Lecture Notes, SOC 2020

Chapters Four and Seven

Sociologists distinguish the category of sex from the social construction of gender. Sex should
not be equated with gender. Analysis should not only address engendering of individuals, but
also gender as social institution for the organization of human activities. As Judith Butler states,
Not biology, but culture becomes destiny. Or to quote the French feminist philosopher, Simone
de Beauvoir, One is not born, but rather becomes a woman
Social Problems
Social Organization of Gender
How social institutions perpetuate inequality?
Inequality is based on the unequal access/distribution of resources (different types of assets).
Three main sources:
1) differential access to power (ability to carry out own will despite opposition)
2) differential access to sources of prestige (ability to command respect, honor and
deference)
3) differential access to wealth (economic, cultural capital and material resources)*
a) generation of wealth
b) ownership of assets
c) inheritance/transmission of assets
4) the first two derives from the third
Gender stratification means that men have greater access to and control over power, prestige
and wealth than women. Systems of gender stratification are rooted in Patriarchy, which
literally means rule of the father. Sexism (like Racism) refers to the belief that one sex is
innately superior to the other, which supports patriarchy (96).
Other social inequalities intersect and mediate gender inequalities: not all men have equal access
and some women are privileged in terms of race and class (recall the discussion of class-based
stratification in capitalist systems), but disadvantaged in terms of gender. Women of color face
double burden of racial and gender discrimination.
How do institutions construct stratification systems based on gender? Institutions are gendered
in that they tend to privilege men and those traits labeled masculine and they penalize women
and the traits labeled feminine. Such institutions engage in practices that discriminate against
women, exclude or devalue womens perspectives (care ethos), and perpetuate the idea that
differences between women and men are natural (problem of essentialism or biological
determinism that suggests an essential, biologically rooted difference). Importantly, control of
these institutions (those in positions of authority and decision-making capacity) typically rests
with men, who behave in ways that enhance and entrench their own positions of power. This in
turn results in perpetuation of gender stratification. Institutions establish rewards and
punishments that put women in subordinate positions and make it difficult for women to achieve
independence (socially, economically, politically, and culturally).

And despite womens increased participation in the paid labor force, women still shoulder
the main responsibility for care. This dynamic helps maintain inequality between men and
women in the work world (103).
Institutions: the family, education, mass media (images and representations of gender),
politics, and work.
Theories of Gender Inequality
Intersection theory argues negative social outcomes are a combination of sex, race and social
class, with the poor minority female having the lowest social outcomes. In part this theory grew
from the works of belle hooks who argued that feminism in the U.S. had failed poor and nonwhite women. Women in the middle and upper classes gained opportunity and privilege during
the 60s but life for the working poor and non-white female had not changed. Sadly, the
opportunities and privileges of mid- and upper-class women are tied to the status of their
husbands class positiona fact many women discover quickly if they are left by a spouse after
many years of maintaining a home and now they are forced to seek employment and sustain
themselves financially. Recently divorced women are at high risk of falling into poverty. Yet
ironically and perhaps not surprisingly, women who are financially independent are more likely
to leave a bad or abusive relationship since they are not economically vulnerable and dependent
on a mans earnings.
Sexual harassment is the unwanted and derogatory attention an individual receives due to their
sex. The kind of demands made on female workers in the early days of the industrial revolution
was used as an argument why they should stay home under the protection of their husbands
not as the basis for calling to an end of these sorts of practices. And of course poor and
immigrant women were more vulnerable because not working was not an option if they hoped to
survive. Sexual harassment includes quid pro quo, refers to the demand for sexual favors for job
security of promotion, but can also refer to the creation of a hostile work environment. For
example, a female worker in an all male office would have grounds for a sexual harassment
complaint if calendars of naked women were displayed in the office, or if sexual jokes in the
work place offended the women and no effort was made to curtail these actions.
Employment poses two problems in regards to gender. The first is that women are generally paid
less in every occupation. The second is that women often encounter a glass ceiling. The glass
ceiling is a metaphor for the fact that women are allowed to rise only so far on the corporate
ladder. Then they encounter a glass ceiling, something that blocks their progress, but through
which they can see the top where their male colleagues continue to climb. Women are less likely
to become CEOs of businesses. They also are more likely to be criticized for being in over their
heads if they have a problem, in comparison to men who will have their problems objectively
discussed separate from their sex. In other words, if a female CEO fails at her job, it becomes a
question of whether any woman would be fit for the job. When a man fails as a CEO, it becomes
a question of only his qualifications and not those of all men.
Feminism is the theoretical framework that grew out of the equal rights movement. Feminism
refers to the argument that humans should have equal opportunity and receive equal pay for

equal work. Most, though not all of us, believe this to be true. There are a variety of feminist
approaches to understanding society. Liberal feminists want to have true equality in society,
where all people are equal, regardless of sex. They want to reform society without recreating
society. Fix the problem. Make sure that our laws provide equal opportunity for everyone.
Gender Inequality, or mens advantage and womens disadvantage, involves the devaluation of
women and female-typed traits and work.
Socialist feminists argue that patriarchy is embedded in the fabric of a capitalistic society. As
long as private property is owned, women will be relegated to the house and to childcare. In a
socialist community, private property would be disallowed and households would be communal.
Childcare and housework would be a shared responsibility and no longer assigned by sex.
Socialist feminists favor a class revolt to overthrow capitalism and re-establish the country as a
socialist society.
Finally radical feminists argue that gender discrimination is built into patriarchy. We must reconceptualize the roles and responsibilities of both men and women within both the family and
the society at large if we hope to put an end to gender discrimination today.
Sexuality
While much of our gender characteristics are socialized, some are biologically driven and
intersexual give us the opportunity to understand the biological and social links between sex and
gender. In earlier generations, before we fully understood DNA typing and before we had
reliable technology, when a child was born intersexual one of two things happened. If it were
equally easy to assign a sex to the child, parents were given the choice of whether to have a boy
or girl. The unnecessary genitalia were then surgically removed. Intersexual were formerly
called Hermaphrodites, named for the god Hermaphrodites who was both male and female.
Transsexuals and Transgender are different. A transsexual is a person who undergoes sex
reassignment surgery. These are individuals who believe that emotionally and mentally they are
living in a body that is not the sex that they were meant to be. So they undergo a sex change
operation to fix the biological error of their birth. Transgenders are males who live life as
females or females who live life as males. Transgenders do not undergo a sex change operation.
Sexual orientation refers to sexual attraction. Heterosexuality is the attraction to only the
opposite sex. Homosexuality is the attraction to only the same sex. Bisexuality is the attraction
to both sexes and Asexuality is no sexual attraction to either sex. Given this, why do we now
say sexual orientation rather than sexual preference? Sexual preference implies a choice in who
we are sexually attracted to while orientation implies biological pre-determination in who we
are sexually attracted to.
Homophobia refers to the fear of homosexuality. This fear causes them to vehemently denounce
homosexuality as a sexual orientation and leads to discrimination against homosexuals. A
homophobic male could not befriend a homosexual male for fear that he might be viewed as

homosexual himself. The same would be true of a homophobic female in interactions with a
lesbian female.
Socially, we spend a lot of our energy attempting to control sexual behaviors. One of the most
interesting mechanisms of social control has been the use of a double standard for males and
females. Males are socially rewarded for their sexual prowess, expected to have many sexual
partners before and if they settle down in a monogamous relationship. Females on the other
hand are rewarded for remaining chaste until marriage. If we meet a 25 year old male virgin, our
first thought is to wonder if the man is gay, and if not gay, what is wrong with him. Men are not
expected to be able to control sexual impulses. If we discover that a 25-year-old woman has had
an inordinate number of sexual partners, we label her with derogatory names that are intended to
denote that she is less desirable as a future partner and mother.
This double standard relaxed a little in the 1960s. While we might believe that this was due to
women pushing for equal rights, and in part it was, the real reason for the change in acceptable
behavior was the introduction of the birth control pill. Prior to the pill, birth control methods
were unreliable and/or depended on the willingness of the male partner to purchase and use
them. If a woman got pregnant, she was usually dependent upon the male; there were few
options for unmarried mothers in earlier society. With unequal access to education and
employment, a single mother was doomed to poverty if the father refused to marry her. Few men
were willing to take on the responsibility of rearing the offspring of a pre-marital affair. Girls
might be sent away and the baby put up for adoption, but they would always be stigmatized for
their immoral behavior. After the pill was developed, for the first time women had control of
their own reproductive lives. Now, they could protect themselves from pregnancy without
relying on a mans willingness to wear a condom. Also, the pill was an extremely reliable
method of birth control, with less than 1% of users facing an unwanted pregnancy. Women were
able to relax their control and engage in premarital sex at this point without fear of ruining their
future. It took a while for culture to catch up with this technology and the double standard
continues. The degree of a womans control over her body remains a highly controversial topic.
The sexual freedom of the 60s continued into the 80s, until the AIDS epidemic began. Once it
became public knowledge that the disease could be passed through sexual activity (later through
needle use and blood transfusion as well), our sexual activity began to change as we undertake
less promiscuous behaviors. People in general are once again being more careful about their
choices of sexual partners. The AIDS epidemic also led to an increase in homophobia in our
society and to increased discrimination against gays in society. As a result, the gay community
became more organized as a political group willing to fight for its rights. This was due in large
part to anger at the Federal Government for ignoring the AIDS epidemic and refusing to dedicate
adequate resources to research. Prominent religious leaders supported this decision not to
support research, calling AIDS a judgment from God for immoral behavior. AIDS research
didnt become fully funded until after straight non-drug users became infected from the tainted
blood supply. Queer theory, a conflict theory, argued that not only was society sexist, it was
heterosexist or biased in the favor of straight people and especially straight males. The failure to
fund a health crisis that hit the gay community especially hard was proof of the discrimination
against gays in our society. We need not only focus on diseases like AIDS; medical practice is
slow in understanding womens health as wellfor example only recently do doctors consider

that women present heart attacks differently then men and have started treating women
differently. Earlier research on this and other problems tend to be directed by our understanding
of how men function and then assume women will function the same way.
While the gay community has made strides in being recognized as a valid part of society, there
are still inequalities in society based on sexual orientation. One aspect is the inability for gay
partners to have the same legal protections as straight partners. If a gay couple has been together
for 25 years and one needs to have medical treatment, the other can be, and often is, denied
access to medical information. While theoretically this would also be true of a straight couple, if
a man needs medical treatment and his female partner of 25 years introduces herself as his wife,
she is not asked to produce a marriage license to prove this bond and she has access to the
information. Also, gays are not allowed to extend their medical benefits to their partners. While
many universities made same sex benefits available, after recent decisions to prohibit gay
marriage, these institutions are finding their ability to continue to do so hampered.
Another consequence of the AIDS epidemic is a desire to place more social control over the
sexual behaviors of teens. Public schools could teach sex education, including safe sex. They
were also able to distribute condoms or to have condom machines in the bathrooms. Now, any
public school that teaches anything but abstinence is not eligible for federal funding. So
somehow, not teaching kids how to protect themselves from disease and unwanted pregnancy is
supposed to keep them safe. It may well be that it is a parents responsibility to teach this
information along with family values about sexuality. The reality is that many parents and teens
are not comfortable dealing with this discussion and therefore only deal with it when facing the
consequences. This focus on abstinence can be seen by looking at the experience of a HS in
Texas: it has the highest rate of teen pledge signing, and yet also has one of the highest rates of
teen pregnancy!
Abortion is a major debate in society. Abortion refers to the voluntary termination of a
pregnancy. It has divided society and is one topic that most of us have very strong opinions on.
Prior to Roe vs. Wade, abortion was illegal in the U.S. Women have always managed to have
abortions. There are herbs for example that will induce an abortion, meaning they bring about
premature labor and cause the body to expel the pregnancy. Women died of illegal abortions
because they were performed with non-sterile instruments (broken glass, knitting needles, wire
hangers) in non-sterile environments. Without the benefit of adequate medical care, women died
of infections or of punctured internal organs. Abortion is criticized as a means of birth control
when adequate means to prevent pregnancy are available. Some believe that life begins at
conception and that abortion is murder. Others believe that a fetus is not a baby until it can
survive outside the womb if early labor begins. Still others believe that a fetus is not a baby until
it reaches gestational maturity and is delivered normally. The abortion debate divides us and has
led to violence. Some religious groups support the killing of doctors who perform abortions,
comparing abortion to genocide. Some argue that access to abortion is racially biased with
minority women not having access and forced to carry unwanted pregnancies, meaning that
minority families will remain in poverty with too many children to support. It is likely that the
abortion debate will continue to be socially controversial as we all have strong and opposing
viewpoints on the subject.

There are other aspects of sexuality that have a social implication. Pornography for example is
the media that promotes sexuality and sex acts. It is often derogatory to women and portrays
them in humiliating situations. Prostitution is the trading of sex for money. With the exception
of child pornography, which is generally viewed as despicable and is always illegal with tough
jail sentences, pornography is legal and left to ones own discernment about its use. Most
pornography targets men and is viewed as either a harmless activity or a violation of trust a
relationship, dependent upon the personal views of the men and women involved. There is an
expectation that young males will view pornography as a right of passage. The jury is still out on
whether or not viewing pornography increases the number of rapes in our society or if it causes
males to devalue females.
Prostitution is said to be one of the oldest professions and it inspires much debate. The majority
of prostitutes, or sex workers, are female. Sex work is a relatively new term that has grown from
a feminist debate on prostitution. This argument is that prostitution is an occupation that is
chosen by women. Feminists who favor this argument say that women in prostitution should not
be viewed as victims, but as adults that have made a conscious career choice. Others argue that
women in prostitution are victimized, forced to turn over their earnings to a man who forces
them to sell sex.
The debate is driven by the fact that there are two levels of prostitution. Street workers are
typically poor women who may have no other options open to them. Many of these women are
pushed out of their homes when they are still children, running away to escape abuse, or thrown
out by parents that are unable or unwilling to deal with an adolescent. They may be lured into or
forced into prostitution to survive. Also these women are more likely to have drug abuse issues.
It is not known if these women turn to drugs to deal with their occupation, or if they go into
prostitution to support their drug habits. The second type of sex worker is the call girl, typically
high paid. She has likely decided to pursue this occupation and may have a typical lifestyle that
is separate from her occupation, such as the ring of suburban housewives arrested in New Jersey.