
cultures.
5. What is meant by the terms gender identity and sexual identity, and how are they related?
6. How does labeling theory and the sanctioning of certain behaviors as “deviant” relate to sexual
behaviors and identities?
7. What is the functionalist view of stratification by gender?
8. What distinctions are made by Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales in terms of the roles played by
men and women in the United States?
9. How do conflict theorists view stratification by gender?
10. What is the feminist view of stratification by gender?
11. Compare and contrast the feminist and conflict views of stratification by gender.
12. What does the interactionist approach in sociology show concerning gender differences?
13. Compare and contrast the functionalist, conflict, feminist, and interactionist perspectives of
stratification by gender.
14. Analyze the scarf and veil used by Middle Eastern women from the interactionist, functionalist, and
conflict perspectives.
15. How does institutional discrimination operate in the United States with respect to women?
16. Discuss the prevalence of gender discrimination throughout the world.
17. What conclusions can we make about women’s equality worldwide?
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18. What forms can sexism take in the workplace?
19. What is meant by the term glass ceiling? What is the glass escalator?
20. What does research show about the division of labor between men and women in housework and
childcare?
21. How does the concept of the “second shift” apply to the social construction of gender?
22. What is the significance of Roe v. Wade to the abortion issue, and how are anti-abortion activists
working to weaken the decision?
23. How do sociologists view the abortion debate in the United States?
24. Discuss the continuing battle between pro-choice and pro-life groups in the abortion controversy.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Describe some changes in government policies and application of benefits that might help to
alleviate the “second shift” problem that keeps many women from enjoying as much leisure time as
men.
2. Describe why females in the United States are traditionally more receptive to giving up their
maiden name for marriage than males would likely be.
3. Why have some writers and media outlets proclaimed the “death of feminism” in recent decades?
Describe how the evolution of feminism in the United States supported or contradicted this idea.
4. Describe how corporations might exploit female workers to maximize their profits. Be sure to give
some examples to support your answer.
5. Describe what is meant by the “glass escalator” and describe some real-world examples of how it
might affect a workplace.
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