What do functionalists believe about gender

Confounding Expectation : The woman in this picture blurs the boundaries between the symbols that are traditionally considered masculine or feminine. While she has long hair and is wearing makeup, typically feminine markers, her clothes are much more masculine in nature. Feminist theory analyzes gender stratification through the intersection of gender, race, and class. In sociology, social stratification occurs when differences lead to greater status, power, or privilege for some groups over others.

Simply put, it is a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. Members of society are socially stratified on many levels, including socio-economic status, race, class, ethnicity, religion, ability status, and gender. Gender stratification occurs when gender differences give men greater privilege and power over women, transgender, and gender-non-conforming people.

Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical discourse. The same rights, the same duties. However, did white women face the same challenges that women of other races and ethnic groups did? Feminist theory uses the conflict approach to examine the reinforcement of gender roles and inequalities.

Conflict theory posits that stratification is dysfunctional and harmful in society, with inequality perpetuated because it benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor.

Radical feminism, in particular, evaluates the role of the patriarchy in perpetuating male dominance. Feminism focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on the assertion of male supremacy.

Intersectionality suggests that various biological, social and cultural categories, including gender, race, class and ethnicity, interact and contribute towards systematic social inequality. In light of this theory, the oppression and marginalization of women is thus shaped not only by gender, but by other factors such as race and class. The first and second waves of the feminist movement were primarily driven by white women, who did not adequately represent the feminist movement as a whole.

It was— and continues to be— important to recognize that white women faced a different form of discrimination than working class women of color, who not only had to deal with sexism, but also fought against racism and class oppression. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Gender Stratification and Inequality. Search for:.

Sociological Perspectives on Gender Stratification. The Functionalist Perspective The functionalist perspective of gender roles suggests that gender roles exist to maximize social efficiency. Learning Objectives Describe gender inequality from the view of the functionalist perspective.

Key Takeaways Key Points The functionalist perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation and broadly focuses on the social structures that shape society as a whole.

Further, in social as well as academic situations, teachers have traditionally treated boys and girls in opposite ways, reinforcing a sense of competition rather than collaboration Thorne Boys are also permitted a greater degree of freedom to break rules or commit minor acts of deviance, whereas girls are expected to follow rules carefully and adopt an obedient role Ready Mimicking the actions of significant others is the first step in the development of a separate sense of self Mead Like adults, children become agents who actively facilitate and apply normative gender expectations to those around them.

When children do not conform to the appropriate gender role, they may face negative sanctions such as being criticized or marginalized by their peers. Though many of these sanctions are informal, they can be quite severe. Boys, especially, are subject to intense ridicule for gender nonconformity Coltrane and Adams ; Kimmel Mass media serves as another significant agent of gender socialization.

In television and movies, women tend to have less significant roles and are often portrayed as wives or mothers. When women are given a lead role, it often falls into one of two extremes: a wholesome, saint-like figure or a malevolent, hypersexual figure Etaugh and Bridges Research indicates that in the ten top-grossing G-rated movies released between and , nine out of ten characters were male Smith Television commercials and other forms of advertising also reinforce inequality and gender-based stereotypes.

Women are almost exclusively present in ads promoting cooking, cleaning, or childcare-related products Davis Think about the last time you saw a man star in a dishwasher or laundry detergent commercial. In general, women are underrepresented in roles that involve leadership, intelligence, or a balanced psyche.

Of particular concern is the depiction of women in ways that are dehumanizing, especially in music videos.

Even in mainstream advertising, however, themes intermingling violence and sexuality are quite common Kilbourne The United States is characterized by gender stratification as well as stratification of race, income, occupation, and the like. Evidence of gender stratification is especially keen within the economic realm. Despite making up nearly half Census Bureau Women in the paid labor force also still do the majority of the unpaid work at home. On an average day, 84 percent of women compared to 67 percent of men spend time doing household management activities U.

This double-duty keeps working women in a subordinate role in the family structure Hochschild and Machung There is a long history of gender stratification in the United States. When looking to the past, it would appear that society has made great strides in terms of abolishing some of the most blatant forms of gender inequality see timeline below but underlying effects of male dominance still permeate many aspects of society. Sociological theories help sociologists to develop questions and interpret data.

For example, a sociologist studying why middle-school girls are more likely than their male counterparts to fall behind grade-level expectations in math and science might use a feminist perspective to frame her research.

Another scholar might proceed from the conflict perspective to investigate why women are underrepresented in political office, and an interactionist might examine how the symbols of femininity interact with symbols of political authority to affect how women in Congress are treated by their male counterparts in meetings. Viewing the family as the most integral component of society, assumptions about gender roles within marriage assume a prominent place in this perspective.

Functionalists argue that gender roles were established well before the pre-industrial era when men typically took care of responsibilities outside of the home, such as hunting, and women typically took care of the domestic responsibilities in or around the home. These roles were considered functional because women were often limited by the physical restraints of pregnancy and nursing and unable to leave the home for long periods of time. Once established, these roles were passed on to subsequent generations since they served as an effective means of keeping the family system functioning properly.

When changes occurred in the social and economic climate of the United States during World War II, changes in the family structure also occurred. Many women had to assume the role of breadwinner or modern hunter-gatherer alongside their domestic role in order to stabilize a rapidly changing society.

When the men returned from war and wanted to reclaim their jobs, society fell back into a state of imbalance, as many women did not want to forfeit their wage-earning positions Hawke According to conflict theory, society is a struggle for dominance among social groups like women versus men that compete for scarce resources.

When sociologists examine gender from this perspective, we can view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group. According to conflict theory, social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups.

Key Takeaways The functionalist perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation and broadly focuses on the social structures that shape society as a whole.

This theory suggests that gender inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor , or as a social system in which a particular segment of the population is clearly responsible for certain acts of labor and another segment is clearly responsible for other labor acts.

The feminist movement takes the position that functionalism neglects the suppression of women within the family structure. Key Terms Division of Labor — A division of labor is the dividing and specializing of cooperative labor into specifically circumscribed tasks and roles. The Functionalist Perspective — A broad social theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Functionalist Perspective of Gender Inequality — A theory that suggests that gender inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor, or a social system in which a particular segment of the population is clearly responsible for certain acts of labor and another segment is clearly responsible for other labor acts.

It was wrong with my father that always ask my mother to do those. Conflict theory has different assumptions about the family as an institution. The theory interprets the family as a system of power relations that reinforces and reflects the inequalities within society. Conflict theorists are particularly interested in how families are effected by class, race and gender inequality. Families are important in the maintenance of social inequalities because they are the vehicles through which property and social status is acquired Eitzen and Bacca Zinn, Marx and Engels looked at the role of families in the social reproduction of inequality.

She did know that she lived in a patriarchal family were her father was the breadwinner and because he was the man with the money he dictated where the money went and how it was spent. These things all help to define the social construction of gender. Yarber and Sayad, , explain that the cognitive social learning theory promotes learning by observation of others. It is based on a beliefs that consequences control actions. There were the free and the enslaved, the Greeks and the foreigners, the rich and the poor.

The men had their roles as the leaders of society, participating in politics, law, and the military. Throughout time, women have been held responsible, demeaned, and used to further the agendas of their male counter parts.