In agricultural societies where women often do most of the work, male family members often own the land and make the agricultural decisions. Women have in some instances been able to find ways of negotiating control over resources and decision making. Women are frequently tasked with budgeting for the household either through resources provided by the husband or through petty trading and agricultural labour. In some cases, women are seen as household financial managers. In other cases, while women may not control the household income, they adopt various strategies to ensure they can access part of these resources.
Apusigah, A. This study focuses on livelihoods-based interests in farm land and non-violent conflict situations in northern Ghana. It argues that the social positioning of women and whether they work on the land or not are important determinants of their livelihood possibilities. Doss, C. Intrahousehold bargaining and resource allocation in developing countries. The World Bank Research Observer, 28 1 , This article provides an overview of the quantitative literature on intra-household resource allocation, and summarises the main observations and insights relevant to policy-makers.
It reviews theoretical models from the last thirty years, and examines different forms of bargaining — between spouses, between parents and children, and between other household members. Unequal power relations do not fall only along gender lines. In addition to gender, individuals can be discriminated against for a number of reasons including ethnicity and race, religion, caste, age, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and geographic location.
When gender intersects with other axes of marginalisation, women are more likely to experience multiple layers of discrimination. In some cases, these other forms of discrimination can be more intense than gender discrimination.
An ethnic minority man can be less powerful and more discriminated against than a middle class woman from a majority ethnic group, although a female from this same ethnic minority group could face even greater discrimination. Intersectionality is a tool used to better understand how these discriminations materialise and intersect.
It is based on an understanding that men and women have layered identities which have resulted from social relations, history and power structures.
Through a deeper appreciation of multiple identities and consequent patterns of discrimination, more effective responses can be tailored. Chow, E. Volume 15 of Advances in gender research. Emerald Group Publishing. It contextualises experiences of intersectionality and inequality, social exclusion and powerlessness.
It situates these experiences theoretically and provides connecting overviews on how those facing intersectional challenges are the most vulnerable. Hankivsky, O. This paper examines the specific intersectionality of gender with equitable access to health. It examines the difficulties of understanding the different factors which influence access to health. Using an intersectional analysis transforms the understanding of access to healthcare.
Gender is not always the most salient or meaningful category, and it may be more beneficial to use an intersectional approach. This should allow a deeper and more nuanced analysis and policy prescriptions. Watson, C. London: ODI. This Background Note synthesises the results of three extensive gender literature reviews exploring the extent to which gender justice for adolescent girls is shaped by formal and informal laws, norms, attitudes and practices that limit them in the attainment and exercise of their capabilities.
It describes the political, social, economic and cultural context in which girls live, and describes the intersectional poverty of being both young and a girl. Like women, men play diverse roles in society, the economy and household. Recent discussions of masculinity have emphasised the need to engage with the structures that sustain gender inequality.
Excluding boys and men from gender analysis reduces the impact interventions can have on gender inequality. Putting the pressure on women as the only agents of change can also be considered an ethical issue, given the number of other challenges that poor women are forced to confront. Where men and boys are included in analysis, they are often framed as problems, rather than as positive actors. For example, unemployment and the structural exclusion of young men has been linked to an increased risk of engagement in violence.
Young men in such instances are often perceived as a security threat. In many contexts, however, youth who suffer from exclusion do not get involved in violence and can be positive agents of change.
While small-scale programmes that work with men and boys demonstrate some success towards more gender equitable attitudes, focusing on or including boys and men remains controversial. It is becoming increasingly acknowledged that there is a need to better understand how the gendered identities of boys and men are formed and how they can be better mobilised as a force for gender equality. Van der Gaag, N.
It argues that they should be involved in addressing gender inequality, both as power-holders and as a group suffering from negative gender stereotypes. It emphasises the role of fathers, families and schools in shaping gender relations. Fathers can set an example for their families by sharing household responsibilities, expressing emotions, and treating his sons, daughters and wife equally. In schools, both pre-school and secondary schooling for boys have positive effects on gender equality, through learning positive behaviour, and decreasing violence against women and girls.
Hilker, L. There is statistical evidence of a link between high relative youth populations and an increased risk of armed conflict.
However, statistical relationships have their limitations. They cannot be used as a sole predictor of conflict in specific areas and reveal little about the causal processes. A key factor driving youth involvement in violence is the structural exclusion and lack of opportunities faced by many young people. These block the transition to adulthood and can lead to frustration, disillusionment and, in some cases, participation in violence.
Australian Government. Barker, G. From to , household surveys were administered to more than 8, men and 3, women ages 18 to 59 in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India, Mexico and Rwanda. The key findings are that there is general trend for younger, more educated men and men with gender-equitable role models show more gender-equitable behaviour. Most men were not in delivery room for the birth of their last child, but nearly half do some daily caregiving.
Between 16 percent and 56 percent of men say they have paid for sex at least once. Farre, L. The role of men in the economic and social development of women: implications for gender equality. Washington D. How does male behaviour affect female outcomes in the promotion of gender equality?
This survey first summarizes recent studies on the distribution of power within the family and identifies several factors that have altered the bargaining position of men and women over the last decades. In the case of Nixon v. The controversy was not over whether Kimberly was a woman, but whether she was woman enough for the position.
VRR argued that as Kimberly had not grown up as a woman, she did not have the requisite lived experience as a woman in patriarchal society to counsel women rape victims.
The B. The court acknowledged that the meaning of both sex and gender vary in different contexts. The case is currently under appeal. These legal issues reveal that even human experience that is assumed to be biological and personal such as our self-perception and behaviour is actually a socially defined variable by culture. Vancouver Rape Relief Society is a matter of legal decision making as much as it is a matter of biology or lived experience. North America is a heteronormative society, meaning it supports heterosexuality as the norm.
According to current scientific understanding, individuals are usually aware of their sexual orientation between middle childhood and early adolescence American Psychological Association They do not have to participate in sexual activity to be aware of these emotional, romantic, and physical attractions; people can be celibate and still recognize their sexual orientation.
Homosexual women also referred to as lesbians , homosexual men also referred to as gays , and bisexuals of both genders may have very different experiences of discovering and accepting their sexual orientation. Alfred Kinsey was among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight. To classify this continuum of heterosexuality and homosexuality, Kinsey created a six-point rating scale that ranges from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual see Figure Sedgwick recognized that in North American culture, males are subject to a clear divide between the two sides of this continuum, whereas females enjoy more fluidity.
This can be illustrated by the way women in Canada can express homosocial feelings nonsexual regard for people of the same sex through hugging, handholding, and physical closeness. In contrast, Canadian males refrain from these expressions since they violate the heteronormative expectation. While women experience a flexible norming of variations of behaviour that spans the heterosocial-homosocial spectrum, male behaviour is subject to strong social sanction if it veers into homosocial territory because of societal homophobia Sedgwick There is no scientific consensus regarding the exact reasons why an individual holds a heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual orientation.
There has been research conducted to study the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, but there has been no evidence that links sexual orientation to one factor APA Research, however, does present evidence showing that homosexuals and bisexuals are treated differently than heterosexuals in schools, the workplace, and the military.
The Canadian Climate Survey reported that 59 percent of LGBT lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered high school students had been subject to verbal harassment at school compared to 7 percent of non-LGBT students, 25 percent had been subject to physical harassment compared to 8 percent of non-LGBT students, 31 percent had been subject to cyber-bullying via internet or text messaging compared to 8 percent of non-LGBT students, 73 percent felt unsafe at school compared to 20 percent of non-LGBT students, and 51 percent felt unaccepted at school compared to 19 percent of non-LGBT students Taylor and Peter Much of this discrimination is based on stereotypes, misinformation, and homophobia , an extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals.
Major policies to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation have not come into effect until the last few years. In the federal government legalized same-sex marriage. The Canadian Human Rights Act was amended in to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, including the unequal treatment of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals.
Organizations such as Egale Canada Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere advocate for LGBT rights, establish gay pride organizations in Canadian communities, and promote gay-straight alliance support groups in schools. As we grow, we learn how to behave from those around us. In this socialization process, children are introduced to certain roles that are typically linked to their biological sex.
These roles are based on norms, or standards, created by society. In Canadian culture, masculine roles are usually associated with strength, aggression, and dominance, while feminine roles are usually associated with passivity, nurturing, and subordination.
Role learning starts with socialization at birth. Even today, our society is quick to outfit male infants in blue and girls in pink, even applying these colour-coded gender labels while a baby is in the womb. One way children learn gender roles is through play. Parents typically supply boys with trucks, toy guns, and superhero paraphernalia, which are active toys that promote motor skills, aggression, and solitary play.
Girls are often given dolls and dress-up apparel that foster nurturing, social proximity, and role play. The drive to adhere to masculine and feminine gender roles continues later in life. Men tend to outnumber women in professions such as law enforcement, the military, and politics.
Women tend to outnumber men in care-related occupations such as child care, health care, and social work. Adherence to them demonstrates fulfillment of social expectations but not necessarily personal preference Diamond Canadian society allows for some level of flexibility when it comes to acting out gender roles. To a certain extent, men can assume some feminine roles and women can assume some masculine roles without interfering with their gender identity.
Individuals who identify with the role that is the opposite of their biological sex are called transgendered. Transgendered males, for example, have such a strong emotional and psychological connection to the feminine aspects of society that they identify their gender as female. The parallel connection to masculinity exists for transgendered females.
It is difficult to determine the prevalence of transgenderism in society. Statistics Canada states that they have neither the definitive number of people whose sexual orientation is lesbian, gay, or bisexual, nor the number of people who are transgendered Statistics Canada However, it is estimated that 2 to 5 percent of the U. Transgendered individuals who wish to alter their bodies through medical interventions such as surgery and hormonal therapy—so that their physical being is better aligned with gender identity—are called transsexuals.
Not all transgendered individuals choose to alter their bodies: many will maintain their original anatomy but may present themselves to society as the opposite gender. This is typically done by adopting the dress, hairstyle, mannerisms, or other characteristic typically assigned to the opposite gender.
It is important to note that people who cross-dress, or wear clothing that is traditionally assigned to opposite gender, are not necessarily transgendered. There is no single, conclusive explanation for why people are transgendered. Transgendered expressions and experiences are so diverse that it is difficult to identify their origin.
Some hypotheses suggest biological factors such as genetics or prenatal hormone levels as well as social and cultural factors such as childhood and adulthood experiences. It is known, however, that transgendered and transsexual individuals experience discrimination based on their gender identity. People who identify as transgendered are twice as likely to experience assault or discrimination as non-transgendered individuals; they are also one and a half times more likely to experience intimidation National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs These organizations hope that by educating the public about gender identity and empowering transgendered and transsexual individuals, this violence will end.
What if you had to live as the opposite sex? If you are a man, imagine that you were forced to wear frilly dresses, dainty shoes, and makeup to special occasions, and you were expected to enjoy romantic comedies and glamour reality shows.
If you are a woman, imagine that you were forced to wear shapeless clothing, put only minimal effort into your personal appearance, not show emotion, and watch countless hours of sporting events and sports-related commentary.
It would be pretty uncomfortable, right? Well, maybe not. Many people enjoy participating in activities that are typically associated with the opposite sex and would not mind if some of the cultural expectations for men and women were loosened.
Now, imagine that when you look at your body in the mirror, you feel disconnected. As you get older, you hate the way your body is changing, and, therefore, you hate yourself.
These elements of disconnect and shame are important to understand when discussing transgendered individuals. Fortunately, sociological studies pave the way for a deeper and more empirically grounded understanding of transgendered experience.
Aggressive behaviour, when it does not inflict significant harm, is often accepted from boys and men because it is congruent with the cultural script for masculinity. Just as a playwright expects actors to adhere to a prescribed script, society expects women and men to behave according to the expectations of their respective gender role. Scripts are generally learned through a process known as socialization , which teaches people to behave according to social norms.
Children learn at a young age that there are distinct expectations for boys and girls. Cross-cultural studies reveal that children are aware of gender roles by age two or three. At four or five, most children are firmly entrenched in culturally appropriate gender roles Kane Children acquire these roles through socialization, a process in which people learn to behave in a particular way as dictated by societal values, beliefs, and attitudes. For example, society often views riding a motorcycle as a masculine activity and, therefore, considers it to be part of the male gender role.
Attitudes such as this are typically based on stereotypes, oversimplified notions about members of a group. Gender stereotyping involves overgeneralizing about the attitudes, traits, or behaviour patterns of women or men. For example, women may be thought of as too timid or weak to ride a motorcycle. Gender stereotypes form the basis of sexism. Sexism refers to prejudiced beliefs that value one sex over another. Sexism varies in its level of severity.
In parts of the world where women are strongly undervalued, young girls may not be given the same access to nutrition, health care, and education as boys.
While illegal in Canada when practised as discrimination, unequal treatment of women continues to pervade social life. It should be noted that discrimination based on sex occurs at both the micro- and macro-levels.
Many sociologists focus on discrimination that is built into the social structure; this type of discrimination is known as institutional discrimination Pincus Gender socialization occurs through four major agents of socialization: family, education, peer groups, and mass media.
Each agent reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining normative expectations for gender-specific behaviour. Exposure also occurs through secondary agents such as religion and the workplace. Repeated exposure to these agents over time leads men and women into a false sense that they are acting naturally rather than following a socially constructed role.
Family is the first agent of socialization. There is considerable evidence that parents socialize sons and daughters differently. Generally speaking, girls are given more latitude to step outside of their prescribed gender role Coltrane and Adams ; Kimmel ; Raffaelli and Ontai However, differential socialization typically results in greater privileges afforded to boys.
For instance, sons are allowed more autonomy and independence at an earlier age than daughters. They may be given fewer restrictions on appropriate clothing, dating habits, or curfew. Sons are also often free from performing domestic duties such as cleaning or cooking and other household tasks that are considered feminine. Daughters are limited by their expectation to be passive, nurturing, and generally obedient, and to assume many of the domestic responsibilities.
Even when parents set gender equality as a goal, there may be underlying indications of inequality. For example, when dividing up household chores, boys may be asked to take out the garbage or perform other tasks that require strength or toughness, while girls may be asked to fold laundry or perform duties that require neatness and care. It has been found that fathers are firmer in their expectations for gender conformity than are mothers, and their expectations are stronger for sons than they are for daughters Kimmel This is true in many types of activities, including preference of toys, play styles, discipline, chores, and personal achievements.
It should be noted that parental socialization and normative expectations vary along lines of social class, race, and ethnicity. Research in the United States has shown that African American families, for instance, are more likely than Caucasians to model an egalitarian role structure for their children Staples and Boulin Johnson The reinforcement of gender roles and stereotypes continues once a child reaches school age.
Until very recently, schools were rather explicit in their efforts to stratify boys and girls. The first step toward stratification was segregation. Girls were encouraged to take home economics or humanities courses and boys to take shop, math, and science courses. Studies suggest that gender socialization still occurs in schools today, perhaps in less obvious forms Lips Teachers may not even realize that they are acting in ways that reproduce gender-differentiated behaviour patterns.
Yet, any time they ask students to arrange their seats or line up according to gender, teachers are asserting that boys and girls should be treated differently Thorne Even in levels as low as kindergarten, schools subtly convey messages to girls indicating that they are less intelligent or less important than boys. For example, in a study involving teacher responses to male and female students, data indicated that teachers praised male students far more than their female counterparts.
Additionally, teachers interrupted girls more and gave boys more opportunities to expand on their ideas Sadker and Sadker Further, in social as well as academic situations, teachers have traditionally positioned boys and girls oppositionally—reinforcing a sense of competition rather than collaboration Thorne Boys are also permitted a greater degree of freedom regarding rule-breaking or minor acts of deviance, whereas girls are expected to follow rules carefully and to adopt an obedient posture Ready Mimicking the actions of significant others is the first step in the development of a separate sense of self Mead Like adults, children become agents who actively facilitate and apply normative gender expectations to those around them.
When children do not conform to the appropriate gender role, they may face negative sanctions such as being criticized or marginalized by their peers. Though many of these sanctions are informal, they can be quite severe.
Boys, especially, are subject to intense ridicule for gender nonconformity Coltrane and Adams ; Kimmel Mass media serves as another significant agent of gender socialization. In television and movies, women tend to have less significant roles and are often portrayed as wives or mothers.
When women are given a lead role, they are often one of two extremes: a wholesome, saint-like figure or a malevolent, hypersexual figure Etaugh and Bridges Research indicates that of the top-grossing G-rated movies released between and , three out of four characters were male. Out of those movies, only seven were near being gender balanced, with a character ratio of less than 1. Television commercials and other forms of advertising also reinforce inequality and gender-based stereotypes.
Women are almost exclusively present in ads promoting cooking, cleaning, or child care—related products Davis Think about the last time you saw a man star in a dishwasher or laundry detergent commercial.
In general, women are underrepresented in roles that involve leadership, intelligence, or a balanced psyche. Of particular concern is the depiction of women in ways that are dehumanizing, especially in music videos. Even in mainstream advertising, however, themes intermingling violence and sexuality are quite common Kilbourne Stratification refers to a system in which groups of people experience unequal access to basic, yet highly valuable, social resources.
Canada is characterized by gender stratification as well as stratification of race, income, occupation, and the like. Evidence of gender stratification is especially keen within the economic realm. Despite women making up nearly half 48 percent of payroll employment, men vastly outnumber them in authoritative, powerful, and, therefore, high-earning jobs Statistics Canada However, as one report noted, if the gender gap in wages continues to close at the same glacial rate, women will not earn the same as men until the year McInturff Additionally, women who are in the paid labour force still do the majority of the unpaid work at home.
In women spent an average 50 hours a week looking after children compared to This double duty keeps working women in a subordinate role in the family structure Hochschild and Machung Gender stratification through the division of labour is not exclusively North American. When a pattern appears in all societies, it is called a cultural universal.
While the phenomenon of assigning work by gender is universal, its specifics are not. The same task is not assigned to either men or women worldwide. There is a long history of gender stratification in Canada. When looking to the past, it would appear that society has made great strides in terms of abolishing some of the most blatant forms of gender inequality see timeline below but underlying effects of male dominance still permeate many aspects of society. Sociological theories serve to guide the research process and offer a means for interpreting research data and explaining social phenomena.
For example, a sociologist interested in gender stratification in education may study why middle-school girls are more likely than their male counterparts to fall behind grade-level expectations in math and science. Another scholar might investigate why women are underrepresented in political office, while another might examine how women members of Parliament are treated by their male counterparts in meetings.
Structural functionalism provided one of the most important perspectives of sociological research in the 20th century and has been a major influence on research in the social sciences, including gender studies.
Viewing the family as the most integral component of society, assumptions about gender roles within marriage assume a prominent place in this perspective. Functionalists argue that gender roles were established well before the preindustrial era when men typically took care of responsibilities outside of the home, such as hunting, and women typically took care of the domestic responsibilities in or around the home.
These roles were considered functional because women were often limited by the physical restraints of pregnancy and nursing and unable to leave the home for long periods of time. Once established, these roles were passed on to subsequent generations since they served as an effective means of keeping the family system functioning properly. When changes occurred in the social and economic climate of Canada during World War II, changes in the family structure also occurred.
Many women had to assume the role of breadwinner or modern hunter and gatherer alongside their domestic role in order to stabilize a rapidly changing society. When the men returned from war and wanted to reclaim their jobs, society fell into a state of imbalance, as many women did not want to forfeit their wage-earning positions Hawke Talcott Parsons argued that the contradiction between occupational roles and kinship roles of men and women in North America created tension or strain on individuals as they tried to adapt to the conflicting norms or requirements.
The division of traditional middle-class gender roles within the family—the husband as breadwinner and wife as homemaker—was functional for him because the roles were complementary. They enabled a clear division of labour between spouses, which ensured that the ongoing functional needs of the family were being met.
Within the North American kinship system, wives and husbands roles were equally valued according to Parsons.
As a result, Parson theorized that these tensions would lead women to become expressive specialists in order to claim prestige e. According to critical sociology, society is structured by relations of power and domination among social groups e. When sociologists examine gender from this perspective, we can view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group.
According to critical sociology, social problems and contradictions are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups. But - with the exception of a few frontrunners like New Zealand, Australia, and Finland - universal suffrage became a reality only after World War I.
Eventually, voting rights for women were introduced into international law in by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Women have also taken advantage of increased opportunities to serve as leaders. In , women held nearly 1 in 4 legislative seats worldwide - more than double their share in Management positions are also more likely to be held by women now than twenty years ago, though parity is still a long way off.
With greater representation comes improved outcomes. Looking at education, the world has seen enormous progress in reducing gaps between girls and boys across a variety of important areas such as enrollment rates and literacy outcomes. In health, fewer mothers are dying in childbirth and significant increases in female life expectancy have followed. With few exceptions, women now outlive men in virtually every country. In terms of labor participation, more women in countries at every level of income have been engaging in economic activities beyond non-market work in the home.
Around the world, many national reforms have been enacted in recent years to improve the status of women in the workplace, in marriage, and especially to protect women from violence. Despite this meaningful progress, important gender gaps remain. These vary in scale from country to country and take different forms - from physical violence and deprivations to unequal opportunities in work or political life. The World Health Organization estimates that over 1 in 3 women worldwide will experience violence in their lifetime.
Sadly, the risk of being subjected to violence increases in times of distress, such as the outbreak of COVID Gender disparities also take shape in unequal opportunities to participate fully in economic life. UN Women found that women are less likely than men to participate in the labor market and more likely to be unemployed. Women are paid less, earning 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man, and bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work performing 76 percent of total hours of unpaid care work worldwide.
These opportunity gaps suggest that women could be disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic.
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