The Gender System and Interaction

Abstract

▪ Abstract The gender system includes processes that both define males and females as different in socially significant ways and justify inequality on the basis of that difference. Gender is different from other forms of social inequality in that men and women interact extensively within families and households and in other role relations. This high rate of contact between men and women raises important questions about how interaction creates experiences that confirm, or potentially could undermine, the beliefs about gender difference and inequality that underlie the gender system. Any theory of gender difference and inequality must accommodate three basic findings from research on interaction. (a). People perceive gender differences to be pervasive in interaction. (b). Studies of interaction among peers with equal power and status show few gender differences in behavior. (c). Most interactions between men and women occur in the structural context of roles or status relationships that are unequal. These status and power differences create very real interaction effects, which are often confounded with gender. Beliefs about gender difference combine with structurally unequal relationships to perpetuate status beliefs, leading men and women to recreate the gender system in everyday interaction. Only peer interactions that are not driven by cultural beliefs about the general competence of men and women or interactions in which women are status- or power-advantaged over men are likely to undermine the gender system.

The Political Consequences of Gender in Social Networks

“…Together, these inconsistent findings do not support a conclusion that women and men purposefully construct their social worlds differently -women's networks are not smaller and more homogenous. Instead, this pattern is consistent with work on the "gender system" which notes that interaction across genders is extensive, even as it justifies inequality to some participants (Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin 1999). Of course, these results do not eliminate the possibility that men and women respond to their networks differently, which is what the following replications and extensions are designed to assess.…”

“…Evidence supporting the latter notion is extensive. Generally speaking, women's social networks are more homophilous (Huckfeldt and Sprague 1995;McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Cook 2001;Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin 1999); their associational involvements are even more so (Popielarz 1999;Smith-Lovin 1982, 1986). These patterns appear to be related to findings that women tend to trust those with whom they have direct relationships, while men trust those sharing group affiliations (Maddux and Brewer 2005).…”

“…However, it is important to recognize that social relations between men and women maintain in the context of resource differences. While this may reinforce the attitudes that perpetuate the inequalities of the "gender system" (Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin 1999), it also means that women have access to political resources via their networks that they might not otherwise choose. More concretely, men's and women's political networks may not be as distinct as they might otherwise be based on choice alone.…”

Una aproximación a las diferencias de género en hogares con bosques privados y bosques comunitarios en Nicaragua

“…Aunque las mujeres indígenas tuvieron, respecto a los varones de sus mismas comunidades, menor participación en espacios públicos, su baja participación es muy alta comparada con la de las mujeres de los hogares en bosques privados. Lo anterior significa que las diferencias de género no solo están relacionadas con la manera en que el binomio hombre-mujer evalúa su relación, sino también al relacionar la posición de las mujeres según el grupo étnico y el tipo de bosque, como otros estudios han indicado al usar el análisis de la intersección entre categorías (Ridgway y Smith, 1999, Yuval-Davis, 2006y Wharton, 2005.…”

Changing household patterns of young couples in low- and middle-income countries

“…In general terms, family systems define "what it means to be related by blood, or descent, and by marriage; who should live with whom at which stages of the life course; the social, sexual, and economic rights and obligations of individuals occupying different kin positions in relation to each other; and the division of labour among kinrelated individuals" (Mason 2001, p 161). Similarly, gender systems define male and female roles and their corresponding rights and obligations (Ridgeway & Smith-Lovin 1999).…”