Forms of Gender Inequality

• Patriarchy refers to male dominance over women. There aren't very many known societies that are not patriarchal, although the degree and character of inequalities between the sexes varies across cultures.
•  Many women are poorly paid and have dim career prospects. Even women who are successful in the corporate world face discrimination in the form of cultural expectations about the proper role of women in society.
• The increasing number of women in the labor force has affected family responsibilities such as child care and housework. Though men contribute more to these responsibilities now than in the past, women still shoulder the bulk of the work. For working women, these household obligations constitute a "second shift."
• The ways schools are organized and classes are taught sustain gender inequalities. Rules specifying appropriate dress for girls and boys encourage sex typing, as do texts containing established gender images. There is evidence that teachers treat girls and boys differently, and there is a long history of specialized subjects for separate sexes.
• Violence by men against women occurs in many societies-in the form of spousal abuse, rape, and sexual harassment, for example. Some scholars argue that women are often the targets of sexual violence because men are socialized to see women as sex objects and to feel a sense of sexual entitlement to women.

Gender Inequality College Majors

There have always been gender inequality in what majors college students choose and how they differ between men and women. Males and females make different choices with regards to college majors. Two main reasons have been suggested for this gender gap: differences in innate abilities, and differences in preferences.Even though women earned 58% of all undergraduate degrees awarded in 2008, they’re earning less money on average than men. Out of the top ten highest-earning majors, none are dominated by women, which means that the degrees women choose are far lower in the salary hierarchy. In most cases, these high-paying majors are completely dominated by men – in 7 out of the top 10 majors, over 75% of the degrees go to men. These majors are aviation, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, engineering, nuclear engineering, information technology, and electrical engineering. The remaining three of the top 10 majors are roughly equalized between men and women: business administration, business, and economics. 

Gender Inequality: Hollywood

The "other USC," the University of Southern California, released data from a study on gender inequality in Hollywood. The study surveyed the top 100-grossing movies of 2009 and found that percentages of speaking characters were identical to those of the top-grossing movies of 2008.

Out of 4,342 speaking characters 32.8% were female and 67.2% were male.

Associate professor Stacy L. Smith is quoted in the LA Times, "We see remarkably stable trends. This reveals an industry formula for gender that may be outside of people's conscious awareness."

Through discussions of gender inequality just with my peers, I have realized that most people do not think that gender inequality still exists, or they would rather just not talk about it. But Professor Smith makes a valid point about gender inequality on a larger scale than just hollywood: that issues of gender inequality "may be outside of people's conscious awareness."

Findings on revealing clothing display a disparity between men and women as well. Women are more likely to wear more suggestive clothing than men. Age becomes a factor in nudity as well, as "revealing clothing and partial nudity was just as prevalent among 13 to 20-year-old female characters as it was among those 21 to 29, suggesting that females are sexualized on-screen ay young ages."

Those involved at the study at USC believe that one of the reasons that contributes to these disparities is the fact that more men are directing things behind the scenes. They claim that if things were to change behind the scenes then things would change on the screen as well.

I have to agree. According to the Motion Picture Assn. of America, the only area where women surpassed men in films in 2009 is that they bought more than 50% of the movie tickets.

Women of Brazil Advance Slower Than The Economy

With the recent seating of Dilma Rousseff in the office of president of Brazil, the country has seen dramatic changes.  Rousseff (who has been mentioned in previous posts), is the first female president of the country.  She is an accomplished economist, onetime Marxist militant and handpicked successor to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.  At one time, many wondered if she would be able to fill Mr. da Silva's shoes.  She has proven in her time in office that she can stand on her own two feet.  At the helm of the world's seventh-largest economy, her position is being looked very closely because of the current economic crisis globally but also as a representative of what women are capable of.  In her 11 months in office, she has un-apologetically appointed women to high profile positions like minister of institutional relations and chief of staff, with a third of her cabinet being women. However, even with her progressive thinking and placement of women in very influential positions, women in Brazil overall are not progressing as quickly.  Women have progressed in the areas of education, health and in the professions and technical fields.  However, their economic and political power has not seen the same rate of increase; in fact, it is growing quite slowly, as they are behind in managerial and senior positions.  It was found in the Executive Opinion Survey conducted by the World Economic Forum that executives rated Brazilian women's ability to rise to positions of senior leadership in business at 4.06 on a scale of 1 to 7.  Women only hold 9 percent of parliamentary positions which is very low compared to the world average.  Hopefully with Rousseff leading the way, women in Brazil will be able to close the gap in workforce.

Sleep On It

The New York Times is usually read by those who take news seriously.  It is one of the most reliable news sources in print media today.  However, recently The New York Times has come under fire by writer for The Huffington Post, Joan Williams.  Williams' gripe with The Times is that they have taken gender inequality to lightly to the point of disrespect.  The article in question begins making light of a study done at the Emory Sleep Center in Atlanta, where 3 out of 4 patients are women.  It makes light of a particular case in which a working mother, afraid of developing an addiction, would rather suffer from insomnia than to take Xanax.  This woman suffers from anxiety and felt anxious about taking an anti-anxiety medication (oh, the irony).  However this issue is one that should be taken more seriously.  This incident is not funny and is a concern of many working mothers (to varying degrees).  It can be very difficult to deal with the sleeplessness that comes as a result of pregnancy only to be followed by sleepless nights spent awake with an newborn. Women's bodies change and adapt to the lifestyle change causing biological reactions that may be unfavorable, like sleeplessness.  However, women going through this take this seriously and perhaps The New York Times should too.

Gender Inequality in the Courts

 I read this article entitled "Gender Inequality in the Courts," and found it quite interesting. It is a guide for the all of New Mexico state and federal courts. In the reading it provided specific examples of gender bias presented in the court. These included:
"1. A tendency by some judges to treat female lawyers with greater deference and courtesy than male lawyers. Male lawyers tend to see this behavior as favoritism toward their female counterparts. Female lawyers often find this behavior condescending and paternalistic.

2. Lack of sensitivity in the types of questions asked of victims of domestic abuse or sexual violence. Questions to a battered spouse about what she did to provoke a beating, or why she returned to the home, refl ect biased assumptions. When impaneling jurors, judges should be sensitive to the types of questions about the juror’s work, so that the nature of that work is not demeaned. Work within the home is no less important than work outside the home.

3. When judges look less alert and attentive, fail to take notes, or assume a bored expression when a woman speaks, they convey in a powerful way the message that women’s presentations are less important than those of men.

4. Some judges may be hesitant to respond assertively to gender-biased misconduct that occurs in their presence. If male attorneys engage in blatant or subtle forms of gender bias toward female attorneys or witnesses, it is important that the judge intervene to stop such behavior. Behavior or statements which are demeaning to women must be excluded from the courtroom. A firm reminder from the judge at the first instance of inappropriate behavior will tend to stop it, without major disruption to the proceedings or embarrassment to the woman."

These four are great examples of gender inequality in the courts.
http://www.nmbar.org/attorneys/lawpubs/genderequality.pdf

Gender Inequality:Child Custody

   In court cases about child custody, is where many memebers of society believes gender inequality exist dramatically. Many perceive th rulings to be very unfair and not right. The decision of the court seems not to follow the guideline as placing the child with the parent that will be more appropriate, providing a susatinable environment.
  In every child custody hearing, it is always more likely that the child, or children will be placed with their mother. Many believe that a child being with their mother is always better for the child. This is not always the case. Some fathers can provide more for a child, not just financially but emotional and supportive as well. Some mothers are fighting for custody just so that they can receive a child support check each month, which is their only motive. Where as a father motive is not to receive a child support check a month, but to just have the opportunity to see their child, or children on a daily basis. It is not always the case that a mother will raise a child more efficient than a man is the gender inequality argument.