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Genderstratification
Genderstratificationreferstotheinequalitiesbetweenwomenandmen regardingwealth,power,andprivilege.Genderisasociallystructured principleandrepresentsahierarchical,asymmetrical,andunequaldivision betweenmenandwomen. Genderstratificationreferstothesocialranking,wherementypically inhabithigherstatusesthanwomen.Oftenthetermsgenderinequality andgenderstratificationareusedinterchangeably.Genderstratification canbeexaminedatthelevelofindividualoutcomesandinteractionsor withamacroperspectivethatcomparesindexesofgenderinequalities acrosscountries.Althoughwelfarestatesresearchexaminesmany aspectswithinandacrosssocieties,itprovidesimportantinsightsinhow statepoliciescanshapepatternsofgenderstratification. Genderstratificationisbasicallyunequalpowerbasedongender. Perfectexampleistheamountofmenvswomeninpolitics.Literallymen havemorepowerbecausemoresenators,congressmen,governors,and mayorsaremen....Genderstratificationisbasicallyunequalpowerbased ongender. FormsofGenderInequality
. 1. WomenWorksLongerthanMen: Inmostofthesocietiesthemale-stream isthemainstream whoargues thatwomenhavecomparativeadvantageinhouseholdnon-market production,likecookingandcleaningforthefamilythatcanbecalled emotionalandpersonalcaringwork. Basedonthisthinking,householdjobsarethenasymmetricallydistributed.
Womenaremorevaluedinhome.Menarespecialisedinmarket-based production.Thus,beingthebread-earners,malesenjoybothpowerand status. 2 .InequalityinEmploymentandEarnings: Historically,menhavegreaterparticipationinworkoutsidehomethan women.Butwomen(particu¬larlyofpoorhouseholds)shareunequally house¬holddutiesinadditiontoeconomicproduction.Thustheywork longerthanmales.Thiskindof‘divisionoflabour’maybeseenasthe ‘accumu¬lationoflabour’onwomen,asdescribedbyAmartyaSen. Householdactivitiesareoftenviewedas‘sedentaryactivities’whichrequire less‘calorie’togainenergy. 3 .OwnershipInequality: Incaseofsocialinequalityletusturntoanotherkindofinequality,called ownershipinequality—aclassiccaseofsocialinequality.Inmostofthe societies,owner¬shipoverpropertyandmeansofproductionrestsmainly onmalemembers.Thelawofinheritanceprovidessuchownershiprights onmalechild.Suchdenialcomingoutofhierarchicaldualism withinthe familynotonlyreducesthevoiceofwomenbutalsopreventsthem from participatingincommercial,economicandsocialactivities. 4 .SurvivalInequality: Anothercrudestform ofgenderdisparityistheunusuallyhighmortality ratesofwomen,thoughbiologically,womenlivelongerthanmen!Thus, moreboysthangirlsareborneverywhereleadingtoa‘deficit’ofwomen anda‘surplus’ofmen.Indevelopedcountriesbecauseofabsenceof gender-biasinhealthcareandnutrition,womenoutnumbermen.InEurope andinNorthAmerica, 105 ormoregirlsarebornper 100 boys.Suchhigh female-maleratio( 1. 05 )inthesecountriesisattributedtoahighgendered survivalrateindifferentagegroups. 5 .GenderBiasintheDistributionofEducationandHealth: Healthandeducation—thetwomajorformsofhumancapital—arerelated toeconomicdevelopment.Humancapitalgetsaccumulatedasasociety advancesineducation.However,onefindsahugeeducationandhealth
womenandchildrenforsexualexploitationhasbecomeahigh-profit-low- risktradeforthosewhoorganiseit. Therearemanycausesofsuchviolence’sbutphysicalprowessofmen, dynamicsofpowerandinjustice,loworabsenceofeducationofwomen seem tobethemostcogentreasonsforgenderinequalityandsubordinate statusofwomenglobally. GenderinequalityinIndiaisamultifacetedissuethatconcernsmenand women.Somearguethatvariousgenderequalityindicesplacemenata disadvantage.However,whenIndia'spopulationisexaminedasawhole, womenareatadisadvantageinseveralimportantways. Genderstratificationmeaning Stratificationoccurredindifferentwayslikeawidowremarriagewasnot somethingtoeventhinkabout.Satipracticewasalsocommoni.e.the womenwereobligedtoendtheirlivesafterhusbanddeath.Thedecision makingfreedom wasnotamountingforwomenofthesociety.JoanAcker wastheonesociologistwhocriticizedthegenderroleinstratification. Therewasanargumentbetweenfeministthatwhetherafemaleposition shouldberecognizedbyherhusbandoccupationandauthorityorherown position.Intoday’stime,afemalepositionisstudiedasaseparate category.Thestratificationbetweenthegenderscanbeseenindifferent ways.Forexample,itisatraditionalthinkingthatmechanicalbranchis suitableforboysonly,thusthenumberofgirlsinthisbranchismuch lesserthanotherengineeringbranches.Likewiseinmanycompanies,there isthedifferenceinpaymentofmenandwomenbeingplacedatthesame level.Thereisonemoreexamplewherethenumberoffemaleemployees atacompanyislesserthanmen.
Althoughthissystem isstudiedinadetailedwayandnowadayswomen empowermentprocessishappeningatalargescale.Thecompanies mostlyITcompaniesareemployingwomenmoreandtheyhavemade manypoliciesregardingthebettermentofwomeninsociety.Forexample, AccentureCompanyhasmadearulethataminimum of 1 / 3 ofthetotal employeesshouldbefemales.
Threecategoriesofoccupationalsegregationamong
women
Womenwhoworkoutsidetheirhouseslikeadoptingafull-fledgedcareerin anycareer.Forexample,awomenworkinginsomemulti-nationalcompany comesunderthiscategory. Someofthepercentageofwomendoesnotgooutsidetheirhomes,they workfrom homeandearnfrom part-timejobs.Forexample,women openingbeautyparlorsintheirhomesorwomentakinguptheweaving workattheirhomesearnfrom part-timejobsonlyandamajorproportionis thehousewifeandtheydependontheirrespectivepartnersforfinancial support.Forexample,ahomemakerdoesnotearnanythingbutthework dayandnightwithoutaholidaydependingonherspouseformoney matters.Womenhavedifferentprioritiesregardingoccupationandlifestyle. Thesesetadifferenceinthestatusbarofmarriedcouplesinwhicheither onlyonepersonearnorbothofthem earn.Thisdifferencesetsthestatus barofeducationandlifestyleoftheiroffspring’stoo. AnothersociologistKarlMarxresearchedtheimpactofwomeninany society.Hestatedthatasocietywhichcannotproviderespectand
lesspowerthanmeninthehouseholdbecausetheyweredependenton them forwages. Men,likeanyothergroupwithapowerorwealthadvantageinConflict Theory,foughttomaintaintheircontroloverresources(inthiscase, politicalandeconomicpower).Conflictbetweenthetwogroupscaused thingsliketheWomen’sSuffrageMovementandwasresponsibleforsocial change
TheFeministPerspective
Feministtheoryanalyzesgenderstratificationthroughtheintersectionof gender,race,andclass. KeyPoints
- Genderstratificationoccurswhengenderdifferencesgivemengreater privilegeandpoweroverwomen,transgenderandgender-non-conforming people.
- Feministtheoryusestheconflictapproachtoexaminethereinforcement ofgenderrolesandinequalities,highlightingtheroleofpatriarchyin maintainingtheoppressionofwomen.
- Feminism focusesonthetheoryofpatriarchyasasystem ofpowerthat organizessocietyintoacomplexofrelationshipsbasedontheassertionof malesupremacy.
- Intersectionalitysuggeststhatvariousformsofoppression–suchas racism,classism,andsexism —areinterrelatedtoform asystem of oppressioninwhichvariousformsofdiscriminationintersect.Thetheory
wasfirsthighlightedbyKimberléKrenshaw.
- Intersectionalitysuggeststhatvariousbiological,social,andcultural categories–includinggender,race,class,andethnicity—interactand contributetowardssystematicsocialinequality.Therefore,variousforms ofoppressiondonotactindependentlybutareinterrelated.
- MaryAnnWeathersdrewattentiontothewaysinwhichwhitewomenface adifferentform ofdiscriminationthanworkingclasswomenofcolor,who additionallymustfightracism andclassoppression. Sources: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless- sociology/chapter/sociological-perspectives-on-gender-stratification/ Genderstratificationmeaning,categories,examplesandoverview, November 7 , 2017 bySociologyGroup https://www.sociologygroup.com/gender-stratification-examples/ Parashar,A.“GenderInequalityandReligiousPersonalLawsinIndia.”The BrownJournalofWorldAffairs 14 ,no. 2 ( 2008 ): 103 - 12. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 24590717 Ghosh,R.“HumanRightsandSexism inIndianEducation.”India
