Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EXAMPLE: A WOMAN
PRESIDENT?
From a recent essay by historian Jill Lepore:
In 1937, Gallups pollsters began asking a question they have
asked, in one form or another, ever since: Would you vote for a
woman for president? The numbers have risen steadily: thirtythree per cent said yes in 1937, ninety-five per cent in 2012. But
the question requires respondents to self-report on the kind of
thing, like church attendance, that they tend to overstate. In 2005,
Gallup asked a different question: Do you think most of your
neighbors would vote for a woman for President? Thirty-four per
cent said no.
A SOCIETY IS PATRIARCHAL
WHEN IT IS
Male-Centered
Male-Dominated
Male-Identified
Men are the norm for
leadership roles
Men and male
perspectives dominate
discourse
MALE DOMINANCE:
DIFFERENCE IN POWER
Structural/Economic Power: Men claim larger
shares of income and wealth
Historically in the US and in some parts of the world today,
women could not own or inherit property. Fathers and
husbands controlled all wealth.
Still to this day, on average women make .80 for every dollar
men make.
MALE-IDENTIFIED:
MALE ATTRIBUTES ARE SEEN AS
NORMATIVE AND EVEN IDEAL
Male-identified categories include:
Control
Strength
Efficiency
Competitiveness
Toughness
Logic
Autonomy