Sex and Gender Identity All societies expect people to behave in certain ways based on their sex–the biological distinction between male and female. Behavioral differences between men and women are reinforced by parents and culturally conditioned through socialization. The belief that behavioral differences are the result of inherited physical characteristics is called biological determinism. From this process comes gender identity–an awareness of being masculine or feminine, based on culture.
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Chapter 3 Differences between Sex and Gender Sociologist Margaret Andersen succinctly captured the differences between sex and gender: Sex refers to a person’s biological identity, whether one is male or female. “Maleness” and “femaleness” are biological facts. Gender is a learned behavior and is a cultural, not a biological, phenomenon.
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Chapter 5 Biology, Culture, and Behavior Recent research indicates that the brains of women and men have slightly different structures. The fact that behavioral differences appear in many cultures suggests to some people that they have a biological cause. Research on gender identity indicates that biological tendencies can be greatly influenced by culture and society. While biological differences exist, they can be modified by culture.
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Chapter 6 How is gender different from sex?
Sex refers to the fact that one is either male or female; gender refers to the socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with the two sexes.
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Chapter 7 Theoretical Perspectives on Gender Functionalism focuses on the origins of gender differences. Functionalists believe the division of responsibilities between males and females survived because it benefited human living. Functionalists think early humans found that division of labor based on sex was efficient. Functionalists recognize that the traditional division of labor has created problems, or dysfunctions, for modern society.
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Chapter 8 Conflict Theory and Gender Conflict theory looks at the reasons gender differences continue to exist. Conflict theorists believe it is to the advantage of men to prevent women from gaining access to political, economic, and social resources. Conflict theorists see traditional gender roles as outdated and inappropriate for the industrial and postindustrial era.
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Chapter 9 Symbolic Interactionism and Gender Symbolic interactionism attempts to explain how gender is acquired. Gender socialization is the process of learning how to behave as a boy or girl. Gender is acquired in large part from interaction with parents, teachers, and peers. Gender concepts are taught through the mass media.
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Chapter 10 How do symbolic interactionists explain gender roles? Symbolic interactionists believe that boys and girls learn ways of behaving through interaction with parents, teachers, peers, and mass media.
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Chapter 11 Gender Inequality Sexism is defined as a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify gender inequality. Sexist ideology–the belief that men are naturally superior to women–has been used and is still being used to justify men’s leadership and power positions in the economic, social, and political spheres of society. Some segments of American society now have more positive attitudes about women, but a careful examination reveals many gaps in social rights, privileges, and rewards for women in the United States.
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Chapter 12 Occupational and Economic Inequality Although women are participating in the labor force at increasing levels, they are concentrated in lower-status occupations–this is known as occupational sex segregation. Though decreasing, there is still a wide discrepancy between the earnings of American women and men. Women in the United States do not compare favorably in relative earning power to women in other developed countries.
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Chapter 13 Legal and Political Inequality National, state, and local legal codes reflect a sexual bias against women that results in important differences between the levels of political power women and men attain. Women appear to participating in elective politics at an increasing rate, but still hold a relatively small proportion of important political positions.
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Chapter 14 Define sexism.
Sexism is defined as a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify gender inequality.
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Chapter 15 Ageism Chronological age is a basis for social ranking. Sociologists are interested in age stratification– the unequal distribution of scarce resources (power, wealth, prestige) based on age. The rationale for age-based inequality comes in the form of ageism–a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify prejudice and discrimination against a particular age group.
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Chapter 16 Functionalism and Ageism Functionalists believe that elderly people in a given society are treated according to the role they play in that society. Many societies treat elderly people with great respect and honor. Attitudes about the contributions of the aged changed greatly as society changed from agricultural to industrial.
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Chapter 17 Conflict Theory and Ageism Competition over scarce resources lies at the heart of ageism for the conflict perspective. Elderly people compete with other age groups for economic resources, power, and prestige. Since industrial society usually has more workers than it needs, it replaces high-priced older workers with less costly younger ones.
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Chapter 18 Symbolic Interactionism and Ageism Symbolic interactionists believe that ageism is a learned behavior. Through socialization, stereotypes of elderly people are often firmly implanted into a child’s view of the world.
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Chapter 19 Identify each statement with one major theoretical perspective: functionalism (F), conflict theory (C), or symbolic interactionism (S).
___C a. Ageism results in part from an oversupply of labor. ___S b. Young people are uncomfortable around older people. ___F c. The stigma attached to aging promotes a low self-concept among older people. F/C___ d. Ageism is associated with industrialization. ___S e. Older people are stereotyped. ___S f. Ageism exists in part because older workers are inefficient. 17 Click the mouse button or press the space bar to display the answers.
Chapter 20 Inequality in America’s Elderly Population The elderly are now considered a minority group, just as women, racial, ethnic and religious groups are considered minorities. Early studies of the elderly were not valid and created stereotypes. Elderly members of racial or ethnic minorities fare worse than older White Americans. Elderly women are one the poorest segments of society.
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Chapter 21 Political Power and the Elderly The power of the elderly lies in the political process. Voting turnout in the United States increases with age. The elderly are a diverse group and do not vote as a bloc. Interest groups are organized to influence political decision making.
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Chapter 22 Circle the number of the accurate statement in the following list. Change the other statements to make them true.
1. Since 1960, the economic situation for elderly people in the United States has deteriorated.improved
2. The poverty rate for Americans over age sixty-five is lowerhigher than the official count indicates.
3. Problems of older Americans who are members of racial or ethnic minorities are generally more severe than problems of elderly whites.
4. Older Americans arecould politically be politically vulnerable. powerful .
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Chapter 27 Chapter Summary All societies expect people to behave in certain ways based on their sex. Gender identity is learned from one’s culture. The three theoretical perspectives focus on different aspects of gender. Gender inequality exist in the United States where women are still subject to prejudice and discrimination. The elderly are subject to ageism. Although the elderly experience social and economic discrimination, they exert power in the political process.
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Summary