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Cited by 796Gender and Feminist StudiesGender Roles and Identity StudiesGender, Health, and Social Inequality

The Gender System and Interaction

Ridgeway, Cecilia L., Smith-Lovin, Lynn·1999·Annual Review of Sociology
DOI 10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.191
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Abstract

▪ Abstract The gender system includes processes that both define males and females as different in socially significant ways and justify inequality on the basis of that difference. Gender is different from other forms of social inequality in that men and women interact extensively within families and households and in other role relations. This high rate of contact between men and women raises important questions about how interaction creates experiences that confirm, or potentially could undermine, the beliefs about gender difference and inequality that underlie the gender system. Any theory of gender difference and inequality must accommodate three basic findings from research on interaction. (a). People perceive gender differences to be pervasive in interaction. (b). Studies of interaction among peers with equal power and status show few gender differences in behavior. (c). Most interactions between men and women occur in the structural context of roles or status relationships that are unequal. These status and power differences create very real interaction effects, which are often confounded with gender. Beliefs about gender difference combine with structurally unequal relationships to perpetuate status beliefs, leading men and women to recreate the gender system in everyday interaction. Only peer interactions that are not driven by cultural beliefs about the general competence of men and women or interactions in which women are status- or power-advantaged over men are likely to undermine the gender system.

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Crossref · 10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.191

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Authors
Ridgeway, C. L., & Smith-Lovin, L.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721;
ORCID
Ridgeway, Cecilia L.
Venue
Annual Review of Sociology
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
1999-08
Volume
25
Issue
1
Pages
191-216
ISSN
  • 0360-0572 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-2115
DOI
10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.191
OpenAlex
W2121232894
Cited by
796
References
140
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 51 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 36
FWCI
4.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Annual Review of Sociology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
Keywords
gender system, gender inequality, gender differences, gender roles, peer interaction, gender beliefs, gendered interaction

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