Midterm Flashcards
(126 cards)
Which forces have shaped the contemporary experiences of women workers?
Social, political, and economic forces
The diversity of women’s work experiences include…
- managerial, low-wage labor, professional, and service
- paid and unpaid work, “second shift”
- production and consumption, globalization and migration
What are the issues affecting women in the workforce?
Equal pay, childcare, glass ceiling, “old boys” network, and sexual harassment
What is the second shift?
According to Arlie Hochschild, the second shift is defined as “social science research indicates that to combine work and family life during the course of just one year, women must work the equivalent of an extra month of twenty-four work days compared to men.”
The extra duty amounts to about 15 hours of more work for women each week than men.
What is the traditional “Leave it to Beaver” family? Is it still the norm?
A male breadwinner, a housewife, and one or more children. It is no longer the norm and only represents less than 10% of all families.
True or false: Labor-force participation of women has experienced dramatic growth since the 1960s.
True.
Women’s rate of participation grew from __% (1890) to just over __% (2000).
18%; 60%
By 2000, what was the percentage of all women with small children younger than one year who were in the labor force?
58%
According to the book, what is a paradigm?
A paradigm tells us what is there and what is not, what is to be taken seriously and what is not, what are data and what are not.
True or false: Women’s roles were defined in terms of the family (wife and mother), private and invisible (management of household).
True
Which type of roles do men perform?
Task-oriented, public, and visible roles
True or false: Until the 1970s, the study of work studied both men and women at work
False. It only studied men at work
True or false: work done outside the market economy is not measured or recorded (i.e., home-based work)
True. If not recorded or measured, it is invisible and therefore has no economic value.
If home-based work were measured, the work of housewives in America alone would amount to approximately ___ of the U.S. GNP
One-fourth
True or false: women who work display many psychological distress symptoms and feel incompetent and unfulfilled. They state that they would never work even if they didn’t need to.
False. They have fewer psychological distress symptoms than women who don’t work, and are found to be more assertive, more involved in the family’s financial-planning, and receive greater respect from their family
According to the book, what two types of women are there?
Career primary
Career family
According to the “ladies’ choice” theory, the explanation for income inequality and sex segregation is the result of…
Women’s “preferences” for “supportive” nurturing occupations such as nursing and elementary school teaching.
To suggest that women’s inferior economic position results from choices they make is to identify them as…
“Victims by choice”
What is the superwoman?
The woman who can
- Make a full, nourishing breakfast for her wonderful well-dressed children
- Then go to work and chair a meeting of the board of trustees in the morning, and meet with new clients during the course of the afternoon
- After work, she comes home to cook and serve a gourmet dinner for her family
- She is a woman who entertains in her spotless house, and has a warm, nonproblematic relationship with her husband
The superwoman model is in part the creation of the media in the ___ and ___
1980s; 1990s
What is wrong with the idea of “superwoman”?
It implies that only exceptional women can integrate work and family life, and perpetuates the traditional notion that household labor is women’s work.
True or false: Religious and legal institutions convey patriarchal message that women’s role is primarily that of wife and mother
True
True or false: Women’s lives and their work differed drastically depending on their race, class, and marital status.
True
Which type of work did women have to do during the civilization period?
Cooking, cleaning, caring for children, spinning, weaving; making lace, soap, candles, and shoes