The Oppression of Women at Home and in the Workplace Due to Gender Stratification

Feminist Theories: The Oppression of Women at Home and in the Workplace Due to Gender Stratification

“One is not born a woman, but instead one becomes a woman,” claims sociologist Simone de Beauvoir (as cited in Zaretsky). Similarly, sociologist Judith Butler argues that “gender is less a biological fact than a social fiction” (Zaretsky). Another sociologist, Berk, makes a similar claim, arguing that the family is where you first learn how to do gender in compliance with societal norms; the creation and functioning of a family perpetuates society (Berk). These arguments, based on the works of Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault, are rooted in the idea that “what we assume to be essential human characteristics are instead malleable traits fashioned by social habits,” or the idea that characteristics we assign to gender are socially-constructed, as opposed to biologically predetermined (Zaretsky).

With these culturally constructed gender roles, however, comes gender stratification. In the United States, for example, women are generally free to do as they please as it is becoming less the social norm to participate in traditional gender roles, though there is still a double standard in society and the workplace. Even the act of marriage itself has rituals that assign specific gender roles, including the bridge being ‘given away’ to her husband, and her being expected to take his last name. This also continues into marriage, where the wife is traditionally assigned to the home, and in charge of doing the cooking and caring for the children. In other countries, such as India and Saudi Arabia, however, women are discriminated against by the government, which aids in the maintenance of strict gender roles in society. Using the...

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