Three types of inequality that exist in our society are: sexism, androcentrism, and subordination. How are these different?
Sexism is the favoring of one sex over the other.
- Example: People are more likely to hire a male over a female even if they both have the same skills for a job.
Androcentrism is the granting of higher status, respect, value, reward, and power to the masculine compared to the feminine.
- Example: Women wear pants, but men don't wear skirts
Subordination is placing women into positions that make them dependent on men.
- Example: Nursing is not just feminine and female. It also puts nurses into a subordinate relationship with doctors.
Why do parents tend to “police” female children when they perform masculinity less than they do male children who perform femininity?
Because femininity is undervalued
What are some of the ways that women balance their masculine and feminine performance and/or characteristics? How might this balance differ depending on their social identity (e.g., race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.)?
Serena williams wearing dresses
Cheerleading encourages women to embrace both masculine and feminine.
What are the consequences for women who fail to achieve the “right” balance of femininity and masculinity according to our society?
they are aggressively policed or are seen as weak
What is the difference between benevolent sexism and hostile sexism? How are the two types of sexism related?
benevolent sexism is not overly violent or
threatening
hostile sexism uses threats and
harassment
femininity is undervalued and masculinity is more
easier to lose and harder to gain and so has a hegemony
How is hostile sexism and/or misogyny both an individual problem and a social problem? How is examining it as a social problem lead to a different type of analysis?
Women experience benevolent sexism first when they refuse to subordinate; they become a target of hostile sexism.
What three types of patriarchal bargains do women make? What are some of the limits to each of these strategies?
Emphasized Feminity: (Trading one's power for the protection and support of another man)
Emphasized Sameness: (being one of the guys)
Gender equivocation: (using masculinity and feminity strategically)
How do our society’s ideas about femininity put women in a double bind?
A woman who is a CEO has failed as a woman.
Both women and men are constrained by the binary gender system. How do the constraints they face differ systematically?
In the gender binary system, the feminine side is devalued, while the masculine side is presumed to be not just different but better than the feminine side, which leads to inequalities between men and women and the subordination of women to men
Men are harmed by hegemonic masculinities
women are harmed by androcentricism, sexism, and surbodination.