SEXISM GENDER INEQUALITY PROF SMYTH SEXISM GENDER INEQUALITY

SEXISM & GENDER INEQUALITY PROF. SMYTH

SEXISM & GENDER INEQUALITY

HISTORY OF WOMEN’S LIBERATION • Most major world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam & Hinduism) in their traditional doctrines ascribe inferior status and role to women • Women’s liberation began in the early 19 th century when female abolitionists recognized that they were denied the right to vote among other rights • Susan B Anthony & Elizabeth Stanton began organizing for women’s suffrage (right to vote) – the 19 th Amendment granting the right to vote was passed in 1920

WORLD WAR II

PROGRESS 1960 – 1970 • 1960 - Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique was published and became a rallying point for a resurgence in the women’s liberation movement • 1963 – Federal Equal Pay Act required equal pay for equal work… but we still see discrepancies today • 1964 – Civil Rights Act passed, prohibited discrimination on the basis of race and gender for employment and public places • 1966 – National Organization for Women (NOW) formed, working to end sexual discrimination and improve self-identity of women

SEX VS. GENDER TED TALK: A CALL TO MEN

SEX ROLE SOCIALIZATION • Based on the “social learning theory, ” this concept posits that gendered behaviors are more learned than innate • Once a child is aware of their gender they attempt to fit into the mold of what they observe of their gender in the world • Parents attempt to engender their children “appropriately, ”

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GENDERED BEHAVIORS ARE LEARNED THROUGH SOCIALIZATION?

FEMINIST THEORY • Feminism – a social movement aimed at establishing, defining, and defending equal social, economic and political rights for women “Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation an oppression. ” – bell hooks Are you a feminist?

WHERE HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED OR OBSERVED SEXISM? • Workplace? • School? • The street? • Your home? • The media?

LGBTQ • • FAST FACTS: On average youth are aware of their sexual orientation ~12 y/o, but LGBTQ youth do not “come out” until ~ 17 y/o More than half of LGBTQ youth have been verbally abused or threatened LGBTQ youth are more likely to attempt suicide and self-harm than average population WHAT ARE MY BIASES?

“Practitioners must view their LGBTQ clients as whole people, neither under- nor overestimating the role of sexual orientation in their lives… it is the practitioners responsibility to become familiar with the diverse ways that LGBTQ individuals develop sexual and gender identities” (Marsiglia & Kulis, 2009)

“KINSEY SCALE OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR” Studied sex behavior of Americans in the late 1940 to 1950 s. Exposed disconnection between perceived conservatism and the reality of human sexual behaviors.

TRANSGENDER IDENTITY • Individuals whose gender identity does not fit into a simple binary (male/female) system in which sexual genitalia dictate gender Transsexual – surgical sexual reassignment Intersex – individuals born with genitalia that does not conform with male/female binary Gender Queer – individuals whose gender identity does not conform with male/female binary