sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

, feminization is the shift in

gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

s and sex roles in a society, group, or organization towards a focus upon the

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

. It can also mean the incorporation of women into a group or a profession that was once dominated by men. Ann Douglas (1977). ''The Feminization of American Culture''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Examples of feminization in society

* Feminization of education – Majority female teachers, a female majority of students in higher education and a curriculum which is better suited to the learning process of women. * Feminization of the workplace – Lower paying female-dominated occupations such as (1) food preparation, food-serving and other food-related occupations, and (2) personal care and service.Snarr, C. Melissa. “Women's Working Poverty: Feminist and Religious Alliances in the Living Wage Movement.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 27, no. 1, 2011, pp. 75–93. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jfemistudreli.27.1.75. * Feminization of smoking – The phrase torches of freedom is emblematic of the phenomenon of tobacco shifting from being seen as a male activity to also a feminine one. See women and smoking for a comprehensive treatment of this topic.

Definition of feminization

Feminization has two basic meanings. The first concerns a person who was not initially feminine but becomes feminine later in their life through the perceptions of both the individual and those around them. According to gender theorist

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In ...

, a person's gender is not solely an act of will or self-description, as it is also shaped by the people who describe, categorize, and treat the person according to their own perceptions of their gender. The second meaning of the term feminization describes when a person who originally had feminine qualities begins to incorporate more feminine attributes into their personality in some way, shape, or form. The term has often been used to describe females, however over time it shifted to where the term can be used to describe the process of someone or something becoming more feminine by adopting feminine qualities.

Feminization of poverty

Women are more likely than men to live below the poverty line, a phenomenon known as the feminization of poverty. The 2015 poverty rates for men and women in the U.S. were 10% and 15% respectively. Women are less likely to pursue advanced degrees and tend to have low paying jobs. There is a

gender pay gap The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are Employment, employed. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct measurements of the pay gap: non ...

: even with the same level of education and occupational role, women earn much less than men, though research suggests this is largely due to women working fewer hours than men overall for reasons such as caring for children or lifestyle factors, rather than direct discrimination.

Feminization of the labor force

Feminization of the labor force in present-day associations is inescapable in that females make up half of the labor force and the revelation of them as a potential profitable asset. Post-war, there have been considerable advances in balancing the workforce when comparing women and men's job status and pay rates in the North America and Europe economies.

References

{{Authority control Gender roles Sociology of culture Cultural trends Sociological terminology Femininity