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Sukanya Das, Lovely Professional University Unit 9: Gender and Stratification

Unit 9: Gender and Stratification Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
9.1 Gender and Stratification
9.2 Gender as a Basis of Stratification
9.3 Patriarchy and the Subordination of Women
9.4 Summary
9.5 Key–Words
9.6 Review Questions
9.7 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit students will be able to :
• Discuss the Gender and Stratification.
• Understand the Gender as a basis of Stratification.
• Explain the Patriarchy and the Subordination of a Women.

Introduction

The role of man and woman has been different in most of the societies including the West and in
the middle class sections. Women are expected to do domestic chores and raise children while
men are bread winners of family. This difference has been considered ‘natural’ and hence is based
on biological attributes. However, the feminist movements have questioned this kind of division
of labour and resultant subordination of women.
Today women do housework, but that is not considered as work which would be paid. Moreover,
women earn much less than men for performing the same job outside home. Many occupations
are differentiated as womanly job and women are excluded, from decision-making.
Feminists find the oppression of women on the lines of class oppression where men and patriarchal
structures oppress women as a class. Hence, the major differentiation in society revolves around
gender and not class. Marxists and Weberians explain the forms and structures of inequality. The
class situation of family members derived from bread winner who is usually man has been widely
criticized. The issue of gender raises serious problems for empirical and theoretical work in social
stratification. Newby (1982) says that issue of gender equality emerged from women’s location in
social stratification with their increased participation in all walks of life.
Weber talks about social stratification taking shape in terms of class or status while Marxist
approach treats the question of sexual inequality in terms of division of labour and considers
women as ‘reserve army’ which could be used in times of acute labour shortage. Weber finds that
technological and economic changes push status in the background and favour class stratification.
The class and status theories of stratification never gave serious thought to issues of gender
inequality and it was viewed that gender relations were similar to ethnic relations.

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