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Why is gender a social structure
Gender and gender distinction
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Discuss the issues surrounding gender stratification in the U.S. today.
Sexual characteristics inequality has been extremely diverse and wide spread. Women and men are disproportionate in every possible way in never-ending circumstances, both instant and durable, by both idea criteria and prejudiced experience. Therefore, what tally as gender difference in family life, education, workplace and politics? These social structures are assembly on the base of the masculinity and femininity, gendered role and gender identity society label to men and women.
There is sufficient, vital unfairness in gender relations within the family or home that can take many dissimilar forms. Family arrangements can be quite unequal in sharing the load of housework and child care. For example, common in most societies take for granted that men will most likely work outside the home and the women was allowed if they could juggle various unavoidable and inequitably shared home and family life with work. However, even though women shoulder twice as much childcare and housework then men. They are doing more in the home helping their wives, i.e., more cooking and run errand outside the home (Benokraitis, 2010, p.160). “In most contemporary societies women’s primary responsibility for their children and home seem to remain fairly unchanged despite their gins in occupational sphere” (Blossfeld & Drobnic, 2004 p.6). On the other hand, the perception of unfair share of homework depends on feeling of appreciation, comparison referent and justification in the marriage. In addition, this type of division or accumulation of labor can have far reaching effects on the knowledge and understanding of different types of work in professional circles.
Moreover, in e...
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...the once male dominant occupations,
Works Cited
Benokraitis, N. V. (2010). SOC: Contemporary gender stratification and inequality, p. 160-163. Wadsworth Cengage Learning Center, Ohio, M
Blossfeld, H, & Drobnič, S. (2001). Careers of couples in contemporary societies: From male breadwinner to dual-earner families, p.6 Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Buchmann, C., DiPrete, T. A. & MC Daniel A. (2008) Gender inequalities in education, p. 321-325. Department of Sociology. Retrieved from http://www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/cub/BuchmannDiPreteMcDaniel08.pdf doi 10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134719
Williams, C.L (August 1992). The glass escalator: Hidden advantages for men in the "female" professions, p.230-237. Social Problems 39 (3) Retrieved from: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/hdh9/e-reserves/Williams_-_The_glass_escalator_PDF-1.pdf, May 19, 2011
At what point does work life start interfering with family life to an extent that it becomes unacceptable? Is it when you don’t get to spend as much time with your family as you would like, or is it the point where you barely get to see your family due to long hours at work? Is it even possible to balance work with family life? Anne-Marie Slaughter, the author of “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, believes this balance is impossible to achieve in this day and age. In contrast, Richard Dorment, the author of “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All”, believes that there will never be a day when someone will have it all, certain sacrifices will always have to be made. Both of these articles are similar in the respect that they both examine balancing a demanding career with raising children. The two authors’ views on the subject differ greatly, especially regarding how gender roles have a significant impact on our society.
The characteristics and behaviors associated with men and women are called gender roles. Gender can also be interpreted as the social, psychological, and cultural interpretation of biological sex. Gender as a social construct has been a term throughout history that explains the social distinction between men and women and is reinforced in social interactions. The crisis of the global economy brings about gender dimensions and different meanings for men and women in society. Men and women have been hierarchy organized and valued. Throughout the 19th century, women’s contributions to society were regarded as less significant than those of men. Stereotypes were put on genders, which included assertive, strong, and competitive for masculinity and submissive, weak, and emotional for femininity. Gender inequality arose as economic crisis took place throughout the 19th century. The changing conditions of work in the global state impacted the roles for men and women and many feminists started to challenge the idea that “biology is destiny”. With post-Fordism, a new gender order emerged, and Women occupied a broader place in the work force. However, sexism is still prevalent in society to some extent whether it’s unconscious or conscious and affects the lives of many women.
The once male dominated, corporate, "white collar" America has seen a phenomenal influx of women within the last thirty years. Although a female lawyer, physician, or CEO is no longer considered a rarity in our times, women still face quite a deal of oppression in comparison to their male counterparts. In retrospect, some professions have always been controlled by women, and men have not made a noticeable advance in these fields. In 1970, finding a female lawyer to represent you would be a difficult task, since less than five percent of the profession were women. Today, that number has risen to almost thirty percent. The percentage of female doctors has almost tripled in the course of thirty years. African Americans have not made such a conspicuous progression within the last fifty years, while women have made a tremendous impact on the corporate world. One may wonder, how did women make these extraordinary advances? For the most part, it is due to the education they receive. At the present time young girls are encouraged to enroll in classes dealing with math and science, rather than home economics and typing. As pointed out by Nanette Asimov, in her essay "Fewer Teen Girls Enrolling in Technology Classes", school officials are advocating the necessity of advanced placement, and honor classes for teenage girls, in both the arts and sciences. This support and reassurance than carries over onto college, and finds a permanent fixture in a woman’s life. While women are continuing their success in once exclusively male oriented professions, they are still lacking the respect and equality from their peers, coworkers, and society. The average male lawyer, and doctor make twenty-five percent more money than their female equivalent. Women have always lived with the reputation of being intellectually inferior to, and physically submissive to men. This medieval, ignorant notion is far fetched from the truth. In 1999, high school men and women posted similar SAT scores, being separated by a only a few points. In addition to posting similar scores on the SAT, the average males score was a mere two-tenths of a point higher than an average females score on the ACT. Even though a woman maybe as qualified as a male for a certain occupation , women receive unwanted harassment, and are under strict scrutiny. A good illustration of this would be the women represented in "Two Women Cadets Leave the Citadel.
By using theories of popular ideology as base material, the same errors committed by early generations of male scholars will be repeated. This is a critical barrier to defining gender inequality. Perhaps the fact that gender inequality, like other forms of inequality, creates two competing sets of myths has been continuously overlooked. One myth that shows men’s advantage, the other one that reflects women’s. Making opposite claims about what is considered true or just, and yet share some particular
Sax, Linda J., and Cassandra .E Harper. "Origins of the Gender Gap: Pre-College and College
Gender stratification can be described as unequal power, wealth, and privileges between men and women. This stratification is more generally aimed at women who are oppressed in the work place, economic class status, and many other aspects of life because of their gender. We can blame this on the patriarchal culture that we prescribe too, where males hold primary power and privileges in our society. Two of the most common aspects of gender stratification that we see in the United States includes the wage gap between men and women and the violence that women face. There are many more aspects to gender stratification, however, these two topics seem to be a gender stratification problem all over the world.
Darity William A. Inequality, Gender." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 624-627. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Tichenor, Veronica Jaris. “Gendered Bargain: Why Wives Cannot Trade Their Money For Housework” from Earning More and Getting Less: Why Successful Wives Can’t By Equality. 2005. Rutgers University Press. Print.
Renzetti, C. M., Curran, D. J., & Maier, S. L. (2012). Women, men, and society. Boston: Pearson.
Since the 19th century, the women's movement has made fantastic strides toward obtaining civil rights for women in America. Woman suffrage has been abolished, and they are no longer viewed as second-class citizens. Unfortunately, the issue of gender inequality still echoes in today's society. The fight to change a society shaped predominately by men continues, and will likely pursue for decades to come. Whether it be social, political, or economic rights, the main idea is equality for all genders, man or woman. In modern society, it seems that such a simple concept should be accepted globally by everyone – so why do women still face the daily toils of demanding the privileges that should available to all? No matter the class of woman, it is likely they will suffer from inequality and stereotypes at some point in their life. We see this in the workplace, where women have been shown to earn less then men. Some women also face the dangers of sexual violence, and are left victimized for such crimes.
Since the dawn of time, men and women have held very distinct places in society. For example, in regards to family life, men have traditionally served as the hunters, gatherers, and providers. Conversely, women have historically served as cooks, cleaners, and caretakers to their husbands and children. For centuries, these family roles were the cultural norm, especially in the typical American household. However, in recent years, society has seen a gradual shift away from this family dynamic. Many married women are no longer just caretakers, but are major contributors to the family income. In fact, there are many households in which the husband stays at home and the wife works. This change reflects a shift in societal attitudes and expectations
In a family, women hold most of the commitment in keeping it together and the men are known to be the budgetary suppliers of the family. Women fill the role of the mother, lover, nurturer, the cook, and the cleaner. This is a staggering measure of work that she should go up against, yet over the long haul the male assumes the acknowledgment in his tendency of supporting the whole family. Since we have these desires of women and men, we disparage the capacity to attempt new things. For instance, if a woman goes out to land a position in a work field, she will be isolated against due to her sex. Furthermore, it is likewise accepted that men won't deal with the family unit duties as a women. With this a gender inequality in the family life, women and men are dealt with contrastingly past their home. Women are out of the house doing her piece of the shopping and men are out working completing things and getting paid for it. It is this part of getting paid for work that is over looked in the female point of view. Women do not get paid to hold the obligation of the family household foundation; they get the affirmation that she is doing what is instructed of her. This is gender inequality disparity that influences for the most part the women. This underestimation of woman in the workforce, suggests to society that she is strange and is dealt with so
According to Maguire (1995:1), “The inequality between the sexes is one of the most intractable features of human culture.”Frankly, it is undeniable that gender inequality exists in every part of the world. Macionis (2006:252) also admits that “In most aspects, men are still in charge.” Nowadays, women keep on fighting for their right, urging for equal opportunity and fair treatment. Gender stratification, which is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women, seems to be narrowed, but it actually remains its existence to some extends. (Macionis, John. J. 2006: 256)
The roles women typically play in the family may not always be consistent with success in the occupational arena. Staying home to care for a sick child may conflict with an important meeting (Broman 1991:511). Sometimes there has to be a change of plans when it comes to the family. Most people believe that family comes first no matter what. Men 's engagement in paid work fulfills prescriptions of hegemonic masculinity by facilitating their ability to gain status in the public sphere. A man can judge his worth by the size of a paycheck (Thebaud 2010:335). Most research shows that women are more likely to be effected by the household and men are more likely to be effected by their job. Some people feel that the goal is to reach higher on the occupational
Gender is defined as the scopes of genetic, physical, mental and behaviour characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and feminity, meanwhile inequality is defined as in a situation where there is an unfair situation or treatment in which certain people have more privileges or better opportunities or chances than other people. Thus, from the definition stated gender inequality refers to unequal or unfair management, treatment, or perceptions of persons or individuals are based on their gender. In a parallel sense, gender inequality can be said as the world in which there was discrimination against anyone based on gender. In this introductory, the general understanding of gender inequalities will be discussed further into three significant factors that influence the allocation of housework between men and women. Household chores can be classified as cleaning, cooking and paying bills. Division of housework serves as an important element in the continuation of the function of a family and it requires contribution from both spouses (Tang, 2012). However, current society’s perception on housework is based on gender, so the three major factors that influence the division of household chores within the couples are education level, economic resources, and time availability (refer to Figure1 in Appendix 1).