Exam 3: Status Section B: Gender and Sexuality

From "Benefits for Nonhomophobic Societies: An Anthropological Perspective" by Walter L. Williams Williams discusses attitudes toward homosexuality/androgyny in cross-cultural perspective. Unlike in the contemporary U.S., many other societies show an appreciation for this type of diversity, and, critically, it leads to meaningful contributions for society across a variety of substantive/institutional contexts including the family, child rearing, and friendship. -Discuss the Navaho notion of nadle.

From The Gendered Society by Michael Kimmel Kimmel bring historic and anthropological findings to bear on cultural/social variation in the dynamics of gender, namely, how it is defined, levels of inequality, the extent of the gendered division of labor, and the determinants of women's status in society. This piece provides support for a cultural/social rather than a biological interpretation of gender as a unit of differentiation in society. -Discuss evidence by Kimmel of the causes of gender differentiation.

From "Benefits for Nonhomophobic Societies: An Anthropological Perspective" by Walter L. Williams Williams discusses attitudes toward homosexuality/androgyny in cross-cultural perspective. Unlike in the contemporary U.S., many other societies show an appreciation for this type of diversity, and, critically, it leads to meaningful contributions for society across a variety of substantive/institutional contexts including the family, child rearing, and friendship. -Which of the following best characterizes Williams' main argument: It is important to:

"The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone As Far As They Can?" by Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn The authors examine trends in the rate and causes of the gender wage gap. Progress in closing the gap waxed and waned across time, with the gap narrowing in the 1980s, increasing in the 1990s, and, again, narrowing in the early 2000s. The causes of the gap appear to be fairly consistent with a combination of human capital and basic socio-demographic factors both playing a role, though their respective roles differ across time. -What findings relevant to the production of the gender wage gap have been reached from "audit" studies?

From "Comparative Gender Stratification" by Joan Huber The piece by Huber speculates about the causal factors that produce levels of gender inequality across modes of subsistence such as herding, hunting and gathering, and horticultural societies that characterize premodern societies. Huber argues that within these modes of subsistence central actors include interacting between work, war, and childbearing. -Huber argues that across all kinds of subsistence women's absence from politico-military institutions generates gender inequality.

From "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations" by Joan Acker Acker discusses the "gendering" of women's work in organizations. This gendering is associated with patriarchal-based forms of inequality and oppression in the kind of work women do and its attendant rewards. The author views this gendering as, historically, a product of the gender-neutral rendering of stratification-based organizational dynamics. -Discuss why the author believes that until recently there has been little discussion of the gendered aspect of organizations.

From "Comparative Gender Stratification" by Joan Huber The piece by Huber speculates about the causal factors that produce levels of gender inequality across modes of subsistence such as herding, hunting and gathering, and horticultural societies that characterize premodern societies. Huber argues that within these modes of subsistence central actors include interacting between work, war, and childbearing. -According to Huber, whom has the most power:

From "Comparative Gender Stratification" by Joan Huber The piece by Huber speculates about the causal factors that produce levels of gender inequality across modes of subsistence such as herding, hunting and gathering, and horticultural societies that characterize premodern societies. Huber argues that within these modes of subsistence central actors include interacting between work, war, and childbearing. -Which type of subsistence mode led to the initial great increase in gender inequality? Why?

From "Doing Gender" by Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman The authors attempt to reconceptualize gender as a routine and recurring phenomenon grounded in social practices of everyday life. Their perspective involves analyzing gender as a complex of socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micropolitical activities that cast pursuits as manifestations of masculine and feminine "natures." -Discuss the "sex differences" and "sex roles" approaches to gender. Discuss their limitations as formulations.

From The Gendered Society by Michael Kimmel Kimmel bring historic and anthropological findings to bear on cultural/social variation in the dynamics of gender, namely, how it is defined, levels of inequality, the extent of the gendered division of labor, and the determinants of women's status in society. This piece provides support for a cultural/social rather than a biological interpretation of gender as a unit of differentiation in society. -Discuss the importance of rape as a determinant of male dominance.

"The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone As Far As They Can?" by Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn The authors examine trends in the rate and causes of the gender wage gap. Progress in closing the gap waxed and waned across time, with the gap narrowing in the 1980s, increasing in the 1990s, and, again, narrowing in the early 2000s. The causes of the gap appear to be fairly consistent with a combination of human capital and basic socio-demographic factors both playing a role, though their respective roles differ across time. -The gender gap in wages, while always present, was reduced during the 1980s, but expanded during the 1990s, and showed signs of reduction in the early 2000s.

From The Gendered Society by Michael Kimmel Kimmel bring historic and anthropological findings to bear on cultural/social variation in the dynamics of gender, namely, how it is defined, levels of inequality, the extent of the gendered division of labor, and the determinants of women's status in society. This piece provides support for a cultural/social rather than a biological interpretation of gender as a unit of differentiation in society. -All societies exhibit similar levels of gender inequality and domination.

From "Comparative Gender Stratification" by Joan Huber The piece by Huber speculates about the causal factors that produce levels of gender inequality across modes of subsistence such as herding, hunting and gathering, and horticultural societies that characterize premodern societies. Huber argues that within these modes of subsistence central actors include interacting between work, war, and childbearing. -According to Huber, why is gender inequality relatively low in hunting and gathering societies?

From Masculinities by R. W. Connell The author puts forward a theoretically-based "social constructionist" account of gender. This account is predicated on understanding gender relationally and culturally, and is intimately tied into the structure of violence and domination creating "social practices" that define the parameters and substance of gender categories. -Gender cannot be understood apart from the dynamics of hegemony in society.

From "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations" by Joan Acker Acker discusses the "gendering" of women's work in organizations. This gendering is associated with patriarchal-based forms of inequality and oppression in the kind of work women do and its attendant rewards. The author views this gendering as, historically, a product of the gender-neutral rendering of stratification-based organizational dynamics. -Discuss the specific "interacting processes" that structure organizations as fundamentally gendered.

From "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations" by Joan Acker Acker discusses the "gendering" of women's work in organizations. This gendering is associated with patriarchal-based forms of inequality and oppression in the kind of work women do and its attendant rewards. The author views this gendering as, historically, a product of the gender-neutral rendering of stratification-based organizational dynamics. -The imagery of a "disembodied body" is crucial to the notion of a gender-neutral analysis of organizations.

From "Comparative Gender Stratification" by Joan Huber The piece by Huber speculates about the causal factors that produce levels of gender inequality across modes of subsistence such as herding, hunting and gathering, and horticultural societies that characterize premodern societies. Huber argues that within these modes of subsistence central actors include interacting between work, war, and childbearing. -How does involvement in warfare lead to gender inequality across modes of subsistence?

From Masculinities by R. W. Connell The author puts forward a theoretically-based "social constructionist" account of gender. This account is predicated on understanding gender relationally and culturally, and is intimately tied into the structure of violence and domination creating "social practices" that define the parameters and substance of gender categories. -How, according to Connell, does gender as a social practice operate as "a product of history and a producer of history"?

From Masculinities by R. W. Connell The author puts forward a theoretically-based "social constructionist" account of gender. This account is predicated on understanding gender relationally and culturally, and is intimately tied into the structure of violence and domination creating "social practices" that define the parameters and substance of gender categories. -According to Connell, gender is:

From "Doing Gender" by Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman The authors attempt to reconceptualize gender as a routine and recurring phenomenon grounded in social practices of everyday life. Their perspective involves analyzing gender as a complex of socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micropolitical activities that cast pursuits as manifestations of masculine and feminine "natures." -According to the authors, what does not constitute an arena that alters the way gender operates in practice?