SYG 2000: Lecture 23. Chapter 8: Females as a Minority Group

I. Minority group: people discriminated against on basis of phys or cultural characteristics

  A. gender: primary division b/ people around world/un= access to power/prestige/property

  B Origin patriarchy (male domination): consequence human reproduction?

    1. argment: child in breast/uterus phys encumbers fem; hence tasks assoc w/ home/child

    2. men: left camp hunt/contac oth group/make weapon/prestige get war prisoner/lg anim feed

    3. Marvin Harris (’77): men stronger most fem/men warriers/fem reward to entice do battle

    4. Engels:  develop with private property

  C. female circumcision: common Muslim Africa/some part Malysia/Indonesia

    1. cf: clitoral excision, clitoridectomy, infibulation, labiadectomy—dep on amt tissue remove

    2. extent: worldwide 100-200 million/in Egypt 97%!

    3. Sudan: Nubia remove most genitalia/sew outer edges/bind legs ankle to waist heal sev wks

     a. leave: sm opening size pencil for urine/menstrual fluids; do7 days aft birth to adolescence

     b. pain: usual do no anesthesia/excruciating/cause pain intercourse/no ogasm/urinary infect

     c. if woman marries: cut wider for sex/after birth vagina sutured shut

     d. purpose: reduce sex desire/>likely virgin at marriage/remain faithful/men dom soc that prac

   D. why fem kidnapped/sold brides China: happens 10s thousands in parts w/ centuries-old trad

    1. shortage of women: female infanticide result 1 child official limit/some prov 100/120 f/

    2. problem:  all men are expected to marry and produce heirs

II. Feminism: fights 2nd class status: not serve jury/vote/make contract/hold property

A.     waves: 1st 1920s reform all society/vote; 2nd 60s wk not temp,oppose in= work/pay

B.     3rd wave: prob fem <indus nations/crit competition, toughness. Indep male qualities

   1. replace value: w/ coop,openness,interdepence/also, remove block fem pleasure/love

III. gender inequality education: until 1832, women not allowed to attend college w/ men

  A. trend: 1960 40% col studs/2000 56%/57% BA 58% MA /black 63% fem/

  B. change: 1970-2000: MD 8-43% law 5-46% dentistry 1-40%

  C. extremes: men 81% bach degree engineering/12% in home econ

  D. women <likely complete doctorate in all fields, though outnumber men in some—eg psych

IV. >death rate fem bypass surgery: 4.6% fem v 2.6% men; why? Fem<time heart-lung machine

A.     other sex discrim: chest pains fem patient not taken as seriously

B.      10x >likely give men exercise stress tests and radioactive heart scans

C.     abnormal stress test men go surg/wait fem show clear-cut symp heart disease bef go surgery

D.gender bias: so pervasive that it operates beneath our level of awareness

V. conversation: men >likely than women to interrupt conversations/>likely control change topic

VI. Pay gap: avg women grads college makes same as man who drops out of college

A.     trend: gap closed a bit during 1980s, but then grew during 1990s; 65% of what men paid

B. reason: half gap due to choice of occup/other half “child penalty” (miss exper) and discrim