Page 191 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes technique presuppose the innumerable ways of following actors and actresses. These are simplistic
ways of accepting subordination, perpetuating it as a form of life. In its most complicated sense,
subordination may result into the institution of slavery and in this case subordination becomes
legitimized. In between these two extremes, there could be various levels and degrees of
subordination.
As a fact, it is something which is universal land ipso facto real. The more important issue is the
justification of subordination. The justification of subordination consists in evaluating that somebody
is a lesser being and hence a subordinate being. Every act of subordination implicitly or explicitly
presupposes such an evaluative claim. This claim accompanies the fact of subordination. The
evaluation that somebody is a subordinate being stands in need of explanation. Such an evaluation
cannot be explained in terms of cause-effect relation because it is not an event of the physical
world. It is a kind of action carried out by human beings in their inter-personal relationship with
the social world. Every human action is purposive and it springs from certain intentions on the
part of the actor.
It is the intentional aspect of the action that confers meaning to the action. The logic of human
action is different from the logic of event. The physical event follows the laws of the physical
world and it can be explained in terms of cause-effect relation. The human action although a part
and parcel of the larger context of the physical world follows the laws made by human will that
is free. The human action, therefore, cannot be explained in terms of causation. It can be explained
in terms of meaningfulness. The meaning given to action is not something really subjective but the
agent shares the meaning along with the other members of the inter subjective world. Thus the
meaning of an action has to be understood or captured and not explained in the real sense of the
term. This does not mean that action has no consequences at all. Every human action has both the
aspects (i) intentions and (ii) consequences. Both may not be the same. To understand the intentional
aspect one has to undertake an inquiry into the meaningfulness of ‘subordination’. To understand
the consequences one has to undertaken an inquiry into the casual explanations in terms of the
factual conditions that provide basis for the evaluative claim. The intentions refer to the belief
systems and meaning supplied by real individuals in their confrontation with the social world.
The subordination of woman as a part of human history has to be understood from both these
aspects. It is not my aim to consider the question whether all women across the world are
subordinated or not, or the extent to which they are subordinated or the issue of suggesting
practical devices and strategies to put an end to subordination. I am concerned with the question
as to why in every culture woman is looked upon as a subordinate being, why such an evaluation
has been a part of every culture. The answer to this question will lead us to the reasons or
justifications of the subordination of woman.
Different Arguments for the Subordination of Woman
The subordination of woman has been one of the important issue for the social sciences and for
feminism. The defenders of women’s subordination and the propounders of woman’s liberation
both have tried to explain the phenomenon of subordination in terms of various theoretical
formulations. These theories refer to the biological, psychological material, economic and ethical
aspects of human life. These arguments can be classified into two types— (1) biological and
(2) social. Some theories attempt to explain the phenomena of subordination of woman from the
biological and psychological point of view. Some trace the root of subordination in terms of the
social structure.
From the biological point of view it is argued that a female is physically weaker than the male
who has more physical power and it is because of the physical power that the male always
dominates the female. This is the cause of her subordination. The anthropological illustration of
this claim is given by the theory that woman is the gatherer and man is the hunter. The biological

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