Ageing is process that is always gendered. Gender shapes the life biography and the norms and expectations that are imposed on individuals as they age. On the other hand, the experience of ageing affects the mechanism of creating and negotiating gender identity. This article critically discusses debates surrounding gender inequalities in old age. These debates often focus on older women as a group that is highly disadvantaged owing to the combined effects of sexism and ageism. This article critically discusses this “problem of old women” and shows alternative views of women’s experiences of ageing. It highlights the necessity to understand age and gender as two intertwining systems. It points out that ageing can in many respects create room for a redefinition of gender roles and expectation. The intersection of age and gender cannot be seen as a simple combination of two categories and must instead be viewed as a process that creates a specific social location, which can generate new forms of inequalities., Jaroslava Hasmanová Marhánková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Non-random selection of reproductive partners in the human population, i.e. assortative mating, has been a stable occurrence for decades and across societies, including the Czech Republic. Social sciences have paid primary attention to homogamy, marriage between similar partners, also due to its potential impact on society. High levels of homogamy in a society may imply high closedness of the different groups, prevent social mobility, suggest racial tensions, or lead to higher inequality. Three factors are deemed as responsible for homogamy. Structural factors are represented by the partners’ physical closeness as they meet, for example, at school or other institutions. Second, there are individual factors, namely one’s personal preferences for a relationship with someone similar to one. Finally, social factors represent the influence of social groups as they have their own stake in preserving group cohesion through marriage between their members. However, evidence of assortative mating and its mechanisms mostly comes from attitudinal data or questionnaire surveys, which make it difficult to differ between individual and structural factors, among others. In this review article, I focus on the potential of data from online dating sites to help us better understand assortative mating. Is the Internet changing the ways people meet? How does assortative mating work in the online environment and what can it tell us about the mating process in general? The paper starts by presenting the main theories of assortative mating and adding information on the specifics of the online environment. There are basically two contradictory expectations of the effect of the Internet on the mating process. The first group assumes that the easy access to thousands of potential partners across all sociodemographic groups an online dating service provides, plus the absence of direct influence of intermediaries such as community members, will lead to higher diversity of the ensuing marriages. In short, the level of assortative mating will decrease. The opposite expectation is based on the assumption that people generally prefer contact with similar partners and online dating services help them more effectively filter mates by preferred criteria, thus avoiding contact with people who do not fit their expectations. As a result, assortative mating will grow. The theory section is followed by a review of contemporary international research of online dating services with regard to assortative mating. I conclude the detailed review by arguing that the human preference for similar partners occurs in the online environment as well, and therefore, assortative mating likely cannot be explained by structural factors only. Moreover, all points to the fact that data from real-life user interaction in online dating services can importantly widen our knowledge of assortative mating., Markéta Šetinová., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The goal of the text is to analyze concordance between one’sreligion and a close relative’s estimation thereof. To establish the accuracy of parents’ estimates of their children’sreligion and vice versa, we ask the following question: what is the concordance of post-socialization beliefs about (un)successful transmission of religiosity between direct actors (parent/child)? We argue that the reliability of that estimate indicates the effectiveness of religious socialization. Socialization is not treated as a nonproblematic one-way process, but rather as a result of repeated mutual parent-child interactions and a host of other intervening factors (secondary socialization etc.) In this context, the level of estimate reliability is treated as an indicator of religious socialization and of the continuity of religious memory within family, which is viewed as a collective phenomenon. In other words, by imprinting values into one’s memory and worldview, the process of religious socialization shapes the ways one views the world and him/herself as well as the focus of his/her attention, or what is stored in his/her memory. Our project is conceptualized at an intersection of the theories of socialization and religious memory. Among the latter, we primarily rely on Jan Assmann’s conceptualization of memory. While many contemporary authors deal with issues of religious socialization, and some even with its links to memory, no investigations thus far have attempted to verify intergenerational transmission in terms of the reliability of mutual estimation of (non)religiousness between generations. The analyses are based on data from the KODINA 2015 survey which specifically complemented its main sample with a selection of respondents’ close relatives. This allows us to analyze a sample of parent-child dyads. Simple frequency tables revealed some effects of the accounting person’s generation on estimate concordance. Specifically, parents were much more likely to misjudge their children’s religiosity - to consider them Roman Catholic although the children themselves identified as nonbelievers. Logistic regression was used for more detailed analysis, which revealed that the discordance between parents’ and children’s estimates is not statistically significant and only a partial effect could be demonstrated in interaction with the estimating person’sreligiosity. In sum, we present three main findings: (1) close relatives estimate each other’sreligiosity relatively accurately. That indicates, as we argue, the importance of the socialization process. (2) Estimate accuracy depends on the estimating and estimated persons’ religiosities and combination thereof. This demonstrates the importance of continuity of (non)religious belief because lower estimate accuracy has been observed in discontinuity situations. (3) There was no statistically significant difference of estimates between generations, yet the relationship demonstrated in the case of the interaction is primarily notable in that Roman Catholic parents incorrectly estimated their nonbeliever children to be Roman Catholics as well., Jan Váně, Veronika Hásová., and Obsahuje použitou literaturu
The process of political socialization, as shown by numerous findings, is characterised as the transmission of political action and behaviour through the generations. In connection with the political changes the Czech Republic experienced since 1945, not only the prospect of generational continuity but also discontinuity come into consideration. The article deals with the influence of parents and other socialization factors on political self-identification in the Czech population. It focuses mainly on the major age groups: young people up to the age of 29, the younger middle generation of 30-44 years, the older middle generation of 45-59 years and individuals aged 60 years or older, and their parents. The starting point of the considerations is the theory of social change and the interconnection of political socialization on the micro and macro levels. The paper analyses the circumstances of socialization and its effects on political orientation in a representative sample of Czech population (N = 522). The basis for determining the impact of socialization was set as the intensity of interest in political events together with the main resources affecting political orientation such as self-education and reading, followed by parental influence. The ratio of father’s and mother’s communist orientation plus their interest in politics accounted for the other socialization factors. Political background of the respondents was compared with their self-identification on the left-right political scale. Correlation analysis helped highlight the significance of father’s influence, rather than mother’s, in the process of political socialization. It also showed an overall negative impact of parental political discussion on the formation of left-right orientation. ANOVA analysis demonstrated a strong relationship between socio-occupational status and political inclusion. This inclusion effect was more frequent among left-wing labourers and pensioners and right-wing entrepreneurs, tradesmen, students and apprentices. Not only social background but also age signalled significant differences in opinions. The youngest generation as a whole relates to the right wing of the political spectrum. At the same time, the generation of 60+ is inclined to the left of the centre. As a matter of fact, this group, more than other age groups, is interested in political events and is deeply involved in political discussions. The young generation manifests itself in both directions. Parents’ political socialization actions towards their children induced agreement with parental political orientation only to a lesser extent. The study also dealt with two influences, sometimes mutually supportive and other times competing, namely parental socialization influence, political and economic conditions. Attitudes to social and political situation differed between age groups. The influence of society- -level circumstances is more significant than that of parental political socialization. It was possible to observe political continuity between the generations of 60+, or even their parents, and the older middle generation aged 45-59. When there is mostly continuity between them and their children then discontinuity tends to arise between them and their parents. The distribution of political orientation reveals a dynamic field. Attitudes to changes in society vary between generations as well. During the shaping of political orientation, the influence of social and political conditions is more decisive than political action, no matter how good its intentions are. This confirms the concept of political socialization as a way in which individual socialization interacts with one’ssocial position due to various social factors., Ján Mišovíč., and Obsahuje použitou literaturu
Gendered practices in social work have never before been the subject of research in the Czech Republic. This article looks at gender perceptions and stereotypes in social work practices. It contains a discussion of some findings from a recent qualitative study of a social work organization. The research set out to explore the gendered constructions of women and men as clients. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with social workers. The conclusion of research is that women are constructed as responsible for protection, as cooperative, as subordinate and as hysterical, whereas men are constructed as outspoken, as uncooperative and as aggressive. The findings show the importance of raising the awareness of social workers about their gender strategies and the possible impact of these strategies on their professional work, Radka Janebová, Lucie Černá., and Obsahuje bibliografii