Gender, Status, and Power - Kechley

While I read this chapter on Gender, status, and power I noticed that women were always inferior and rarely held a powerful role. It was mentioned that gender was a classification system that influenced access to power and resources. In terms of politics and other secular positions women’s gender didn’t allow entry to powerful positions, however I stumbled across this article that shows otherwise. It depicts how women get the better end of the deal in day to day social activities. The article “The flirting game women play with men” shows how women benefit from the double standard involved with flirting. These advantages were “getting in to nightclubs easier than men, getting lots of free drinks, almost never picking up the tab, and are showered with gifts from men.” This shows how women performing their gender does allow them to be in a power position and gain resources, in this case being the free drinks and gifts from men. It was also brought out that a woman being too flirtatious can simply pass for being nice where as, a man’s excessive flirting can be labeled as sexual harassment. I was also reminded of a comment made in class where a student mentioned that women show their interest in a guy by simply glancing in a sexual manner but never physically approach him. Many other students felt that this was still allowing the man to have the power in choosing women. The article shed light on this topic when it mentioned “The trick is that women are a lot more subtle and subdued in their approach. If women have any kind of decent shape to their bodies and adequate chest sizes, chances are they can have their pick of men.”
It may be demeaning that a woman’s body has to be a factor in determining her “pick of men” however it is clear the shifts in power associated with gender.