Social inequalities (Gender, Social Class) Flashcards
What are the 3 Functionalism Explanations of gender inequality?
- Biological features MURDOCK
- Expressive and instrumental roles PARSONS
- Human capital Theory RASTOGI
They believe that males and females have separate social roles that are based on biological differences, these allow society to run smoothly but they may also show signs of gender inequality.
Functionalism Gender Inequality; MURDOCK
He studied gender roles in 200 pre industrialised societies. He found females were located in the home due to their biological function of child bearing. They were less able to do other tasks which were physically strenuous or economic. Females were expected to be nurturing and caring for children whilst men were outside of the home hunting and gathering and providing for the family. He concluded that these gender differences are due to their biological differences that exist between males and females and therefore males and females should perform tasks that are physically suited to them.
(+) it is supported by biological evidence as women do have a childbearing role and therefore this limits their chances of doing strenuous work outside of the home. Males do have a physical nature.
(-) Mead found contradictory evidence with a tribe in New Guinea whereby males and females were both aggressive, masculine and performed the same tasks. Therefore this questions whether biology limits what we are capable of or not eg gender equality can be achieved in some societies due to cultural expectations so is the idea of gender a social construct.
Functionalism Gender Inequality; PARSONS
Parsons emphasised the role of the family in
- socialising children
Primary socialisation as a personality factory to mound child’s personality to societies norms and values. Mother is generally responsible for this as they’re home.
- stabilising adult personalities
Eg married couples, men rely on their female wives to provide emotional support after they experience long days working hard to provide financially for the family
So there are the instrumental roles (performed by males, fathers) eg providing food, shelter and clothing as a dominant rule
Also expressive roles (performed my females, mothers) eg warmth, providing emotional support and care. Due to the expressive role, it limits female career choices and opportunities leading to gender inequality
(-) Leech criticises this theory because parsons ignores the dark side of family whereby gender inequality occurs frequently. Because of the unequal distribution of power in the family - they may not seek emotional care from their wives but rather lead to abuse and domestic violence.
(-) another criticism is by James whereby if adults have problems later on life, it’s traced back to primary socialisation. This creates gender inequality as mothers are often pinpointed by society for the blame of socialisation problems and fathers are generally dismissed.
(+) Marxists would agree because the expressive and instrumental roles gives way to patriarchy. The distribution of the family roles help assist the capitalist system but also lead to further inequality in the workplace due to their limited career opportunities.
Functionalism Gender Inequality; human capital theory Rastogi
This theory explains the wage gap and employment differences.
Eg a male might have more human capital than a female because he has a masters degree and the female has a bachelors SO the male earns more in the workplace for the same job because he has more knowledge. It’s likely that males will have more human capital because they have more opportunity to study (not limited by children or pregnancy) and more experience in the job (no maternity leave or career breaks).
(+) Sloane found support for human capital theory - he found that professional qualifications had a big impact on pay eg 30% difference for the same job, therefore this suggests that this is an important factor in human capital theory.
(-) BUT Sloane also found some contradictory evidence as males earn 29% more than females on average, this was when males and females were doing the same job and there were no differences between them in training or qualifications between them. Therefore this is a big pay gap between the genders that solely exists based on gender and no other intervening factors.
What are the 2 Marxist Explanations of gender inequality?
- Marxist Explanation by Engels
2. Marxist Feminists
Marxism Gender Inequality; ENGELS
The bourgeoisie and proletariat relationship that exists in Capitalist society is translated into the household and mirrors the relationships between males and females. Under Capitalism, males gained control over women because men wanted to pass on their private property and inheritance from one generation to the next and they wanted their heirs (sons) to be legitimate. This resulted in sexual domination of females by males. Sexual domination of women gave rise to the ideology of the nuclear family and this also restricted women’s sexuality and enforced monogamy. This is the start of gender inequality whereby men began to exercise their power over females. This helped ensure legitimate children were born and protected male property rights.
(+) Engels ideas are supported by sociologists such as Parsons, both argue that the ideology of the nuclear family are important for society and Karl Marx for ideas about capitalism and passing down capital through the family generations.
(-) postmodern sociologists have criticised Engels and Marx for being outdated and lacking temporal validity
Marxism Gender Inequality; MARXIST FEMINISTS
Marxist feminists agree that the role of women in society helped to support the capitalist system which leads to the oppression of women. one way is because women are seen in the world of work as ‘a reserve army of labour’. Females are seen as secondary and as a reserve for when there’s an increase in supply and demand and businesses might need more workers for a limited time.
Women play a central role in the family through their unpaid domestic labour (housework) and serve the needs of capitalism; they reproduce the next generation who are brainwashed into accepting to be obedient and hard working but also to a patriachal family where boys dominate.
They pass on the idea of different roles eg within the home and different jobs available
Women are also safety valves, where they soothe the stress and frustration of proletariat men after a hard day at work.
(+) supported by feminists such as Ann Oakley whereby gender stereotypes are encouraged through primary socialisation………
(-) the idea of a crisis of masculinity would contradict the ideas of set roles of men at work and women at home. As this suggests that males are in crisis and females are over taking them in the labour market and other areas of social life. Farrell even suggests that we now have the idea of a glass cellar rather than the glass ceiling with males taking up lots of the very low professions eg garbage collectors.
(-) sharpe investigated working class females in London schools in the 1970s and 90s and found that many females had different aspirations from the 70s eg females wanted to marry later, have fewer children, have more independence, expected husbands to help with housework. Therefore females over time are changing their perception of family and work and these changes might lessen the gender inequality that is occurring in both of these areas. Lots of successful women eg Beyoncé who are married but still have careers.
What are the 2 Feminist Explanations of gender inequality?
- Liberal Feminists - Oakley
2. Radical Feminism - Millet
Feminism Gender Inequality; LIBERAL FEMINISM - OAKLEY
Liberal feminists want to obtain equal opportunities and equal rights for males and females in society eg work, education and politics. They think that gender inequality is the results of socialisation and unfair laws that reinforce discrimination rather than biological differences. An example of success of these feminists are the equal pay and sexual discrimination acts
Ann Oakley looked at gender role socialisation in the family and this is where gender inequality begins;
Manipulation - encourages behaviour seen as gender appropriate eg boys don’t cry!
Canalisation - is where children’s interests are channelled in to gender specific ones eg to play with gender appropriate toys such as boys with cars
Different activities - eg helping around the house so kitchen for girls and garden/car for boys
Verbal appellations - my princess as a nickname vs my soldier
(+) these ideas have been praised because they offer an insight into how we can change gender inequality in the future by changing norms and values that reinforce gender divisions. Eg within primary socialisation we could give boys dolls to play with and dress girls in blue etc.
(-) they’ve been criticised for being too optimistic about their own positive achievements eg the equal pay act came about in 1970, but in 2017 the gender pay gap still exists between males and females which shows that there’s still a distinct gender inequality and therefore the pay gap still exists eg RyanAir.
(-) postmodernists also criticise because they don’t see gender as fixed, but instead consist of a range of different masculinities and femininities to choose from eg hegemonic masculinity or subordinate. We no longer have clear cut gender roles for children to be socialised into, instead there is a pick and mix selection which might help reduce the gender inequality that still exists in society today.
Feminism Gender Inequality; RADICAL FEMINISM - MILLET
Radical Feminists see patriarchy as the main source of female oppression in society. Men are advantaged in every area of social life and they will not give up their power and control to women so men dominate, control and exploit women.
The family is a key aspect to women’s oppression. Gender divisions of labour in the family reinforce male domination by patriarchy. Female oppression has a biological element and Millet states that men acquire power over this (eg women going through pregnancy) because females cannot contribute to society as much as men. Domestic violence is also common across the world and reflect patriarchal terrorism because they think it’s right to control their women. The world health organisation stated that 30% of women will face sexual and physical abuse at least once in their lifetime (2013)
(+) Leech supports this theory because he researched the dark side of family whereby gender inequality occurs frequently. Because of the unequal distribution of power in the family - they may not seek emotional care from their wives but rather lead to abuse and domestic violence. Where they vent their frustrations on their wife too.
(-) radical feminists have been criticised for over emphasising the differences that exist between males and females in society which help promote the idea of gender inequality. Males and females can work together effectively and cooperatively for instance both males and females might campaign for gender equality, equal pay act, sexual discrimination acts, domestic violence because we have to be aware that males can be victims of these things too….
(-) they also see all women as sharing interests because of their gender but they’ve ignored the factors of class and ethnicity which are important sources for inequality that might exist between women. An example might be that upper class females might have little in common with working class females, working class females may have more in common with working class males. Therefore gender shouldn’t be seen as the only source of inequality, other factors need to be considered eg social class (Marxists).
Patterns and Trends in relation to Gender
Workplace
- men and women tend to be located in different types of industries and occupations
- horizontal segregation; the barrier between male and female occupations varies between industries and there’s evidence that this has been declining.
- vertical segregation; within an industry, men and women tend to be concentrated at different levels. Women tend to be under represented at the most senior positions and middle class women often proceed far in the job until they encounter the glass ceiling (they can see where they would like to be but the ceiling impedes further progress)
Earnings
- horizontal segregation has decreased as the decline of manual occupations and traditional male industries we might see further decline in gender typed occupations
- pay gap is closing where 1/5 earn more than their partners
- some companies still guilty eg Ryanair as for every £1 males get, females get 28P
Labour market
- 30,000 females per year are sacked for being pregnant
- males have more professional jobs and higher pay
- males with kids work more than those who don’t (opposite for females)
Income and wealth
- 70% of those who earn the minimum wage are females
- 1/5th of female income are state benefits compared to 1/10th of males
Income and poverty
- females more likely to experience poverty in the UK and globally
Social mobility
- li and Devine found that females are less likely to be upwardly mobile than males (upward movement of social strata in society)
Patterns and Trends in relation to Gender - male disadvantaged
Crisis of masculinity - males don’t have a clear cut path anymore so might become deviant as a result Farrell even suggested we have a glass cellar
Education
- males achieve less GCSE grades A*-C than female
- in 2013, UCAS stated that females were 33% more likely to enter higher education than males
Social inequality and health
- females live on avg 4 years more than males
- 67% alcoholics are male and 80% of drug users are male
Work and Income Inequality
- 95% of 200 people killed every year at work are male. Benator found that the most dangerous job with the least pay are done by men. Horizontal segregation into these hazardous jobs.
Family Life
- Warins research showed that families believe that the breadwinner should be the father. Males feel under pressure to provide financially for their family eg buying designer goods for their teenage children. Sick, disabled and unemployed fathers feel sad and frustrated if they cannot provide.
- 1/8 fathers work 60 hours or more per week. And high earners often spend very little time with their children.
- pro mother legal system in divorce and custody but also with the media and crime eg Rape is assumed as girls as victims.
Evaluation of gender inequality overall
(-) feminists would contradict the ideas presented about male social inequality being a problem in society. Feminists believe that male social inequality is minor and not as prominent compared to female inequality in society.
(+) Laws and policies however are trying to diminish the inequality eg from April 2017 all employers are obliged to report publicly about their pay gap etc so this is a step in the right direction towards reducing the gender pay gap.
(+) evidence from a Marxist perspective that females are seen as a reserve army of labour whereby they are a surplus workforce that are used in times of economic boom.
Introduction to Social Class
Members of a social class share a similar economic position eg similar levels of income, wealth, education and occupation.
Occupation is a useful guide to social class because many sociologists see the ranking of occupations in terms of income status and power. Eg tells us roughly their income, housing, educational qualifications, lifestyle they have.
HOPE GOLDTHORPE SOCIAL CLASS CLASSIFICATION HAS 7 social classes and is an example of the social class system in relation to your job with categories eg high managerial and professional all the way down to unskilled manual workers.
The 3 ways we can measure social class is through economic (income, savings, house value), social (contacts eg no. of high status people known) and cultural capital (cultural interests and activities).
Patterns and Trends in relation to Social Class in the workplace
Due to the hierarchy in occupation leading to there being ‘higher status jobs’
- more senior staff in workplaces often have more autonomy and control in their work eg set their own working hours
- more routine workers not only earn less pay but are less likely to enjoy other perks eg occupational pensions and longer payed holidays
- manual workers and other routine workers are much more likely to face job losses and unemployment than more skilled workers so there is an issue over job security.
- men tend to work in these professional occupations which are associated with high levels of pay than women and so obtain the higher positions in society.
