Sociology of gender is a prominent subfield of sociology.
Social interaction directly correlated with sociology regarding social
structure. One of the most important social structures is status.
This is determined based on position that an individual possesses which
effects how they will be treated by society. One of the most important
statuses an individual claims is gender. Public discourse and the academic literature generally use the term gender for the perceived or projected (self-identified) masculinity or femininity of a person.
Introduction
The term gender role was coined by John Money
in a seminal 1955 paper where he defined it as "all those things that a
person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status
of boy or man, girl or woman."
A person's gender is complex, encompassing countless
characteristics of appearance, speech, movement and other factors not
solely limited to biological sex. Societies tend to have binary gender systems in which everyone is categorized as male or female. Some societies include a third gender role; for instance, the Native American Two-Spirit people and the Hijras of India. There is debate over the extent to which gender is a social construct or a biological construct.
In feminist theory
In the 1960s and 1970s, the women’s movement started the momentum
that led to the formation of the Feminist Theory. One of the
publications that caused this movement was Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique.This book described how women were expected to be fulfilled throughout their housework.
This book immediately resonated with many women as it became a
bestseller, and a movement was ignited. During this movement, also known
as the Women’s rights movement or women’s liberation movement, women
fought for equal rights, and more personal freedom in all aspects of
life such as politics, work, family and sexuality. In June 1966 the
National Organization for Women (NOW) was born in order to create
political change. Although the organization did not succeed right
initially, by 1969 NOW was more comfortable with lobbying for women’s
reform in Washington. In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA). Despite it being a victory for feminism, the passage of the ERA
led to criticism from anti-feminist, who argued that the ratification of
the ERA would result in the invalidation of sodomy laws, and would lead
to the legalization of same sex marriage. The ERA needed to be ratified
by 38 states in ten years, and feel short by three resulting in to
ratification. This was the second wave of feminism, after the first wave
in the 19th for women’s suffrage, and the foundation of early feminist
theory.
During the 1970s, there was no consensus about how the terms were to be applied. In the 1974 edition of Masculine/Feminine or Human, the author uses "innate gender" and "learned sex roles", but in the 1978 edition, the use of sex and gender is reversed. By 1980, most feminist writings had agreed on using gender only for socioculturally adapted traits.
The Feminist Theory is a broad term for a variety of theories
which all emphasize women’s experiences and the belief that society is
subordinate to women. Liberal feminism is the belief that individuals
should be free to develop their own talents and pursue their interests.
Individuals seek to expand equality by removing the barriers in society.
Socialist feminism thinks that capitalism strengthens patriarchy by
concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few. The traditional
family structure should be replaced by a collective revolution. In
Radical feminism, they believe that patriarchy is so deeply rooted in
society that even a sociological revolution would not end it; Society
must eliminate gender itself.
Early feminist theory targeted sex and gender and the injustices
bases on these gender categories. However, the early feminist movement
was geared towards the equality for white middle-class women only. It
excluded other minority women, especially black women. Minority women
face different experiences and struggles from white middle-class women,
but this was largely overlooked in early feminist theory. However, this
theory allowed for the birth of feminism, which focuses on women’s
empowerment, freedom, and the enhancement of a woman's sense of self.
As time progresses, feminism can be broken into 4 distinct waves:
first-wave from the 19th to early 20th century, second-wave feminism
from the 1960s to 1970s, to the third and fourth waves of feminism from
the 1990s to now.
Each wave of feminism has its own goal that focused on the importance
of equality among men and women in regards to social, political, and
economic equality.
In the first wave, feminists focused on women’s suffrage, or giving
women the right to vote. It was a movement that pushed for political
equality, so that women could participate in politics.
But in this movement, it mainly advocated for the right to vote for
white women, while excluding minority women. The exclusion of minority
women in first movement sparked the acknowledgement of minority groups
in the second movement. However, the main goal of the second movement
dealt with sexuality and reproductive rights.
The movement’s efforts worked toward the passing of the Equal Rights
Amendment, which was designed to guarantee equal rights for everyone
regardless of their sex.
By the end of this wave, society began to realize that gender, the idea
of what it means to be a “woman,” and society’s expectations of what a
woman is, are socially constructed. This realization led to the rise of
the third feminist movement. It focused on debunking the predominant
idea society held for women and their position in society. In this
movement, the notion of being “girly” or “feminine” is being broken down
to redefine society’s definition of a women. The boundaries of gender
are being reconstructed to allow people to experiment with the fluidity
of gender.
However, this movement also combats the sexism and patriarchy, or the
system in which men hold all the power. This is shown through the
domination of sexist culture, where women are looked down upon for the
same actions or experiences men partake in.
The fourth wave of feminism began in 2013 and centers around
sexual harassment, rape culture, and body shaming. One of the major
distinctions in this wave is the use of social media and the internet to
spread its messages. This wave erupted after a young woman in India
died after being brutally gang raped. Another catalyst to this wave of
feminism was the election of president Donald Trump in 2016 after his
remarks about women. One day after President Trump’s inauguration, in
2017, about 4.6 million people took to the streets of Washington DC to
the Women’s March to protest gender equality. Also in 2017, the Me Too
movement gained popularity, in which women came forward to share their
experiences of sexual assault after it became known that Harvey
Weinstein sexually assaulted women for years in the film industry. This
movement grew in only a couple of months to condemn powerful men in
business, politics, news, and entertainment for their assaults against
women.
Other languages
In English, both sex and gender
are used in contexts where they could not be substituted (sexual
intercourse; anal sex; safe sex; sex worker; sex slave). Other
languages, like German, use the same word Geschlecht to refer both to grammatical gender and to biological sex, making the distinction between sex and gender advocated by some anthropologists difficult. In some contexts, German has adopted the English loan-word gender to achieve this distinction. Sometimes 'Geschlechtsidentität' is used as gender (although it literally means gender identity) and 'Geschlecht' as sex (translation of Judith Butler's Gender Trouble). More common is the use of modifiers: biologisches Geschlecht for sex, Geschlechtsidentität for gender identity and Geschlechterrolle for gender role etc.
U.S. media
Media
criticism is a reflection of the gender inequality in society through
print, advertisements, television and music. Media influences and
reinforces the idea of The Beauty Myth as discussed in Naomi Wolf's
book, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women,
which refers to unrealistic standards of beauty for women. Some argue that the mainstream media perpetuates the idea of hetero-masculinity by portraying men as dominant. Some also argue that the media objectifies and oppresses women, and men who don't fall into the heteronormative category.
Oppression
Through the media, men are taught to be ultra-masculine by being desensitized, violent, and physically strong.
Other forms of media that often portray the ultra-masculine figure are
advertisements, specifically beer commercials. These forms encourage
men to oppress other men if they do not fit the ideals of
heteromasculinity.
Objectification of women
Objectification of women refers to instances in the media in which
women may be viewed as, or directly compared to, insentient objects that
can be acquired and/or possessed. This can be examined in the context
of advertisements, where objects may be anthropomorphized and given
feminine qualities or aspects of the female form.
Some studies indicate that widespread objectification of women in the
media may have significant repercussions on society, such as low
self-esteem and/or eating disorders among women.
Gender and socialization
Socialization is the process where individuals learn the norms,
values, and rules of a society in order to become a functioning member
in it. Socialization theory offers a straightforward account of the
acquisition of gendered identities. Infants are seen as blank slates,
waiting to be written down on by their environment. Through their
interactions with people close to them and exposure to the values of
their society, infants learn what sex is attributed to them and what
roles they are expected to learn. Reinforcement (through rewarding
gender-appropriate behavior and punishing what may seem as deviant
behavior) socializes children into their genders.
For children, the primary agent of socialization for them is their
parents. At a young age, children are taught societal rules and norms
for specific genders. These norms, also known as gender roles, outline
what is expected from males and females. From the moment of birth and on
wards, parental expectations for their child are set by their gender.
For example, are far more likely to engage with their sons in rough
physical play than they are with their daughters, and it has been argued
that long-term consequences may follow (in this case, a head start for
boys in the development of physical violence and aggressiveness.)
Parents and family can influence the way that a child develops their
view of gender. These types of influences can include parental attitudes
and difference of treatment regarding male and female children.
Researcher Susan Witt claims that parents also expose children to gender
from the time they are born via specific toys, colors, and names
associated with genders in the binary. Witt suggests that parental
attitudes about gender can differ from male to female children and that
these attitudes develop quickly after a child's birth.
Parents influence the way children behave and think at home, which is
then carried out into the real world where the child is exposed to an
environment that reinforces such ideas and beliefs.
Author Susan Grieshaber, in "Constructing the Gendered Infant",
suggests that attitudes regarding pregnancy change after parents find
out the sex of their child, subsequently changing parental attitudes
towards the unborn child. According to Grieshaber's theory, once parents
determine the sex of their unborn child, they assume a gender while
planning for the child's arrival. Because of this, Grieshaber claims
that infants are born into a gendered world where they never know
anything other than the gender traits that are assumed due to their sex.
Dr. Kara Smith utilizes similar theory throughout the analysis of her
pregnancy journals kept throughout her second pregnancy. Smith concluded
that her attitude towards her child changed after learning that her
child’s sex was male. Smith's claim is reflected in changes in tone of
voice when talking to the unborn child as well as differences in
physical touch of her stomach throughout the rest of her pregnancy.
Another theory of gender socialization, discussed by Susan McHale, is
that the gender roles and attitudes of older siblings can impact the
gender roles adopted by younger children. Throughout the findings of
McHale's study, it is maintained that parents still have the most
familial influence on childhood socialization.
By the time children reach the age of three, many will have
acquired a firm sense of themselves as male or female, a gender identity
that remains throughout life. In addition, many pre-schoolers develop a
firm awareness of gender stereotypes,
insisting that certain activities or items of clothing are not for
girls and others not for boys. Yet gender identity does not
automatically follow from biological sex.
Adults respond differently to communicative efforts of boys and
girls. A study of infants aged 13 months found that when boys demand
attention - by behaving aggressively, or crying, whining or screaming -
they tended to get it. By contrast, adults tended to respond to girls
only when they used language, gestures, or gentle touches; girls who
used attention-seeking techniques were likely ignored. There was little
difference in the communicative patterns at the start of the study, but
by the age of two, the girls have become more talkative and boys more
assertive in their communicative techniques.
The norms that are taught throughout childhood are influential in
an individual's life because the ideas about gender that are typically
taught by parents in early years are reinforced outside of the home.
A study done by Dr. Mick Cunningham states that the normative behaviors
and attitudes that children observe can influence the way that these
children grow up to structure their own households in adulthood.
Normative gender roles can be reinforced outside of the household,
adding power to these hegemonic ideas about gender. An analysis of
children’s books in the twenty-first century, by Janice McCabe, suggests
that this particular avenue of children’s media symbolically
annihilates females, representing them about half as often as that of
males. Underrepresentation such as this can affect children and their
views of gender.
Children’s TV networks, such as Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon
Network have demonstrated a disproportional representation of males and
females on their respective shows in a study done by Beth Hentges and
Kim Case. According to Hentges and Case, there are less female
characters across all three children’s networks; however, there is more
propagation of stereotypical gendered behavior on Cartoon Network and
Nickelodeon than that of Disney.
Atypical Household Influence on Gender Socialization
Some
children are raised in atypical households that challenge normative
gender roles. In Jada Tidwell's study, she observes the play of children
who come from households with lesbian feminist mothers (both single
mothers and couples). Tidwell's observations consisted of both
individual play as well as play integrated with the mothers. As a result
of these observations, Tidwell asserts that atypical environments can
affect children’s lives and ideas. According to Tidwell, households that
challenge hegemonic cultural ideas ultimately give children a different
perspective of gender than those of children raised in heterosexual,
two parent households. In the families studied by Jada Tidwell, children
reported ideas that both endorsed and challenged stereotypical gender
roles at times.
In a different study, Abbie Goldberg observed toddlers from various
types of households and how these children engaged in play. Goldberg's
findings suggest that children whose parents are of the same gender tend
to play in ways that are less adherent to stereotypical gender roles
than children from heterosexual households.
Susan Witt, in her article “Parental Influence on Children’s
Socialization to Gender Roles’, advocates for androgynous gender roles
in parenting, arguing that environments are more open minded about
gender and encouraging to both their sons and daughters.
Gender and psychoanalysis
One
of the most influential of the psychoanalytic theories of gender
identity is the perspective developed in the book The Reproduction of
Mothering. Its author, Nancy Chodorow, traces the implications for
emotional development by linking them with the way mothers usually care
for their infants in their formative years, while fathers are more
emotionally distant. The development of an identity takes place as the
infant gets more and more separated from his/her mother, with whom the
infant is initially psychically merged. This process however operates
differently for boys and girls. Girls can separate gradually, maintain a
continuous sense of relationship with the mother, who is after all
experienced as alike. For boys, on the other hand, separating from the
mother, who is experienced as different, involves repressing the
feminine aspects of themselves and rejecting their tenderness that was
central to that early relationship. Boys' sense of maleness, according
to Chodorow, is achieved at a great emotional cost.
Consequently, men grow up to have a more autonomous sense of
self, and to be more independent, more instrumental and competitive in
their dealings with others. They are also more likely to have difficulty
expressing their emotions and to be anxious about intimacy. Women, on
the other hand, have more ability and more need to sustain relationship
with others.; they have greater empathy with others. They have
difficulty however in maintaining the boundaries of an independent and
autonomous self.
Chodorow however believes that these patterns aren't inevitable.
Changes in the social arrangements for care of children such as dual
parenting, which would involve fathers in emotional intimacy with their
children, can break the cycle.
Gender and the division of labor
Before
industrialization, economic activity, which centered around
agricultural work, crafts and so on, was organized by households.
Household members, whether male or female, young or old, contributed to
the family's livelihood. Although women might do some types of work and
men others, depending on region and class, the distinction between men
as breadwinners and women as housewives didn't characterize
pre-industrial divisions of labor.
Industrialization shifted much productive activity to factories,
shops and offices. This separation of work from home signaled a profound
change in gender relations and gender discourse. The home came to be
understood not as the site of a family enterprise, but as a refuge from
the world of work. Women were defined as the keepers of the home, as it
was seen as their nature to create harmony and virtue rather than
services and goods. Preindustrial society relied on gendered roles in
the workforce to create equilibrium between men and women. Men were
assigned the hunter role while women were assigned the domestic roles.
Men were expected to supply food and shelter for the family while women
were the caretakers for the children and their household. As centuries
passed, this continued and created a divide in gendered roles in labor.
Women remained dependent on men to provide, this dependence led to male
roles being more valued in society which still remains in the 21st
century.
The divisions of labor ensures people with specific skill sets
end up in certain jobs in order to benefit society. Where women fit into
the workforce and how women benefit society were impacted by
differences between the gender stereotypes of men and women. Based on
stereotypes, males are perceived to be more suitable for the highest
positions while women are not. Women are believed to lack the qualities
needed to obtain male dominated occupations like management and CEO
positions.
Despite the greater number of women entering the workforce in recent
years, men continue to dominate the workforce and women are still viewed
as inferior.
With the constant negative perceptions of women in traditionally male
occupations, research has shown that women approach tasks that are
assumed to be for males with low confidence and self-esteem. This is due to the belief that they aren’t competent enough to complete such tasks.
However, Title VII and the 1964 Civil Rights Act were passed to
attempt to ensure the equal treatment of the growing number of women
entering the workforce. However women are still subjected to forms of sexual harassment, which ranges form jokes to treats. The most common form of sexual harassment is “hostile environments” which aims to make women feel unsafe and uncomfortable.
This sexual harassment serves as a means of men enforcing their
superiority over women, and it is one of the most prominent forms of
gender inequality in the workplace
Gender in conversation
Some
research has found that, in classroom settings, male students tend to
talk more, and longer, than female students. This was determined to be
particularly noticeable when the instructor is male.
Similar results were found previously in hospitals by Erving
Goffman in 1961, university discussion groups by Elizabeth Aries in
1972, and in corporate settings by Rosabeth Kanter in 1977.
Gender in the workplace
Women and men experience different types of mobility within the workplace. For example, women tend to experience a glass ceiling, an invisible barrier that prevents them from moving up the corporate ladder.
An example of this is a study from Sweden that compared the number of
females in director jobs to men in director jobs. The study showed that
there were statistically more men than women holding those jobs and
showed that the results were also shown in other countries such as the
USA.
Men in jobs traditionally held by women, such as nursing, elementary
school teaching, and social work, experience a "glass escalator" effect
in which they are able to quickly ascend the job hierarchy to become
managers and principals. There also tends to be a gender pay gap between men and women, with women earning 77% as much as men.
One cause of the gender pay gap may be due to occupational segregation,
which pushes men and women towards gender-specific forms of employment,
rather than pay discrimination. Another possible cause is the double burden,
a phenomenon in which women perform most of the unpaid childcare and
household work despite being otherwise employed for pay. A third
possible cause is occupational sexism, one part of which favors men for promotions due to their traditional breadwinner status. The 2001 class action lawsuit, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., charged Wal-Mart with sexist hiring and promotion practices.
There were also studies done that showed that having women in
higher paying positions would correlate to an increased chance of
depressive symptoms. These studies talked about how the depression
was caused by the negative social experiences at their job, such as
social isolation and negative social interactions, that weaken the
mental health of the women in authority positions. Of which referenced
that men had more value for their status in the work place than women. These social interactions would have been caused by cultural gender norms. Parallel to the social norms, women are stuck in the expectations
placed upon them based on these norms. This places the identity of
follower onto women since that is what the norm dictated.
In China, women have experienced gender based discrimination based on job requirements that represent indirect discrimination.
An example would be a job listing available to everyone but required
the individual to be able to carry a set amount of weight or to be a
certain height, without there being a need for that requirement in that
job. These requirements prevent set groups from getting that job, but is
labeled implicitly.
In addition, the emergence of transgender individuals in the workplace has begun to disrupt the gender binary of male and female. By creating a hybrid gender identity, the transgender community suggests notions of movement toward postgenderism.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is a Neo-Marxist concept stemming from a critical theory social analysis of class, race, and gender.
The theory of intersectionality argues that forms of "inequality,
oppression, and privilege" are shaped by interconnected axes of
identity, and are mutually reinforced by social interactions and by
social, political, and economic structures, such as capitalism,
patriarchy, and institutionalized heteronormativity. The theory of Intersectionality argues that race, class, gender, and other markers of identity are social constructions.
This theory argues against the assumption that systems of power
relations are normative and can hold individuals accountable for their
own character and efforts.
West & Fenstermaker in their 1995 article Doing Difference
offer that models that conceive gender, race and class as distinct axes
are highly limiting in their understanding of the whole experience or
identity of an individual. For example, they critique the additive
model, in which the whole will never be greater (or lesser) than the sum
of it parts. By analyzing each identity marker as an individual
characteristic, we ignore the effect of the interconnection of these
markers.
Additional sociologists have written about the intersectionality
of class, race, and gender. Joan Acker outlines four gendered processes
of intersectionality. The first includes procedures that create
hierarchies based on gender and race. Another is the process in which
social images and ideas condone gendered institutions. The third is a
process of interaction between individuals and groups that, through
communication, creates gender. The fourth is the internal labeling of
the self and others to gendered personas. Evelyn Nakano Glenn
critiques both the patriarchy model of gender, which ignores racial
differences among oppressed women, and the internal colonialism model,
which focuses on minority populations in general, ignoring gender
differences.
Embodiment
Embodiment
may be defined as the ways in which cultural ideals of gender in a
given society create expectations for and influence the form of our
bodies. There is a bidirectional relationship between biology and
culture; by embodying societally determined gender roles
we reinforce cultural ideals and simultaneously shape, both temporarily
and permanently, our bodies, which then perpetuates the cultural ideal.
While there is actually more variation in body type within the male and
female sexes than there is between the two sexes, embodiment
exaggerates the perceived bodily differences between gender categories.
Social embodiment, for both men and women, is variable across cultures and over time. Examples of women embodying gender norms across cultures include foot binding practices in Chinese culture, neck rings in African and Asian cultures, and corsets in Western cultures. Another interesting phenomenon has been the practice of wearing high heels,
which shifted from a masculine fashion to a feminine fashion over time.
In the United States, the ideal body image and dimensions have changed
for both women and men, with the body ideal female body shape becoming progressively slimmer and the body ideal for men becoming progressively larger.
These differences are epitomized in the example of children's toys; G.I. Joe dolls depict the physical ideals for boys and Barbie dolls embody the ideals for girls. The Beauty Myth, as discussed in Naomi Wolf's
book The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women,
refers to the unattainable standard of beauty for women, which sustains consumer culture.
In contrast, men's bodies are also "dictated" by cultural ideals of
gender, as is evident in consumer culture—especially beer commercials—in
which men are portrayed as outdoorsy, tough, strong, and "manly."
Sexuality
Sexuality encompasses both sexual behavior and sexual desire. However, Heteronormativity structures social life so that Heterosexuality
is always assumed, expected, ordinary and privileged. Its pervasiveness
makes it difficult for people to imagine other ways of life. Mass media works to glorify heterosexuality, which in turn lends to its pervasiveness and to its power.
Both ordinary and exceptional constructions of heterosexuality work to
normalize heterosexuality; thus, it becomes difficult to imagine
anything other than this form of social relationship or anyone outside
of these bonds.
There is a common perception of heterosexuality as the "natural" emotional and sensual inclination for Human sexuality.
Furthermore, marital heterosexuality occupies the largely invisible
core of normative and desirable sexuality, while all other sexualities
are marginalized and considered perverse and unnatural. Alfred Kinsey created a Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale called the Kinsey Scale, which challenges the common perception of Human sexuality as strictly binary and directly linked to Gender. Drag queens
are an example of "troubling" gender, complicating the understanding of
sexuality in our society by causing people to think outside the binary
of male/female.
Friedrich Engels
argued that in hunter-gatherer societies the activities of men and
women, although different, had the same importance. As technological
advances let to productive surplus, social equality and communal sharing
gave way to private property and ultimately class hierarchy. With the
rise of agriculture, men gained significant power over women. With
surplus wealth to pass on to their heirs, upper class men wanted to
ensure their sons were indeed theirs, which led them to control the
sexuality of women. The desire to control property brought about
monogamous marriage and family. Women were taught to remain virgins
until marriage and remain faithful to their husbands thereafter, and to
build their lives around bearing and raising one man's children.
Masculinity
Masculinity is a performed gender identity. Contrary to popular perception, it is not the same as sex or sexual orientation.
The contents and practices of masculinity are socially constructed and
reproduced through daily interaction, especially on a more micro scale.
Theorists West & Zimmerman emphasized that gender is maintained
through accountability. Men are expected to perform masculinity to the
point that it is naturalized. Thus, a man's status depends on his
performance. It is important to note, however, that masculinity can be
performed by any sex.
The dominant form of masculinity in a society is known as hegemonic masculinity. Men are constantly performing this to prove their status as men.
It is not really possible to reach it, especially as peers are in
constant surveillance of each other, looking for flaws in their
performance. Hegemonic masculinity is constructed in opposition to femininity and is dominant to all other gender identities (including alternative masculinities). Men are socialized
from birth to perform it, especially through behavior and symbolism.
One of the prominent behaviors is aggression in order to protect one's
reputation. An example of symbols used would be clothing.
Sociologist Michael Kimmel describes three cultures that support masculinity (especially in young men) in his 2008 book, Guyland:
- The Culture of Entitlement: Men are raised to feel they deserve something. They feel entitled to power, sex and women.
- The Culture of Silence: Men are not to talk to outsiders (those not embedded in the cultures of masculinity) about drinking, bullying, rape, or any performance of masculinity by their peers that they may get in trouble for. If they do talk, they will be seen as unmanly traitors.
- The Culture of Protection: Communities do not hold men responsible for questionable and illegal actions. Many turn a blind eye, assuming their boys would never do that. Others write off dangerous acts as "boys will be boys".
Some of the prominent attitudes and behaviors of western hegemonic
masculinity are: power, sexual dominance and activity, wealth,
aggression, independence, and lack of emotion. Less extreme sexual
harassment is often seen as normal behavior. Exemplifying control theory, the norms of masculinity are so rigidly ingrained that men find little room to escape and end up constantly reproducing them.
Hegemonic masculinity is often reproduced and reinforced through
media and culture. "Media representations of men…often glorify men's use
of physical force, a daring demeanor, virility, and emotional
distance." Contemporary rap music is a striking example of masculinity on display. Rappers boast about their sexual conquests of women (emphasizing heterosexuality as well), wealth, power and violence.
Gender and violence
Gender-based violence is the physical, sexual or emotional harm or suffering enacted upon an individual as contextualized by societal gender
norms. Violence affects the lives of millions worldwide, in all
socio-economic and educational classes. It cuts across cultural and
religious barriers, impeding the right of many to participate fully in
society. Violence is about power, control, and domination. Systems of
inequality and oppression
interact positioning certain groups as particularly vulnerable to
violence. Gendered violence takes place within a socially constructed
power dynamic in which one ideology (masculinity) dominates another (femininity).
What it means to be a woman in society is influenced and ascribed by
the media, which acts a "powerful educational force". The media
glamorizes violence against women
cultivating a "toxic cultural environment" in which women are
institutionally positioned as inferior and worthy objects of violence.
Men are disproportionally the offenders, and women
disproportionally the victims. Those that commit violent crimes are
overwhelmingly male—rape (98%), armed robbery (92%), drunk driving (90%), murder (88%), aggravated assault (87%), arson (86%), and family violence (83%). According to Michael Kimmel, hegemonic masculinity
creates a culture of entitlement, silence, and protection, which
effectively normalizes violence against women and silences victims of
violence.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence defines three social arenas in which violence commonly takes place (1) in the family—including domestic violence, infanticide, and traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, foot binding, and bride burning; (2) in the community—including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and commercialized violence such as sexual slavery,
labor exploitation, female migrant workers; and (3) by the
State—including violence against women in detention, and in situations
of armed conflict such as systematic war rape.
In order to address and end gendered violence, solutions must address
both the root causes and interpersonal manifestations of gender roles
and power relations in order to ensure a balance of power at all levels
of society.
Globalization and gender
Globalization
refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and
economic activity. Globalization impacts female equality on a large and
international scale, both negatively and positively. With continuous
changes in international relations, the perception of feminism
in Western and Nonwestern societies is frequently revised. It is
important to be wary of Western bias in sociological accounts of global
feminism, as Modern Western society is not always due credit for feminist reform in other cultures and countries.
Feminist sentiments – or a push for gender equality – emerge as a
result of the nation-specific circumstances, not according to the
exported beliefs of Western society. Advances in female equality and
status are often not the result of national groups or corporations, but
of individuals and small groups.
One of the results of globalization is the increased use of
female factory workers in nonwestern countries. In Mexico, the female
worker is ideal because she is seen as docile and inexpensive labor.
Stereotypical feminine traits such as beauty, domesticity, and docility
are exaggerated and exploited for the production of goods.
These gender traits then frame the behavior of the women beyond the
occupational realm. Despite increasing feminism, the lack of economic
and social mobility prevents women in many nations from having equal status in society.
One of the solutions to erasing gender inequalities globally, is
to provide resources and funds to impoverished women who will in turn
use them for education as well as business ventures. The global economy could benefit drastically from incorporating educated women into the workforce.
Third gender
Throughout history, and around the world, the idea of a third gender has existed. In Native American culture, the two spiririt had gender roles different from men and women. The muxe of southern Mexico are males who identify as neither male or female. In Samoa the Fa'afafine are biological males who identify as females. The hijra
are biological males who identify as women. They are considered
outsiders in their communities and have formed their own language. In
the United States, the concept of a third gender is beginning to gain
traction. California now allows for drivers licenses to have the gender
"non-binary", see genderqueer.
