Page 78 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Unit 5: Forms of Social Stratification

While Marx discusses classes in connection with production, Weber emphasizes the market, Notes
distribution and consumption. In Weber’s analysis all people with similar economic interests and
with similar economic power belonged to the same class. By economic factor, Weber meant not
simply the relations of production but also the relations that develop in the market. Weber divided
the population into classes according to economic differences of market capacity that give rise to
different life chances. Capital was one source of market capacity, but skill and education formed
another. While property owners and owners of means of production were a class, as Marx had
emphasized, those whose skills were scarce in the market and commanded high salaries also
constituted a separate class. Thus Weber distinguished four classes : the propertied class, the
intellectual, the administrative and managerial class, the traditional petty bourgeosis class of
small businessmen and shopkeepers, and the working class. Thus differential power, not economic
exploitation, is the point of origin of weber’s analysis of class.

Gender
Gender is a socially constructed definition of women and men. It is not the same as sex (biological
characteristics of women and men) and it is not the same as women. Gender is determined by the
conception of tasks, functions and roles attributed to women and men in society and in public and
private life.
These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through
socialization processes. They are context / time-specific and changeable.
Gender determines what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman or a man in a given context.
In most societies there are differences and inequalities between women and men in responsibilities
assigned, activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, as well as decision-making
opportunities.
The gender approach is distinct in that it focuses on women and men and not on women in
isolation. It highlights
• The differences between women’s and men’s interest even within the same household and
how these interact and are expressed.
• The conventions and hierarchies which determine women’s and men’s position in the family,
community and society at large, whereby women are usually dominated by men.
• The differences among women and among men, based on age, wealth, ethnic background and
other factors.
• The way gender roles and relations change, often quite rapidly, as a result of social, economic
and technological trends.
Gender equity requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially valued goods, opportunities,
resources and rewards. Gender equity does not mean, that women and men become the same, but
that their opportunities and life chances are equal.
Gender Analysis takes into account social and economical differences between women and men at
each stage of policy development for the purpose of :
• Revealing potential different impact of policy, programme and law on women and men;
• Ensuring equal results for women and men, boys and girls, in measures design and
implementation.
1. Gender and Sex : “Sex marks the distinction between women and men as a result of their
biological’ physical and genetic differences...Gender roles are sex by convention and other
social, economic, political and cultural forces.”
Sex and gender distinction is a concept in feministing theory, political feminism, and sociology
which distinguishes sex, a natural or biological feature, from gender, the cultural or learned
significance of sex.

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