Chapter 11, Sex and Gender

1. Chapter 11, Sex and Gender

2. Chapter Outline • Human Sexuality • Gender Roles • Gender Stratification • Gender Ideology • Exploitation Caused by Gender Ideology • Gender in the United States

3. Gender • Refers to the way the two sexes are perceived, evaluated, and expected to behave. • There is a wide range of ideas about what it means to be feminine or masculine. • U.S. culture recognizes only two genders, male and female, but other cultures recognize a combined male/female gender.

4. Cultural Patterns of Homosexuality- United States • Cultural definition of male homosexuality does not make a distinction between preference and activity. • It is assumed that a man who chooses to engage in homosexual activity does so due to a dominant homosexual preference. • 9.1% of males surveyed reported some homosexuality during their lifetime, only 2.8% claimed a homosexual preference and identity.

5. Cultural Patterns of Homosexuality: Azande • Due to a shortage of women, Azande men sought sexual satisfaction, for a limited time, through homosexual activity. • Unmarried men serving in military units often married boys between the ages of 12 and 20. • These “male wives” performed household chores and served as sexual partners. • When the husband was old enough to take a female wife, marriage to the “boy-wife” ended, and both were free to marry a woman.

6. Cultural Patterns of Homosexuality: Sambia • Defines male homosexuality as a requirement before men assume masculine roles and heterosexual relationships. • Sambian women are viewed as sexually dangerous because they can sap a man of his semen. • Before a boy can develop into a male adult, he must receive ingestions of semen from older men, for 6 to 8 years during adolescence.

7. Division of Labor by Gender • Men have greater body mass and strength and are better equipped for hunting, warfare, and land clearing. • Women do tasks that are compatible with pregnancy, breastfeeding, and child care.

8. Gender Inequality • 2/3 of all the illiterate people in the world today are women. • The world’s women are concentrated in the lowest-paid occupations and receive less pay and fewer benefits than men. • Women are more likely to work part-time, have less seniority, and occupy positions with little or no upward mobility.

9. Women and Inequality • Women makeup 1/2 the world’s population but, • do approximately 2/3 of the work. • earn 1/10 of the world’s income. • own less than 1% of the world’s property.

10. Entrance of Women Into the Workforce: Key Factors • As industrialization became more complex, more clerical workers were needed, most were women. • Women bore fewer children, increasing the number of years they could work outside the home.

11. Entrance of Women Into the Workforce: Key Factors • Rising rate of divorce forced women to support themselves and their children. • The baby bottle enabled women to work outside the home without jeopardizing their infants. • Two salaries are often needed to make ends meet.

12. Occupational Segregation Along Gender Lines Women make up: • 99% of secretaries, day-care workers, and checkout clerks • 96% of nurses • 83% of librarians • 71% of teachers • 1% of corporate CEOs • 6% of partners in private law firms • 8% of state and federal judges

13. Earnings Gap in the U.S. • Female clerical workers earn 64 cents for every dollar earned by a male clerical worker. • Female sales workers earn 57 cents for every dollar earned by a male sales worker. • Female executives make less than two-thirds what their male counterparts earn.