Summary
The article, “Gender as Structure” by Barbara Risman, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois, sets out to examine the gender stratification in society. This idea of gender stratification encompasses the socioeconomic and political distribution based on a person’s sex or gender. The objective aspects regarding inequality are wealth income, educational attainment, occupational status, access to social institutions, and mortality rates. Risman breaks down four theories in her attempt to explain gender stratification’s existence. Three of these theories are traditional theories and the fourth is a theory that is being shaped.
The first tradition, Gendered Selves, examines the whether these sex differences are based in nature or nurture; meaning whether they are biological or social. Some argue that the differences in gender are a result of natural selection. This sex-role theory indicates that early childhood interactions is a huge predictor and shaper of later behavior. Therefore, society creates the feminine woman and the masculine man. A highly-accepted theory within sex-role, reinforcement theory, states that girls are given praise for dolls and babies and boys are given praise for competition. Thus, creating experiences in which the child knows what to do to be praised, shaping who they will become. The psychoanalytic approach by Nancy Chodorow lays out the idea that the gendered personality is a result of an exclusive female mothering. How the mother relates to their child of either gender is imperative to how they develop. The historical look at sex-role theory is that gender is within personality. This is the theorists’ explanation of why men and women behave differently. This has weaknesses, however. The weaknesses are as follows: the assumption of behavioral continuity, over socialized conception of behavior, and depoliticization of gender inequality. The issue with this theory is the comparison of all females and all males when there cannot be a generalization between everyone.
The second traditional theory is Structure vs. Personality. This theory looks at sex differences as “deceptive distinctions”. Risman and other structuralists state the reason for these differences is the need to fill different positions in different settings. Therefore, men and women within the same position are expected to exhibit the same behavior. Epstein argues that these differences reflect a woman lacking opportunity in the male-dominated society. The labor force shows the huge differences. While, women are less successful because they are blocked from advantages. As well, men who do not find themselves super successful imitate a feminine type of work. Risman looked at sex differences within parenting. She states that men can mother, but they will not mother if there is a female present to do so.
The next traditional approach is Doing Gender. This approach argues that once a person is categorized in a specific sex, they will feel that they morally must behave as that sex. They are expected to do gender. Risman argues that this acknowledgment in the theoretical framework does nothing more than justify the dominance of males in society. This theory, however, is wildly accepted in feminist sociology. This is due to the insight, “gender is not what we are but something we do.” This idea is suggesting that people act according to definitions and expectations. There is also the idea of doing difference. The idea suggests that inequality is created when gender is created in interaction. Thus, race and class inequality follows suit.
Last, the idea of Gender as Social Structure is viewed by Risman as a combination of each level of analysis of the three previous ideas. She agrees that gender is an entity and has consequences. Risman believes gender is structural property of society and has the following three constraints: (1) the individual level; (2) the interactional level; and (3) the institutional level. Risman also argues that even when women and men try to reject the gendered life, interactional and institutional pressures the creation of it. And if individuals try to erase male dominance, it will persist in society. As well, gender stratification will continue to persist in the family life. Also, gender discrimination continues to exist, despite law and organizations.
In conclusion, the patrilineal and male dominant society has persisted, despite the push back. Most individuals are blindly acting within the fashion that they think they are fighting.
Key Concepts
1. Gender Stratification
a. Define: This is the social system of advantages, power, and resources based on sex and gender. Meaning, certain sexes and genders will receive those three things, but others will miss out simply based on who they are classified as in society.
b. Example: This can be seen in everyday life in business and the professional world. A man will be given a promotion over a woman. Or, the gender pay-gap could be looked at. According to the gender pay-gap, a woman will earn 79 cents to a man’s dollar.
2. Gendered Action
a. Define: This is the idea that there are societal norms to how members of each gender should act. Sometimes they are not a choice either, but an unconscious decision to conform.
b. Example: This would be a wife leaving her job to be the domestic wife. A wife that cooks dinner despite the husband being able to cook as well.
3. Patrilineal
a. Define: This concept refers to a line of descent through the male’s line. This is a type of kinship line that focuses solely on the male lineage and not the female.
b. Example: This patrilineal descent can be seen through a woman taking her husband’s last name. This simple act keeps the male’s lineage intact and traced through her husband’s line.
4. Gendered Behavior
a. Define: This the idea that the social structure will determine how people of genders will act, sometimes despite how they want to act. Risman agrees that this idea can be called deceptive distinctions. This distinction will reach different institutional, work, or family settings.
b. Example: A good example of this is the stay at home mom. The patriarch of the house will be out making the money, while the mom is at home being the primary care giver to their children. In labor, this can be seen in a woman that does not have access to the advantages she needs to advance.
Critique
Risman did a thorough job in breaking down the four theories and explaining how they can relate and how they cannot. Her writing itself is very strong. However, the lack of authentic real-world examples of everything brought up within the article leaves me wanting more. I wish I was supplied with real first-hand experiences with gender structuralism or just plain gender discrimination. Every woman has experienced it, so if she is going to write about it, I believe she should include her own true experience.
Contextualized Questions
1. The article mentioned patrilineal descent. It would be interesting to figure out the ideas of families regarding their descent line. Meaning, if they have chosen to go with patrilineal, matrilineal, or unilineal and how their thoughts on gender stratification coincide with that choice. And building off that, it would be interesting to find out how many matrilineal descent lines there are in just the United States, which is a society that is typically rooted in patrilineal descent.
2. The article discusses the idea that men can mother, but mainly only if there is no female around to do the job. It would be interesting to talk to any family in which a male that is the primary care giver and the female is the bread winner. Do people think negatively upon them because of this decision in their lives? Does the man feel like “less of a man” because he is the one at home taking care of the kids? Does the woman experience further discrimination due to the views her, probably, male bosses have on the family format?
3. Regarding the article, it would be interesting to do a poll of gender stratification throughout different regions that hold different political opinions. It is not a secret that different political views hold different opinions regarding the ideas of feminism and women empowerment in general. How does gender stratification stack up in different areas?
4. Thinking of all these ideas of gender stratification, specifically in the labor force, it would be an interesting survey to conduct regarding a business run by a woman. The participants in the survey would be asked to answer questions regarding two different business in the same industry. One is run by a woman and the other is run by a man. They are shown sales and other types of statistics and they must decide which business is run by the man and which is run by the woman.