Page 206 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 9: Status of Women

Additionally, with reliable birth control, young men and women had more reason to delay marriage. Notes
This meant that the marriage market available to any one women who “delay[ed] marriage to pursue
a career...would not be as depleted. Thus, the Pill could have influenced women’s careers, college
majors, professional degrees, and the age at marriage.”
Specifically in China, birth control has become a necessity of the job for women that migrate from
rural to urban China. With little job options left, they become sex workers and having some form of
birth control helps to ensure their safety. However, the government of China does not regulate
prostitution in China, making it more difficult for women to gain access to birth control or to demand
that the men use condoms. This doesn’t allow for the women to be fully protected, since their health
and safety is in jeopardy when they disobey.
Gender roles in parenting and marriage
Sigmund Freud suggested that biology determines gender identity through identification with either
the mother or father. While some people agree with Freud, others argue that the development of the
gendered self is not completely determined by biology based around one’s relationship to the penis,
but rather the interactions that one has with the primary caregiver(s).
According to the non-Freudian view, gender roles develop through internalization and identification
during childhood. From birth, parents interact differently with children depending on their sex, and
through this interaction parents can instill different values or traits in their children on the basis of
what is normative for their sex. This internalization of gender norms can be seen through the example
of which types of toys parents typically give to their children (“feminine” toys such as dolls often
reinforce interaction, nurturing, and closeness, “masculine” toys such as cars or fake guns often
reinforce independence, competitiveness, and aggression). Education also plays an integral role in
the creation of gender norms.
Gender roles permeate throughout life and help to structure parenting and marriage, especially in
relation to work in and outside the home.
Attempts in equalizing household work
Despite the increase in women in the labor force since the mid-1900s, traditional gender roles are still
prevalent in American society. Women are usually expected to put their educational and career goals
on hold in order to raise children, while their husbands work. However, there are women who choose
to work as well as fulfill their gender role of cleaning the house and taking care of the children.
Despite the fact that different households may divide chores more evenly, there is evidence that
supports that women have retained the primary caregiver role within familial life despite contributions
economically. This evidence suggest that women who work outside the home often put an extra 18
hours a week doing household or childcare related chores as opposed to men who average 12 minutes
a day in childcare activities. In addition to a lack of interest in the home on the part of some men,
some women may bar men from equal participation in the home which may contribute to this disparity.
Gender inequalities in relation to technology
Although the current generation is overall technology savvy, men typically are more skillful in
technology. Surveys show that men rate their technological skills in activities such as basic computer
functions and online participatory communication higher than women.
Gender stereotypes
Cultural stereotypes are engrained in both men and women and these stereotypes are a possible
explanation for gender inequality and the resulting gendered wage disparity. Women have
traditionally been viewed as being caring and nurturing and are designated to occupations which
require such skills. While these skills are culturally valued, they were typically associated with
domesticity, so occupations requiring these same skills are not economically valued. Men have
traditionally been viewed as the breadwinner or the worker, so jobs held by men have been historically
economically valued and occupations predominated by men continue to be economically valued and
pay higher wages.

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