Handbook of the Sociology of Gender

Handbook of the

Sociology of Gender

Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research

Series Editor:

Howard B. Kaplan, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

HANDBOOK OF COMMUNITY MOVEMENTS AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

Edited by Ram A. Cnaan and Carl Milofsky

HANDBOOK OF DISASTER RESEARCH

Edited by Havidan Rodriguez, Enrico L. Quarantelli, and Russell Dynes

HANDBOOK OF DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION

Theory, Science and Prevention

Edited by Zili Sloboda and William J. Bukoski

HANDBOOK OF THE LIFE COURSE

Edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer and Michael J. Shanahan

HANDBOOK OF POPULATION

Edited by Dudley L. Poston and Michael Micklin

HANDBOOK OF RELIGION AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Edited by Helen Rose Ebaugh

HANDBOOK OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Edited by John Delamater

HANDBOOK OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Edited by Jonathan H. Turner

HANDBOOK OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

Edited by Maureen T. Hallinan

HANDBOOK OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS

Edited by Jan E. Stets and Jonathan H. Turner

HANDBOOK OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER

Edited by Janet Saltzman Chafetz

HANDBOOK OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF MENTAL HEALTH

Edited by Carol S. Aneshensel and Jo C. Phelan

HANDBOOK OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE MILITARY

Edited by Giuseppe Caforio

Handbook of the

Sociology of Gender

Janet Saltzman Chafetz

University of IHouston

IHouston, Texas

^ Springer

Janet Saltzman Chafetz

University of Houston

Department of Sociology

495 Philip G. Hoffman Hall

Houston, TX 77204-3012

USA

[email protected]

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006923822

ISBN-10: 0-387-32460-7

ISBN-13: 978-0387-32460-9

© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part

without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media,

LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 1 0013, USA), except for brief excerpts in con￾nection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of infor￾mation storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar

or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.

The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar

terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of

opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.

Printed in the United States of America. (IBT)

98765432 1

springer.com

Contributors

Joan Acker, Department of Sociology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403-

1291

Denise D. Bielby, Department of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara,

Santa Barbara, California, 93106

Janet Saltzman Chafetz, Department of Sociology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas,

77204-3474

Becca Cragin, Institute for Women's Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322

Cynthia Cranford, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los

Angeles, California, 90089

Mikaela J. Dufur, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,

43210

Dana Dunn, Office of the Provost, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas,

76019

Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Department of Sociology, Graduate Center, City University of

New York, New York, 10025

Elizabeth M. Esterchild, Department of Sociology, University of North Texas, Denton,

Texas, 76203

Mary Frank Fox, School of History, Technology, and Society, Georgia Institute of Tech￾nology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0345

Denise C. Herz, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska at Omaha,

Omaha, Nebraska, 68182

Shirley A. Hill, Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Department of Sociology, University of Southern Califor￾nia, Los Angeles, California, 90089

Joan Ruber, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210

Mary R. Jackman, Department of Sociology, University of California at Davis, Davis,

California, 95616

Carrie James, Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, New York,

10003

Trivina Kang, Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, New York,

10003

vi Contributors

Erin L. Kelly, Department of Sociology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey,

08544

Diane Kobrynowicz, Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing,

New Jersey, 08628

Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, School of Health Administration and Policy, Arizona State

University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287-4506

Helena Znaniecka Lopata, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Loyola Univer￾sity Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60626

Adair T. Lummis, Center for Social and Religious Research, Hartford Seminary, Hart￾ford, Connecticut, 06105

Sara S. McLanahan, Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton,

New Jersey, 08544

Irene Padavic, Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida,

32306-2011

Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus,

Ohio, 43210

Caroline Hodges Persell, Department of Sociology, New York University, New York,

New York, 10003

Jean L. Pyle, Department of Regional Economic and Social Development, University of

Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, 01854

Barbara F. Reskin, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massa￾chusetts, 02138

Cecilia L. Ridgeway, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, Califor￾nia, 94305

Mady Wechsler Segal, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park,

Maryland, 20742

Beth Anne Shelton, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at

ArHngton, Arlington, Texas, 76019

Wendy Simonds, Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia,

30303

Sally S. Simpson, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Mary￾land, College Park, Maryland, 20742

Sheryl Skaggs, Department of Sociology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North

Carolina 27695

Lynn Smith-Lovin, Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

85721

Karrie Snyder, Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, New York,

10003

Joey Sprague, Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66049

Jean Stockard, Department of Sociology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403-

1291

Verta Taylor, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210

Nancy Whittier, Department of Sociology, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts,

01063

Mary K. Zimmerman, Department of Health Policy and Management, University of

Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045

Preface

During the past three decades, feminist scholars have successfully demonstrated the ubiq￾uity and omnirelevance of gender as a sociocultural construction in virtually all human

collectivities, past and present. Intrapsychic, interactional, and collective social processes

are gendered, as are micro, meso, and macro social structures. Gender shapes, and is

shaped, in all arenas of social life, from the most mundane practices of everyday life to

those of the most powerful corporate actors. Contemporary understandings of gender

emanate from a large community of primarily feminist scholars that spans the gamut of

learned disciplines and also includes non-academic activist thinkers. However, while in￾corporating some cross-disciplinary material, this volume focuses specifically on socio￾logical theories and research concerning gender, which are discussed across the full array

of social processes, structures, and institutions.

As editor, I have explicitly tried to shape the contributions to this volume along

several lines that reflect my long-standing views about sociology in general, and gender

sociology in particular. First, I asked authors to include cross-national and historical

material as much as possible. This request reflects my belief that understanding and

evaluating the here-and-now and working realistically for a better future can only be

accomplished from a comparative perspective. Too often, American sociology has been

both tempero- and ethnocentric. Second, I have asked authors to be sensitive to

within-gender differences along class, racial/ethnic, sexual preference, and age cohort

lines. This request reflects the growing sensitivity of feminist scholars to the white, middle￾class, and heterosexist biases implicit in much of our past work, which has effectively

glossed over differences among women (especially) and consigned many categories of

women to invisibility. Third, I have intentionally omitted a chapter on men and mascu￾linity and asked authors to take seriously the fact that there are two genders that require

examination and comparison. Too often, works in gender sociology are about women

only or, less frequently, men only. Just as one cannot understand the experiences, con￾straints, and consciousness of an ethnic or racial minority without understanding its rela￾tionship to the dominant group, one cannot understand those of women apart from their

relationship to men, culturally defined masculinity and male-dominated institutions. In￾deed, one cannot adequately understand dominant groups without simultaneously exam￾ining their relationships to subordinate groups. Happily, the chapter authors have taken

viii Preface

my various suggestions seriously, to the extent that available research and space in this

volume permit.

Because gender permeates all aspects of sociocultural life, the breadth of our field is

enormous. This is reflected in the large number of chapters (27) in this book, including

discussions of virtually every social institution (the economy, the family, the polity, the

legal, military and criminal justice systems, health care, education, science, sport, reli￾gion) as well as numerous social structures and processes at both the macro- and micro￾levels. The purpose of this handbook is to cover the breadth of the field of gender sociol￾ogy. The purpose of each chapter is to provide reasonably in-depth discussions of the

various facets of the field, including an up-to-date bibliography of the major sources. The

intended audiences comprise professional sociologists and graduate students who seek

information about the current state of knowledge in gender sociology generally or in one

or more of its specialized subdivisions, as well as feminist scholars in other disciplines

who seek to incorporate into their work the knowledge developed by their sociological

counterparts.

The book is divided into four sections. Part I, Basic Issues, consists of three chapters

that address gender theory, feminist epistemology, and the sociology of gender differ￾ences and similarities. The seven chapters in Part II focus on macrolevel structures and

processes, and deal with the topics of societal evolution, national development, migra￾tion, poverty, social movements, organizations, and culture as they relate to gender. Con￾sisting of four chapters. Part III is devoted to microlevel structures and processes, includ￾ing discussions of socialization, social roles, interaction, and violence and harassment, as

they shape and are shaped by gender. The last section of the book. Part IV, concerns the

relationship between gender and the social institutions listed above, and totals 13 chap￾ters. The authors of each chapter were carefully selected for their expertise in the relevant

topic, and collectively they constitute some of the best talent in gender sociology today. I

am very proud to have my name as editor associated with those of these authors.

When I was first invited to edit this volume, I was reluctant to accept because I had

never edited a book, but had heard often what a time-consuming and frustrating job it

could be. To get a feel for what it might entail, I developed a draft table of contents and

sent it to about a dozen gender sociologists whose work I respect and who are personal

friends and acquaintances. I also asked each to volunteer to write a chapter and to suggest

other possible chapter authors. I received excellent suggestions for additions and alter￾ations to the table of contents, as well as for potential authors. Equally important, nearly

everyone I initially contacted was enthusiastic about the importance of the project. Given

these responses, I accepted the editorship.

What followed was even more exciting, for as I began to call people to ask if they

would write specific chapters, their responses were overwhelmingly positive and enthusi￾astic. The result was that I was able to line up outstanding authors for each chapter within

about a two week period. As is the case with most edited books, many chapters came in

later than anticipated, and a few never materialized at all. The reasons for many of the

delays and absences reflect the status of the authors, most of whom had a variety of other

professional commitments and some of whom accepted new jobs and moved during the

process of writing their chapters. Also reflected were the realities of life for professional

women: an adopted baby and a couple of births; care for aged and infirm parents; and,

unfortunately, a few cases of ill health and a house that burned down, taking with it a

draft of the chapter manuscript. Nevertheless, in the end, because of the quality and

Preface ix

dedication of the authors, the job of editing this book proved to be a most gratifying

experience.

In addition to thanking all the contributors to this volume, who have worked hard to

produce excellent chapters, I would like to thank Howard Kaplan of Texas A & M Uni￾versity, the editor of the Plenum series of sociology handbooks, who invited me to edit

this one. Eliot Werner, my Plenum editor, has been a pleasure to work with and has

expedited every step of the process with efficiency and good cheer. Finally, thanks to all

those who provided me potential author names and suggestions for revising my original

table of contents: Elizabeth Almquist (now Esterchild), Margaret Andersen, Dana Dunn,

Paula England, Joan Huber, Helena Lopata, Judith Lorber, Barbara Reskin, Beth Schneider,

and Ruth Wallace.

JANET SALTZMAN CHAFETZ

University of Houston,

Houston, Texas

Contents

I. BASIC ISSUES

1. The Varieties of Gender Theory in Sociology 3

Janet Saltzman Chafetz

2. A Feminist Epistemology 25

Joey Sprague and Diane Kobrynowicz

3. Similarity and Difference: The Sociology of Gender Distinctions 45

Cynthia Fuchs Epstein

II. MACROSTRUCTURES AND PROCESSES

4. Comparative Gender Stratification 65

Joan Huber

5. Third World Women and Global Restructuring 81

Jean L. Pyle

6. Gender and Migration 105

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Cynthia Cranford

1. The Feminization of Poverty: Past and Future 127

Sara S. McLanahan and Erin L. Kelly

8. Gender Movements 147

Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak, Verta Taylor and Nancy Whittier

9. Gender and Organizations 177

Joan Acker

xii Contents

10. The Study of Gender in Culture:

Feminist Studies/Cultural Studies 195

Becca Cragin and Wendy Simonds

III. MICROSTRUCTURES AND PROCESSES

11. Gender Socialization 215

Jean Stockard

12. Gender and Social Roles 229

Helena Znaniecka Lopata

13. Gender and Interaction 247

Cecilia L. Ridgeway and Lynn Smith-Lovin

14. Gender, Violence, and Harassment 275

Mary R. Jackman

IV. INSTITUTIONS

15. Gender and Paid Work in Industrial Nations 321

Dana Dunn and Sheryl Skaggs

16. Sex, Race, and Ethnic Inequality in United States Workplaces 343

Barbara F. Reskin and Irene Padavic

17. Gender and Unpaid Work 375

Beth Anne Shelton

18. Gender and Family Relations 391

Denise D. Bielby with the assistance of Carmen Ochoa

19. Gender and Education in Global Perspective 407

Caroline Hodges Persell, Carrie James, Trivina Kang

and Karrie Snyder

20. Gender, Hierarchy, and Science 441

Mary Frank Fox

21. Gender and Health Status 459

Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld

22. Health Care as a Gendered System 483

Mary K. Zimmerman and Shirley A. Hill

23. Gender and Politics 519

Elizabeth M. Esterchild

Contents

24. Gender, Crime, and Criminal Justice 537

Sally S. Simpson and Denise C. Herz

25. Gender and the Military 563

Mady Wechsler Segal

26. Gender and Sport 583

Mikaela J. Dufur

27. Gender and Religion 601

Adair T. Lummis

Epilogue 619

Janet Saltzman Chafetz

Index 623

PARTI

BASIC ISSUES

CHAPTER 1

The Varieties of Gender Theory

in Sociology

JANET SALTZMAN CHAFETZ

1. INTRODUCTION

As editor, I have chosen to begin this handbook where I believe all sociology should

begin: with a review of the array of theoretical ideas available to, in this case, gender

sociologists as they explore the social world, in the United States and elsewhere, looking

at both the present and earlier times. Because they constitute the conceptual toolkit that

helps gender sociologists make sense of the empirical world, many of the theories dis￾cussed in this chapter are developed further in later, substantive ones. In this chapter, I

review the major gender/feminist theories in sociology, beginning with a review of what

classical, nineteenth and early twentieth century theorists said about gender, but focusing

most attention on theories developed since 1970, when the impact of second wave femi￾nist activism began to be felt in our discipline. I generally confine my discussion to theo￾ries developed by sociologists, although the full corpus of feminist theory is far broader in

its origins, both activist and academic. Omitted from this chapter are discussions of rela￾tively narrow, substantive theories, which appear in subject-appropriate chapters. Also

omitted is Standpoint Theory, the topic of an entire chapter (2), an approach sometimes

considered virtually synonymous with the term "feminist theory." The current chapter

demonstrates the many other types of contemporary feminist theory that emanate from,

reflect, and significantly revise the rich variety of theoretical traditions in sociology (see

Chafetz, 1988, 1997; England, 1993; Wallace, 1989, on the varieties of contemporary

feminist sociological theory).

JANET SALTZMAN CHAFETZ • Department of Sociology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 77204-3474.

Handbook of the Sociology of Gender, edited by Janet Saltzman Chafetz. Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers,

New York, 1999.