Unit 1

Interdisciplinary Approach Towards Sociology of Women

1.1 Learning Objectives

1.2 Introduction

1.3 History of Sociology of Women

1.4 Political Economy & Women

1.5 Psychology & Women

1.6 Population & Geography of Women

1.1 Learning Objectives

In this unit students will:

 Recognise sociological concepts as they relate to women and gender,

 Differentiate variety of viewpoints on sociology or women or gender, and
 Explore how women and/or gender issues are studied in an interdisciplinary manner.

1.2 Introduction

The sociology of women or gender is a relatively new field and still in its development phase.
Sociologists have registered growing interest in women and gender issues in the recent past and
several researches have been undertaken in the related domain. Academically, several universities
across the world have witnessed programs in the area of women and gender studies. In this unit we
shall review the developments in sociology of women and gender including its historical roots and
political, psychological and geographical landscape.

1.3 History of Sociology of Women

Sociologists in the past have considered sex or gender as the most basic division of labour. Clearly,
women were to produce children, cook, sew, take care of men and children and other necessary
chores. Women were also considered subordinate to their male counterparts and were not
considered for high level of occupations and positions that beholds power.

Earlier anthropologists like Tiger and Fox called human “bioprogrammers” and argued that male and
female adapted to a sexual division of labour in a human society. The same sexual division of labour
was arguably believed to continue in modern industrial society and any change in established gender
roles was considered against the nature.

Another anthropologist George Peter Murdock suggested that biological differences, such as the
greater physical strength of men and child bearing capabilities of women, automatically initiates
roles that men and women perform. Yet another anthropologist and propagator of functionalism
argues that a woman’s role in the family is that of an “expressive female”, which is significantly
necessary for the effective socialization of the youth. In the era of modern industrial society Parsons
argues the role of expressive female is all the more significant as she is instrumental in relieving
stress of her male counterpart (stress that emerges out of competing in an achievement oriented
industrial world) by providing love, consideration and understanding.

Ann Oakley, a British sociologist advocates strongly on culture as the determinant of roles that men
and women perform in the society. Alike Oakley, Sherry B. Ortner also focuses on culture and
provides her general explanation for the “universal devaluation of women”. She argues that in no
way biological determinant like sex ascribes women to their status, but the way every culture
defines and evaluates female biology. According to her whenever the universal evaluation changed,
the basis for female subordination will be removed.

However, more recently in the late 1960s and early 1970s an explicit concern with sex and gender
roles emerged with sociology. In wake of Women’s Liberation Movement, the notions of sex based
division of labour were challenged and considered in appropriate. During this period women became
aware of their status and gathered to demand changes in all the spheres of life. One of the major
outcomes of this liberation movement which is also considered as the dawn of feminism in the
modern world resulted into the growth of Women Studies. Sociology departments across the globe
hired and promoted more women sociologists and offered growing number of “sex roles” courses1.
Alternatively, an increased number of initiatives were witnessed in women related publications,
research, bibliographies, monographs and textbooks, university presses and professional
associations.

1.4 Political Economy & Women

Inequality towards women has been evident for many years now and still exists in one form or the
other. Many countries of the world who have been leaders in reducing the gap between men and
women in the areas of health and education, still demonstrates significant traces of inequality in
economic and political participation. Shawn S. Dorius and Glenn Firebaug in their article, Trend in
Global Gender Inequality quotes, “Gender inequality has been one of the most enduring forms of
inequality across all societies over the course of human history...one of the deepest and most
resistant forms of inequality existing in the world.”2

A look around the world reveals that women do account for majority of the workforce, yet continue
to be marginalised through unequal pay, unequal access to higher positions and higher paying jobs.
The situation is all the more evident in developing countries where women participate largely in
economy but only in vulnerable, low pay and low skilled jobs. Additionally, it is true that women
across the world also lag behind men in political leadership, which is one of the key instruments in
making things better for them.

Women’s under-representation in politics is a failure of all the democracies of today’s world.

Approximately, a not less than half of the world’s voting population is women, but the average
percent of women in national parliament presents a gloomy picture. According to a study only 24

1
Hughes, Helen 1973, The Status of Women in Sociology 1968-1972. Washington D. C.: The
American Sociological Association
2
Shawn S. Dorius and Glenn Firebaugh, “Trend in Global Gender Inequality.” Social Forces, Vol. 88,
No. 5 (July 2010), pp. 1941 –1968. Pp. 1957 –1958.
per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of November 2018, a slow increase from
11.3 per cent in 1995.3

Wide variations are evident in the average percentages of women parliamentarians in each region.
As of November 2018, these were (single, lower and upper houses combined): Nordic countries, 42.3
per cent; Americas, 30 per cent; Europe including Nordic countries, 27.7 per cent; Europe excluding
Nordic countries, 26.6 per cent; sub-Saharan Africa, 23.6 per cent; Asia, 19.4 per cent; Arab States,
17.8 per cent; and the Pacific, 17 per cent.4

In order to empower women the variations in political landscape must be take care of. There exists
strong and established evidence that women’s leadership in political economy enhances and
improves decision-making processes. Several researches on local self governments from India
discovered that women’s participation in local governments can make a huge positive difference in
the issues of significance to the local community. For instance a study revealed that the number of
drinking water projects in areas with women-led councils was 62 per cent higher than in those with
men-led councils.5 Similarly in Norway, a direct causal relationship between the presence of women
in municipal councils and childcare coverage was found.6

Several attempts have been made following the women’s suffrage movement in 1913, which
ensured the women’s right to vote in elections, most countries included women’s voting rights in the
first half of the 20th century. The role of United Nations in this direction has been exemplary by way
of identifying and proposing six avenues by which female participation in politics and government
may be strengthened. These include:

 equalization of educational opportunities,

 quotas for female participation in governing bodies,
 legislative reform to increase focus on issues concerning women and children,
 financing gender-responsive budgets to equally take into account the needs of men and
women, increasing the presence of sex-disaggregated statistics in national research/data,
and
 furthering the presence and agency of grassroots women's empowerment movements.

1.5 Psychology & Women

Psychology has always differed from sociology and other social sciences. The discipline has taken
many ideas and theories directly from natural science and is sometimes referred to as bio-social
science or biopsychology. The discipline is focused on discovering and understanding the biological
process that explain human existence including the biological bases of human behaviour and
experience. At its root psychology aims to understand and explain biological foundations of human
behaviour by addressing evolution, genetic inheritance, physiology and morphology.

3
Single House or Lower House. Inter-Parliamentary Union. “Women in national parliaments, as of 1 November
2018
4
Inter-Parliamentary Union. “Women in national parliaments, as at 1 November 2018
5
R. Chattopadhyay and E. Duflo (2004_. “Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy
Experiment in India,” Econometrica 72(5), pp. 1409–1443
6
K. A. Bratton and L. P. Ray, 2002, “Descriptive Representation: Policy Outcomes and Municipal Day-Care
Coverage in Norway,” American Journal of Political Science, 46(2), pp. 428–437.
Women or gender issues are part of important discussions in psychology. The concept has attracted
lot of philosophical and political debates. The debates have divided the scientists in two groups,
minimalists, who believe the two sexes are fundamentally the same and maximalists, who believe
there are fundamental differences between men and women.

The history of psychology of gender can be divided into four periods.

 1936 – 1954: Masculinity – Femininity as a Global Personality Trait

 1936 – 1954: Masculinity – Femininity as a Global Personality Trait
 1954 – 1982: Sex Typing and Androgyny
 1982 – Present: Gender as a Social Category

We shall now briefly examine the characteristics of each period.

1894 – 1936: Sex Differences in Intelligence

This period saw the prominence of research aimed at trying to establish that men were smarter than
women by examining the size of brain. However, the research could not successfully establish the
linkage of brain size to intellect and there was declared unsuccessful.

1936 – 1954: Masculinity – Femininity as a Global Personality Trait

The period characterised the shift from sex differences to notion of gender roles. It saw an
introduction of the construct of masculinity and femininity (M/F). Several researches were
undertaken by way of Attitude Interest Analysis Survey (AIAS). The researches however showcased
serious weaknesses and were highly criticized.

1954 – 1982: Sex Typing and Androgyny

The period saw emergence of important theories of sex typing i.e., how boys and girls developed sex
appropriate preferences, personality traits and behaviours. The theories were a result of Eleanor
Moccoby’s publication, The Development of Sex Differences in 1966. Also the period saw a serious
critique of the existing masculinity and femininity (M/F) instruments by Anne Constantinople. During
the same period Parsons, a sociologist and Bales, a social psychologist, worked on the concept of
instrumental versus expressive distinction and later extended it to gender and gender roles. The
period also saw development of two important instruments that linked the instrumental versus
expressive orientation to gender roles. In 1974, Sandra Bem introduced Bem Sex Role Inventory
(BSRI) and Spence, Helmreich and Stapp introduced the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ).
Both the instruments are prominently use inventories to measure masculinity and femininity (M/F).

Also from both the inventories, BSRI and PAQ outgrew the conceptualization and research on
Androgyny, often referred to as operationalization of masculinity and femininity as unipolar,
independent dimensions. Androgyny was first measured with the BSRI by subtracting the masculinity
score from the femininity score and the androgynous person was someone whodisplayed both
masculine and feminine traits.

1982 – Present: Gender as a Social Category

Past few decades have been characterized by proliferation of research on sex and gender. From
several researches two major trends became evident. The first trend clearly discards the construct of
masculinity and femininity as a basis of gender role. The second trend focuses on the social context
in which gender occurs and confirms that gender roles are influenced by social context, time, place
and culture. Considering gender role within a socio-cultural context results into emergence of
gender-role strain i.e., strains or stress people face while performing roles imposed by societies.
Both men and women are exposed to these gender-role strains. Gender-role strain among men
includes homophobia, competitiveness, emotional inhibition, aggression, and a reluctance to seek
help. Gender-role strain among women, less studied, includes fear of physical unattractiveness, fear
of victimization, difficulties with assertion, and uncertainty about how to behave in traditionally
masculine settings.