He therefore concluded that variation must be a sign of inferiority as it is linked to women (Shields, 1975). Following the publication of Charles Darwin’s ideas where emphasis was put on the importance of variation as a basic requirement through which progress is attained, greater variation was now linked to superiority and therefore agreed that men it is men who have greater variability as they are the superior sex. This demonstrates the variability hypothesis as the misuse of science in psychology, if science is objective then how can two opposing arguments conclude the same thing. Greater variability among men was backed by evidence from the fact that there were more males in institutions for feeble mindedness than women and
For example, cultural feminists look to the different values associated with womanhood and femininity as a reason why men and women experience the social world differently. Other feminist theorists believe that the different roles assigned to women and men within institutions better explain gender difference, including the sexual division of labor in the household. Existential and phenomenological feminists focus on how women have been marginalized and defined as the “other” in patriarchal societies. Women are thus seen as objects and are denied the opportunity for self-realization. Gender Inequality: Gender-inequality theories recognize that women's location in, and experience of, social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.
Throughout history, mainstream media has focused on the advertising of the female’s body. The outbreak in men’s fashion has been on the up-rise and this contradicts the point that Bordo is trying to make. She thinks that men are not supposed to have any idea on fashion or even care about what people where to think if they saw them. This is proved to be not true for some men but where is it safe for us to draw the line on male’s masculinity. Reading Bordo’s essay helps us to construct the boundaries in which we would consider male advertising as feminine or masculine.
Yet, in the 1990’s and continuing now in the twenty-first century, both the men and women of American society are impeding feminism because their shared responsibility is overlooked, especially in cases of rape and other sexual assaults. It is clear when we look at a topic like rape that both sexes can be at fault, not only for the action at hand, but for the deterioration of equality in gender issues caused by that action. It is a well-established fact that men do not rape for sex, but rather for power. Men already have power just because they are men living in a male dominated society. Why on earth would a member of this "dominant" group feel the need to physically take over another person’s body in order to feel powerful?
Pinker Summary The article Sex Ed: The Science of Difference by Steven Pinker is a commentary on the inherent sex differences of males and females. Through many sources he relates his own ideas, and those of others, that would explain the “gender gap” in the labor force for science, engineering, and technological development. One of his ideas is that persistence of prejudice, discouragement, and other obstacles lead to the gender imbalances seen in the science world. Such prevalent negativity on women could be a reason why women only make up twenty percent of the work force in the science field, but Pinker believes that it is not the only reason. Another prospect is that in the lack of discrimination gender differences can appear.
It is thought that in a patriarchal society domestic violence against a woman by a man is inevitable as men like to prove their control. Radical feminists believe that for patriarchy to be abolished, which it should, then women must separate themselves from men, for example, they suggest ‘political lesbianism’ as to have heterosexual relationships it involves ‘sleeping with the enemy’, this male dominance over woman may be the reason there is an increase of same- sex and matriarchal families as men are no longer apart of the family structure. There is proof that this theory is based on truth as men and women are not equal, for example, men get higher wages in several jobs however, there is also issues other feminists and theorists have which is that females can also be abusive to the people surrounding them and it ignores the other factors for violence such as financial stress or mental health problems therefore domestic violence is not necessarily a way of gaining control. Marxists Feminists argue that men are not the main cause of women’s suppression but rather that capitalism is as it uses women to perform the jobs and services they need. This is because women as said to a ‘reserve army’ of cheap labour as they are taken on when extra workers or needed and then
For the radical it is the most deep and significant social division. The feminists have advanced an idea of ‘sex politics’ in a similar way to ‘class politics’ of socialists. However, as conventional politics has typically ignored gender division feminists have been forced to develop their own concepts to aid in their analysis – one of such crucial ‘ideas’ is that of Patriarchy. Some feminists limit the terms use to describing power relationships within the family, and use terms such as ‘male dominance’ to discuss the wider world gender relations. However, they do hold that the dominance of the father within the family is symbolic of the supremacy in all other institution.
What people perceive as the “norm” for men and women means that there is still a high level of gender inequality, because manly men are influenced to dominate due to their masculinity, and women are expected to submit as they are seen as the weaker gender, and more “feminine” which seems to have negative connotations in society. Especially in working environments, there is still a huge issue of society assuming jobs are gender-specific. For example, mechanics and transport-related fields of work are male-dominated and it is expected that women shouldn’t do these types of jobs because they are “dirty” and include intense “manual labour”. This assumption that women shouldn’t participate in manual labour is so outdated and untrue, there is no reason a woman has any kind of disadvantage to a man when it comes to changing the brake pads of a car or jump starting a battery, so why is it still frowned upon for women to be in such a
The most important difference is between the sexes, as that cuts straight across all the other groupings. Women are not given the equal opportunity to express themselves in the workplace like men. Daniel Namosuaia (2010) puts emphasis on how all women should have the equal opportunity to work callous type jobs like men. Generally law enforcement workers are males because women are not expected to have the physical qualities to obtain that position. Nicholas P. Lovrich (2006) goes into further detail on why great strides have been made regarding gender and hiring practices.
Gender Differences In Aggression Previous research concerning peer aggression has been conducted under the assumption that women rarely display aggression; therefore, aggressive behavior has historically been viewed as a male phenomenon (Björkqvist, 1994). Recently, many researchers have challenged the gender bias in the existence of aggressive behaviors and have broadened the definition of aggression. Björkqvist's research suggests sex differences exist in the quality of the aggression, but not the quantity. According to Paquette and Underwood (1999), an adolescent's expression of anger and contempt for peers can sometimes be expressed through physical aggression, manipulation, exclusion, and/or gossip. This broader definition allows for a more complete understanding of the social or relational aggression, which is typically associated with females.