Sex
Refers to the biological identity
Gender
*Behavioral and psychological traits considered appropriate for men and women.
*Gender traits are socially created and vary from culture to culture.
Gender Roles
attitudes and behaviors that a society establishes for men and women as opposed to
Gender Identity
the "awareness" of masculine and feminine traits as defined by culture - they are not static and have changed in recent decades
Mead's Studies
Gender roles are socially created.
*Tchambuli - Women provide and are efficient while men are gossipy
*Arapesh - Men and women were passive and warm
*Mundugumor - Both men and women aggressive
Identity and Socialization
*Gender Socialization
*usually begins at birth
*sex specific toys, furnishings etc.
*not as bad as it used to be 20 years or so ago
*school expectations as well:
*Boys excel in math and science
*Girls excel in reading and arts
*Family is the most powerful
Social Inequality
Began when women were at home nursing and men were hunting and gathering which developed a patriarchal environment.
*Men block women's access to power
*The conflict theory shows that society reflects male dominance
*Sexism - becomes a self-fulfilling prop
Inequality in the United States
*Less than 150 years ago women were considered very much a second class citizen
*Women's Movement
*July 1848 began a movement- most importantly for suffrage - right to vote - practiced civil disobedience to gain their rights
*Extreme measures led to the 1
Education
*Before 1979 women were underrepresented in colleges; today women are 57% of college population
*However - more men pursue engineering and science while women are more education and humanities
Wage Gap
Women's income relative to that of men's
60s - 58-61 cents to every male dollar
Today is 77cents
Glass ceiling
the invisible barrier that keeps women from gaining the upper level positions in businesss
Second shift
work to do at home after the work outside is completed
*also face a "leisure gap" at home
*women have 6 hours less per week of leisure
Political Gender Gap
more women voters
more likely to vote, but hold less political positions.
2007 poll showed that 88% of the respondents would vote for a female president
Last Election
*In the new Congress, we will have 20 female Senators, up from 17.
*We will have the first openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin, in Wisconsin.
*We will have the first Asian-American woman in the Senate, Mazie Hirono, and the first Hindu in Congress, Tulsi Ga
Age and Disability
*Preindustrial societies used to respect age as wisdom - industrial societies place more emphasis on middle age and employment
*Ageism
*Reinforced in our society through commercials and news coverage - when in reality most people 65 and older are producti
Ageism
the belief that one age category is by nature superior to another age category
The Aging World
*There are about 705 million people aged 60 and older worldwide and that number will grow to almost 2 billion by 2050
*Population trends (listen to the numbers)
*Population trends in the US represent what is happening worldwide - by 2050- one in every fiv
The politics of Aging
*Political force and a topic of debate
*Few politicians are willing to ignore this segment of the population
*AARP - most successful with 35 million members
*The National Council of Senior Citizens
*The National Council on Aging
*The Gray Panthers
Challenges of Government
*Social Security
*Relies on the "dependency ratio"
*Was 5 to 1 - now stands at 2 to 1
*The workers of today are supporting the retirees with the anticipation that this will continue in the future - but that does not look promising
*Not only is the number
Age Inequality
*Poverty rates among the elderly have fallen while rates for the younger have risen
*Though the picture is not always that clear - listen to statistics.
*Americans with disabilities -
*Elderly are affected by disability
*And then have to deal with the pre
Americans with Disabilities
*Elderly are affected by disability; there are 53 million Americans with disabilities
*And then have to deal with the prejudice as well
*Lack of jobs - living in poverty - 26% live below poverty line
*Some relief has come in education and fair housing
*Th
Patriarchy
a system in which men are dominant over women
suffrage
the right to vote
sexism
the belief that one sex is by nature superior to the other
graying of America
a phenomenon of the growing percentage of elderly Americans as part of the total U.S. population
baby-boom generation
collective term for the approximately 76 million children born in the United States from 1946 through 1964
dependency ratio
the number of workers for each person receiving Social Security benefits
Medicare
the government-sponsored health insurance plan for the elderly Americans and Americans with disabilities
Medicaid
the state and federally funded health-insurance program for low-income individuals
managed care
alternative health-insurance plans used to help control health care cost. Over 75% of Americans with private health insurance are members of managed-care plans. It has brought down cost.
alternative medicine
treating illnesses with unconventional methods such as acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, massage, meditation, yoga, herbal remedies, and relaxation techniques. About 48% have said they used alternative medicine.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
a fatal disease that attacks an individuals immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to a host of deadly infections. HIV is transmitted through sexual contact with an infected individual, contaminated blood and human tissue, and the use of contaminate
Health Care
*The U.S. spends a higher percentage of its gross domestic product on health care than any other country
Rise in Health Care Cost
*Hospital care - accounts for 32% of all medical expenditures. It tops the list with most costly. Tries to be kept down by outpatient and shorter hospital stays
*Advances in technology - have expensive machines like MRI and CAT that doctors rely on so tha
Access to Health care
it is a problem for many Americans even with the surplus of doctors because of the distribution of physicians, both geographically and within the medical profession.
Geographic distribution of doctors
In urban and suburban areas the doctor to population ratio is low (1 to 254). In poor inner city and rural areas the ratio is high (1 to 24500).
Professional distribution of doctors
Many physicians concentrate in specialty fields such as cardiology, internal medicine, and obstetrics.
Health Insurance
the majority of medical cost in the U.S. (84%) is covered by private or public insurance. The other 16% are uninsured.
Private Insurnace
people pay set periodic fees
Public Insurance
includes government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid which provide coverage for elderly, disabled and poor people.
Inequality and Health
The greater health problems for Americans in poverty:
*children are more likely to die within the first year of life
*36 million Americans face hunger
*22% of poor children have no health insurance
*37% of the non-elderly low-income population doesn't hav