Feminization is a noun that refers to the process through which an organization, occupation, class, group, society, or when either; focus shifts from masculine to feminine or when the population of men is exceeded by the population of women [1]. This term is used to describe and evaluate the ways in which concepts and institutions have not only integrated, but become dominant by women. The integration, sets precedent to the ways these phenomena become prevalent in a society that could, arguably, be undergoing a mass feminization.
Feminization is not solely representative of abstract concepts, but concrete and physical ones as well. For instance, the feminization in a biological aspect refers to the introduction of female hormones to reduce masculine sex characteristics.
The many aspects through which feminization can occur each target specifics ways in which they become effective.
The Feminization of poverty, which is how Female Headed Households or FHH[2] are the majority demographic facing poverty. The trend of Black and White poor in FHH has increased over the course of 30 years, from 1959 – 1991.[2]
“FHH, regardless of race, suffer much higher rates of poverty than do other types of families… unless current trends are reversed, the primary victims of this poverty will be women and children” [3]
However, there is a disparity between the amount of Black and White poor women in FHH. Discussed in Black Americans and the Feminization of Poverty, the factors underlying the feminization of poverty in Black communities:
- The majority of Black poor is women at 31% (who suffer the highest rate of poverty of any group in America) and children at 47% [3], and the reduction of the two-parent family which could be the result of; high incarceration rates, high divorce rates, the high number of children born out of wedlock, and the ratio to male and female.[3]
The feminization of love, the ways in which society attributes the components of love to feminine characteristics, has created debates and biases to the ways that men are able to and capable of expressing love and being “intimate”[4] . The recognized definition of love contains characteristics strongly associated with gender roles that are feminine. Nancy Chodorow theorized that this phenomenon is correlated with the ways that “boys become men” and “girls become women”.[4] This theory dictates that boys are forced to repress their intimate feelings which causes them to be “distinct and distant” from others, while girls are allowed to be “connected and continuous” with others as a result of their ability to maintain those intimate feelings. Chodorow’s theory insinuates that the feminization of love will continue as long as women are the primary caregivers, which implies that; love is feminine and women are more capable of love[4].
The feminization of work has been studied to understand the process through which certain occupations become more densely female populated and the struggles the sexes face to gain access into occupations dominated by the opposite sex. Two perspectives have been used to give insight into the phenomenon, the queuing perspective relative attractiveness view and devaluation view. [1]
The relative attractiveness view shows the ways in which men are given priority consideration to jobs with higher prestige and pay over women. Reasons being from unconscious bias, stereotypes, traditions or customs.[1] This process typically grants men with jobs that are better paid and have a higher status. Alternatively, the devaluation view examines how employers already give jobs lower value after its dominated by one gender, in particular predominantly female occupations. Suggesting that both men and women in fields dominated by women get paid less.[1]
Women in the 19th century used teaching as a "right of passage" into the role of motherhood, during this time; the shift in the femeninization of teaching became evident where approximately 86% of women were teachers by 1920. [5]
- ^ a b c d Irvine, Leslie (2013). "Feminization of Work". go.galegroup.com.
- ^ a b Northrop, Emily M. (1994). "A Contrast of Black and White Feminization of Poverty". Eastern Economic Journal. 20 (4): 465–470. JSTOR 40325599.
- ^ a b c Rodger Jr., Harrel R. (1987). "Black Americans and the Feminization of Poverty: The Intervening Effects of Unemployment". Journal of Black Studies. 17 (4): 402–417. doi:10.1177/002193478701700402. JSTOR 2784159. S2CID 146317645.
- ^ a b c Cancian, Francesca M. (1986). "The Feminization of Love". Signs. 11 (4): 692–709. doi:10.1086/494272. JSTOR 3174139. S2CID 144472580.
- ^ Hoffman, Nancy (Autumn 1983). "Review: The Feminization of Teaching: "Romantic Sexism" and American Protestant Denominationalism: Southern Women in the Recent Educational Movement in the South". History of Education Quarterly. 23: 379–384. doi:10.2307/367764. JSTOR 367764. S2CID 248826453.
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