Page 318 - Essencials of Sociology

Inequalities of Gender 291

In Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, on Africa’s northern coast, I met some U.S.
college students and spent a couple of days with them. They wanted to see the city’s red light Learning
district, but I wondered whether it would be worth the trip. I already had seen other red Objectives
light districts, including the unusual one in Amsterdam where a bronze statue of a female
After you have read this
prostitute lets you know you’ve entered the area; the state licenses the women and men, re-
chapter, you should be able to:
quiring that they have medical checkups (certificates must be posted); and the prostitutes
add sales tax to the receipts they give customers. The prostitutes sit behind lighted picture 10.1 Distinguish between sex
windows while customers stroll along the narrow canal-side streets and “window shop” from and gender; use research
on Vietnam veterans and
the outside. Tucked among the brothels are day care centers, bakeries, and clothing stores.
testosterone to explain
Amsterdam itself is an unusual place—in cafes, you can smoke marijuana but not tobacco.
why the door to biology is
I decided to go with them. We ended up on a wharf opening in sociology. (p. 292)
The prostitutes sit that extended into the Mediterranean. Each side was Discuss the origin of gender
lined with a row of one-room wooden shacks, crowded one 10.2
behind lighted picture against the next. In front of each open door stood a young discrimination and review
global aspects of violence
windows while woman. Peering from outside into the dark interiors, against women. (p. 297)
I could see that each door led to a tiny room with an old,
customers stroll along Review the rise of feminism
well-worn bed. 10.3
the narrow canal-side The wharf was crowded with men who were eyeing the and summarize gender
inequality in health care
streets and “window women and negotiating prices. Many of the men wore and education. (p. 302)
sailor uniforms from countries that I couldn’t identify.
shop” from the As I looked more closely, I could see that some of the 10.4 Explain reasons for the
pay gap; discuss the
outside. women had running sores on their legs. Incredibly, with glass ceiling and sexual
such visible evidence of their disease, men still sought harassment. (p. 308)
them out.
Summarize violence
With a sick feeling in my stomach and the desire to vomit, I kept a good distance between 10.5
against women: rape,
the beckoning women and myself. One tour of the two-block area was more than sufficient.
murder, and violence in
Somewhere nearby, out of sight, I knew that there were men whose wealth derived the home. (p. 313)
from exploiting these women who were condemned to short lives punctuated by fear and
Discuss changes in gender
misery. 10.6
and politics. (p. 315)
In the previous chapter, we considered how race–ethnicity affects people’s well-being 10.7 Understand how attitudes
and their position in society. In this chapter, we examine gender stratification—males’ toward the elderly vary
and females’ unequal access to property, power, and prestige. We also explore the preju- around the world; explain
dice and discrimination directed to people because of their age. how industrialization led to
Gender and age are especially significant because, like race–ethnicity, they are master sta- a graying globe. (p. 316)
tuses; that is, they cut across all aspects of social life. We all are labeled male or female and are Discuss changes in
10.8
assigned an age category. These labels are powerful. Not only do, they convey images and perceptions of the elderly.
expectations about how we should act, but they also serve as a basis of power and privilege. (p. 320)
Summarize theories of
10.9
disengagement, activity,
Inequalities of Gender and continuity. (p. 323)
10.10 Explain the conflict
Let’s begin by considering the distinctions between sex and gender. perspective on Social
Security and discuss
intergenerational
competition and conflict.
(p. 325).
Issues of Sex and Gender 10.11 Discuss developing views
of aging and the impact
When we consider how females and males differ, the first thing that usually comes to of technology on how
mind is sex, the biological characteristics that distinguish males and females. Primary sex long people live. (p. 328)
characteristics consist of a vagina or a penis and other organs related to reproduction.
Secondary sex characteristics are the physical distinctions between males and females that