Page 277 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes concepts. Kabeer says : “Ideology is gendered as well as sexed.” Class mediates the way in which
biological difference is translated into gender inequality. Hence, gender factor in the stratification
theory is essential, supporting Mann’s point of view. Even status which women extract from their
own achievements, such as education and salaried jobs, is not fully recognized and are attributed
to the husbands and their families or to the parents of the upwardly mobile women. Women thus
enjoy only derived status despite their own individualistic gains and achievements. And all women
do not enjoy equal status, they are differentiated among themselves based on their status among
female members in the family.
The idea of purush jati and stree jati is quite there among the members of our society. Nita Kumar
suggests four ways to deal with the question of women : (1) to make women the object of human
“gaze”, (2) to see women as males, (3) to focus on the patriarchical, ideological, discursive structures,
and (4) to look at the hidden, subversive ways in which women exercise their agency. Kumar
questions the understanding of “women as subjects”. She pleads for replacement of the masculine,
rational, free subject by a feminine entity in all walks of life. For inferior and subordinate status of
women, our value system, loopholes in the Constitution and law, violence, aggression and crimes
against women are also responsible. Dowry, child marriage and prohibition of widow remarriage
continue to lower down the position of women in Indian society. Patriarchy and caste-class
hierarchy have combined with a consequence of gendering of social life.
Education and employment among women of the urban middle classes have raised their socio-
economic status. More than employment, women are demanding autonomy by seeking their
identity as persons/members of society equal to male members. More representation in jobs and
reservation in civic bodies, state legislatives and Lok Sabha are being sought. Demand for
representation in PRIs and civic bodies has been accepted under the 73rd and 74th constitutional
amendments, respectively. For state legislatures and Lok Sabha, the demand has been in doldrums
for quite some time.
Some women have also taken up entrepreneurship and other independent economic activities. In
most cases, however, they remain secondary earners. Real empowerment, equal to men, is yet to
come to women even in the metropolises and big towns. Women continue to have real and imagined
faces because of the overarching patriarchal nature of Indian society. How to reduce “gendering”
of relations, work, decision-making in everyday life? Women do not need sympathy or mercy of
the male members in the family and society. What they need is right to own and control resources
equal to men. “Statization” and patronage to provide employment, education and health care for
women is a top-down manner to analyse their problems. Effective property rights may reduce
women’s economic, social and political subordination and bring about more equal gender relations.
A resource theory, rather than the reform theory, is the main concern.
Ethnicity

Ethnicity and Culture
Anthony Giddens has discussed in detail ethnicity and race. He writes: “Ethnicity refers to cultural
practices and outlooks that distinguish a given community of people. Members of ethnic groups
see themselves as culturally distinct from other groupings in a society, and are seen by those
others to be so.” The main characteristics of distinction based on ethnicity are language, history or
ancestry (real or imagined), religion, and styles of dress or adornment as perceived by Giddens.
Ethnic differences are wholly learned. Most modern societies have numerous different ethnic groups.
Many societies are today plural societies having several large ethnic groupings, culturally and
socially distinct from one another. Ethnic distinctions are rarely “natural”. Generally, they are
associated with marked inequalities of wealth and power, as well as with antagonism between
groups. Giddens poses the following questions regarding ethnic divisions and tensions and conflicts :
1. Why are ethnic differences so often associated with tension and conflict?

272 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY