Gender Explanations

Question 1

Greg Laden
Natural Basis for Gender Inequality
(malestream)

Answer 1

Women are the weaker sex:
-their reproductive functions and ability to have children make them better suited for life inside the home

Biological and emotional differences:
-because women can have children, they’re biologically programmed to want them and are more suited to care for them

Question 2

Barron & Norris
Dual Labour Market

Answer 2

Men - Primary labour market
-high paid
-full time

Women - Secondary labour market
- low paid
-part time
-in this labour market due to family commitments

Question 3

Fawcett Society
Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Answer 3

Women are excluded from the highest levels of organisations (vertical segregation) - full time working women earn 20% less than men and up to 40% in some sectors

For women there’s a constant threat of poverty, as they have unequal access to high paid work and poorer pensions

Question 4

Lyonette & Crompton
(2015)

Answer 4

Despite some changes in society, domestic labour remains crucial to the process of ‘doing gender’

As a groups, men are able to deny women access to many positions in society, such as certain occupations and senior jobs

Question 5

Pierre Bourdieu
Symbolic Power & Gender Inequality

Answer 5

There is an assumption of male superiority in society, which leads to women in a lower status to men

Sexism in society is an example of symbolic power

The ideas and values of patriarchy are imposed on women, without any consciousness of this happening

Patriarchy occurs through the ideas and habits of daily life, which control the behaviour of females

Symbolic power is therefore a cause of social inequality between genders

Question 6

Fredrich Engles
Patriarchy & Capitalism
(marxist)

Answer 6

Capitalism ensures women’s subservience to men

Patriarchy has its origin in private property

Capitalism intensifies patriarchy by concentrating wealth into the hands of a small number of men

Capitalism gives wealth and power to men as wage earners

Capitalism defines women as consumers and men as producers

Question 7

Karl Marx
Women as a Reserve Army of Labour
(marxist)

Answer 7

Women form part of the reserve army of labour

This reduces workers demand for higher wages, by having a supply of low cost labour

Capitalists recruit extra workers from the reserve army (women) when needed, this keeps wages low and competition for jobs high

Question 8

Catherine Hakim
Rational Choice Theory

Answer 8

Feminist theories have misled us

Women are not victims of patriarchy in public or private sphere but instead they have made rational choices and decided not to give priority to employment

There are gender differences in attitudes towards work - women place less priority on work than men

This accounts for gender inequality