BA116IU Introduction to Social Sciences Semester 1, 2010-2011

1. BA116IUIntroduction to Social SciencesSemester 1, 2010-2011 School of Business Administration IU – VNU HCMC Instructor: Dr. Truong Thi Kim Chuyen USSH – VNU HCMC

2. Chapter 11 STRATIFICATION BY GENDER AND AGE Chapter Outline • Social Construction of Gender • Explaining Stratification by Gender • Women: The Oppressed Majority • Aging and Society • Explaining the Aging Process • Age Stratification in the United States • Social Policy and Gender Stratification McGraw-Hill 2006

3. Social Construction of Gender • Gender roles: expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females • Gender roles evident in work and in how we react to others • Gender Roles in the United States

4. Social Construction of Gender • Boys must be: • Masculine • Aggressive • Tough • Daring • Dominant • Gender Roles in the United States • Gender-Role Socialization • Girls must be: • Feminine • Soft • Emotional • Sweet • Submissive

5. Social Construction of Gender • Homophobia: fear of and prejudice against homosexuality • Gender Roles in the United States • Gender-Role Socialization Parents normally first and most crucial agents of socialization Other adults, older siblings, mass media, religious institutions, and educational institutions also exert important influence

6. Social Construction of Gender

7. Social Construction of Gender • Self-image develops in males and females through: • Identification with the same gender • Families • Media • Gender Roles in the United States • Women’s Gender Roles

8. Social Construction of Gender • Boys who successfully adapt to cultural standards of masculinity may grow up to be inexpressive men who cannot share their feelings with others • Gender Roles in the United States • Men’s Gender Roles Increasing number of men in U.S. criticize restrictive aspects of traditional male gender role

9. Social Construction of Gender • Gender stratification in any society requires: • Individual socialization into traditional gender roles within the family • Promotion and support of these traditional roles by other social institutions • Every society has men and women who resist and successfully oppose stereotypes • Cross-Cultural Perspective

10. Explaining Stratification by Gender • Expressiveness: concern for maintenance of harmony and internal emotional affairs of family • Instrumentality: emphasis on tasks, a focus on more distant goals, and concern for external relationship between one’s family and other social institutions • The Functionalist View • Gender differentiation contributes to social stability

11. Explaining Stratification by Gender • The Conflict Response • The relationship between men and women, traditionally one of unequal power • Men in dominant position over women. • Gender differences result of subjugation of women by men

12. Explaining Stratification by Gender • Women’s subjugation coincided with rise of private property during industrialization • Oppression of women inevitable in all male-dominated societies • In U.S. male dominance goes far beyond economic sphere • The Feminist Perspective

13. Explaining Stratification by Gender • Study micro level of everyday behavior • Men are more likely than women to: • Change topics of conversation • Ignore topics chosen by women • Minimize ideas of women • Interrupt women • The Interactionist Approach

14. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Sexism: ideology that one sex is superior to the other • Generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women • U.S. society run by male-dominated institutions • Sexism and Sex Discrimination Institutional Discrimination: denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from normal operations of society

15. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Behavior that occurs when work benefits are made contingent on sexual favors or when touching, lewd comments, or the appearance of pornographic material creates a “hostile environment” in the workplace • Sexual Harassment Must be understood in the context of continuing prejudice and discrimination against women

16. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Women’s subordination is institutionally sanctioned • Women remain in second-class positions in most of the world • Women are exploited for labor in many developing countries • The Status of Women Worldwide

17. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Figure 11.1: Labor Force Participation Rates by Gender and Country, 2001

18. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Women entering job market find options restricted in important ways • Women underrepresented in occupations historically defined as “men’s jobs” • Women in the Workforce of the United States

19. Women: The Oppressed Majority • In 2001, women accounted for approximately 47% of paid labor force in U.S. • Only 16% of women-owned businesses have any paid employees • Women in the Workforce of the United States • A Statistical Overview

20. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Glass Ceiling: invisible barrier that blocks promotion of qualified individual in work environment because of person’s gender, race, or ethnicity • Women in the Workforce of the United States Women earn less money than men

21. Women: The Oppressed Majority • The “Second Shift”: double burden that working women face—work outside the home followed by child care and housework—and which few men share equitably • Women in the Workforce of the United States • Social Consequences of Women’s Employment Women spend 15 fewer hours each week in leisure activities than their husbands.

22. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Figure 11.2: Trends in U.S. Women’s Participation in the Paid Labor Force, 1890–2002

23. Women: The Oppressed Majority

24. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Figure 11.3: Gender Differences in Child Care and Housework, 1997

25. Women: The Oppressed Majority • The feminist movement of U.S. originated in upstate New York in 1848 • Movement re-emerged in 1960s to battle sexist attitudes and the position of women in the workforce • Women: Emergence of a Collective Consciousness

26. Women: The Oppressed Majority • Women: Emergence of a Collective Consciousness • Feminism is very much alive today in the growing acceptance of women in nontraditional roles Basic acknowledgment that married mother not only can be working outside the home but perhaps belongs in the labor force

27. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • Roe vs. Wade, 1973, was based on a woman’s right to privacy and granted a woman the right to terminate pregnancies • The ruling was condemned by pro-life groups who believe that life actually begins at the moment of conception and that abortion is an act of murder • The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective • The Issue

28. Aging and Society • Once people labeled “old,” this designation has major impact on how others perceive them and how individuals view themselves • “Being old” is master status that commonly overshadows all others in U.S.

29. Aging and Society • Elderly experience unequal employment treatment • Elderly share physical characteristics • Membership is involuntary • Strong sense of group solidarity • Generally married to others of comparable age • Properties of minority or subordinate group

30. Explaining the Aging Process • With increase in life expectancy, writers beginning to refer to people in their 60s as the “young old” Gerontology:Scientific study of the sociological and psychological aspects of aging and problems of the aged

31. Explaining the Aging Process • Disengagement Theory • Society and aging individuals mutually sever many of their relationships • Social roles passing to another generation ensures social stability • Some gerontologists object to the implication that older people want to be ignored • Functionalist Approach

32. Explaining the Aging Process • Activity Theory • Argues that elderly persons who remain active and socially involved will be the best-adjusted • Contends that old people have same need for social interaction as other groups • Interactionist Approach

33. Explaining the Aging Process • In developing countries, transition from agricultural economies to industrialization and capitalism not always beneficial to elderly • Elderly victimized by social structure • Social roles relatively unchanged but devalued • The Conflict Approach

34. Role Transitions Throughout The Life Course

35. Age Stratification in the United States • We are, as a nation, getting older • In 1900, 4.1% of the population of the United States was age 65 or older, but by 2005, 12.6 % of the population of the United States will be age 65 or older • Phenomenon can no longer be ignored • The “Graying of America”

36. Age Stratification in the United States • Figure 11.4: Actual and Projected Growth of the Elderly Population of the U.S.

37. Age Stratification in the United States • Significant variation in wealth and poverty among nation’s older people • Typical elderly person enjoys a standard of living higher than at any point in nation’s past • Wealth and Income

38. Age Stratification in the United States • Ageism: prejudice and discrimination based on a person’s age • For many, old age symbolizes disease • Ageism In 2002, the Senate Special Committee on Aging sharply criticized media and marketing executives for their negative portrayals of the aged.

39. Age Stratification in the United States • Participation in paid work not typical after age of 65 • Younger adults tend to view older workers as “job stealers” • Older workers can be asset to employers • Competition in the Labor Force

40. Age Stratification in the United States • Largest organization representing nation’s elderly is AARP • Elderly in U.S. are better off today financially and physically than ever before • The Elderly: Emergence of a Collective Consciousness

41. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • The debate following Roe vs. Wade revolves around prohibiting abortion altogether or, at the very least, putting limits on it • Changing technology, such as the “day-after” pill available in some nations, makes abortions easier to perform • As of 2004, people of U.S. appeared to support their right to legal abortion, but with reservations • The Battle over Abortion • The Setting

42. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • Figure 11.6: Restrictions on Public Funding for Abortion

43. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • Sociologists see gender and social class as largely defining the issues surrounding abortion • First major restriction on the legal right to abortion affected poor people • From conflict perspective, one more financial burden that falls heavily on low-income women • The Battle over Abortion • Sociological Insights

44. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • The Supreme Court currently supports the general right to terminate a pregnancy • Many European nations also legalized abortions in the 1970s • Primarily in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia women are not allowed to terminate a pregnancy upon request • The Battle over Abortion from a Global Perspective • Policy Initiatives

45. Social Policy and Gender Stratification • Figure 11.7: The Global Divide on Abortion

46. SUMMARY Gender and age are ascribed statuses that provide a basic for social differentation. This chapter examines the social construction of gender, theories of stratification by gender, women as an oppressed majority group, theories of aging, age stratification and ageism, and the growing political activism of the elderly.

47. In the United States, the social construction of gender continues to define significantly different expectations for females and males. • Gender roles show up in our work and behavior and in how we react to others. • Though females have been more severely restricted than men by traditional gender roles, those roles have also restricted males. • The research of anthropologist Margaret Mead points to the importance of cultural conditioning in defining the social roles of males and females.

48. Functionalists maintain that sex differantiation contributes to overall social stability, but conflict theorists charge that the relationship between females and males is one of unequal power, with men dominating women. This dominance shows up in people’s everyday interactions. • Women around the world suffer from sexism, institutional discrimination, and sexual harassment. • As women have taken on more and more hours of paid employment outside the home, thay have been only partially sucessful in getting their husbands to take on more homemaking duties, in cluding child care,

49. Many women agree with the posititions of feminist movement but reject the label feminist. • Like other forms of stratification, age stratification varies from culture to culture. • In the United States, being old is a master status that seems to overshadow all othes. • The particular problems of the aged have become the focus for a specialized area of research and in quiry known as gerontology. • Disengagement theory implicitly suggests that society should help older people to withdraw from their accustomed social roles. In contrast, activity theory suggests that the elderly person who remains active and socially involved will be better adjusted.

50. From a conflict perspective, the low status of older people is reflected in prejudice and discrimination against them and in unfair job practices. • An increasing proportion of the population of the United State is composed of older people. • Ageism reflects a deep uneasiness about growing old on the part of younger people. • The AARP is a powerful lobbying group that backs legislation to benefit senior citizens. • The issue of abortion has bitterly divided the United States (as well as other nations), pitting pro-choice activsts against pro-life activists.