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Weslee Mok
Professor Ortega
Sociology 001
8 December 2016
On Gender: Witt Ch. 12 Discussion
1. Society has been placing the importance of labels on gender because it provides in and out
groups that would allow individuals to fit into a certain group or find it easier to identify
someone. We may even consider this a type of social institution; after all they are a unit of people
that work together like clockwork for what they believe in, even though those beliefs may
conflict with basic human rights that belong to everyone at times. The way society has
constructed its understanding of gender has evolved through times, but still holds social norms
that make the gender spectrum quite narrow. This causes issues within groups that may not fit
into these applications and requirements to belong to one gender category. Those that do not fit
this group will be outed most of the time if not inflicted hate and discrimination. Masculine and
feminine aspects are projected clearly since we were children; we are taught that boys play with
cars and monsters while girls play with dolls and cooking sets. People often believe that gender
is what one is born with and will always stay that way-- that is not the case since nothing about
ones physical state equates with their lifestyle, personality, and being. These gender norms have
no meaning and are merely a means to allow people to label something or someone for their
convenience and preference.
2. According to Witt, feminism is defined as the belief for equal rights for women in the social,
economic, and political spectrum. There are three types of waves when it comes to feminisms
development; the first wave entails feminist movements appearing through the Seneca Falls
convention in 1848, which fought for womens suffrage rights, this battle holding a major change
in history with womens rights towards political and legal equality. During this era the womens
rights movement was quite strong and victorious, but began to dwindle by the 20th century. This
leads to the second wave, which contained multiple female writers outrightly expressing their
disdain for their forced lifestyles at home as caretakers for the household and child rearing jobs
that drove many to mental illness and self harm. Betty Friedan was a prominent figure during

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this time in the 1970s with her book The Feminine Mystique which was a compelling read on the
perspective of women and their struggle to find meaning in life due to them being forced to be
the perfect housewife. The third wave described the 1980s as yet another prominent shift in the
way feminism appealed to women of the new generations who thought of it to be far too stiff and
outdated. The opportunities for women in society grow as the times go on, placing the
significance of social norms within a certain period of time. Stark differences in the movements
individuals regarding their sexuality are to be noted, with some women being more open with
their sexuality and not reserved to only heterosexual preferences or relationships.
When feminists regard topics such as sexism and institutional discrimination, we must look to
society for the answers as to why we would have such discussions in the first place. It seems to
be the underlying factor of gender norms as we discussed in the first question, which places a
huge gap within truly understanding a gender versus listening to the crowd. Older generations
with their societal norms have been seeing women as the same through their eyes, it is the same
with people nowadays. What society and this institution makes out of women is absorbed into
the minds of the generation that belong to it, which proves the point to the concept of glass
ceiling, which is the unjust discrimination of someone who is highly qualified for an opportunity
but is rejected because of who and what they are.
3. Unfortunately, gender inequality is still evidently seen within the job occupation spectrum,
where you can see men work in more masculine fields such as engineers or firefighters,
whereas the women are kept in occupations that would suit the societal norm for them such as
childcare or secretarial work. According to the statistics provided by Witt, it is clear that men
earn more despite holding similar if not the same positions as some women in certain fields, such
as sports or marketing. Comparing the amount of individuals in 2013, it came to the amount that
men earned a median of $50,033 while women earned a median of $39,157. These two are both
full-time working classes, yet the significance is so extreme because of the glass ceiling coming
into play, stopping clearly qualified and capable women from entering certain occupations
because of discrimination towards their gender. Depending on the occupation, the wage gap
percentages reached within the 60-90% range differences. If a woman were to work in an
occupation that was primarily all male, she would have a difficult time gaining rank as well as

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raising her wage, while the opposite of a male worker being in a primarily female occupation
would not have as much difficulty. What we could change about this vast difference is
completely tear down the glass ceiling; without it we would have so many talented and skilled
individuals working the fields they desire without being ridiculed or judged, and evidence
enough from recent events shows that we are nowhere near that. The glass ceiling is created by
those that seek to give themselves more opportunities while limiting those who are different from
them, and that is something that should not be condoned.
4. Women who work second-shift are those that handle their occupation while also dealing
with the household and childcare. Its a common sight among women nowadays to hold this title,
and are just as caring towards their children if not more because of their devotion to them despite
being busy with work as well to maintain the house. It is actually quite simple to culturally
equate the second shift, we must make it so that it is not reserved for only women, but extends to
men as well. There are a prolific amount of cases of men who hold this second shift title, often
being a single parent demands for this type of endurance and handling, but it isnt seen as much
as women. If it were more normalized for men to also be caretakers and work, then it wouldnt
be as stigmatized to have children or to judge women who may need to take time off work
because of pregnancy or childcare. Witt had explained with his research and statistics that men
arent often seen as household caretakers and rather simply household owners, and rarely are
stay-at-home fathers. This is most likely due to social norms once again where society perceives
men who do not go out and work and instead take care of children at home to be docile and
feminine, which is not the case whatsoever. If we made it more normal to have men work at
home most of the time and being working class individuals outside, then it would equate the
difference by a large gap.