Schilt, Kristin Just one of the
Guys: How Transmen Make
Gender Visible at Work
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Schilt illustrates Kimmel themes,
cont.
Complex relationship btw biology and
gender
Multiple masculinities, multiple femininities
Gender inequalities at work
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Schilt illustrates Kimmel themes,
cont.
Gender (male privilege) often invisible at
work
Maleness is neutral standard Gender is
taken-for-granted, naturalized
Most of us have no idea what it would feel like
to be other gender (from other planet)
Formal & legal gender equality
Male privilege masked; assumed to be in the
natural order of things
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Schilt: Different theories for pay
and advancement gap
Human capital: workers fairly rewarded
for their skills, ability, productivity men
more productive (Reskin & Padavic)
Social structures reward men more highly
for human capital
Devaluation of women
E.g., Corrice: recommendation letter and resume
studies; Correll et al. 2007 resume study, etc.
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Schilts study holds human capital
constant
Schilt interviewed 29 female-to-male
transsexuals (FTMs), also called transmen.
Had same human capital as when were
women.
Transmen benefit from patriarchal dividend
-- mens general advantages from
subordination of women.
But they dont take it for granted have a
different cultural structure from former identity as
women.
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Schilts interview questions
Employment history
Do you see any differences between
working as a woman and working as a
man?
Do you feel that you have received any
male privilege at work?
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Most transmen now see blatant gender
discrimination against women.
Lack of respect & recognition:
e.g., Preston (p. 384), Crispin (p. 385)
Bodily respect: Brian, (p. 386 ).
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
2/3 of respondents, both open and
stealth, report new male
advantage.
Human capital is perceived as more valuable,
when it belongs to men.
Treated as more competent and authoritative
Given more respect and recognition for hard work
Gained body privilege- freed from sexual
harassment
Gained economic opportunities and status
Sense of new male advantage most common for
blue workers collar and those in womens
professions
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
1/3 respondents do not report new male advantage
Intersectionality: gender, race/ethnicity, and social
class shape life chances in different ways.
The effect of gender, e.g., male privilege, affects
men differently depending on ones race.
Earlier, we saw data that Asian American men received
lower returns on their human capital than white men.
Not compensated as highly for education and
experience.
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
1/3 respondents do not report new male
advantage
Less common among:
Less common among younger & smaller looking men,
Asian Americans, and African Americans (dont live up
to the ideology of hegemonic masculinity.)
Asian American transman Christopher felt he was
denied male advantage at work because he was short
and viewed as a passive, feminized Asian
Keith went from being viewed as an obnoxious black
woman to a scary black man (p. 390).
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Schilts research supports Kimmels social
construction of gender argument
But gender constructed differently
depending on race/ethnicity, class, and
age
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Ben Barres, MD, PhD, professor of neurobiology and of
developmental biology and of neurology and neurological sciences at
the Stanford University School of Medicine. (Image courtesy of Stanford University
Medical Center)
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Barres July 13, 2006 article in Nature magazine
as reported in
As a young womanBarbara. . . was
discouraged from setting his sights on MIT,
where he ended up receiving his bachelors
degree. Once there, he was told that a boyfriend
must have solved a hard math problem that he
had answered and that had stumped most men
in the class. After he began living as a man in
1997, Barres overheard another scientist say,
Ben Barres gave a great seminar today, but his
work is much better than his sisters work.
As reported in Science Daily,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060714174545.htm
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD
Vicki Kolakowski is the first openly transgender elected
judge (Alameda County) in the United States (Nov. 2010)
Graduated Michael Kolakowski from Louisiana State
University Law School, 1989
09/15/11
Soci 1 Blair-Loy Schilt UCSD