Gender and Sexism Problems of social Inequality Gender and Sexism 02 09 2016 Behind this celebration of the American woman s victory behind the news cheerfully and endlessly repeated that the struggle for women s rights is won another message flashes You may be free and equal now it says to women but you have never been more miserable Faludi If men could menstruate Men would convince women that intercourse was more pleasurable at that time of the month Steinem Sex and Gender Sex the biological distinction between males and females Gender the personal traits and life chances that a society links to being The meaning that people put onto sex categories Not a fixed category A social construct we are socialized by school movies parents books etc boys wear blue girls wear pink Gender roles the attitudes and behaviors expected of boys and men because they are male and of girls and women because they are female Do sex and gender neatly fit into binary categories We are taught that it is a binary understanding but these things do not fit evenly into a binary category How are we socialized into these gender roles Through everything our school our parents books movies friends history literally everything in our society Intersex Total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female one in 100 births Total number of people receiving surgery to normalize genital appearance one or two in 1 000 births Rather than binary categories of determination gender should be looked at as fluid ranges of expression Even something as seemingly inevitable as sex is not so easily definable The total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female is one in 100 births These large numbers have lead to an increasing number of individuals who identify as intersex They experience a range of physical hormonal genital congenital characteristics that are not easily separated into the neat categories of male or female Total number of people receiving surgery to normalize genital appearance is one or two in 1 000 births In many cases these people are infants and often those who undergo normalizing surgery when they are young do not adjust well In a constant state of confusion anxiety and rejection at not fitting into the sex and gender categories they experience marginalization mental illness and violence Socialization Despite how we are categorized by our genitalia at birth how do we acquire our gender We are socialized into our gender through our parents our schools the media markets toys and books Even if children are raised in gender neutral homes and go to gender neutral schools they eventually grow up into a very gender bifurcated society Students are tracked based on their gender their occupations are gender segregated their workplaces discriminate by not providing equal wages and equal promotions where having children places women on the mommy track and penalizes them in the workplace for not being competent where having children gives men a father bonus where they achieve higher status and where strict enforcement of masculinity and femininity make it nearly impossible to break the confines of gender norms Gender Stratification and Patriarchy Gender is an important dimension of social inequality Patriarchy a social pattern in which males dominate females It s found in varying degrees around the world Societies more than biological factors shape the social differences between the sexes Patriarchy is the core structure Sexism and misogyny are the symptoms of this structure Sexism refers to hierarchically ordered gender stereotyping in which males are privileged over females is expressed on a variety of social and religious levels is part of the social system of patriarchy Misogyny hatred dislike mistrust of women and girls can manifest in numerous ways including sexual discrimination denigration of women violence against women and sexual objectification of women Prejudice and Discrimination Female and male stereotypes Women as dependent sensitive and emotional Men as independent rational and competitive U S culture assigns more worth to what we call masculine than what we call feminine Discrimination against women has been widespread Are things changing o 95 of U S adults say that they would support a qualified woman for president The Problem of Sexism Sexism is the belief that one sex male is innately superior to the other female Sexism supports patriarchy Sexism is built into the operation of U S social institutions including Workplace Political system Religious life Military Family life Education Sports Mass media Gender Roles Traditional gender roles Women being motherly nurturing housekeeping and submissive Men being strong independent breadwinning and dominant Gender roles are ever present but never more pronounced than between 1945 and 1965 Golden Age of the Family Post war prosperity period Women who took up jobs during time of the war return to the home Extreme gender roll period of history this is the only time in history when men return from war when we see this Masculinity and Femininity Ideals of gender expression utilize to secure their position in gendered society performativity traits men and women What does it mean to be a women o Motherly nurturing housekeeping submissive What does it mean to be a man o Strong independent breadwinning dominant Double bind Comments change based on the age of the recipient o Younger women are shamed for not staying home with their children older women are shamed for being a stay at home mom Gender Inequality in Everyday Life Language how is gender embedded in our language Gender inequality Watch the Huffpost videos https www youtube com watch v 9yMFw vWboE https www youtube com watch v jk8YmtEJvDc http www youtube com watch v Bo7o2LYATDc list PLCD2CDAD4F386CB71 index 3 feature p lpp video Conversation how is gender inequality present in our conversations Interruptions Hey you guys applies the idea of a default setting men o no one says Hey ladies when they walk into a coed room Women cussing is not lady like but men can cuss like a sailor Don t be like a girl don t be a pussy don t be a little bitch are all phrases used to police masculinity at the expense of women Euphemisms of sex smash bang pound tap hit hammering nailing screw o These are very violent acts towards women about sex o There is an inherent dominant submissive behavior when talking about sex that adheres to inequality Conversation analysis Men are more likely
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