10-400-13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Conflict Theories, Lawrence Kohlberg, Interculturalism
Week 8 Notes: Women, work and management
Changes after World Wars:
Right to Vote (1918/1940 QC)
After WW2: women enter the public sphere – elites and clergy resist
Emancipation 1960s
Gender Inequality ( 3 dimensions):
Power: capacity to impose your will on others
Material well-being: access to economic resources (ex. Food, possessions,
advantages)
Prestige: position in social/work hierarchy (ex. Cashier vs. doctor)
Social stratification: unequal ranking of groups
*Restricting women to the home reduces their access to power, prestige, and material well-
being.
Responses:
1. Some people have tried to eliminate the devaluation of domestic labor by having
women’s unpaid work recognized officially and having a dollar value assigned to it
2. Emphasis on the entry of women into the public sphere
Types of Feminism
Liberal Feminism
Gender inequalities caused by:
Gender stereotypes + division of work
Solutions:
1. Eliminate gender stereotyping
2. Update laws (equal opportunities)
Marxist Feminism
Women’s unpaid work benefits capitalists
oUnpaid work in the home maintains and reproduces the labor force
Women’s paid work also benefits capitalists
oHelps capitalists earn profit
oThey act as a “reserve army of labor”, can be fired and hired as labor
demands change
Solution
1. Socialism/ communism (Marxist feminists believe that gender equality is possible
once socialism replaces capitalism)
Socialist Feminism (built on Marxist feminism)
Gendered division of labor/ Capital exploitation of this labor
Patriarchy
Solutions:
1. Gov subsidized maternal benefits
2. Gov subsidized child care
3. Equal pay for work of equal value
1
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Week 8 Notes: Women, work and management
How to remove inequality?
By removing male dominance in: legal, educational system, family and economy.
Multiracial Feminism
Importance of race in gender inequality
Matrix of domination: Race/class/gender
3 ideas:
1. Differences between women
2. Some women dominate other women
3. Solutions vary according to a group’s position in the matrix (poor native vs. rich
white)
Power at work
More men are supervisors
Definitions of skill are socially constructed (skill undervaluation)
Nonstandard work more common among women (part-time, contract)
Work and Segregation
Sex labeling according to biological differences
Prejudices/stereotyping
Horizontal segregation: distinct economic sectors (“Glass wall”)
Vertical segregation: subordinate roles/ positions for women (“Glass ceiling”)
Increase in women’s labor-force participation
1. Increase demand for workers in service jobs (changes in Canadian economy)
2. Decrease number of children born
3. Increase in financial pressures on families
“Sandwich” generation
Women usually more than men
Teenage children and 80 year old parent living near by to take care of
Strong impact on paid work (may be more tired, less efficient, miss work days)
Domestic spheres and public spheres intersect (one affects the other)
Pay gap
Canada: women get paid less than 75% of what men earn (2006)
Four factors:
1. Gender differences in the characteristics that influence pay rate
2. Gender differences in the type of work performed
3. Discrimination
4. Societal devaluation of women’s work
Inequality issues are not restricted to gender: birthplace and color matter
Native/visible minority women VS. White women: Low skill jobs
Foreign born, minority PRs VS. Canada-born women: lower pay
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Week 8 Notes: Women, work and management
Native/visible minority women VS. Non-minority: lower pay
Wide diversity: women are not a homogenous group
Inequality AMONG women is a present issue**
Women in politics
30s: large scale entry into the paid workforce – focus of equal rights, gender equality
80s: Women’s lobby loses influence
90s: Reduced funding for women’s issues
21st century: faced with reduced funding, women’s groups partner with other advocacy
groups (immigrants, visible minority, anti-poverty, abortion, etc.)
Underrepresented in parliament
Men hostile to women’s participation
Gatekeeping: parties control who runs and in which riding
Clash between personal life and politics: women still do more than men at home,
politics demands sacrifices to family life
Underrepresentation of Women in Politics
1. Certain characteristics of women keep them from participating in politics
2. Culture of politics is “male” and therefore hostile to the participation of women
3. Gatekeeping: “filtering” (of info, of candidates etc)
4. Insufficient resources (need money for campaign, women disadvantaged because
they generally earn less)
5. Clash between political and family life influences the participation of some women
in politics
How to eliminate gender inequality:
1. Affirmative Action programs (reducing sex typing/labeling of occupations)
a. Goals: integrate women into certain industries, overturn the perpetuation of
long-standing inequalities
2. Pay equity (ex. Commission de l’equite salariale)
a. Positive: some success (Canada post)
b. Negative:
b.i. Not everyone covered
b.ii. Weak penalties
b.iii. flawed policies (ex. Only large firms/ within the firm)
c. Business is wary of pay equity legislation
d. Gov are hesitant (QC tried to eliminate CES)
Eliminating gender inequality in Politics
Display good intentions
oParty statements
Reduce economic barriers
oUnpaid leave from work
oCampaign spending limits
oContributions tax deductible
3
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Document Summary
After ww2: women enter the public sphere elites and clergy resist. Power: capacity to impose your will on others. Material well-being: access to economic resources (ex. *restricting women to the home reduces their access to power, prestige, and material well- being. Responses: some people have tried to eliminate the devaluation of domestic labor by having women"s unpaid work recognized officially and having a dollar value assigned to it, emphasis on the entry of women into the public sphere. Solutions: eliminate gender stereotyping, update laws (equal opportunities) Women"s unpaid work benefits capitalists: unpaid work in the home maintains and reproduces the labor force. Women"s paid work also benefits capitalists: helps capitalists earn profit, they act as a reserve army of labor , can be fired and hired as labor demands change. Solution: socialism/ communism (marxist feminists believe that gender equality is possible once socialism replaces capitalism) Gendered division of labor/ capital exploitation of this labor.
