Doing what comes natural 2014
56
DOING WHAT COMES NATURAL? Understanding gender discrimination
-
Upload
chris-mcmilan -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
1
description
Â
Transcript of Doing what comes natural 2014
DOING WHAT COMES NATURAL?
Understanding gender discrimination
Write down the primary reasons why
these inequalities might happen?
Our Purpose
Despite educational success, women are disadvantaged in a number of areas of public life
We ask:
Are these inequalities a result of biological
differences?
Is gender discrimination reproduced through social structures?
Today in context
Biological sex (or gender?) is perhaps the most noticeable social difference
It is readily apparent that this difference is a division
The primary debate is whether these divisions are biologically determined or socially constructed
We will examine difference approaches for understanding this debate, predominately functionalism and feminism(s)
Progressive illusions
By contrast to economic and ethnic divisions, there appears to have been some progress on gender and sexual equality
Nonetheless, gender and sexuality remain one of the only areas in which active discrimination is socially and legally accepted
Biological assumptions, particularly in relation to masculinity and power, remain extremely common
Why??
Basics
Sex: Biological differences, male vs. female
Gender: Cultural differences, masculinity vs. femininity
The importance of understanding How society understands the links between sex and
gender significantly affects social and political responses to differences and divisions
Biology
• Functional cohesion
Social constructions
• Gender discrimination
Humans are just another animal species…
…the animal kingdom is marked by significant distinctions in ‘gender roles’.
These biological distinctions are reflected in social gender roles.
This concept helps to naturalise divisions between genders…
…and stigmatise ‘unnatural’ sexual practices
The logic of traditional sex
Classical Sex
Humans are just another animal species
The animal kingdom is marked by significant distinctions in ‘gender roles’
These biological distinctions are reflected in social gender roles Men and women are ‘separate but equal’
This concept helps to naturalise divisions between genders…
…and stigmatise ‘unnatural’ sexual practices
But has an intuitive grip on our understandings?
It’s all natural
Talcott Parsons argued that family’s played a key role in socialising children
Family’s work best through a strong, organic, division of labour Women hold ‘expressive roles’ Men ‘instrumental’ roles
David Cameron: families are "the building blocks of a strong, cohesive society"
Family stability
Is there a ‘natural’ way for human families to
be organised??
Between Biology and Culture?
We may be born into a ‘sex’, but this is expressed in a social context
Moreover, certain aspects of our ‘sex category’ are socially favoured – there is no natural political privileging of gendered characteristics
Biology Society
Beyond nature
Gender had not been considered a social category until introduced in the 1950s by controversial psychologist John Money
The social construction of gender did not come into widespread use in sociology until the 1970s Masculinity vs. femininity rather than male vs. female
This framework suggested that divides between the masculine and the feminine were socially determined and fluid
Gender is performed everyday through socially defined roles and displays – it is a ‘routine accomplishment embedded in everyday interaction’
Gender identity: The subjective identification with particular aspect of femininity or masculinity – ‘I am a wo/man’
Gender role: Learned and performed aspects of gender characteristics (a ‘situated identity’ rather than a ‘master identity’) (West and Zimmerman, 1987, p.128)
Gender display: Conventionalised portrayals of culturally established correlates of sex (ibid., p.130)
Practicing gender
Primary gender socialisation
We don’t ‘naturally’ learn to be men or women, but are shaped into gender identities and roles
Children are socialised into ‘proper’ behaviour for girls and boys through parents, the media, peer groups and beyond
Children develop stereotypical conceptions of both genders, which they use to organise their knowledge and behaviour
Think of something social that you do that
is specifically ‘gendered’?
Does it feel ‘natural’ to
you??
The case of babies
Biological women are uniquely positioned to give birth to children
For many, this biological fact leads to natural social consequences
Alternatively, the social inequalities that are supposed to result from the ‘mothering role’ can be attributed to the social norms through which we respond to biology
Does the potential to give birth result in
‘naturally’ nurturing social roles for
women??
Gender inequalities
Gender is a performed act within social structures based upon a claim to belong to a sex category defined by sex criteria
Gender inequality is reproduced by and within social structures
Attempts to essentialise gendering (reduce gender to sex) naturalise those inequalities
Feminism is the primary explanatory device in the critique of these assumptions
Feminism
Feminism, and feminist theory, seeks to understand and contest gender inequality
Feminists have argued that women have been traditionally excluded from public life
Moreover, sociology itself ignored the private domain of the family and sexuality
Feminist sociologist’s suggest ‘that it is necessary to re-conceptualise sociology, not just add women, but to develop adequate theories for explaining the exploitation and subordination of women’ (Abbott, 2006: 71)
Explaining gender divisions
Direct discrimination: Women are regarded to be inferior to men
Institutionalised discrimination: Macro social structures are loaded in favour of men and masculinity
Everyday practices: Our understanding of gender is naturalised and we don’t see certain behaviours are discriminatory
From feminism to feminisms
Liberal feminism
Radical feminism
Marxist feminism
Liberal feminism
Liberal feminism, most commonly seen as a cultural and political practice, has focused on ensuring formal and cultural equality between men and women
This can be limited to ensuring equal pay for equal jobs or equal opportunities through progressive reforms
Alternatively, liberal feminists have attempted to tackle more institutional forms of gendered discrimination
Fair Pay Laws
The ‘Equal Pay Act’ was passed in 1970
Yet, in 2010, research by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) suggested that the gender pay gap in the UK would not be bridged until 2067
How can we explain this discrepancy?
Institutional discrimination
It is argued that there exists a cultural bias towards masculine characteristics within public life
Both gender roles and the social norms that determine successful gender display prevent women from achieving power
Women are often expected to take on domestic ‘responsibilities’ as well as paid employment
Moreover, the biological and social demands of childcare often coincide with normalised periods of career progression
Why does the gender pay gap rise with age?
Public and private
Gendered behavioural and social divisions have tended to represent an extension of private roles
Feminist’s have argued both that ‘women’s work’ in the home is undervalued and that certain tasks are considered to be women’s work
The idea of ‘women’s work’ has been extended in public roles
Feminine Occupations
‘Feminine’ occupations tend to follow wife/mother nurturing roles
Wife/receptionist Mother/Teacher
Feminine Occupations
In 2010 the Equality and Human Rights Commission reported that:
Women do 77% of all administrative and secretarial jobs in Britain and 83% of ‘personal
service’ roles
58% of unpaid carers are women and 87% of married women reported doing more
housework than their husbands
Moreover, there are university subject areas with a high proportion of women:
Medicine (80%), veterinary science (76%), education (76%) and languages (68%).
Subject areas with a high proportion of men included:
Engineering and technology (84%), computer science (81%) and architecture, building and planning (69%).
Why are women over-represented in these
roles?
Is it possible to be powerful and
feminine?
Everyday Sexism
Gender biases pervade our everyday life, to the point they go unnoticed
Masculine ways to do things are the ‘right ways’
Sexism is experienced on a personal level
Do you experience sexism as an
everyday experience?
Radical feminism
Radical feminists such as Simone de Beauviour argue that a ‘patriarchal’ system of power ensures male supremacy
Masculine positions are normative, forcing women take on these roles
Sexism and gender inequalities aren’t a result of biology or direct discrimination, but widespread systematic domination by men
Patriarchy is the ‘rule (or law) of the father’
Originally understand as the dominant role of the father in the family relations through which we are socialised
Sociologists have conceptualised patriarchy as a structural system that maintains male, or masculine, dominance
Patriarchy
Shulamith Firestone (1971) argued that it is men who control women’s reproductive roles and thus both control the private lives of women and prevent them from entering into public life
Further, central ideals about femininity circulated in the public domain – both about social roles and physical appearance – oppress women.
The key distinction here is between ‘public’ and ‘private’
Feminism and patriarchy
Carol Hanisch: ‘The personal is political’
Ann Oakely (1974): Women work a ‘double shift’ in the home
These responsibilities prevent women’s full participation in the public sphere
Politicising the private
Violence and public space
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in 2008/9: Domestic violence (including by partners, ex-partners and family
members) accounted for 68% of female homicides and 15% of male homicides in England and Wales, and 53% of female homicides and 20% of male homicides in Scotland.
27% of women and 15% of men have experienced some form of domestic abuse since reaching the age of 16 in England and Wales
Women were the victims of just under three-quarters (73%) of the domestic violence recorded in the 2009/10 British Crime Survey.
This violence is often suggested to be part of men’s sense of entitlement to occupy and dominate public space
Masculine femininity?
Against these systematic limitations, it is argued that women have been reduced to a shadow of masculinity
In order to compete, women have to ‘act’ like men: to play a ‘man’s game’
This process has been encouraged within capitalism
Capitalist feminism
It has argued that feminism and gender equality have been limited by their commodification
That is, what it means to be feminine is defined by advertising and consumerism
Moreover, through the rise of service industries, production is becoming more feminised
These changes produce a façade of feminine dominance whilst leaving patriarchal structures intact
Is fashion shopping a
feminist activity?
Marxist feminism
Much as with the proletariat within capitalism, Marxist feminists have argued that men control women’s domestic labour
Capitalism has encouraged the entry of women into the job market, increasing the supply of labour
However, capitalist dynamics continue to determine the value of this labour e.g. Finance capitalists are more valuable than hospice nurses
Threatening masculinity
The rise of feminine perspectives and reduction in working class status has challenged ‘what it means to be a man’
There has been considerable fretting about systematic biases in the education system…
…and ‘discrimination’ against (white) men through progressive programmes
10 Steps to being a man
No.10 Learn to talk the talk No.9 Get the news No.8 Develop your voice No.7 Hit the gym No.6 Foot the bill
No.5 Forget the past No.4 Don't write anything No.3 Drink hard No.2 Shake with authority
No.1 Look 'em in the eye
Limits to Gendering?
Part of the ‘crisis’ of masculinity is the notion that society has moved away from its ‘natural’ state by encouraging more relativist conceptions
This concern returns us to question of socialised biology
Why do gender inequalities
occur?
Summary
Whilst significant progress has been made in the West, persistent gender divisions remain
These divisions are often reproduced through biological assumptions
Sociological and political feminism(s) have challenged biological essentialism
These assumptions and subsequent discriminations continue to have resonant strongly
Next Week
CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? UNDERSTANDING RACISM AND ETHNICITY
READING
Mason, D. (2013) Ethnicity. In G. Payne (Ed.) Social Divisions (2nd Ed.), Basingstoke: Macmillan.
The assessment
Questions?!
