Answer to Question 1
Gender Socialization. Starting in infancy adults treat boys and girls differently. Girls are held closer, spoken to in softer voice, called pretty; boys held at arms length, spoken to louder, called strong. Adults told that an infant dressed in blue or pink was a boy or girl gave stereotyped toys (hammer, doll) to the child. Adults shown videotape of infant's reaction to various toys interpreted reactions as anger if they had been told it was a boy, and reactions as fear if they had been told it was a girl. Children are treated differently by teachers, who may call on boys more or expect them to be better in math or science. Boys who join girls on the playground may be called sissies, and girls may be called tomboys. Girls joining boys are more likely to be accepted but boys joining girls may be shunned, because girls are moving up in the hierarchy and boys are moving down.
Answer to Question 2
Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination in the workplace. It creates an unequal work environment by singling out women for different treatment (although men are sometimes victims of sexual harassment). Two types: quid pro quo harassment and a hostile environment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs if a supervisor uses his/her position to attempt to gain sexual activity from a subordinate by threat, usually job loss, or by offering a reward, like a promotion, or frequent pressure for a date or for sex. A hostile environment occurs when a person feels threatened or unsafe because of constant teasing or threatening from coworkers. This type of harassment is far more common but more difficult to prove. It seems to happen most often when male workers resent the invasion of women into a formerly all-male work environment.
On March 25, 1911, as scores of young factory girls leaped to their deaths from the eighth, ninth, a
Standards of Gender
Work and Gender: Women at Work in India
Gender and Globalization
Gender and Play in Children (2 of 2)
Toys and Gender Labels (2 of 2)