Unit 9 Introduction
Reading: Chapter 10 in Macionis, pp. 271 - 297
Unit 9 takes up the topic of gender, or the socially constructed representations of sex. One of the principles of modern industrial society is that it is organized as a meritocracy, and that people are rewarded and punished for the decisions they make and what they do, not who they are. While countries like the United States have advanced this system of organization substantially, there remains a lot of evidence that we have not fully achieved the goal of a society based on merit. This week, we look at stratification by gender, and will see some of the ways "who you are" still influences your life chances.
 Fig. 9-1: Women's Water Polo, Marin County, California |
Gender is an ascribed characteristic, but virtually every society is stratified by gender. Males get more privileges and benefits than females. In Unit 9 we will examine some explanations as to why this is the case. We will consider how men and women are different, how institutions act as agents of socialization to create a gender identity, some of the ramifications of gender stratification, various theoretical perspectives on gender, and how women have organized into social movements to achieve gender equity.
We will see how attitudes and practices towards women, and the proper roles for women in modern society, have changed over the years, and continue to change today. And we will introduce the idea of social movements, a way of consciously instigating social change, and one of the reasons why women's roles have changed.
Unit 9 will cause you to question your own sense of privilege (or lack of privilege) and realize that many of the things we take for granted are actually prescribed by the way our society constructs gender identity.
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