Sociology of Gender
•Two levels of social reality
–Experiential (interactions)
–Structural (institutions)
–The characteristics of one level affect thestatus of the other level (and vice-versa)
–Gender relations & inequality are goodexamples of this
Gender & Crime: Defining terms
•The “Nature” of Gender
–Distinction between sex, gender & sexuality
•Sex – a biological reality (DNA, genitalia, hormaones, physiology)
•Sex Category –
–2 category scheme: Male/Female
–Not necessarily so
•Gender – a social/cultural construct (Masculinity and Femininity)
•Sexuality – One’s sexual identity/orientation (debate about origin)
•Heterogender – a new idea that acknowledges how importantsexuality is to the ways that gender is constructed
Gender & Crime: Defining terms
The social construction of gender:
“Doing Gender” concept (West & Zimmerman 1987)
• Gender accomplished in interaction with others
•“Accomplished” by providing cues that are consistent with normativeexpectations for masculinity and femininity
–Contextual
–Norm violations are “policed”
• Gender culturally understood as an “oppositional dichotomy”
• Doing gender means
–Creating differences b/t boys & girls and women & men that are notnatural
–Using the socially constructed differences to reinforce the notion thatgender (rather than sex) is “natural” or essentially derived.
•Multiple ways of doing gender even for the same sex
Social Construction of Gender
Lorber:
Significance of gender bending?
Key point of film – gender (and for that matter sexcategory schema and sexuality) are socialconstructs
Individuals – Gender means sameness
•Big element of identity and shared status w/ others
Society – Gender means differences
•Compelled to gender identify gender-neutral persons
•Differentiation creates gender bending?
•Gender bending reinforces gender
Social Construction of Gender
Lorber: Gender Ranking
–Difference usually is employed to advantage someand disadvantage others
–Feminism is threatening only because it critiquespractices and institutions that support inequality
Evidence for Gender Ranking?
Family: Unpaid Labor (private spheres)
Religion: Female Clergy/Pope? (origin stories?)
Education:
Social Construction of Gender
Lorber: Evidence for Gender Ranking
Gov’t:
Voting rights? Suffrage (19th Amend. - 1920)
Elected Representatives: President?
63 ♀ in congress; 14 ♀ senators
Economy:
Occupational Segregation; Authority (CEOs);
Salary: ~ 75 cents on the $
Social Construction of Gender
Lorber: Components of Gender
Institution:
Individuals:
•Statuses
•Sex Category
•D.o.L.
•Identity
•Kinship
•Marriage/Reproduction
•Social Scripts
•Sexuality
•Personalities
•Personality
•Social Control
•Processes
•Ideology
•Beliefs
•Imagery
•Display
Bringing it all together
Lorber: Components of Gender
Gender as…
•Process
•Creates the differences that define man and women
•Stratification
•Gender ranks men above women of the same race andclass
•Structure
•Gender divides work in the home and in economicproduction, legitimates authority, and organizessexuality and emotional life (Connell, 1987)
Historical Legacy of Gender Relations
Restricting Women to the Private Sphere
Justified by three appeals:
1.Protection of women as a class:
•Moral (♀ as purer; ♀ as children)
•Physical (health hazards, esp. to justify exclusion from ♂ jobs)
2.Motherhood:
A woman’s place… Essentialist notions of parenting.Emotion work. Public sphere activities threatens the family.
3.Marriage:
Historical reality that single women have possessed morefreedom
Disparate impact of marriage for ♀&♂’s lives
♀ role in the family has been used to successfully defeat lawsuitsaimed at promotions policies that restrict ♀
Gender & Crime: Defining terms
Gender and Power Relations
Acker (1990) on Organizations & Gender
– Neutrality is “gendered” in the context of socialorganizations (schools, jobs, government, etc.)
–Organizational life is patterned and active indistinguishing between male and female:
•Division of Labor – jobs & tasks (sex stratification)
•Images & Symbols that reinforce gender difference (dress,speech)
•Interactions of workers (authority)
Gender & Crime: Defining terms
Gender and Power Relations
Sexism:
–Oppressive attitudes and behaviors directed ateither sex
–Patterned: mostly directed at women
Patriarchy:
–The Social, Legal & Cultural climate that values menand masculine over alternatives
–Based on a confusion over sex and gender
What is Feminism?
An approach to thinking about society and social problems thatrecognizes that gender inequalities exist in society.
In addition, feminists are committed to helping change society topromote gender equality
5 Tenets (derived from Daly and Chesney-Lind 1988 – see p. 13in Belknap):
1.Gender is not a natural fact – it is an outcome of social,political, historical and cultural forces. It is related to sexdifferences and reproductive capacities – but is not simply areflection of these differences. (Sex, Sex category &Gender)
What is Feminism?
2.Gender and gender relations order social life and socialinstitutions in fundamental ways.
3.Constructs of masculinity and femininity are not symmetrical(equal). They are based on the organizing principle ofmen’s superiority and social and political dominance overwomen.
4.Systems of knowledge reflect men’s views of the natural andsocial world: the production of knowledge is “gendered”.
5.Women should be at the center of intellectual inquiry, notperipheral, invisible, or appendages to men.
Backlash & Myths about Feminism
1.Feminists are not objective
2.Feminism is only concerned with women
3.There is only one “true” feminism
Backlash & Myths about Feminism
1.Feminists are not objective
Are non-feminists objective? What is objectivity? Is itpossible?
2.Feminism is only concerned with women
Masculinity studies
3.There is only one “true” feminism
A variety of feminisms:
Liberal-feminists vs. Critical feminists
Varieties of Critical Feminists: Marxist Feminists, SocialistFeminists, Radical Feminists, Postmodern Feminists
What is criminology?
•Criminology is a science focused on the study ofcrime, law and responses to crime.
•Criminologists
–Construct theoretical explanations for crime
–Pose research questions
–Develop hypotheses
–Test their theories
–Collect data using a wide variety of research methods
–MUCH of criminology is POSITIVIST
The Modern Era of Criminology
–Classical Criminology
–Positivist Criminology
–Sociological Criminology
–All 3 eras continue to influence criminology(and crime policy) today
Feminist Criminology
•Concerned with explaining the impact of genderin traditional areas of inquiry about crime andthe law
•Concerned with the experiences of women ascentral
•Likely to employ a wider variety of techniques togather information about crime and women’sexperiences.
–Epistemology
–Research on rape as an example
What do we know about the extent of rape?
Most rapes go unreported (about 2 out of 3)
Accurate estimates are difficult. Why?
•Victim stigma and blame
•Offender/Victim relationship
•Concern about treatment as victim in the CJS
•Up to 70% of women forced to have sex fail to recognize theirexperience as rape
•This is a reflection of a patriarchal culture that impacts theway that the law and the criminal justice system operates
Between 15% and 30% of U.S. women will be raped in their lifetime
Of the rapes that get reported to police, only 15% to 30% end in the convictionof the rapist, and only half of those result in a sentence of more than 1 year injail.
Feminist Criminology
Feminist Criminology &Epistemology
None of this factual “objective” data tells us anything aboutthe experience of rape. For example,
•Why do so many men in our society rape?
•Why do trusted friends and romantic partners rape?
•Why do so few women recognize sexual assaults ascriminal?
•Why does the criminal justice system treat rape victimswith suspicion?
•How has the law impacted the ways we define rape andprotected men from blame in the process?
•How has the criminal investigation procedure limited ourunderstanding of sexual assault and rape?
Feminist Epistimology
•Questions the general faith in the objective andscientific method of research as a source of truth.
•There is not a single feminist research method but afeminist perspective on the research process thatincludes choosing topics that illuminate issues ofgender and treating research as a collaborativeprocess with the subjects.
•Feminist research should be part of a strategy forsocial change. For example…
–Calling attention to the harms of allegedly “gender neutral”policies toward women
–Challenges criminal justice policies based on stereotypesof masculinity and femininity
Defining Crime
•What is Crime?
–Violations of Morality
–Violations of Norms
–Violations of the Law
•Acts that represent an intersection of all 3are judged the most severe
A Brief Sociology of Law
Legal Classifications of Crimes
–Mala in se vs. Mala prohibitum
–Criminal vs. Torte (Civil) Law
–a public wrong?
–state vs. private party action
–incarceration vs. monetary damages
–fines to state vs. fines to private party
–standard of proof
–Administrative (regulatory) Law
–Felony & Misdemeanor
–How is law made?
•Legislation
•Court Decisions
A Brief Sociology of Law
Who makes the law?
Think back to our discussion of Institutions…
-Wealthy, white, heterosexual men areoverrepresented in all facets of the legalsystem.
-The system is directed toward the protectionof individual and corporate wealth andpower.
-Feminism (and democratic ideals) suggest:
-Different perspectives and experience are desirable
-Increases fairness in the law as it is conceived,enacted & administered
Assumptions underlie the criminal law?
Classical criminology assumes that people have freewill.
Punishment Deter crime.
Positivist criminology argues biological & social factorspredispose to crime. Punishment Rehabilitation.
Varieties of Critical Criminology
Critical criminology, Critical Feminist Criminology,Critical race theory
One’s perceptions of the causes of crimes influence thedefinition of solutions, whether punishment,rehabilitation, or treatment.
How does the law impact women?
A.Historically a married woman had no legal identityseparate from her husband and her status wasdetermined by her relationship to men.
B.Traditionally men were not held accountable for crimesagainst women, such as rape and domestic violence.
C.The law has often been used to restrain women’sreproductive choices – sex education, birth control &abortion laws do not have an equal impact on ♂ & ♀.
D.Women’s full rights as human beings are still notrecognized.
Why is Feminism important toCriminology?
Because Criminology – like most disciplines – isAndrocentric.
What is Androcentrism?
1.Focusing solely on the experiences of men.
2.Assuming the men’s experiences describe the humanexperience
3.This is what Belknap calls the “invisibility of women” incriminology.