HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their
biological sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex without any connotation of illegal discrimination. In other circumstances, sex segregation can be controversial. Depending on the circumstances, it can be a violation of capabilities and
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
and can create economic inefficiencies; on the other hand, some supporters argue that it is central to certain religious laws and social and cultural histories and traditions.The World Bank. 2012. "Gender Equality and Development: World Development Report 2012." Washington, D.C: The World Bank.


Definitions

The term "sex" in "sex segregation" refers to the biological distinctions between men and women, used in contrast to "
gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...
".Cohen, David S. 2010. "The Stubborn Persistence of Sex Segregation." ''Columbia Journal of Gender and Law'' forthcoming 2010 The term "segregation" refers to separation of the sexes, which can be enforced by rules, laws, and policies, or be a ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
'' outcome in which people are separated by sex. Even as a ''de facto'' outcome, sex segregation taken as a whole can be caused by societal pressures, historical practices, socialized preferences and “fundamental biological differences”. Sex segregation can refer to literal physical and spatial separation by sex. The term is also used for the exclusion of one sex from participation in an occupation, institution, or group. Sex segregation can be complete or partial, as when members of one sex predominate within, but do not exclusively constitute, a group or organization. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
some scholars use the term ''sex separation'' and not ''sex segregation''. The term gender apartheid (or sexual apartheid) also has been applied to segregation of people by gender, implying that it is
sexual discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
. If sex segregation is a form of sex discrimination, its effects have important consequences for
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
and equity.


Types

Sex segregation can occur in both public and private contexts, and be classified in many ways. Legal and
gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...
scholar David S. Cohen offers one taxonomy in categorizing sex segregation as mandatory, administrative, permissive, or voluntary. Mandatory and administrative sex segregation are required and enforced by governments in public environments, while permissive and voluntary sex segregation are stances chosen by public or private institutions, but within the capacity of the law.


Mandatory

Mandatory sex segregation is legally required and enforces separation based on sex. Examples include separation of men and women in prisons, law enforcement, military service,
public toilet A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...
s, and housing. These mandatory rules can be nuanced, as in military service, where sexes are often separated in laws about conscription, in housing, and in regulations on which sexes can participate in certain roles, like frontline infantry. Mandatory sex segregation also includes less obvious cases of separation, as when men and women are required to have same-sex attendants for body searches. Mandatory sex segregation can thus dictate parameters for employment in sex segregated spaces, including medical and care work contexts, and can be a form of
occupational segregation Occupational segregation is the distribution of workers across and within occupations, based upon demographic characteristics, most often gender. Other types of occupational segregation include racial and ethnicity segregation, and sexual orien ...
. For example, a government may mandate that clinics hire female nurses to care for female patients.


Administrative

Administrative sex segregation involves public and government institutions segregating by sex in their operating capacity, rather than as the result of a formal mandate. Examples of administrative sex segregation include sex segregation in government sponsored medical research, sports leagues, public hospitals with shared rooms, rehabilitation programs, and some public education facilities. Administrative sex segregation can occur in these environments simply as through the provisioning of sex segregated public toilets despite limited explicit legal requirements to do so.


Permissive

Permissive sex segregation is segregation which is explicitly permitted by law, i.e. affirmatively authorized, but not necessarily legally required or encouraged. Permissive sex segregation exempts certain things from anti- sex-discrimination laws, often allowing for, among others, segregation of religious and military schools, undergraduate schools that have traditionally admitted based on sex, health clubs, athletic teams, social fraternities and sororities, choirs and choruses, voluntary youth service organizations such as the Girl Scouts and
Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...
, father/son and mother/daughter activities, and sex-exclusive beauty pageants and scholarships.


Voluntary

Sex segregation that is neither legally mandated, nor enacted in an administrative capacity, nor explicitly permitted by law, is recognized as voluntary sex segregation. Voluntary sex segregation refers to lack of explicit legal prescriptions; it does not necessarily indicate the free choice of either the segregated or the segregators, and it may be imposed by social and cultural norms. Voluntary sex segregation takes place in numerous national professional and interest-based membership organizations, local and larger clubs, professional sports teams, private recreational facilities, religious institutions, performing arts, and more.


Theoretical explanations

Within
feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and femin ...
and feminist legal theory, there are six main theoretical approaches that can be considered and used to analyze the causes and effects of sex segregation. They include libertarianism, equal treatment, difference feminism, anti-subordination, critical race feminism, and anti-essentialism.


Libertarianism

Libertarian feminist theory stems from ideologies similar to libertarian political theory; that legal and governmental institutions should not regulate choices and should allow people's free will to govern their life trajectories. Libertarianism takes a
free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
approach to sex segregation saying that women have a natural right and are the most informed to make decisions for themselves but rejects special protections specifically for women.
Autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...
is central to libertarianism, so theorists believe that the government should not interfere with decision making or be concerned with reasoning behind such decisions since men and women culturally and naturally make different and often diverging choices. Policies and laws enforced by the government should not act to change any inherent differences between the sexes. Libertarianism most directly relates to voluntary sex segregation as it maintains that the government should not regulate private institutions or entities' segregation by sex and should not regulate how individuals privately group themselves. Libertarian feminist David Berstein argues that while sex segregation can cause harm, guarding the freedom of choice for men and women is more important than preventing such sex segregation since methods of prevention can often cause more harm than good for both sexes. Women's health clubs are an example of how sex segregation benefits women since desegregation would interfere with women's abilities to exercise without the distraction of men and 'ogling' without any direct benefit to allowing men a membership. Additionally, libertarians would allow for permissive sex segregation since it allows people to choose how to organize their interactions and relationships with others. Libertarian feminists acknowledge that there is legal precedence for sex segregation laws, but argue for such parameters to ensure equal treatment of similarly situated men and women. As such, libertarianism could allow or reject specific forms of sex segregation created to account for natural or biological differences between the sexes.


Equal treatment

Equal treatment theory or formal equity often works in tandem with libertarianism in that equal treatment theorists believe governments should treat men and women similarly when their situations are similar.Halley, Janet. 2007. "Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break From Feminism." 79. In countries whose governments have taken to legislation eliminating sex segregation, equal treatment theory is most frequently used as support for such rules and regulation.Chamallas, Martha. 2003. "Introduction to Feminist Legal Theory." 35. For example, equal treatment theory was adopted by the many feminists during the United States' feminist movement in the 1970s. This utilization of equal treatment theory led to the adoption of
intermediate scrutiny Intermediate scrutiny, in U.S. constitutional law, is the second level of deciding issues using judicial review. The other levels are typically referred to as rational basis review (least rigorous) and strict scrutiny (most rigorous). In order ...
as a standard for sex discrimination on the basis that men and women should be treated equally when in similar situations. While equal treatment theory provides a sound framework for equality, application is quite tricky, as many critics question the standards by which men and women should be treated similarly or differently. In this manner, libertarianism and equal treatment theory provide good foundations for their agendas in sex segregation, but conceptually do not prevent it, leaving room for mandatory and administrative sex segregation to remain as long as separation is based on celebrated differences between men and women. Some forms of mandatory and administrative segregation may perpetuate sex segregation by depicting a difference between male and female employees where there is no such difference, as in combat exclusion policies.


Difference feminism

Difference feminism arose from libertarianism and equal treatment theories' perceived failure to create systemic equality for women. Difference feminism celebrates biological, psychological, moral differences between men and women, accusing laws concerning sex segregation of diluting these important differences. Difference feminists believe that such laws not only ignore these important differences, but also can exclude participation of women in the world. Difference feminism's goal is to bring about a consciousness of women's femininity and to cause the revaluation of begin to revalue women's attributes in a more respectful, reverent manner.
Difference feminism and equal treatment theory are quite contrasting feminist theories of sex segregation. Difference feminism often justifies sex segregation through women's and men's differences while equal treatment theory does not support separation because of differences in sex. Difference feminism, however, argues against segregation that stems from societal and "old-fashioned" differences between men and women, but believes that segregation that takes women's differences into account and promotes equality is acceptable, even going so far as to say that some forms of sex segregation are necessary to ensure equality, such as athletics and education, and policies such as Title IX.


Anti-subordination

Anti-subordination feminist theory examines sex segregation of power to determine whether women are treated or placed subordinately compared to men in a law or situation. The theory focuses on male dominance and female subordination and promotes destroying a sex-based hierarchy in legal and social institutions and preventing future hierarchies from arising. Anti-subordination also supports laws that promote the status of women even if they lower men's status as a consequence. Controversial applications of anti-subordination that can either perpetuate the subordination of women or create the subordination of men include sex segregation in education and in the military.


Critical race feminism

Critical race feminism developed due to the lack of racial inclusivity of feminist theories and lack of gender inclusivity of racial theories.Wing, Adrien Katherine. 2003. Introduction to "Critical Race Feminism: A Reader" ed. Adrien Katherine Wing. This theory is more global than the others, attempting to take into account the intersectionality of gender and race. Critical race feminism demands that theorists reexamine surface-level segregation and focus on how sex segregation stems from different histories, causing different effects based on race, especially for women of color. This segregation is evident in many racially divided countries, especially in the relationship between the end of race-segregated schools and sex segregation. Critical race feminism critiques other theories' failure to take into account their different applications once race, class, sexual orientation, or other identity factors are included in a segregated situation. It creates the need to examine mandatory and administrative sex segregation to determine whether or if they sustain racial stereotypes, particularly towards women of color. Additionally, critical race feminists wonder whether permissive and voluntary sex segregation are socially acceptable manners by which to separate races and sexes or whether they maintain and perpetuate inequalities. Critical race feminism is a form of anti-essentialism (below).


Anti-essentialism

Anti-essentialists maintain that sex and gender categories are limiting and fail to include the unlimited variety of difference in human identity and impose identities rather than simply note their differences. Theorists believe that there is variation in what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, and by promoting the differences through sex segregation, people are confined to categories, limiting freedom. Anti-essentialists examine how society imposes specific identities within the sex dichotomy and how subsequently sex and gender hierarchies are created, perpetuated, and normalized. This theory requires that there is a specific disentanglement between sex and gender. Anti-essentialists believe that there should not be an idea of what constitutes masculinity or femininity, but that individual characteristics should be fluid to eliminate sex and gender-based stereotypes. No specific types of sex segregation are outwardly promoted or supported by anti-essentialists since mandatory and administrative sex segregation reinforce power struggles between the sexes and genders while permissive or voluntary forms of sex segregation allow institutions and society to sort individuals into categories with differential access to power, and supporting the government's elimination of such permission for certain institutions and norms to continue to exist.


Contemporary policy examples

Sex segregation is a global phenomenon manifested differently in varying localities. Sex segregation and integration considered harmless or normal in one country can be considered radical or illegal in others. At the same time, many laws and policies promoting segregation or desegregation recur across multiple national contexts. Safety and privacy concerns, traditional values and cultural norms, and belief that sex segregation can produce positive educational and overall social outcomes all shape public policy regarding sex segregation.


Safety and privacy

Some sex segregation occurs for reasons of safety and privacy. Worldwide, laws often mandate sex segregation in public toilets,
changing room A changing-room, locker-room, (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context) or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...
s, showers, and similar spaces, based on a common perceived need for privacy. This type of segregation policy can protect against
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...
and
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
. To combat groping,
street harassment Street harassment is a form of harassment, primarily sexual harassment that consists of unwanted sexualised comments, provocative gestures, honking, wolf-whistlings, indecent exposures, stalking, persistent sexual advances, and touching by str ...
, and
eve teasing Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
of women in crowded public places, some countries have also designated
women only space A women-only space is an area where only women (and in some cases children) are allowed, thus providing a place where they do not have to interact with men. Historically and globally, many cultures had, and many still have, some form of female sec ...
s. For example, sex-segregated buses,
women-only passenger car Women-only passenger cars are railway or subway cars intended for women only. They are a result of sexual segregation in some societies, but also can result from attempts to reduce sexual harassment and assault such as groping. Africa Egypt ...
s, and compartments on trains have been introduced in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, the UAE and other countries to reduce sexual harassment. Some places in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
, and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
all have women's parking spaces, often for related safety issues. Many more countries, including
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
also grant parking privileges to pregnant women, for safety or access reasons. Sex segregation rooted in safety considerations can furthermore extend beyond the physical to the psychological and emotional as well. A refuge for battered mothers or wives may refuse to admit men, even those who are themselves the victims of domestic violence, both to exclude those who might commit or threaten violence to women and because women who have been subjected to abuse by a male might feel threatened by the presence of any man. Women's health clinics and women's resource centers, whether in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
or
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, are further examples of spaces where sex segregation may facilitate private and highly personal decisions. Women-only banks may be similarly intended to provide autonomy to women's decision making.


Religious and cultural ideas

Sex segregation can also be motivated by religious or cultural ideas about men and women. Such cultural assumptions may even exist in the aforementioned policies enacted under the pretenses of safety or privacy concerns. Gender separation and segregation in Judaism and
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
reflect religiously motivated sex segregation. In
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
,
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
, and
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
,
monastic orders Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important ro ...
, prayer spaces, and leadership roles have also been segregated by sex. From a policy perspective, theocracies and countries with a
state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
have sometimes made sex segregation laws based partially in religious traditions. Even when not legally enforced, such traditions can be reinforced by social institutions and in turn result in sex segregation. In the
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
n context, one institution conducive to sex segregation, sometimes but not always rooted in national law, is
purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...
. During the
Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It last ...
(1851–64) against the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, areas controlled by the
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel kingdom in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Q ...
had strict sex separation enforced. Even married couples were not allowed to live together until 1858. The
Muslim world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
and the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
have been particularly scrutinized by scholars analyzing sex segregation resulting from the consequences of
Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
, the moral and religious code of Islam that, in the strictest version, Muslims hold to be the perfect law created by God.
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
has been called an epicenter of sex segregation, stemming partially from its conservative
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...
Islamic practices and partially from its monarchy's legal constraints.
Sex segregation in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the most profoundly gender-segregated nation on Earth. Sexual segregation in Saudi Arabia is a cultural practice and government policy which keeps wives, sisters and daughters from contact with male strangers ( Non-mahram) and vice ...
is not inherent to the country's culture, but was promoted in the 1980s and 1990s by the government, the Sahwa movement, and conservative and religious behavioral enforcers (i.e. police, government officers, etc.). Israel has also been noted both for its military draft of both sexes and its sex-segregated
Mehadrin bus lines Mehadrin bus lines ( he, קו מהדרין) were a type of bus line in Israel that mostly ran in and/or between major Haredi population centers and in which gender segregation and other rigid religious rules observed by some ultra-Orthodox Jews we ...
.


Education and socialization

Sex segregation is sometimes pursued through policy because it is thought to produce better educational outcomes. In some parts of the world, especially in Europe, where education is available to girls as well as boys, educational establishments were frequently single-gender. Such single-sex schools are still found in many countries, including but not limited to,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the United States in particular, two federal laws give public and private entities permission to segregate based on sex:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...
and Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972. These laws permit sex segregation of contact sports, choruses, sex education, and in areas such as math and reading, within public schools. Studies have analyzed whether single-sex or co-ed schools produce better educational outcomes. Teachers and school environments tend to be more conducive to girls' learning habits and participation rates improve in single-sex schools. In developing countries, single-sex education provides women and girls an opportunity to increase female education and future labor force participation. Girls in single-sex schools outperform their counterparts in co-educational schools in math, average class scores for girls are higher, girls in single-sex math and science classes are more likely to continue to take math and science classes in higher education, and in case studies, boys and girls have reported that single-sex classes and single-sex teachers create a better environment for learning for both sexes. Critics of single-sex schools and classes claim that single-sex schooling is inherently unequal and that its physical separation contributes to gender bias on an academic and social basis. Single-sex schooling also limits the socialization between sexes that co-educational schools provide. Coeducational school settings have been shown to foster less anxiety, have happier classrooms, and enable students to participate in a simulated social environment with the tools to maneuver, network, and succeed in the world outside of school. Even in co-ed schools, certain classes, such as
sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
, are sometimes segregated on the basis of sex. Parallel education occurs in some schools, when administrators decide to segregate students only in core subjects. Segregation by specialization is also evident in higher education and actually increases with economic development of a country.
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
,
Lao People's Democratic Republic Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
, and
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
are countries with the least amount of gender segregation in tertiary studies while
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, Japan, and
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
have the most.


Desegregation

Desegregation policies often seek to prevent
sex discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
, or alleviate
occupational segregation Occupational segregation is the distribution of workers across and within occupations, based upon demographic characteristics, most often gender. Other types of occupational segregation include racial and ethnicity segregation, and sexual orien ...
. These policies encourage women and men to participate in environments typically predominated by the opposite sex. Examples include government quotas, gender-specific scholarships, co-ed recreational leagues, or programming designed to change social norms. In China, deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee proposed that the public should be more attentive to widespread instances of occupational segregation in China. Often employers reject specifically women applicants or create sex requirements in order to apply. The
Labour Contract Law of the People's Republic of China The ''Labour Contract Law of the People's Republic of China'' (《中华人民共和国劳动合同法》) is the primary source of labour law in China and went into effect on January 1, 2008, following a series of staff- sacking scandals in man ...
and Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women state that no employer can refuse to employ women based on sex or raise application standards for women specifically, but also do not currently have clear sanctions for those who do segregate based on sex. China has also begun to encourage women in rural villages to take up positions of management in their committees. Specifically, China's Village Committee Organization Law mandates that women should make up one third or more of the members of village committees. The Dunhuang Women's Federation of Dunhuang City, in China's Gansu Province, provided training for their village's women in order to build political knowledge. In March 2013 in the European Union, a resolution was passed to invest in training and professional development for women, promote women-run businesses, and include women on company boards. In Israel, the Minister of Religious Services, Yaakov Margi Shas, has recently supported removal of signs at cemeteries segregating women and men for eulogies and funerals, prohibiting women from taking part in the services. The Minister agreed with academic and politician, Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie, who questioned him about segregation policies enacted by rabbis and burial officials, that governmental opposition to sex segregation was necessary to combat these practices not supported by Jewish or Israeli law. In other cases, sex segregation in one arena can be pursued to enable sex desegregation in another. For example, separation of boys and girls for early math and science education may be part of an effort to increase the representation of
women in engineering Women are often under-represented in the academic and professional fields of engineering, however many females have contributed to the diverse fields of engineering historically and currently. A number of organizations and programs have been crea ...
or
women in science The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made significant contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...
. Sometimes, countries will also argue that segregation in other nations violates
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
. For example, the United Nations and Western countries have encouraged kings of Saudi Arabia to end its strict segregation of institutions such as schools, government institutions, hospitals, and other public spaces in order to secure
women's rights in Saudi Arabia Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy internationally. Saudi women have experienced major rights reforms since 2017, after facing religious fundamentalist dominance dating from 1979. According to Human Rig ...
Even though the removal of certain religious and government heads has made way for liberal agendas to promote desegregation, the public largely still subscribes to the idea of a segregated society, while institutions and the government itself still technically remain under the control of
Wahhabism Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
. Reform is small in size, since there is no constitution to back up policy changes concerning sex segregation. The Saudi people refer to this segregation as
khalwa Khalwa (Arabic, also khalwat; lit., "solitude"; pronounced in Iran, "khalvat"; spelling in Turkish, ''halvet'') has several meanings in Sufism, Islamic jurisprudence, and the Druze religion, which in some way derive from the concept of being alone ...
and violation of the separation is punishable by law. This separation is tangibly manifested in the recently erected wall in places that employ both men and women, a feat possible by a law passed in 2011 allowing Saudi women to work in lingerie shops in order to lower female unemployment rates. The public views the 1.6 meter wall favorably, saying that it will lead to less instances of harassment by men visiting the expatriate women in the shops. The Luthan hotel in Saudi Arabia was the country's first women's only hotel, acting more as a vacation spot for women than a mandated segregated institution. Upon entering the hotel, women are allowed to remove their headscarves and
abaya The abaya "cloak" ( colloquially and more commonly, ar, عباية ', especially in Literary Arabic: '; plural ', '), sometimes also called an ''aba'', is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in par ...
s and the hotel employs only women, calling their bellhops the world's first bellgirls, providing opportunities for Saudi women in IT and engineering jobs where, outside the Luthan, are quite scarce.


Significance


In human development

For most children, sex segregation manifests itself early in the socialization process via group socialization theory, where children are expected to behave in certain sex-typed manners and form sex in and out-groups. In pre-school classrooms, for example, making gender more salient to children has been shown to lead to stronger gender stereotypes and inter-group biases between sex groups. These evident tendencies were also manifested in decreased playtime with children of the opposite sex, or a kind of early, selective sex segregation based on preconceived social norms. While specifically segregating by sex for playtime has not been linked to any long-lasting effects on women's rights compared to men, these different manners of socialization often lead to communication and power struggles between men and women and to differential life decisions by each sex based on these long-established gendered identities. In elementary and secondary education, sex segregation sometimes yields and perpetuates gender bias in the form of treatment by teachers and peers that perpetuates traditional
gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...
s and sex bias, under representation of girls in upper level math, science, and computer classes, fewer opportunities for girls to learn and solve problems, girls receiving less attention compared to the boys in their classes, and significantly different performance levels between boys and girls in reading and math classes. Sometimes in elementary schools teachers force the students to sit boy, girl, boy girl. Sex segregation in educational settings can also lead to negative outcomes for boys such as boys in coeducational classrooms having academic scores higher than boys in single-sex classrooms. On the contrary, girls in single-sex classrooms have academic scores higher than girls in co-educational classrooms. Boys academically benefit from a coeducational environment while girls do from a single-sex environment, so critics and proponents of both types of education argue that either single-sex or coeducational classrooms create a comparative disadvantage for either sex. Athletic participation and physical education are examples where appeals to differences in biological sex may encourage segregation within education systems. These differences can impact access to competition,
gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...
construction, and external as well as internalized perceptions of capabilities, especially among young girls. Separation of
public toilet A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...
s by sex is very common around the world. In certain settings the sex separation can be critical to ensure the safety of females, in particular schoolgirls, from male abuse. At the same time, sex segregated public toilets may promote a
gender binary The gender binary (also known as gender binarism) is the classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender binary ...
that excludes
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
people. Unisex public toilets can be a suitable alternative and/or addition to sex-segregated toilets in many cases. A special case presents with choirs and choruses, especially in the tradition of the
choir school This article contains a list of choir schools sorted alphabetically by country. Australia *St Andrew's Cathedral School, Sydney * St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney * Xavier High School, Albury, NSW * St John's Cathedral Choir School, Brisbane ...
which uses ensemble and musical discipline to ground academic discipline. Male and female voices are distinctive both solo and in ensemble, and segregated singing has an evolved and established aesthetic. Male voices, unlike female voices, break in early adolescence, and accommodating this break in an educational program is challenging in a coed environment. Coeducation tends to stigmatize males, as is often the case in expressive arts, unlike athletics.


In economies

Physical sex separation is not popular in many institutions on a tertiary level (between types of institutions), while fields of study or majors are highly gendered, such as later life decisions such as work/care work conflicts. Men tend to occupy engineering, manufacturing, science, and construction fields while women dominate education, humanities and arts, social sciences, business, law, and health and welfare fields. However, important life decisions as occupations can yield other instances of sex segregation by impacting occupational sex imbalances and further male and female
socialization In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cul ...
. Vicki Schultz (1990) indicates that although
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...
prohibits sex discrimination in employment and promised working women change, "most women continue to work in low paying, low status, and traditionally female jobs." Schultz (1990) states that "employers have argued that women lack interest in male-dominated jobs, which are highly rewarded and nontraditional for women." According to Schultz, the courts have accepted this argument, subsequently not holding employers liable. Schultz contends that "the courts have failed to recognize the role of employers in shaping women's work aspirations." (Schultz, 1990:1750,1756)Schultz, Vicki.(1990). Telling Stories about Women and Work: Judicial Interpretations of Sex Segregation in the Workplace in Title VII Cases Raising the Lack of Interest Argument Author(s): Harvard Law Review, Vol. 103, No. 8 (Jun. 1990), pp. 1749-1843 Published) Schultz states that the judicial framework that has been established by the courts "has created an unduly narrow definition of sex discrimination and an overly restrictive role for the law in dismantling sex segregation." (Schultz, 1990:1757) Schultz concludes by saying, "courts can acknowledge their own constructive power and use it to help create a work world in which women are empowered to choose the more highly rewarded occupations that Title VII has long promised." (Schultz, 1990:1843) Even at psychological levels, socialized preferences for or against sex segregation can also have significant effects. In one study, women in male-dominated work settings were the most satisfied psychologically with their jobs while women in occupational settings with only 15-30% men were less satisfied due to favored treatment of the male minority in such a segregated atmosphere. Stark segregation by occupation can lead to a sexual division of labor, influencing the access and control men and women have over inputs and outputs required for labor. Additionally, occupational sex segregation has certain health and safety hazards for each sex, since employment conditions, type of work, and contract and domestic responsibilities vary for types of employment. In many areas of work, women tend to dominate the production line jobs while men occupy managerial and technical jobs. These types of workplace factors and interactions between work and family have been cited by social stratification research as key causes for social inequality. Family roles are especially influential for predicting significant differences in earnings between married couples. Men benefit financially from family roles such as a husband and a father, while women's incomes are lowered when becoming a wife and mother.Witkowski, Kristine M. and Kevin T. Leicht. 1995. "The Effects of Gender Segregation, Labor Force Participation, and Family Roles on the Earnings of Young Adult Workers." Work and Occupations 22:48. Other gender disparities via sex segregation between men and women include differential asset ownership, house and care work responsibilities, and agency in public and private spheres for each sex. These segregations have persisted because of governmental policy, blocked access for a sex, and/or the existence of sex-based societal gender roles and norms. Perpetuation of gender segregation, especially in economic spheres, creates market and institutional failures. For example, women often occupy jobs with flexible working environments in order to take on care work as well as job responsibilities, but since part-time, flexible hourly jobs pay less and have lower levels of benefits, large numbers of women in these lower income jobs lowers incentives to participate in the same market work as their male counterparts, perpetuating occupational gender lines in societies and within households. Schultz (1990) article indicates that "working-class women have made it a priority to end job segregation for they want opportunities that enable them to support them and their families." (Schultz, 1990:1755) Additionally, economic development in countries is positively correlated with female workers in wage employment occupations and negatively correlated with female workers in unpaid or part-time work, self-employment, or entrepreneurship, job sectors often seen occupied by women in developing countries. Many critics of sex segregation see globalization processes as having the potential to promote systemic equality among the sexes.


In fiction

Some literary works of
social science fiction Social science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, usually (but not necessarily) soft science fiction, concerned less with technology/space opera and more with speculation about society. In other words, it "absorbs and discusses anthropol ...
and
gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...
,
sex and sexuality in speculative fiction Sexual themes are frequently used in science fiction or related genres. Such elements may include depictions of realistic sexual interactions in a science fictional setting, a protagonist with an alternative sexuality, a sexual encounter betwe ...
that consider sex segregation are the books ''
Swastika Night ''Swastika Night'' is a futuristic novel by British writer Katharine Burdekin, writing under the pseudonym Murray Constantine. First published in 1937 and subsequently as a Left Book Club selection in 1940, the novel depicts a world where Adol ...
'' or ''
The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which ...
'' (later converted into a film).


See also

*
Age segregation Age segregation is the separation of people based on their age, and may be observed in many aspects of some societies. Examples of institutionalized age segregation include age segregation in schools, and age-segregated housing. There are studie ...
* Athos, a Greek peninsula where women are not allowed * Discrimination against non-binary people *
Discrimination against transgender men Discrimination against transgender men and transmasculine individuals, sometimes referred to as transandrophobia, anti-transmasculinity, or transmisandry, is a similar concept to transmisogyny and discrimination against non-binary people. Tran ...
*
Discrimination against transgender women Transmisogyny, otherwise known as trans-misogyny and transphobic misogyny, is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny as experienced by trans women and transfeminine people. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book ''Whipp ...
*
Feminist separatism Feminist separatism is the theory that feminist opposition to patriarchy can be achieved through women's separation from men.Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, ''Feminism and the Schooling Scandal'', Taylor & Francis, 2009 ,p. 104 Because much o ...
* Gender apartheid *
Gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
* Gender polarization *
Geographical segregation Geographical segregation exists whenever the proportions of population rates of two or more populations are not homogenous throughout a defined space. Populations can be considered any plant or animal species, human genders, followers of a certain ...
* Mixed-sex sports * Occupational inequality *
Occupational sexism Occupational sexism (also called sexism in the workplace and employment sexism) is discrimination based on a person's sex that occurs in a place of employment. Social role theory Social role theory may explain one reason for why occupational se ...
* Okinoshima, a Japanese island where women are not allowed *
Racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...
*
Religious segregation Religious segregation is the separation of people according to their religion. The term has been applied to cases of religious-based segregation which occurs as a social phenomenon, as well as segregation which arises from laws, whether they are ex ...
*
School segregation School segregation is the division of people into different groups in the education system by characteristics such as race, religion, or ethnicity. See also *'' D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic'' *School segregation in the United States *Single ...
*
Separate spheres Terms such as separate spheres and domestic–public dichotomy refer to a social phenomenon within modern societies that feature, to some degree, an empirical separation between a domestic or private sphere and a public or social sphere. This o ...
*
Sex differences in humans Sex differences in humans have been studied in a variety of fields. Sex determination occurs by the presence or absence of a Y in the 23rd pair of chromosomes in the human genome. Phenotypic sex refers to an individual's sex as determined by the ...
* Sex segregation in Iran *
Sex segregation in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the most profoundly gender-segregated nation on Earth. Sexual segregation in Saudi Arabia is a cultural practice and government policy which keeps wives, sisters and daughters from contact with male strangers ( Non-mahram) and vice ...
*
Sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...
*
Transgender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
* Transgender inequality *
Transmisogyny Transmisogyny, otherwise known as trans-misogyny and transphobic misogyny, is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny as experienced by trans women and transfeminine people. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book ''Whip ...
*
Transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...
*
Unisex public toilet Unisex public toilets (also referred to as gender-inclusive, gender-neutral, mixed-sex or all-gender, or without any prefix at all) are public toilets that are not separated by gender or sex. Unisex public toilets take different forms. They m ...
*
Women and children first ''Women and Children First'' is the third studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on March 26, 1980, on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ted Templeman and engineered by Donn Landee, it was the first Van Halen album not to featu ...
*
Women-only space A women-only space is an area where only women (and in some cases children) are allowed, thus providing a place where they do not have to interact with men. Historically and globally, many cultures had, and many still have, some form of female sec ...
* Sex segregation in Afghanistan


References


External links


RAWA – Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. Documenting Taliban atrocities against women


an essay on the topic from Third World Women's Health
Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
an anti-Taliban pamphlet from the
Feminist Majority Foundation The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, whose stated mission is to advance non-violence and women's power, equality, and economic development. The name Feminist Majority come ...

Taking the Gender Apartheid Tour in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's Apartheid
by Colbert King, ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' December 22, 2001
Against Sexual Apartheid in Iran
Interview with Azar Majedi
Sexual Apartheid in Iran
by Mahin Hassibi {{DEFAULTSORT:Sex Segregation Sexism Islam-related controversies Women's rights in religious movements Sex Gender and society Single-gender worlds