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Gender Inequalities (Sharpe 1994 : 'Just Like a Girl' (Strengths…
Gender Inequalities
- Sharpe 1994 : 'Just Like a Girl'
Sharpe studied young women (working-class) in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s.
Conducted in the same four schools in Ealing.
Girls studied in the 1990s were more confident, more assertive, more ambitious and more committed to gender equality
Main priorities of girls in the 1970s were 'love, marriage, husbands, and children'. In the 1990s it had changed to 'job, career and being able to support themselves'.
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Education
In 1972, 67% of girls wanted to leave school at 16 or earlier
In 1991, 67% wanted to stay in school until at least 18
Since the 1970s, girls underachieving has reduced and now boys are more likely to underachieve
Work
In 1972, 37% of the workforce was female. By 1990s it was around half
In the 70s work was seen as instrumental (income), in the 90s it was seen as personal development and achieving independance
However, girls still largely expected to do 'women's work' e.g. teaching, working with children
Marriage
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However, they still expressed the feeling that the idea of the 'new man' was a joke and they anticipated juggling domestic life and work like their mothers had
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- Phyllis Schlafy's (New Right) stance
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- A woman cannot defeat a man in wrestling, etc, but can motivate, inspire etc. Woman have a power over them that they can never achieve over them
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- 'If you want to love and be loved, marriage offers the best opportunity to achieve your goal.'
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- '[No measure] of career success can compare with the thrill, satisfaction and fun of having and caring for babies...'
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- 'Society simply has not invented a better way of raising children than the traditional family.'
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- Women have much more important things to do than joining the military
The focus for the New Right is achieving return of the traditional family values and gender roles.
They are neo-functionalists, but functionalist theory was prominent during early-mids1900s where the nuclear family was widespread, whereas New Right was prominent from the 1970s when nuclear family was under threat
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Max Weber identified three dimensions of stratification, class, status and party
Horizontal segregation: refers to the differences in the number of males and females present across occupations e.g. nurses are mainly women. This influences young people's career choices.
Equal Opportunities Commission (2004) explanations - individuals choices based on career perceptions and barriers within organisations
Vertical segregation: describes men's dominance in the highest-ranking jobs, in both 'male' and 'female' occupations.
'Glass ceiling' = the invisible barrier that keeps women from achieving power & success equal to that of men
Men have hidden advantages - gender stereotypes, men seen as more rational, women's obligation to family, rarity of men in some groups
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- The Development of Feminism
'First Wave'
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Also campaigning due to concerns about poor educational opportunities e.g. secondary and higher education access for girls
Wanted to change laws that a women's wealth and income become property of their husbands when married and that women had to have husband's consent to divorce, and women had to give up contact with their children
WHAT THEY ACHIEVED
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However, women were still being socialised as housewives and mothers
'Second Wave'
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Linked to other campaigns for social change e.g. civil rights movement, gay rights and anti-war protests
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A significant event in the UK, the first National Women's Liberation Movement conference held in 1970
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Different strands emerged, liberal feminism, radical feminism and Marxist feminism
'Third Wave'
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Acknowledges that women come from many ethnicities, etc, so can be no single approach to feminism
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Distinct goals focus on making changes to traditional ideas about sexuality and abolishing gender roles and stereotypes, including those seen in the media
'Fourth Wave'
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4th wave feminists claim that it is a movement that is necessary in the twenty first century to take action against sexism and a range of inequalities facing girls and women across the globe
Claim they use the internet to to bring about change wherever they see the need by online petitions and direct action
Say they are a powerful force in challenging sexism because:
- The success of the Everyday Sexism Project which began as a social media campaign in 2012
- An activism badge they introduced for Girl Guides under the heading 'Go for it! Be the change.'
Up to 30,000 women are sacked each year simply for being pregnant even though it is illegal
Women make up half of the world's population yet represent 70% of the world's poor (Global Citizen 2014)
Education
GCSE exam results have consistently shown that girls out-perform boys.
In 2014 the A*-C pass rate for girls was 73.1%, boys was 64.3%
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Parson & Bales (1955) referred to men having the instrumental role and women having the expressive role, which has contributed to the smooth running of society
Murdock (1949) argued that women stay home due to their biological childbearing function and the fact their physique makes it more difficult to perform strenuous tasks
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- Women aid capitalism
- Only one wage paid and the wife then depends on the husband to bring in money
- The women soothe the stresses and frustrations of proletariat men. Ansley (1976) said proletariat men are exploited but take it out on wives so, '...the bosses rest more secure.'
- Women reproduce next generation and socialise them into norms and values which benefit capitalism
- Do unpaid domestic work and act as a reserve army of labour
Women's subordinate position is the result of the ownership of private property - men wanted to pass their property to legitimate heirs so women's sexuality was restricted and monogamy enforced
Neo-Marxists
Argue that social structure is based on the dominance of some groups over others e.g. parents-children, husbands-wives, healthy-sick and conflict occurs in these groups as well as owner-worker