Sexual stratification

Prior Knowledge:

• What is feminism?• When did it start?• Where is it now?• Is it everywhere?

Feminism

1. Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.

2. The movement organized around this belief.

Feminism

• General movement to empower women worldwide. • Feminism can be defined as a recognition and

critique of male supremacy with efforts to change it.

Goals

– Demonstrate the importance of women

– To reveal that historically women have been subordinate to men

– To bring about gender equity.

When did women first get to vote?

• 1918• 2015• 1920• 1893

Simply put

Feminists fight for the equality of women and argue that women should share equally in society’s opportunities and scare resources.

History

• First wave feminism (1830 – 1930) - suffrage movements - women's right to vote (Susan B. Anthony)

• Second Wave – Legal and social equality (Bette Friedan)

• Third Wave – Rights for women around the world, women assertive, powerful, and in control of their own sexuality

History

• The origins of the feminist movement are found in the abolitionist movement of the 1830’s.

History (first wave)

• Suffrage movement (women should vote)• Conservative Christians• Matrimonial Causes Act in 1923 gave women the right

to divorce same as men.• Blacks NOT permitted

History• The convention marked a 22 year battle to gain

women the right to vote in the United States. • 1917 Canada allows women to vote (Quebec 1940)• 1920 U.S. women won the • right to vote.

Max Weber• Weber thought that women should be treated

equally in the social institution of marriage, along with all the other social institutions. Ahead of his time

Second Wave• Began in the 1960’s. – Free love helped escape the sexual

double standard.–Divorce became commonplace–Women reject “happy housewife” –Higher level employment and fulfillment

outside the home were becoming the norm

Bette Friedan• 1957, Friedan was asked to conduct a survey of

College classmates• Found that many of them were unhappy with their

lives as housewives (though wealthy)• Prompted her to begin research for “The Feminine

Mystique”• Became Manifesto of movement

“A problem without a name”

• Classmates were “successful”• Married, stay at home moms• Middle, upper middle, upper class• Unhappy• Popped pills (tranquilizers)• Thought it was them• What was “the problem”?

Liberal Feminism

• All people are created equal and should not be denied equality of opportunity because of gender (Murdered Mozarts)

• Liberal Feminists focus their efforts on social change through new laws and regulation of employment practices

Liberal Feminism

• Inequality stems from the denial of equal rights.

• The primary obstacle to equality is sexism.

Marxist Feminism

• Division of labor is related to gender role expectations.

• Females give birth. Males left to support family

• Bourgeoisie = Men• Proletariat = Women• All jobs became equal in

communist states

Radical Feminism

• Male power and privilege is the basis of social relations

• Sexism is the ultimate tool used by men to keep women oppressedto keep women oppressed

Beliefs

• Women are the first oppressed group (historically) True or False?

• Women's oppression is the most widespread (as opposed to racism) ???

• Women’s oppression is the deepest

Radical Feminism Tenets

• Men control the norms of acceptable sexual behavior

• Refusing to reproduce is ultimate act• Do not take husbands name• Do not conform to traditional view of “feminine”

Socialist Feminism• Views women’s oppression as stemming

from their work in the family and the economy– An increased emphasis on the private sphere

and the role of women in the household– Equal opportunities for women in the public

sphere

Third wave

• Attempts to criticize the dominant order• About reproductive rights (abortion), rape, sexism,

AIDS effect on family• Rejects claim that only rational, scientific

methodology can lead to valid knowledge (using “I” in essays, informal, friendly academic writings).

Third wave

• Realization that women are of "many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds“ (second wave was all about white middle-class women).

• No all-encompassing single feminist tenet

Third Wave• Looking to the past is no longer the way to

go. • We are a global economic world

highlighted by technology.• “Girl Power”

http://g4gyourebeautiful.blogspot.com/2012/01/girl-power.html

• Meant for girls to take charge of their sexuality• Mixed messages of hyper-sexuality• Media movement - Spice Girls• Co-opted by media• Little girls can be anything they want when they grow

up (Barbie)• Gets politicized – adapted by punks• Also associated to Riot Grrrl (video)

RIot

Grrrl

•Punk meets feminism•Violence and overt actions•Pussy Riot in Moscow (still in jail)

Dorothy E. SmithDorothy E. SmithFamilyFamily

• North American family – legally married couple sharing a North American family – legally married couple sharing a householdhousehold

• Male earns the primary income and female cares for Male earns the primary income and female cares for family and householdfamily and household– Ideals reinforced by Martha Stewart, Home and Gardens, etc.Ideals reinforced by Martha Stewart, Home and Gardens, etc.

• Today’s family presents many variationsToday’s family presents many variations• Found that many women get caught up in the role that Found that many women get caught up in the role that

society expects of themsociety expects of them• Difficult to divorce – WHY? (hint – stratification)Difficult to divorce – WHY? (hint – stratification)

Dorothy E. SmithSchooling

• Issues concerning girls and women Issues concerning girls and women in schoolingin schooling

• Universities and colleges have Universities and colleges have incorporated successful programs, but incorporated successful programs, but public schools have notpublic schools have not

• Change so girls a larger say in school Change so girls a larger say in school dynamicsdynamics

Patricia Hill CollinsBlack Feminism

• Three key themes in black feminism:–The Meaning of Self-Definition and Self-

Valuation–The Interlocking Nature of Oppression–The Importance of African-American Women’s

Culture

Focus of sociological theory should be the “outsider” groups

Especially those that lack a “voice”

Patricia Hill CollinsBlack Feminism

• The Interlocking Nature of OppressionThe Interlocking Nature of Oppression–Gender, race, and class are interconnectedGender, race, and class are interconnected– Society through media teaches black women Society through media teaches black women

that racism, sexism, and poverty are inevitablethat racism, sexism, and poverty are inevitable– Awareness will help black women unite their Awareness will help black women unite their

fight against oppression and discriminationfight against oppression and discrimination

Carol GilliganDevelopmental Theory

Noticed males were reluctant to discuss feelingsNoticed males were reluctant to discuss feelings• morally undevelopedmorally undeveloped

• Men and women Men and women do do have differences in moral have differences in moral reasoning: Justice orientation (male) versus Care reasoning: Justice orientation (male) versus Care (female)(female)

Carol Gilligan

–When girls are quiet in relationships, depression and eating disorders enter–When girls are outspoken in relationships,

partners find it difficult to remain in the relationship

Joan Jacobs Brumberg

Females Bodies and Self-image

• Western society is obsessed with the female body.

• The mass media reinforces an ideal image that girls seek to reach

• Girls put more emphasis on good looks than good work.

Gender Differences• Girls suffer clinical depression form the frustration

they experience when their bodies changes. • more vulnerable to eating disorders, substance

abuse, and dropping out of school than boys.• By thirteen, 53 percent of American girls are

unhappy with their bodies• by seventeen, 78 percent are dissatisfied.

Society’s Influence

• Women find a sense of self in their bodies• Today many young girls worry about the contours

of the bodies especially shape, size, and muscle tone.

• Fashion and the film industry are two huge influences on societal expectations that women display their bodies sexually.

• The sexual revolution liberated women from sexual repression but led to a commitment to diet and beauty.

Role of Mass Media

• Men routinely hold positions of power in media production and create normative expectations (what we think we should look like)

• new “problem without a name” - so firmly entrenched in media that most women don’t even question it

Women's’ role in Media (Canada)

women dominate the clerical field (secretaries) in screen industry (85%), they account for just under:

• 10% of directors• 15% of film and video camera operators• 22% of film and television editors• 4% of grip lighting positions• 13% of computer programmers (EKOS, 2004).• Only represent 24.9% of the Canadian ICT labour force

(ICTC, 2007)

In USA

• of the top 100 movies of 2005-2008, only 2-5% were directed by women (ImbD, 2009) down from 7% in 2000 (Lauzen, 2005).

• 2% of cinematographers• Only 13% of the writers• 17% of all executive producers. (Lauzen, 2005).

Who cares?

• “I’m watching these shows and movies with my daughter, and counting the number of male characters and female characters, and three out of four characters in G-rated movies are male. We studied the top 100 movies released from 1990 to 2005. Of characters shown in groups, only 17% were female. And of the few female characters that were in these movies, most of them were highly stereotyped. So what is the message we send to kids? (Geena Davis, 2007)

We imitate what we see

• “Normative Reflexivity.” • We live and learn our behaviour through the

media (Johansson, 2007) and find gender relations and expectations through media representations.

SO whoever makes TV and film gets to decide what we want to be (or think we are)

MELISSA SILVERSTEIN, "Men Directed 85% of TV Shows Last Season" SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 (October 12, 2012). http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/men-directed-85-of-tv-show-last-season

Problem?• Women outnumber men in Canadian universities (61%),

but women entering ICT at has declined by 18.2% in the past ten years (StatsCan, 2012)

• Women made up only 36 percent of all students entering US film school (Kearney, 2006)

• Of 491 active members on the W3C HTML Working Group, the group that controls how web works - just 15 are women. (Holzschlag, 2007);

• Females accounted for only 11.5% of workers in the Game Development Industry (Deuze, 2006);

Gamingcreators: You’re really not helping

• Typical portrayal of women in games:

Of course you don’t look like this:Some geek DREW her!

Sid Myers “Pirates”

And?

• When girls don’t produce they don’t get to make decisions

• Women portrayed as: bimbos, sluts, moms or naive young girls

• Successful women portrayed as bitches (Fatal attraction, Devil Wears Prada, Mean Girls, etc.) CAN YOU THINK OF MORE EXAMPLES?

So what?

• research has suggested that when programs employed women in pivotal positions such as writer, creator, or executive producer, the creative product was different. Remarkably, the employment of just a single woman creator or writer on a situation comedy or drama was associated with significantly different on-screen portrayals of both female and male characters when compared to programs with all-male creators and writers” (Lauzen and Dozier, 2002)

A new Hope? Shows produced, directed and written by women:• How I met your mother (76%)• Nurse Jackie (Nurse Productions/Showtime) – 60% - women creators• Jessie (It’s a Laugh Productions/Disney Channel) – 58% - women creator• The Walking Dead (Stalwart Films/AMC) – 53%• Grimm (Open 4 Business Productions/NBC) – 48%• Girls (Home Box Office/HBO) – 44% - women creator • 90210 (CBS Broadcasting/CW) – 42%• Dexter (Showtime Pictures Development Company/Showtime) – 42%• Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 (Twentieth Century Fox Television/ABC) – 42% - women creator• The Big C (Remote Broadcasting/Showtime) – 40% - women creator• 30 Rock (NBC Studios/NBC) – 36% women creator• The Good Wife (CBS Broadcasting/CBS) – 36% - women co-creator• Raising Hope (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/FOX) – 36%• Smash (NBC Studios/NBC) – 36% - women creator• CSI: NY (CBS Broadcasting/CBS) – 33% - women co-creators• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC Studios/ABC) – 33% - women creator• Psych (Universal Network Television/USA) – 31%• Torchwood: Miracle Day (Bad Wolf Productions/Starz!) – 30%

Still room for improvement

• Two Broke Girls - 9% written or directed by womenCastle, Cougar Town, Gossip Girl, 13%New Girl, Parks & Recreation – 11%The Vampire Diaries -14%

Some improvement

• Women now make up 41% of all journalists in North America (Peters, 1999)

• 60%v of all journalism students are women• on-line fan participation close to 80% (Jenkins,

2006)

Critiques of Feminism

• Very biased in their approach.

• relying on such techniques as oral testimony and the analysis of such content a diaries risk a lack of objectivity and bias.

More criticism

• Feminists claim that all sociological theories are gender-biased but fail to provide any proof of this claim.

• Gender is just one variable in human interaction, NOT just gender