Chapter Ten: Gender Inequality
Discuss the difference between the biological and social bases for gender roles.
Feedback:Chromosomal and hormonal differences make females and males physically different. Hormones are often
blamed for aggressive traits in males; however, there are only slight differences in the level of hormones between
girls and boys before puberty, yet researchers continue to find differences in aggression between young girls and
boys. Biological differences between women and men are only averages; e.g., although males are on average
more aggressive than females, greater difference may be found among males than between males and females.
Gender is constantly changing. Femininity and masculinity are not uniformly shaped from genetic makeup.
Instead, they are modeled differently (a) from one culture to another, (b) within any one culture over time, (c)
over the course of all men’s and women’s lives, and (d) between and among different groups of women and men,
depending on class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. Despite widespread cultural variation in women’s and men’s
activities and roles, every known society makes gender a major category for organizing social life.
Source ID: 3.0.1
Learning Objective: LO 10.1: Understand the concepts of sex and gender.
Topic/Concept: The Difference Between Sex and Gender
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q10.2.52
Discuss the research done in the 1970s regarding gender roles in children’s literature. What were the findings?
How do they compare to today?
Feedback:Weitzman et al. (1972) conducted a classic sociological study of 18 award-winning children’s books that found:
(a) females were virtually invisible: the ratio of male to female pictures was 11:1, and male to female animals
95:1; (b) boys were shown in outdoor activities while girls were mostly found indoors, and girls’ activities were
mostly in service to boys; (c) among adults portrayed, men led, women followed, and no women had jobs; all
were mothers/wives. Research in the 2000s found that women and girls are still underrepresented in book titles
and as central charcaters, and that the stereotype of mother as homemaker/caregiver and father as
breadwinner/provider is still prevalent.
Source ID: 3.0.2
Learning Objective: LO 10.2: Understand how you are actively engaged in “doing gender.”
Topic/Concept: Learning and Doing Gender
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q10.2.53
Discuss how language affects the understanding of gender in U.S. society.
Feedback:Language perpetuates male dominance by ignoring, trivializing, and sexualizing women. Use of the pronoun
“he” when the sex of the person is unspecified and the generic term “mankind” to refer to humanity in general
demonstrate how the English language ignores women. Common sayings such as “that’s women’s work,” jokes
about female drivers, and phrases such as “wine, women, and song” are trivializing. Women, more than men, are
commonly referred to in terms that have sexual connotations. Terms used for men that have sexual meanings
imply power and success, whereas terms used for women imply promiscuity or being dominated. Research
shows that there are many derogatory or disrespectful generic terms for women, but few for men, and of those
that exist, such terms are considered derogatory because they invoke the images of women. Some of the more
common derogatory terms applied to men actually degrade women in their role as mothers.
Source ID: 3.0.3
Learning Objective: LO 10.2: Understand how you are actively engaged in “doing gender.”
Topic/Concept: Learning and Doing Gender
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q10.3.54
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