Gender identity

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SEX AND GENDER

Learning Outcomes At the end of this chapter you will be able to do the following.

Differentiate between sex and gender. Define gender roles, gender role socialization, and gender role identify. Compare females’ life experiences to that of males.’ Examine the Men’s Movement.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER?

By far, sex and gender have been two of the most socially significant factors in the history of the world and the United States. Sex is one’s biological classification as male or female, which is biologically determined at the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. Sex can be precisely defined at the genetic level with XX being female and XY being male. The main difference between sexes is the reproductive body parts assigned to each (including their functions and corresponding hormones).

Males and females have much more in common than they have differences. Every major system of the human body functions in very similar ways to the point that health guidelines, disease prevention and maintenance, and even organ transplants are very similar and guided under a large umbrella of shared guidelines. True, there are medical specialists in treating men and women, but again the similarities outweigh the differences. Today you probably ate breakfast, took a shower (hopefully), walked in the sunlight, sweated, slept, used the bathroom, was exposed to germs and pathogens, grew more hair and finger nails, exerted your muscles to the point that they became stronger, and felt and managed stress. So did every man and woman you know and in very similar ways.

So, why the big debate of the battle of the sexes? Perhaps it’s because of the impact of gender, the cultural definition of what it means to be a man or a woman. In other words, gender is socialized behaviors prescribed for society’s members based on their sex. Therefore, sex=male, female and gender=masculine, feminine. Gender is culturally-based and varies in a thousand subtle ways across the many diverse cultures of the world. Gender has been shaped by political, religious, philosophical, linguistic, traditional, and other cultural forces for many years. To this day, in most countries of the world women and girls are still oppressed and denied access to opportunities more often than men and boys. This can be seen through many diverse historical documents. When reading these documents, the most common theme of how women were historically oppressed in the world’s societies is the omission of women as being legally, biologically, economically, and

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even spiritually on par with men. The second most common theme is the assumption that women were somehow broken versions of men or lesser beings than men.1 Biology has disproven the belief that women are broken versions of men. In fact, the 23rd chromosome looks like XX in females and XY in males and the Y looks more like an X with a missing leg than a Y. Ironically, science has shown that males are broken or variant versions of females and the more X traits males have the better their health and longevity.

DEBUNKING MYTHS ABOUT WOMEN

MYTH #1: WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE CYCLES IMPAIR THEIR ABILITIES.

Since history assumed that women were impaired because of their reproductive roles, societies have defined much of these reproductive traits as hindrances to activities. In an old home health guide from the late 19th century (Patton, 1898), the country’s best physicians had very inaccurate information and knowledge about the human body and how it worked.2

Interestingly, pregnancy was considered normal within most circumstances while

menstruation was seen as a type of disease process that had to be treated (back then most physicians were men and still are today). It refers to menstrual problems as being natural and normal only if painless.3 Indeed from a male scientific perspective in 1898, females and their natural reproductive cycles were problematic. But, to the author, females were more fragile and vulnerable and should be treated more carefully than males especially during puberty. Patton states, “The fact is that the girl has a much greater physical and a more intense mental development to accomplish than the boy…” As for public education, he states, “The boy can do it; the girl can—sometimes…” He attributes most of the female sexual and reproductive problems to public school which is a byproduct of “women’s rights, so called.” He’d probably be stunned to see modern medicine’s discoveries today. In our day, women are not defined as being inferior in comparison to men. But, in 1898, a physician (the source of authority in scientific knowledge) had no reservations about stating the cultural norm in print, that women were considered broken in contrast to men.

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MYTH #2: “MY HORMONES MADE ME DO IT.”

Males and females produce the same hormones, they just produce them in different amounts depending on sex. Males secrete more testosterone and females produce more estrogen. Experiments done on testosterone in the human body have been linked to edginess, competitiveness, and anger—in both males and females. However, hormone levels fluctuate throughout the day based on environment, activities, and other outside factors that may affect moods or feelings (e.g., stress, happiness, anger, elation). Therefore, biology (hormones) is affected by social factors and the socialization process. Thus, the myth that hormones dictate behavior has been debunked. Levels of both estrogen and testosterone depend on activities and interactions throughout the day. Hormones may affect behavior, but they do not control it.

Further, testosterone is one of many chemicals interacting in the body that affect human behavioral response. Therefore, human behavior is highly governed not by hormones, but by the situation or context in which it occurs. For example, women can be just as aggressive as men when they are either rewarded for that behavior (athletes) or when they think no one is watching (to avoid social consequences). Research has also shown that women are, in fact, as aggressive as men, but they have been socialized to act out their aggression in different ways.4

The notion that women’s behaviors are dictated by their hormones is an old one. However, women’s hormone levels (especially testosterone) do not fluctuate as much as men’s throughout the day in response to environmental stimuli. Rather, female hormone production is influenced by the monthly reproductive cycles as well as the cessation of the reproductive capacity (menopause) during the life course. Interestingly, in studies in which both men and women participated, men were equally as likely to express mood swings, problems at work, and physical discomfort. This is because men are subject to a daily hormone cycle in which testosterone levels peak at about 4 am and are at their lowest at 8 pm.5

“When people say women can’t be trusted because they cycle every month, my response to that is that men cycle every day, so they should only be allowed to negotiate peace treaties in the evening.”-- Gorman6

GENDER ROLES AS A SOCIAL FORCE

Gender socialization is the shaping of individual behavior and perceptions in such a way that the individual conforms to socially prescribed expectations for males and females. One has to wonder what might have been different if all women were born into societies that valued their uniqueness and similarities in comparison to men. How much further might civilizations have progressed?

One can better understand the historical oppression of women by considering three social factors throughout the world’s history: religion, tradition, and labor-based economic

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supply and demand. In almost all of the world’s major religions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and many others) very clear distinctions have been made about gender roles, or socialized expectations of what is normal, desirable, acceptable, and conforming for males and females in specific jobs or positions in groups and organizations over the life course. These gender roles have very specific meanings for the daily lives and activities of males and females who live under the religious cultures in nations throughout history and even in our day. The Book of Leviticus in the Judeao-Christian Old Testament has many biological rituals based specifically on Women’s hygiene. There is no modern-day scientific support for these religious rituals on females’ health nor on their reproduction. These were religious codes of conduct, not biologically-based scientifically beneficial codes. Many ancient writings in religions refer to the flaws of females, their reproductive disadvantages, their temperament, and the rules that should govern them in the religious community. While many current religious doctrines have transformed as society’s values of gender equality have emerged, religion continues to serve as a patriarchal justification for sex inequality. Throughout history, religions were a dominant social force in many nations and the religious doctrines, like the cultural values, often placed women in a subjugated role to men at a number of different levels.

For example, “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a help mate for him. . . . And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Gen. 2:18, 22)

This passage presents Eve as an afterthought. Meaning that man (Adam) was the ideal, and woman (Eve) was created as a “help mate” from the ideal (his rib).

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Gen. 3:16).

This passage relates to, how after God made the world a perfect place (Eden), Eve disobeyed God and helped make the world the imperfect place we know. War, pestilence, famine, and every sin were the prices humanity had to pay for Eve’s disobedience. The biblical story of creation presents a God-ordained gender-role hierarchy, with man created in the image of God and woman as a subsequent and secondary act of creation.

The second social force is tradition. Traditions can be and have been very harsh toward women. Table 1 shows the outcomes of oppression toward women that have and currently do exist somewhere in the world. It is remarkable that even though the average woman outlives the average man by three years worldwide and seven years in developed countries, there are still a few countries where cultural and social oppression literally translates into shorter life expectancies for women.

Although pregnancy is not a disease, it carries with it many health risks when governments fail to provide resources to expectant mothers before, during, and after delivery of their baby. Maternal death is the death of a pregnant woman resulting from pregnancy, delivery,

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or recovery complications. Maternal deaths number in the hundreds of thousands and are estimated by the United Nations to be around ½ million per year worldwide.7 Typically, very little medical attention is required to prevent infection, mediate complications, and assist in complications to mothers. To answer this problem one must approach it at the larger social level with government, health care systems, economy, family, and other institutional efforts. The Population Reference Bureau puts a woman’s risk of dying from maternal causes at one in 92 worldwide with it being as low as 1 in 6,000 in developed countries and as high as one in 22 for the least developed regions of the world.8 The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) reports “little improvement in maternal mortality in developing countries.”9

Table 1. Outcomes of the 10 Worse Forms of Oppression of Women-Worst to Least.10

10-Death from cultural and social oppression (Various Countries) 9-Sexual and other forms of slavery (Western Africa and Thailand) 8-Maternal deaths (Sub-Sahara Africa and developing nations) 7-Female Genital Mutilation (Mid-Africa about 120 million victims) 6-Rape and sexual abuse (South Africa and United States are worst countries) 5-Wage disparity (worldwide) 4-No/low education for females (various degrees in most countries of the world) 3-Denial of access to jobs and careers (many developing nations) 2-Mandatory covering of females’ bodies head to toe (Traditional countries, Muslim) 1-Public demeaning of women (still practiced, public and private)

Female genital mutilation is the traditional cutting, circumcision, and removal of most or all external genitalia of women for the end result of closing off some or part of the vagina until such time that the woman is married and cut open. In some traditions, there are religious underpinnings. In others, there are customs and rituals that have been passed down. In no way does the main body of any world religion condone or mandate this practice—many countries where this takes place are predominantly Muslim—yet local traditions have corrupted the purer form of the religion and its beliefs and female genital mutilation predates Islam.11

There are no medical therapeutic benefits from female genital mutilation. Quite the contrary, there are many adverse medical consequences that result from it, ranging from pain, difficulty in childbirth, illness, and even death. Many human rights groups, the United Nations, scientists, advocates, the United States, the World Health Organization, and other organizations have made aggressive efforts to influence the cessation of this practice worldwide, but progress has come very slowly. Part of the problem is that women often perform the ritual and carry on the tradition as it was perpetrated upon them. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is often performed in order to preserve the purity of females before marriage—a cultural ideal in some societies.

Rape is another act of oppression toward women. Rape is not the same as sex. Rape is violence, motivated by men for power. Rape is dangerous and destructive and more likely to happen in the United States than in most other countries of the world. There are 195

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countries in the world today. The U.S. typically is among the worst five percent in terms of rape. Consecutive studies performed by the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems confirm that South Africa is the most dangerous, crime-ridden nation on the planet in all crimes including rape.12

The United Nations reported that, according to World Bank data, women aged 15 to 44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, motor accidents, war, and malaria.13

OPPORTUNITIES

Wage disparities between males and females are both traditional and labor-based economic supply and demand. Statistics show past and current discrepancies in lower pay for women. Diane White, during a 1997 presentation to the United Nations General Assembly, stated that “Today the wage disparity gap cost American women $250,000 over the course of their lives.”14

Indeed evidence supports her claim that women are paid less in comparison to men and their cumulative losses add up to staggering figures. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2008 that U.S. women earn 77 cents for every U.S. man’s $1.15 They also reported that in some places (Washington D.C.) and in certain fields (computer science and mathematical) women earn as much as 98 cents per a man’s $1. At the worldwide level, “as employees, women are still seeking equal pay with men. Closing the gap between women’s and men’s pay continues to be a major challenge in most parts of the world.”16

The report also discussed the fact that about 60 countries have begun to keep statistics on informal (unpaid) work by women. Needless to say, even though measuring paid and unpaid work of women is not as accurate as needed for world considerations, “Women contribute to development not only through remunerated work but also through a great deal of non-remunerated work.”17 Why the lower wages for women? The traditional definition of the reproductive roles of women as being “broken, diseased, or flawed” is part of the answer of wage disparity. The idea that reproductive roles interfere with the continuity of the workplace and the idea that women cannot be depended on plays heavily into the maltreatment of women. The argument can be made that traditional and economic factors have led to the existing patterns of paying women less for their same education, experience, and efforts compared to men. Efforts to provide formal education to females worldwide have escalated over the last few decades. The 2002 Kids Count International Data Sheet estimated rates as low as 11% of females in primary school in Somalia. A 1993 World Bank report made it very clear that females throughout the world were being neglected in receiving their formal educations when compared to males.18

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In 1998, another example was found in efforts specific to Africa via the Forum of African Women Educationalists which focuses on governmental policies and practices for female education across the continent.19 Literally hundreds of studies have since focused on other regions around and below the equator where education levels for females are much lower.

In 1999, it was reported by UNICEF that one billion people would never learn to read as children and 130 million school-aged children (73 million girls) are without access to basic education.20 Another UNICEF report clearly identifies the importance of educating girls who grow up to be mothers because of the tremendous odds that those educated mothers will ensure that their children are also formally educated.21 Somalia is now up to 22% for boys and girls in primary schools, yet in most countries females are still less likely to be educated.22 The main point from UNICEF and many other formal reports is that higher formal education for females is associated with life, health, protection from crime and sexual exploitation, and countless other benefits, especially to females in the poorer regions of the world.

In the United States most females and males attend some form of formal education. After high school, many go to college. Even though the U.S. numbers of 18 to 24 year old men are higher than women,23 women are more likely to attend college based on percentages (57%).24

A projection from the National Center for Education Statistics projects a continuing trend up and through the year 2016 where about 58% of U.S. college students will be female.25 By 2016, about 60% of graduated students will be females.26 These numbers reflect a strong and concerted push toward equality of opportunity for females in formal education that dates back over a century. The challenge is to avoid defining progress for U.S. females in public and private education as having been made at the expense of males--that’s much too simplistic. They also reflect a change in the culture of bread winning and the adult roles of males. Males and/or females who don’t pursue a college degree will make less money than those who do. To make sense of this trend, many males have been identified as having a prolonged adolescence (even into their 30’s), video game playing mentality, and a “Live-with-your-parents-indefinitely” strategy until their shot at the labor force has passed them by. Others have pointed out the higher rates of learning disabilities in K-12, the relatively low percentage of K-5 teachers who are males, and the higher rate of male dropouts. Still others blame attention deficit and hyperactivity as part of the problem.

Here is a truism about education in the U.S.: higher education=higher pay=higher social prestige=higher quality of life. Many countries of the world have neutralized the traditional, religious, and labor-force based biases against women and have moved to a merit-based system. Even in the U.S., there have been men wages, and women’s and children’s wages (1/10th to 2/3rd of a man’s). In a sense, any hard working, talented person can pursue and obtain a high-end job, including women. Communism broke some of these barriers early on in the 20th century, but the relatively low wages afforded those pursuing these careers somewhat offset the advances women could have made. Progress in the U.S. has come more slowly. Physicians are some of the brightest and best paid specialists in the world. Salaries tend to begin in the $100,000 range and can easily reach

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$500,000 depending on the specialty.27 Prior to 1970, most physicians were white and male, but things are slowly changing. See Table 2 for trends between 1970 and 2006.

The upward trend shows a concerted effort to provide equal opportunity for females and males. Engineers have also seen a concerted effort to increase the number of females in the profession. The Society of Women Engineers is a non-profit organization which helps support and recognize women as engineers.28 Figure 1 shows gains in computer-based careers for women. The same cannot be said for doctoral level employment in the more prestigious fields. Figure 2 presents 2005 estimates from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The first 6 fields are the highest paying fields to work in while social and psychological sciences are among the least paying. Women clearly dominate psychology and nearly tie in social sciences and biology. True, at the doctoral level pay is higher than at the masters and bachelors levels, but the difference in engineering and psychology is remarkable at every level of education.29

Table 2. The Percentage of Physicians who are Male and Female.30

Year %Male %Female

1970 92.4 7.6

1980 88.4 11.6

1990 83.1 16.9

2000 76.3 24.0

2002 74.8 25.2

2003 74.2 25.8

2006 72.2 27.8

The mandatory covering of females’ bodies head to toe has been opposed by some and applauded by others. Christians, Hindus, and many other religious groups have the practice of covering or veiling in their histories. Yet, over the last 30 years, as fundamentalist Muslim nations and cultures have returned to their much more traditional way of life, Hijab which is the Arabic word that means to cover or veil has become more common (ħijāb or حجاب,). Often Hijab means modest and private in the day-to-day interpretations of the practice. For some countries it is a personal choice, while for others it becomes a crime not to comply. The former Taliban punished such a crime with death (they also punished formal schooling of females and the use of makeup by death). Many women’s rights groups have brought public attention to this trend, not so much because the mandated covering of females is that oppressive, but because the veiling and covering is symbolic of the religious, traditional, and labor-forced patterns of oppression that have caused so many problems for women and continue to do so today.

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Figure 1. Women in High Tech Jobs.31

The public demeaning of women has been acceptable throughout various cultures because publicly demeaning members of society who are privately devalued and or considered flawed fits the reality of most day-to-day interactions. Misogyny is the hatred of women often manifested as physical or verbal abuse and oppressive mistreatment of women. Verbal misogyny is unacceptable in public in most Western Nations today. With the ever present technology found in cell phones, video cameras, and security devices a person’s private and public misogynistic language could be easily recorded and posted for millions to see on any number of Websites. Perhaps, this fear of being found out as a woman-hater is not the ideal motivation for creating cultural values of respect and even admiration of women and men. As was mentioned above, most of the world historical leaders assumed that women were not as valuable as men. Women were treated as the totality of their reproductive role, as breeders of the species, rather than valued human beings they are throughout the world today.

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Figure 2. United Doctorates States Conferred By Characteristics of Recipients, 2005.32

RESEARCH ON GENDER

Margaret Mead’s (1901-1978) work became a major seminal work in the women’s liberation movement and thereby in the redefinition of women in many Western Societies.33 Her observations of gender in three tribes: Arapesh, Mundugamor, and Tchambuli created a national discussion which lead many to reconsider the established sex-gender assumption. In these tribes she found the following:

Arapesh: both men and women displayed what we typically call the feminine traits of sensitivity, cooperation, and low levels of aggression. Mundugamor: both men and women were insensitive, uncooperative, and very aggressive. These were typical masculine traits at the time. Tchambuli: women were aggressive, rational, and capable and were also socially dominant. Men were passive, assuming artistic and leisure roles.

Why then, Mead argued, if our reproductive roles determined our cultural and social opportunities, were the gender definitions varied and unique among less civilized peoples? Were we less civilized ourselves at one point in history and have we not progressed on a similar path the tribal people take? Could it be that tradition (culture) was the stronger social force rather than biology? Mead’s work and her public influence helped to establish the belief that biology is only a part of the sex and gender question (albeit an important

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part). Mead established that sex≠gender. But, even with the harshest criticism launched against her works, her critics supported and even inadvertently reinforced the idea that biology shapes but culture is more salient in how women and men are treated by those with power.

Language

Professional and volunteer organizations have made concerted efforts to raise awareness of the English language and its demeaning vocabulary toward females. English as a derivative of German has many linguistic biases against women, non-whites, the poor, and non-royalty. Raising awareness and discussing the assumptions within English or any other language has been part of the social transformation toward cultural and biological fairness and equality. If we understand how the words we use influence the culture we live in and how the value of that culture influences the way we treat one another, then we begin to see the importance of language on the quality of life. Examples: unequal connotations: master—mistress, bachelor—spinster, patron—matron. Generic he/man: policeman, fireman, mankind, workman’s compensation, etc.

The Global Gender Gap Index was developed to measure the quality of life for women. It measures the gap between males and females in objective statistics that focus on equality. There are four pillars in the index: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival using 14 indicators from each country’s national statistics. From 1998 to 2006, there was a reported net improvement for all countries.34 When one considers the day-to-day lives of women in these international statistics, and perhaps more importantly in their personal lives, the concept of what women do as their contribution to the function of society becomes important. Instrumental tasks are goal directed activities which link the family to the surrounding society, geared toward obtaining resources. This includes economic work, bread winning, and other resource-based efforts. Expressive tasks are those that pertain to the creation and maintenance of a set of positive, supportive, emotional relationships within the family unit. This includes relationships, nurturing, and social connections needed in the family and society. Today, women do both and typically do them well. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, both males and females combined their local economic efforts in homemaking. Most of these efforts were cottage industry-type where families used their children’s labor to make products they needed, such as soap, thread, fabric, butter, and many other products. When the factory model of production emerged in Western Civilizations, the breadwinner and homemaker became more distinct. A breadwinner is a parent or spouse who earns wages outside of the home and uses them to support the family. A homemaker is typically a woman who occupies her life with mothering, housekeeping, and being a wife while depending heavily on the breadwinner.

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WHAT ABOUT MEN?

In the past two decades a social movement referred to as The Men’s Movement has emerged. The Men’s Movement is a broad effort across societies and the world to improve the quality of life and family-related rights of men.

Since the Industrial Revolution, men have been emotionally exiled from their families and close relationships. They have become the human piece of the factory machinery (or computer technology in our day) that forced them to disconnect from their most intimate relationships and to become money-acquisition units rather than emotionally powerful pillars of their families. Many in this line of thought attribute higher suicide rates,

death rates, accident rates, substance abuse problems, and other challenges in the lives of modern men directly to the broad social process of post-industrial breadwinning. Not only did the Industrial Revolution’s changes hurt men, but the current masculine role is viewed by many as being oppressive to men, women, and children. Today a man is more likely to kill or be killed, to abuse, and to oppress others. Table 3 lists some of the issues of concern for those in the Men’s Movement.

Table 3. Concerns in the Men’s Movement.

1. Life and health challenges 2. Emotional isolation 3. Sexual research and rights 4. Post-divorce/separation father’s rights 5. False sex or physical abuse allegations 6. Early education challenges for boys 7. Declining college attendance 8. Protection from domestic abuse 9. Man-hating or bashing 10. Lack of support for fatherhood 11. Paternal rights and abortion 12. Affirmative action-sex and race The list of concerns displays quality of life issues mixed in with specific legal and civil rights concerns. Men’s Movement sympathizers would most likely promote or support equality of rights for men and women. They are aware of the male supremacy model where males erroneously believe that men are superior in all aspects of life and that they should excel in everything they do. They also concern themselves with the sexual objectification of women which is when men learn to view women as objects of sexual consumption rather than as a whole person. Men as victims of abuse is also an important issue. Male bashing

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is the verbal abuse and use of pejorative and derogatory language about men. These and other concerns are not being aggressively supported throughout the world as are the women’s rights and suffrage efforts discussed above. Most of the Men’s Movement efforts are in Western Societies, India, and a handful of others. Complete the Gender/Androgyny Role Attitude Assessment to help you better understand your views and experiences with gender.

Gender/Androgyny Role Attitude Assessment.35

Answer T=True or F=False on each of the items below. If you are married or otherwise committed then have your partner take the assessment. Compare and discuss only after each has completed it. If you are single have your parents or close friend take the assessment and discuss it.

1. T/F Women with school or preschool aged children should stay home if at all possible 2. T/F Cleaning dishes, laundry, cooking, etc. are really a woman’s responsibility 3. T/F Men should be the only breadwinners in the home 4. T/F Women are less capable of making important decisions than are men 5. T/F Women are naturally dependent on men 6. T/F When a woman pursues a career, it’s because she has problems with relationships 7. T/F When a woman flatters a man to get what she wants, it’s O.K. 8. T/F It would be difficult for me to work for a woman 9. T/F You can tell a great deal about a woman by her appearance and sex appeal 10. T/F Most women admire the qualities of men and would like to be more like them 11. T/F Husbands should really make all the tough decisions in the home 12. T/F Women are not as dependable in terms of job stability and commitment 13. T/F Women should pursue an education that would directly benefit their homemaking role 14. T/F Women are simply not as rational/logical as men 15. T/F Women are more social than men 16. T/F If she were qualified, I’d vote for a woman for president of the U.S. 17. T/F Lawmakers should support gender equality issues in the legislation they pass 18. T/F Women are no more emotional than men tend to be 19. T/F Careers provide women with opportunities for self-fulfillment and growth 20. T/F Sexuality is enjoyed just as much by women as men 21. T/F Men are as capable of loving children as women 22. T/F Overall, genetics have little to do with the way men and women behave 23. T/F Men and women are equally as capable of dominance in society 24. T/F Pay should be based on performance, not gender 25. T/F Men tend to welcome their wife’s earnings in today’s tough market 26. T/F Neither men nor women are superior to one another 27. T/F Both fathers and mothers are essential to the child’s upbringing 28. T/F The way men and women communicate depends more on their individuality than gender 29. T/F Couples should negotiate housework, yard work, and child care duties 30. T/F The birth of the child is cause enough to celebrate, not its sex

Scoring your gender role attitudes: Give yourself 1 point for each True answer in questions 1-15 Give yourself 1 point for each False answer in questions 16-30 The closer your score is to 30 points the more traditional your attitudes tend to be.

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Couples and family members enhance the quality of their relationships as they sit down and discuss their gender values and negotiate on those issues which are most significant to those involved. Do these findings accurately reflect you, your expectations, and life experience? Why or Why not?

1 Google: Aristotle’s The Generation of Animals, Sigmund Freud’s Penis Envy, or John Grey’s Mars and Venus

work 2 See The Book of Health A Practical Family Physician, 1898, by Robert W. Patton

3 Pages 892-909

4 Renzetti, C. 1999. Women, Men, and Society, 4

th ed. Allyn & Bacon: MA.

5 Ibid

6 Gorman, C. 1992. “Sizing Up the Sexes”. Time Magazine

7 See www.UN.org

8 See www.prb.org World Population Data Sheet 2008

9 See www.prb.org World Population Data Sheet 2008, page 3

10 www.prb.org World Population Data Sheet2008; pages 7-15. http://www.prb.org/pdf08/08WPDS_Eng.pdf

(Niger, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia have lower death rates for women while Kenya, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and Micronesia have a tie between men and women’s life expectancy—this even though in developing nations the average woman outlives the average man by 3 years) 11

See Obermeyer, C.M. March 1999, Female Genital Surgeries: The Known and the Unknowable. Medical Anthropology Quaterly13, pages 79-106;p retrieved 5 December from http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/maq.1999.13.1.79 12

See http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/United-Nations-Surveys-on-Crime-Trends-and- the-Operations-of-Criminal-Justice-Systems.html. 13

Retrieved 5 December, 2008 from http://www.un.org/women/endviolence/docs/VAW.pdf, Unite To End Violence Against Women, Feb. 2008 14

Retrieved 5 December from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/statements/Diane%20White.pdf 15

See American Community Survey 16

Retrieved 5 Dec., 2008 from the UNstats.org from The World’s Women 2005: Progress and Statistics http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/ww2005_pub/English/WW2005_chpt_4_Work_ BW.pdf ; page 54 17

Retrieved 5 Dec., 2008 from the UNstats.org from The World’s Women 2005: Progress and Statistics http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/ww2005_pub/English/WW2005_chpt_4_Work_ BW.pdf; page 47 18

See Subbarro, K. and Raney, L. 1993, “Social Gains from Female Education: A Cross-National Study”. World Bank Discussion Papers 194; retried from Eric ED 363542 on 8 December, 2008 19

Retrieved 8 Dec 2008 from http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/subjindx/114sped3.htm 20

Retrieved, 8 Dec 2008 from http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/ 21

See http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/docs/sowc08.pdf 22

See http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/docs/sowc08_table_1.pdf 23

www.USCensus.gov 24

USA Today 19 October, 2005, College Gender Gap Widens: 57% are Women, retrieved 8 December 2008 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-10-19-male-college-cover_xhtm 25

Retrieved 8 December, 2008 from “Projections of Education Statistics to 2016” http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2016/sec2c.asp 26

See http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2016/sec4b.asp 27

See http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm 28

See http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/index.php 29

See http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b00-0000 30

Retrieved from the American Medical Association 8 December, 2008 from Table 1- Physicians By Gender (Excludes Students) http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/12912.html 31

Retrieved 8 December, 2008 from http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/hitech02.htm

15 | S e x a n d G e n d e r

32

Retrieved 8 December, 2008 from table 786: “Doctorates Conferred By Characteristics of Recipients: 2005” from http://www.census.gov/compendia.statab/tables/08s0786.pdf 33

Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935) 34

Retrieved 9 December, 2008 from http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-

online/Entertainment/23-Nov-2008/European-countries-top-places-for-women-to-live/1, page 27 35

81998 Barbara Bearnson, M.S. & Ron J. Hammond, Ph.D.