Chapter 10: Sexism

By: Jessilyn, Atoosa, Mahlea, Aleah

Functionalism and GenderAccording to functionalism, men and women have certain responsibilities because it benefits human living.

● All societies would behave uniformly in their unique ways because of inborn biological forces beyond their control, this way of thinking is called biological determinism which is the belief that behavioral differences are the result of inherited physical characteristics.

From this process comes gender identity- an awareness of being masculine or feminine, based on culture

● The men were known as having bigger bodies and muscular strength, known to hunt and protect their families

● Women are known to have different tasks than men to create a division in labor● Men are supposed to be focused on work and to be concerned about the relationship of the family ● Women on the other hand should be able to show emotion and to care for others. Taking care of the

home and feeding the kids is their responsibility

Conflict Theory and Gender

Conflict theory: claims that society is in a perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. It holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity.

● According to this theory, Over the years men took an advantage to stop women from getting involved in politics, economic, and social resources

● Most recent example of maintaining the status quo was in Afghanistan where women were banned from schools, and from all work outside of home.

● Conflict theorists see traditional gender roles as outdated● Women today are more available for work outside of their home, and they

have every right to pursue careers that were formerly reserved for men.

Clip # 1: She’s the Man

https://youtu.be/ir37NGym5Uw

Scene Setup:

● In this scene, it shows how Viola couldn't play soccer in the guys team because of her gender, but her coach stands up for her and decides to keep her in the game despite the soccer rules.

Clip # 1: She’s The Man

Conflict Theory Tie-up:

● This scene shows how there is a discrimination between men and women when it come to sports, because of a belief that women don’t have the ability or strength to play against men.

● This scene also shows how girls playing with guys in a sport has become such a strong norm, that it has become a taboo in some sports at schools.

Symbolic Interactionism and Gender- Symbolic interactionism focuses on how boys and girls learn to act how they are “suppose to act”.

This is called gender socialization. - Girls and boys gradually learn to behave as their parents expect. From this process comes gender

identity- an awareness of being masculine or feminine, based on culture- Parents: They transfer values and attitudes regarding how boys and girls should behave. Ex. pink

blankets and dolls for girls and blue blankets and trucks for boys.- Parents usually cuddle and speak more to the baby girls more than the boys because they expect

the boys to be more assertive and less clingy than the girls. - When getting older, chores express gender socialization. Girls get more “feminine” chores while

boys get “masculine” chores. Ex. Girls wash the dishes while boys mow the lawn.

Symbolic Interactionism and Gender con.- Schools: Starting from preschool, teachers encourage different behaviors

from boys and girls. - In middle school, it is found that boys become more assertive in class while

girls are taught to be more passive. Ex. Boys shout out and girls raise their hands.

- Teachers tend to treat both genders differently based on the characteristics. - In high school, it is found that teachers seem to “dampen” female

competitiveness. Ex. They are taught to dislike math and science and to defer to boys.

Symbolic Interactionism and Gender con.- Peers: Teens who most clearly mirror traditional gender roles (male

football players and female cheerleaders) are generally given the greatest respect, whereas “feminine” boys and “masculine” girls are assigned low statuses.

Clip # 2: Mean Girls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbCmxb_w8s

Scene Set up In this scene, Cady is told what to wear each day in order to fit in the group, and if she doesn’t have the required outfit each day she can’t sit with the “plastics”.

Clip # 2: Mean Girls Symbolic Interactionism Tie-up ● This scene shows how peers have a big effect

on why kids behave or dress up a certain way when they come to school, because they learn that social behavior from their peers in order to fit in they transform themselves like their peers. ● It also shows why students behave certain way at school

than at home because they are expected to behave certain ways based on their gender.● In this specific scene, the girls explain to Cady what she needs to do and wear in order to

fit in with that group, which are very girl-like.

Gender Inequality

Definition: Sexism a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify gender inequality.

● Sex discrimination has been disappearing today, and few women now hold key positions traditionally reserved for men.

● Over the past thirty years there has been a dramatic increase in the number and proportion of women in the workforce.

● The percent of married women who has children under six years of age, and that works outside of home has increased 19 percent in 1960 to 37 percent in 1975, and in 2004 it increased to 59.3 percent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE9wnpePsKU

● Although most women are participating in the labor force at increasing levels, they are concentrated on lower status occupations, and this is known as occupational sex segregation

● Women who works full-time earns only 80 cents for every dollar earned by a men today

● White women earns about 82 percent of what men earns, while African American women earn only 71 percent, and Latino women earns only 59 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Chapter 10: Demo (BEM Androgyny Test)● Hand out paper