GENDER SOCIOLOGY

Prof. Vida Kanopiene, Department of Social Policy

Faculty of Social policy

Office: Ateities 20, room V-240; Tel.: (8 5) 271 4715

E-mail: vidaka@mruni.lt

I. Introduction

How do we describe ourselves?• One of the most fundamental ways is to describe

oneself in terms of biological sex. It goes beyond description of one’s anatomy – the others, even without having seen you, can drive certain conclusions about you – what clothes you wear, the way you express yourself, and the various activities you undertake.

• If you are a woman – how people will describe you ? … Most expect that you …

• If you are a man – how people will describe you? … Most expect that you …

A biological given, sex is used as the basis for constructing a social category that we call gender (i.e., masculinity or femininity).

It may be true that

few of socially defined characteristics of your respective gender describe you accurately, but this is perhaps less important than the fact that people believe these assumptions to be true or appropriate

and that they act on their beliefs, treating men and women differently.

This differentiation occurs on only on interpersonal level between individuals but also on a structural level within a given society:

• Every society prescribes traits, behaviors, and patterns of social interaction for its members on a basis of sex. These prescriptions are embedded in the institutions of society: in its economy, political system, educational systems, family forms, etc.

• This institutionalized pattern of gender differentiation is referred to as a society’s sex/gender system, and an examination of sex/gender systems, as well as consequences for women and for men forms the major focus of our course.

As you will learn, sex/gender systems vary historically and cross-culturally, but each includes at least these interrelated components:

• The social division of labour in which specific tasks are allocated on the basis of sex

• The social regulation of behavior of individuals on the basis of sex.

In every society a sex/gender system functions as a system of social stratification, that is,

the extent to which women and men are valued in society, and the traits of their behavior depend on their biological sex.

Some facts about gender inequality

• It is widely estimated that women make up the majority of the world’s poor — owing to unequal access to resources and opportunities, discriminatory land and inheritance laws, and unequal distribution of household resources. 7 out of 10 of the world’s hungry are women and girls.

• More than two-thirds of the world’s unpaid work is done by women — the equivalent of $11 trillion or almost 50% of world GDP, according to a global UNDP study from 1995. The informal slogan of the Decade of Women was “women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10% of the world’s income and own 1% of the means of production.”

• Women are missing from poverty statistics that measure poverty by household, rather than individual: systems of national accounts do not include unpaid domestic work as “productive.”

• According to a 2004 report by ILO (reaffirmed in 2006), women make up some 60% of the world’s working poor, people who work but do not earn enough to lift themselves above the $1 per day poverty line.

Some facts about gender inequality

• Women in the US earned only 77 cents for every $1 earned by a man in 2005, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. In the developing world, the ratio is just 73 cents, according to World Bank estimates. For women of colour, the gap is even worse — African American women earn 63 cents and Latinas 53 cents (IWPR 2004).

• Two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls and 75% of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are women, reports the Millennium Campaign in 2007.

• The global average proportion of women in Parliament in 2007 is just 17.3%

• Women account for less than 1% of directors on corporate boards in Japan.

• Nearly 60% of the reasons given by women in Latin American and the Caribbean for either not entering or leaving the job market relate to their care-giving obligations, according to a 2007 statement from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The curse aims to give a knowledge about the sociological approach to the study of gender, providing an introduction to feminist theory and showing the differential treatment of women and men in various societies and cultures.

Students are expected to gain an increased understanding of the changes of social status of Women and Gender equal opportunities

policies in EU.

Main topics:

• Sociological perspectives on Gender. • Feminist critiques of sociology. Feminist

theories (Liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, Radical/revolutionary feminist theory, Socialist feminism).

• Sex differences, the interaction of nature and environment. The concept of Gender and relationships between gender / sex. Early-childhood socialisation, sex stereotypes and Gender roles.

• Gender and social division of labour. Women and reproductive work.

Main topics:

• Gender and paid employment, sex segregation of the labour market. The economic inequality of women and men.

• Gender and a family (Power and the division of labour in the families. The interrelation of women’s and men’s professional and family roles).

• Gender and education (A historical overview of women and men in education. Gender, education and power).

• Women’s rights: recognition and implementation. The women’s movement in historical perspective. Gender equal opportunities policies in EU.

Requirements

• Students are allocated 3 ECTS credit points for the work done, which includes contact hours (lectures and seminars – 32 hours) and independent (individual) work - reading and study of course materials and participation in the discussions at seminars; writing of paper (7-8 pages of actual text, cover page etc not included, line space 1,5, font size 12).

• The assessment of student’s learning outcomes will be based on the evaluation of paper (essay).

PAPER (ESSAY)

Gender equality issues in …. : the case of ….

(Analysis, comparison and evaluation of socio-economic position of women and men in …. (labour market / family / education / decision making / politics)

Requirements to be followed when preparing the paper:

• The paper should be submitted on the A4 format paper, one-sided, 1,5 line spacing, font size 12, with top, bottom, left and right margins being 25 mm. The volume – 7-8 pages of text, excluding the cover page, the list of references and the annexes.

• The cover page should include the author’s full name, affiliation institution (university), title of the paper.

• The paper should have a shorts introduction, defining research objectives and methods of analysis.

• The body of the paper may be divided into chapters. The paper must contain conclusions at the end.

• All cited references, including the sources of statistical data, must be listed and, vice versa, the list of references must include only those cited in the text. List of references at the end of the paper must be given in alphabetical order.

• The paper should be presented at the seminar.

Obligatory literature (given by Instructor):

• Feminist Theory . RESEARCH STARTERS. ACADEMIC TOPIC OVERVIEWS. (5 pages)

• The Women’s Rights Movement. RESEARCH STARTERS. ACADEMIC TOPIC OVERVIEWS. (5 pages)

• Gender Socialization. RESEARCH STARTERS. ACADEMIC TOPIC OVERVIEWS. (5 pages)

• Family Gender Roles. RESEARCH STARTERS. ACADEMIC TOPIC OVERVIEWS. (5 pages)

• Gender & Stratification: The Effects of Social Marginalization. RESEARCH STARTERS. ACADEMIC TOPIC OVERVIEWS. (4 pages)

Supplementary literatureTextbooks / manuals (available at MRU library)• Chafetz, Janet Saltzman. Handbook of the sociology of gender, -

  New York (N.Y.): Springer, 2006 • Healey J.F. Race, ethnicity, gender, and class : the sociology of

group conflict and change .• Thousand Oaks (Calif.) London New Delhi : Pine Forge Press, 2006

• Healey, Joseph F. Race, ethnicity, gender, and class :the sociology

of group conflict and change, - Thousand Oaks (Calif.) ; London ; New Delhi : Pine Forge Press, 2006

• Introducing gender and women's studies / edited by Diane Richardson and Victoria

• Robinson. - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008 • Mac an Ghaill, Mirtin. Gender, culture, and society :contemporary

femininities and masculinities , -  Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Supplementary literatureTextbooks / manuals (available at MRU library)• Marchbank J., Letherby G. Introduction to gender social science

perspectives. Harlow• Pearson Longman 2007 • Motiejunaite_ A. Female employment, gender roles, and attitudes :

the Baltic countries in a• broader context . - Stockholm University, 2008. (Acta Universitatis

Stockholmiensis. Stockholm studies in sociology) • Multiple meanings of gender equality :a critical frame analysis of

gender policies in Europe /edited by Mieke Verlo, -   Budapest ; New York (N.Y.) : CEU Press, 2007

• The SAGE handbook of gender and communication /edited by Bonnie J. Dow and Julia T. Wood..

•  London : Sage Publications, 2006 00

Women in EU: statistics and policies

• Gender mainstreaming of employment policies - A comparative review of thirty European countries. - Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2008 http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/publications/2007/ke8107103_en.pdf

• Reconcilation of work and private life: A comparative review of thirty European countries. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2005 http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/publications/publication_en.cfm?id=51

• Report on equality between women and men - European Commission , Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs . 2009

http://bookshop.europa.eu/eubookshop/publicationDetails.action?flag=keyPublication&page=2&pageMetaData.fullListSize=350&pageMetaData.objectsPerPage=20&pubuid=10116927&offset=36

• The gender pay gap – Origins and policy responses. A comparative review of 30 European countries. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2006

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/publications/publication_en.cfm?id=87

Women in EU: statistics and policies

• The life of women and men in Europe. A statistical portrait. 2008 edition. - European Commission , Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs . 2008 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-80-07-135

• Women and men in decision-making 2007. Analysis of the situation and trends. men - European Commission , Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs . 2007 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?pager.offset=50&catId=738&langId=en&furtherPubs=no

• Women in European politics – time for action. European Commission , Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs . 2009 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?pager.offset=50&catId=738&langId=en&furtherPubs=no

Women in Lithuania (available at the Department of Social Policy):

• Kanopiene V. Women in the Lithuanian labour market. - M.E.Domsch. D.H.Ladwig,

E.Tenten (Eds.) Gender equality in Eastern European countries. Frankfurt am Main-Berlin- Bern-Bruxelles-New York-Oxford-Wien: Peter Lang , 2003

Kanopiene V. Professional and social mobility of Lithuanian women. -

Vilnius: UNDP, 1995

• Women in Lithuania, Vilnius: Women’s Issues Information Centre, 1999, p.62-79. ISBN 9986-9244-9-9

• Women in Transition: Voices from Lithuania. Albany: State University of New York Press, Albany, 1998, p. 68-80. ISBN 0-7914-3811-2

Web sites:

• The Multimedia Report ‘Progress of the World’s women 2008/2009 http://www.unifem.org/progress/2008/whoAnswersToWomen.html

• UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Gender statistics http://www.unece.org/stats/gender/

Web sites:

• Lithuanian Department of Statistics http://www.stat.gov.lt/lt/ • Women's Issues Information Centre http://www.lygus.lt/index_e.htm • Vilnius university Gender Studies Centre

http://www.moterys.lt/index.php?id=378 • The Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman http://www.lygybe.lt/ • Center for Equality Advancement http://www.gap.lt • Links: Gender studies http://www.gap.lt/en/studies • Links: Gender Equality and Development

http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1375&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Thank you for attention!