Gender and intersectionality

Lecture #10

University of Hong Kong SOCI1004, Dr. Ioana Sendroiu

 Plan for today
[Read for this week: ASE Gender and Sexuality; DC ch 5]

> Sex versus gender

> Gender strati ication
> Intersectionality
> Sexualities
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Sex versus gender
 Gender and sex

• Sex: biological di erences that distinguish male from female.

• Gender: cultural or social distinctions and structural positions that are
expected or regarded as appropriate for members of each sex
• Socially constructed; often hierarchical
• We expect sex and gender to “match”
• E.g., Male —> masculine appearance, interests, and behaviors
• But our de initions of masculinity and femininity can change across time
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What does this
picture show?
 Gender roles: Behavioral norms assumed to
accompany one’s status as male, female, or other
Some examples…
 The social construction of gender

• Meanings are created in social interaction

• Gender isn’t something that we “are.” It’s something that we “do.”
• The gender binary is just one type of gender system
• Can you think of examples of non-binary gender expression?
 Gender role socialization

• Evidence shows that gender roles have more to do with social status than
biology.
• Gender roles are learned through gender role socialization
• Family: Kids may be treated di erently depending on gender; children
observe parents enacting gender roles
• Schools: Teachers interact more with boys than girls, di erent
expectations for behavior & achievement
• Media representations
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 Gender strati ication
DEFINITION Unequal distribution of wealth, income, status and power
between men and women
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 Gender strati ication
From sexism to the patriarchy

• Sexism: the belief that one sex is innately superior to the other, though
typically against women
• Often used as justi ication for gender strati ication / patriarchy
• Patriarchy (“Rule of Fathers”): a form of social organization involving the
subordination of femininity to masculinity
• Patriarchy can hurt men too: Emotion expression; family life – seen as
feminine
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• Gender and politics
• As of 1 January 2023, there are
31 countries where 34 women
serve as Heads of State and/or
Government. At the current
rate, gender equality in the
highest positions of power will
not be reached for another 130
years.
• Only 26.5 per cent of
parliamentarians in single or
lower houses are women, up
from 11 per cent in 1995
• Gender and employment
• Labour force participation rate
47% for women, 72% for men
• Women globally are paid about
20 per cent less than men
 Institutional inequality

• Examples:
• Having your authority questioned.
• Being interrupted in meetings.
• Expectations to be nice and never complain.
• Unwanted sexual advances.
 Why do women earn less than men?
Understanding the gender pay gap

• Gender is a multi-level social structure —> gender and its consequences

for earnings are:
• individual (internalize by socialization etc.)
• interactional (through norms, expectations)
• institutional (hiring, raises, promotions, etc.)
 Gender inequality in earnings
Other explanations

• Sex-segregated occupations
• Gender-typing: Designation of occupations as either male or female, with
female jobs receiving lower pay and status than male jobs
• Discrimination
• Overt: Illegal but some evidence it persists
• Glass ceiling: promotion barrier preventing women from rising to high levels
in their career
• Glass escalator: men in traditionally female jobs rise more rapidly to higher
levels than women
Intersectionality
 Privilege

• Privilege: the dominant group’s experience is considered normative and

this is reinforced by everyday experiences
• We all have it, in di erent ways!
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 Locating intersectionality
Patricia Hill Collins

• Intersectionality as “a knowledge project whose raison d'être lies in its

attentiveness to power relations and social inequalities”
• Speci ically, “intersectionality references the critical insight that race,
class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, ability, and age operate not as
unitary, mutually exclusive entities, but as reciprocally constructing
phenomena that in turn shape complex social inequalities.”
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• Includes three interdependent • “intersectionality as critical
concerns: praxis that informs social justice
projects”
• “intersectionality as a ield of
study that is situated within the
power relations that it studies”
• “intersectionality as an
analytical strategy that provides
new angles of vision on social
phenomena”
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 Feminist (and con lict) theory

• Feminism: the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

• Feminists argue that:
• Gender structures social relations, and there are power di erentials by gender.
• Gendered division of labor
• Devalues work done in the home
• Economic dependence of women – lack resources, lack power
• Feminists propose a number of solutions
• Resources, choice, and respect
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 Intersectionality theory
As a critique of feminism

• Not as simple as gender alone

• Intersection of gender with race, class, ability, sexual orientation, etc.
• Some women are more/less privileged than other women
• E.g., double jeopardy (Frances Beal)
• Feminism criticized for not always taking this into account
 Or: race and class
A di erent Venn diagram

• Williams Julius Wilson: class important in explaining the persistence of

racial inequality
• E.g., Economic gap between a luent and poor African Americans has
grown over time.
• Critique: Does not give enough attention to ongoing discrimination and
racist beliefs.
• Answer: It’s race and class (and other privileges) that all interact to
specify an individual’s experiences
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Sexualities
 The creation of sexuality

• Khan: Sexuality is jointly determined by biology and environment

• Hubbard: Sexuality isn’t “natural” – we’re taught to express it in socially
acceptable ways
• Meaning of sexuality changes over time and place
 Intersectional sexualities

• Notions of sexuality rooted in culture have political consequences

• ex: Sara Baartman
•
Intersectional sexualities

• Notions of sexuality rooted in

culture have political
consequences
• ex: Sara Baartman
http://www.mtv.com/episodes/a1nh73/decoded-
the-weird-history-of-asian-sex-stereotypes-
season-3-ep-305
 The social control of sexuality

• The way we enforce normative behaviors through social interaction,

values, worldviews, and laws.
• Sex education
• Abstinence-only sex education vs. comprehensive sex education
 YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION #10

Pick 5 songs with lyrics that pertain to gender. What messages about gender can
you identify in the songs? Describe the ways women and men are represented,
giving speci ic lyrics as examples. Do you think men and women are portrayed in
positive or negative ways? What kinds of masculinity and femininity are
portrayed? Do any of the songs inspire you? Challenge you? O end you? Explain
your answers and cite speci ic lyrics when answering these questions.
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