The Sociology of Gender

What is gender?

NBC News:

Girls' Math Skills Now

Measure Up To Boys'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25836419/ns/us_news-education/t/girls-math-skills-now-measure-boys/#.UJYDi7QunqE

Begins at birth & continues through life

1 min

Girls are expected to be polite, gentle, and passive

2 min

Boys are expected to be adventuresome, aggressive, and physically active

30 s

Can you raise a genderless child?

Differing gender expectations extend to school & career pursuits

3 min

Treatment of girls has changed the most in recent years

The Economist:

Women's Economic Opportunity

7 min

Most gender socialization takes place within the primary group

Obstacles

Glass Ceiling

Work

Comparable Worth

China's One

Child Policy Dilemma

Social sciences & humanities

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19677676

Women earn the majority of postgraduate degrees

Education

3 min

Single-sex or co-educational schools for girls and boys?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16855727

3 min

19th Amendment

1872: Victoria Woodhull, 1st female presidency candidate

Politics

Can Mitt Romney close the gender gap?

3 min

2002: 12 % of state governors, 14% seats in the House of Representatives, 14% in the Senate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19403603

Globally, women hold 15.2% of the seats in the world's 181 representative bodies

Gender Socialization

• The way things are now, it's better to be a man than a woman
• It's okay for a girl to play on a male team if she's better than other males who tried out
• Men should make important decisions because they aren't as emotional as women
• It's okay for a woman to be assertive & agressive

3 min

2 min

KGB

The specific behaviors & attitudes that society establishes for men and women

Dove Men

Gender Roles

Dove Chocolate

Wagon Wheel

The behavioral & psychological traits considered appropriate for males & females

Results from the division of labor

1950s Barbie

Dora's Kitchen

• It's okay for a boy to cry
• It's okay for a man to cry
• It's important to me that a man act like a "typical man" and the same for women
• A woman should not compete with a man, because it may damage his ego
• I often act in a way that a person of my gender "isn't supposed to"

Gender

• I get mad when people tell me that how I act isn't "right" for my gender
• Men should be more honest and forthcoming about their feelings
• Men should be more open with other people about their own inadequacies
• Women are less self-confident than men
• Men pretend to know more than they do to protect their image

1950s Kool Aid

• Women: childcare & domestic duties
• Men: economic support and physical safety of the family

Mott's Apple Juice

• Women pretend to know more than they do to protect their image
• Men like women who are followers, no leaders
• Women like men who are leaders, not followers
• Women rely on others for input when making decisions
• Women need more encouragement and approval than men
• Women are easier to take advantage of than men

FIAT

M&Ms

• Women are easier to take advantage of than men
• It's possible to raise boys and girls the same way
• Gender stereotyping has damaging effects on girls' views of themselves
• Gender stereotyping has damaging effects on boys' views of themselves
• My school channels girls and boys into sex-stereotyped behavior roles
• My school has different expectations for boys and girls

• My parents have different expectations of boys and girls
• I am treated differently by teachers because of my gender
• A woman's place is in the home
• A woman should be willing to leave her job to follow her husband's job
• A man should be willing to leave his job to follow his wife's job
• It's a woman's responsibility to quit her job and raise children when the kids are young

• Husbands and wives should have equal responsibility for household maintenance
• Men and women should be paid equally for equivalent work
• All jobs should be open to both men and women
• Women should be allowed to fight combat in the military

Gender