Transcript PowerPoint Presentation prepared by Terri Petkau, Mohawk College CHAPTER SEVEN Gender Inequality: Economic and Political Aspects Monica Boyd.

PowerPoint Presentation
prepared by
Terri Petkau, Mohawk College
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gender Inequality: Economic
and Political Aspects
Monica Boyd
INTRODUCTION
• Will examine:
Explanations for gender inequality
Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd
Gender inequality in the home, the
labour force, and politics
Recommendations for reducing
gender inequality*
7-3
GENDER INEQUALITY
• Social roles: Behaviours expected of people
occupying particular social positions
• In 20th century, enormous change in attitudes,
expectations, behaviours, and social roles of
men and women in Canada
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• But persistence of gender inequalities:
 Hierarchical asymmetries between women and
men in terms of distribution of power, material
wellbeing, and prestige*
7-4
GENDER STEREOTYPES
• Gender inequality is reinforced by gender
stereotypes:
 Set of prejudicial biologically-based generalizations
about men and women in terms of personality traits
and behaviour
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 Persistence of polarized gender stereotypes is
supported by research
• Yet , gender-related identities and behaviours
largely socially constructed and continually altered
through social interaction*
7-5
GENDER STEREOTYPES
• Socially constructed nature of gender
identities means gender identities:
 Are not stable or fixed
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 Need not be congruent with sex assigned at
birth
 Are not polar opposites (despite notion of
“opposite sex”), but can operate on a
continuum of masculinity and femininity*
7-6
DIMENSIONS OF INEQUALITY:
POWER, MATERIAL
WELLBEING, AND PRESTIGE
1. Power: Capacity to impose your will on others,
regardless of any resistance
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2. Material wellbeing: Involves access to economic
resources required to pay for necessities of life
and other possessions and advantages
3. Prestige: Average evaluation of occupational
activities and positions arranged in a hierarchy*
7-7
EXPLAINING GENDER
INEQUALITY
•
Feminism: Body of knowledge about causes and
nature of women’s subordination to men in
society, and various agendas - often involving
political action - for removing that subordination
• Feminist theories:
1. Liberal feminism
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2. Marxist feminism
3. Socialist feminism…*
7-8
1. LIBERAL FEMINIST
THEORIES
• Gender inequalities caused and perpetuated by
gender stereotyping and gendered division of
labour
• Achieve gender equality through:
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 Removing gender stereotyping and discrimination
in workplace and education, and
 Changing laws to allow for equal opportunities in
labour force and politics*
7-9
2. MARXIST FEMINIST
THEORIES
• Women’s unpaid domestic work maintains and
reproduces labour force
• Capitalists benefit by women (wives/mothers):
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 Ensuring workers (males) ready to work each
day
 Raising children to become future labourers
 Acting as own reserve army of labour
• Achieve gender equality through socialism*
7-10
3. SOCIALIST FEMINIST
THEORIES
• Agree with Marxist feminist theories but include
additional component:
 Recognize classes constitute only one set of social
relations that oppress women
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• Second set of oppressive social relations:
 Patriarchy  System of male domination over
women
• Decrease gender inequality through:
 State-subsidies for maternal benefits and child care
 Equal pay for equal work*
7-11
EXERCISING POWER
• Male power and control over women characterize
all social relations, routine behaviours, and
commonly accepted practices
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• Workplace sexual harassment: Result of general
belief that men are superior to women and may
impose their will upon them
 Is example of power as a system of dominance
and exploitation
 Is system because capacity of men and incapacity
of women to control and influence has become
routine*
7-12
SEPARATE SPHERES
• Separation of public sphere for men and private
sphere for women
•



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Consequences of separation for women:
Association of domestic labour as women’s work
Devaluation of unpaid domestic labour
Tendency to view nurturing and care-giving as
biologically-determined traits
 Financial dependence on men
 Reduced access to power, prestige, and material
wellbeing*
7-13
FEMALE LABOUR-FORCE
PARTICIPATION
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•
Since beginning of 20th century, substantial
increase in female labour force participation,
including increase in rates of employed married
women and women with young children
•
i.
ii.
iii.
Factors in increase:
Increased demand for service workers
Decrease in number of children born; and
Increased financial pressures on families*
7-14
DOMESTIC LABOUR
• Despite rise in female labour force participation,
women still more likely than men to do unpaid
work involving home maintenance and child-care
• While men have begun to do housework and
child-care, women still spend more hours than
men on domestic activities
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• Consequences of “double day” for women:
 Less time available for recreational activities
 More likely to report feeling stressed*
7-15
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PERCENTAGE
SPENDING 15
HOURS OR MORE
A WEEK ON UNPAID
HOUSEWORK AND
ON CHILD CARE,
WOMEN AND MEN
IN THE LABOUR
FORCE WITH AT
LEAST ONE CHILD
UNDER AGE 15 IN
THE HOUSEHOLD,
CANADA, 2006
7-16
OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION
AND SEX TYPING
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•
Women in paid labour force typically do jobs
that involve care-giving, nurturing, and
household-type management
•
i.

Has given rise to:
Sex typing (or sex labelling) of occupations:
Designating an occupation as appropriate for
one sex
ii.

Sex segregation of occupations:
Concentration of women and men in different
occupations*
7-17
TEN MOST COMMON
JOBS FOR WOMEN,
CANADA, 2006
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7-18
TEN MOST COMMON
JOBS FOR MEN, CANADA,
2006
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7-19
OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION
AND SEX-TYPING: IMPLICATIONS
• “Women’s” occupations often lower than “men’s”
occupations in terms of authority, responsibility,
earnings, skill requirements, and mobility
opportunities
• Inequalities indicate male advantage in labour force
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• Women typically supervise fewer employees than
men and are less likely to hold top positions
• Women confronted with glass ceiling: Level in an
organization above which women and minority
members seldom found*
7-20
GENDER AND SKILL
• Sex typing and general devaluation of work done
by women influence commonsense evaluation of
what constitutes “skilled” work
• Women less likely to have high-skilled jobs given
gender bias in socially constructed definition of
skill
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• Skill undervaluation of female sex-typed
occupations disadvantages women through:
 Association of skill with wage level
 Potential to undermine pay equity policies which
determine worth of job partly in terms of skill*
7-21
NONSTANDARD WORK
• Nonstandard work (“precarious
employment”) more common for women
than for men
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• Includes part-time work, part-year work,
limited-term contract employment,
multiple job-holding, etc.
• Involves less job security, lower pay, and
fewer fringe benefits (e.g., pension
plans)*
7-22
EARNINGS
•
Women typically earn less than men
•
i.
Explanations for pay gap:
Gender differences in characteristics that
influence pay rates (e.g., education, effort)
ii.
Gender differences in type of work done
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iii. Discrimination (both gender and statistical
discrimination)
iv. General devaluation of “women’s work”*
7-23
RATIO OF WOMEN’S TO MEN’S
EARNINGS, CANADA, 1976–2006
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7-24
GENDER, BIRTHPLACE,
AND COLOUR
• Is an intersection of gender inequality with
inequalities stemming from birthplace and colour
• Women not born in Canada or those who are
members of visible minority face additional
hurdles:
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 More likely to be employed in low-skill
occupations
 Typically earn less than Canadian-born
counterparts (except for Aboriginal women)
 Overall, earn less per week than women who
are not members of visible minority groups*
7-25
WOMEN’S GROUPS:
ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
• Women historically excluded from politics: Any
activity that mobilizes people to make their views
known, press for change, and achieve objectives
• Women’s movement: Social movement aimed at
improving conditions of women
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• Lobbying efforts of women’s movement since
World War I include:
 Voting rights
 Gender equality in the workplace
 Fairer division of assets in divorce cases
 Programs to combat violence against women*
7-26
WOMEN’S GROUPS:
ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
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•
Lobbying efforts limited by:
i.
Reliance of women’s groups on state funding
(gives rise to pressure to compromise their role
as critics of government)
ii.
Consensus building approach (is a hindrance
in a political culture that requires quick
responses)
iii. Heterogeneity of women’s groups (is obstacle
to coalition-building)*
7-27
WOMEN’S GROUPS:
ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
• Efforts further limited by change in interaction
between women’s groups and governments,
which has been caused by:
 Electoral success of more conservative parties
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 Federal government’s calls for economic restraint
and increased provincial/territorial and privatesector responsibility
 Dissatisfaction within women’s advocacy groups
on agendas (criticized for reflecting concerns of
white, largely middle class women)*
7-28
GENDER IN POLITICS
•
Explanations for women’s underrepresentation in
politics:
1. Sex-role stereotypes (women more familyoriented)
2. “Male” political culture (hostile to women’s
participation)
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3. “Gatekeeping” function of political parties (tend to
place women in contests with poor chance of
winning)
4. Insufficient resources (necessary for winning
nominations and mount publicity campaigns)
5. Clash between political and family life*
7-29
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NUMBERS AND
PERCENTAGES OF
FEDERAL POLITICAL
REPRESENTATIVES
WHO ARE WOMEN,
CANADA, FEBRUARY
2008
7-30
GENDER IN POLITICS AND
REPRESENTATION FOR
WOMEN
• Representation by women not same as
representation for women
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• Most Canadian female legislators are white,
middle-class, publicly heterosexual, and welleducated:
 Concern that these women do not and cannot
speak for Aboriginal women, women of colour,
elderly women, poor women, lesbians, and other
marginalized groups*
7-31
PUBLIC POLICY AND
GENDER INEQUALITY
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•
Currently no government policy targets gender
inequality in politics
•
But are two areas of policy development that
bear on gender inequality in the labour force:
i.
Employment equity, including affirmative action
(create opportunities for historically
disadvantaged groups in labour force)
ii. Pay equity (as expressed in principal of equal
pay for work of equal value
•
To date, limited coverage and impact of
policies*
7-32
CORRECTING THE
BALANCE: WOMEN IN
POLITICS
• Could increase female representation in politics
by:
 Having political parties display good intentions
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 Reducing economic barriers to winning
nominations and running for office
 Recognizing family needs and responsibilities,
and the social roles of women…*
7-33
CORRECTING THE
BALANCE: WOMEN IN
POLITICS
(Could increase female representation in politics
by…)
 Weakening or eliminating the gate-keeping
tradition
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 Engaging in affirmative action measures, and
 Centralizing party decision-making to give elites
more control over women’s representation**
7-34