Chapter 9

Front 1

Introduction

Back 1

Gender roles are socially constructed.

Gender roles are created by humans to meet the needs of their societies.

Life chances in the stratification system depend on the combination of age and sex.

Front 2

Sex, Gender, and the Stratification System

Back 2

Variations around the world demonstrate that roles and identities are not biological but rather socially constructed.

Certain tasks must be carried out by individuals and organizations in each society for members to survive—one’s sex and age are often used to determine who holds various positions and who carries out what tasks—each society develops its own way to meet these needs

Front 3

Sex

Back 3

usually thought of as a biological term referring to ascribed genetic, anatomical, and hormonal differences between males and females, but it is actually determined by socially accepted biological criteria.

Front 4

Intersexed

Back 4

persons with ambiguous genitalia

Front 5

Heteronormativity

Back 5

defines the cultural expectations held in most societies that a “normal” girl or boy will be sexually attracted to and eventually have sex with someone of the other sex

Front 6

Gender

Back 6

learned and created, refers to socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity

Front 7

Gender identity

Back 7

how individuals construct their gender identity using these categories and negotiating the constraints they entail

Front 8

Gender roles

Back 8

rigidly and/or commonly assigned tasks or expected behaviors of individuals because of their sex category

Front 9

Sexuality

Back 9

how cultures shape the meanings of sexuality and sexual acts and how we experience our own bodies and our bodies in relation to others

Front 10

Agents of socialization

Back 10

teach us from birth how to display proper gendered behaviors.

Front 11

Rites of passage

Back 11

(rituals and formal processes that acknowledge a change of status) differ by age and sex

Front 12

Institutionalized privilege or disprivilege

Back 12

patterns of social action that are imbedded in the entire social system may influence women and men, providing unrecognized privileges or disadvantages

Front 13

Gender socialization

Back 13

is the process by which people learn the cultural norms, attitudes, and behaviors appropriate to their gender through sanctions

Front 14

Micro-level agents and learning in gender socialization

Back 14

In infancy and childhood parents and family play major role.

In early childhood, children become aware of their own gender identity.

At school age they learn their sex is permanent.

Front 15

Meso-level agents include

Back 15

Corporations

Mass media

Educational systems

Religious beliefs

Front 16

Glass ceiling

Back 16

social forces that keep women from reaching the highest levels of corporate and public responsibility

Front 17

Sticky floor

Back 17

social forces that keep the vast majority of the world’s women stuck in low-paid jobs

Front 18

Glass escalator

Back 18

even if men do not seek to climb in the organizational hierarchy, occupational social forces push them up the job ladder into higher echelons, especially in female-dominated occupations

Front 19

De jure discrimination

Back 19

done deliberately because of cultural images of women as inferior to or fundamentally different from men

Front 20

De facto discrimination—unequal treatment that is unintended

Back 20

Side effect discrimination

Past-in-present discrimination

Front 21

Symbolic interactionist perspective—gender is socially constructed; physical, biological differences come to be regarded as symbols that differentiate rights and rewards in society

Back 21

Gender is not intrinsically related to sex.

Humans have agency to influence the society around them.

Doing gender

Front 22

Structural-functionalist theory

Back 22

each sex has a role to play in the interdependent groups and institutions of society

Front 23

As societies organize, roles and relationships change

Back 23

Mechanical solidarity

Organic solidarity

Front 24

Two types of complimentary roles are necessary for efficiency in society

Back 24

Expressive (private sphere)

Instrumental (public sphere)

Front 25

Conflict theory

Back 25

by keeping women in subordinate roles, men ensure that they control the means of production and protect their privileges

Front 26

Feminist theory

Back 26

patriarchy is the cause of women’s oppression

Front 27

Patriarchy

Back 27

a few men dominate and hold authority over all others, including women, children, and less powerful men.

Front 28

Class, race, and gender intersect in a way that privileges some women over others, though most women are still subordinate to most men.

Back 28

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Front 29

Women are a minority group because

Back 29

Distinguished by physical, cultural, or social characteristics

Share of desired goods is limited by the dominant group

Ideological or other justifications are used to deny them equal treatment

They have a collective identity used to help insulate them from unequal treatment

Minority group status is generally determined by rules of descent, with members born into a status they cannot change

Front 30

The government and dominant religious group determines how gay men and lesbians are treated in society.

Back 30

Lesbians seen as threatening because they are not reliant on men.

Gay men seen as inferior because they are perceived to be more feminine.

Front 31

Homophobia—intense fear and hatred of homosexuality and homosexuals

Back 31

Highly correlated with a belief in traditional gender roles

Homosexual slurs are used to reinforce gender conformity

Front 32

Heterosexism

Back 32

society reinforces heterosexuality and marginalizes anyone who does not conform to this norm

Front 33

Rigid stereotyping can have psychological and social consequences for individuals

Back 33

For men—guilt, anxiety; early death

For women—superwoman image; beauty image

Front 34

Stratification can lead to

Back 34

Poor educational achievement of female children

Loss of human talents and resources of half of the population

Lack of health care coverage for women, which impacts both those women and their children

Social divisiveness leading to alienation, if not hostility

Front 35

Practices used by other groups may be effective

Back 35

Nonviolent protests, sit-down strikes, boycotts, and walkouts

Support groups

Using the Internet to carry the message to others

Building on traditions of community and church activism