Gender: Why Does It Matter?

Introduction

• Gender varies across cultures.
  • Western ideas: gender as a binary (masculinity vs. femininity).
  • Other cultures: gender as fluid or a spectrum, e.g., Native American Two Spirit.
• Universally, no society without a concept of gender.
• Why is gender important?

Theories of Sociology on Gender

1. Structural Functional Theory

   • Human behavior as part of systems that organize society.
   • Gender organizes society into complementary roles (e.g., men as providers, women as caregivers).
   • Talcott Parsons: Boys and girls socialized into complementary traits.
     • Boys: Instrumental qualities (confidence, competitiveness).
     • Girls: Expressive qualities (empathy, sensitivity).
   • Criticisms:
     • Based on a narrow, Western perspective.
     • Assumes a binary gender system.
     • Fails to account for non-traditional family structures.
     • Ignores personal/social costs of rigid gender roles.

2. Symbolic Interaction Theory

   • Gender as part of everyday life ("doing gender").
   • Gender roles: societal definitions of how genders should think/behave.
   • "Doing gender" through clothing, body language, interactions.
   • Gender roles linked to power distribution in society.
   • Limitations: Focuses on micro-level, missing broader inequality patterns.

3. Social Conflict Theory

   • Gender as a structural system of power/privilege (patriarchy).
   • Institutional and societal practices reinforce male dominance.
   • Intersectionality: Race, class, gender, sexual orientation intersect, creating varied disadvantages.
   • Gender wage gap example highlights stacked disadvantages.

Feminism and Gender Theory

• Feminism: Advocacy for gender equality, opposing patriarchy and sexism.
  • Goals: Eliminate gender stratification, expand choices, end violence, promote sexual freedom.
• Schools of Feminist Thought:
  1. Liberal Feminism: Focus on removing legal/cultural barriers for equality.
  2. Socialist Feminism: Capitalism as source of patriarchy, seeks economic equality.
  3. Radical Feminism: Calls for elimination of gender as a concept, clashes with other feminist views, especially on transgender rights.

Conclusion

• Three key sociological theories discussed: Structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and social conflict theory.
• Integration of feminist theories to understand gender power dynamics.
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