SOC300 Explain a Concept Project by Hannah Epps

What is Gender Stratification?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 22:16:08 UTC

Gender stratification is a social issue that encompasses many different areas and problems. Gender stratification is the system in which groups of people, in this instance women, experience unequal access to incredibly valuable social resources. To put it simply, it is the unequal distribution of wealth and power across genders. (OpenStax, 2021)

How Does Gender Stratification Affect Society?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 22:30:49 UTC

We can see the effects of gender stratification clearly in today's society, especially in the workforce. Women are typically paid just 81 cents to a man's dollar, even when doing equivalent level work. (OpenStax, 2021)

Women typically have less advantages than men in the workforce because of having less work hours and also a difference in work experience. Women are the ones who usually leave the workforce to tend to children, meaning they have less experience and less availability to work. (Crash Course, 2017)

Women are typically underrepresented within leadership roles, and it is mostly men we see as CEOs. The "glass ceiling" is an invisible force that prevents women from advancing to the top of an organization. (Crash Course, 2017)

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 22:43:41 UTC

What Causes Gender Stratification?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 23:02:50 UTC

Socialization is something that we experience from the moment we are born. Our parents, teachers and environment teach us how we should behave to fit within society and its constructs. Most children have learned gender roles by the age of 3. (OpenStax, 2021) We are formed to believe that men should fit in the category of "man" and women should possess "womanly" attributes.

Society has certain rules that are unwritten. It designates gender, or masculinity or femininity, to objects, clothing and even food choices. Society decides what is masculine and what is feminine. This actually causes men and women to take on certain careers unequally. (Crash Course, 2017) What this does is create specific ideas of what a man and a woman should do, and this can lead to sanctions from society when these gender norms are not followed. This can appear as a man being told he cannot cry, or a woman being told she isn't being ladylike.

What Causes Gender Stratification?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 23:10:39 UTC

The way we are socialized in regard to gender and gender roles themselves come together to create ideals that form the basis of sexism. Women are viewed as inferior to men, weaker and not as smart. Men are praised for their physical strength, as well as mental toughness. This is something that is created by society yet is completely real. Sexism is a huge factor in why the glass ceiling exists. Misogyny, the prejudice against women and the belief that men are superior, is ingrained into our society by the way we have been socialized and the social constructs that already exist.

Why is it Important to Society?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 23:20:24 UTC

All of the previously mentioned concepts combine together to create what is called the patriarchy. This is a form of social organization where men have more control and power over the other genders. The patriarchy is encouraged by the way our government and corporate policies are set up; women are the ones who receive parental leave. This takes them out of the work force and takes away from work experience that men do not miss. This helps to keep women in the subordinate role. (Crash Course, 2017) This encourages inequality between men and women and helps to prevent women from having the same opportunities as men.

Why is it Important to Society?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 23:36:56 UTC

The way that American society is structured is broken. Women are expected to work full time, for less pay, and then come home to care for the household and the children, uncompensated. In my opinion, this leads to lower quality of life not only for the women experiencing it, but the children these women are raising. In Sweden, parental leave is available to both parents, and more than 90% of fathers utilize it. (OpenStax, 2021) Sweden is also a country that fairs better than the United States in social problems. (How Economic Inequality Harms Societies | Richard Wilkinson, n.d.)

Gender stratification creates a cycle of misogyny and inequality, and the resulting stratification is seen as "proof" that there is inherently a difference between the genders. (Crash Course, 2017) I believe that there is a link to social performance and societal well-being and gender inequality.

How Does Gender Equality Affect Society?

w1619393 — 2025-07-17 23:46:46 UTC

Title IX is known in American government for prohibiting sex-based discrimination. This law provided the most impact by increasing funding required for women's sports, and therefore scholarships. This increased the opportunities for women to attend college, most notably in the case of Sally Ride, the first female astronaut. Now, women make up a majority of college graduates! (CrashCourse, 2017)

In just 1840, women were not allowed to own property. It wasn't until 1920 that women were allowed to vote. (OpenStax, 2021) Women have historically been held down by the patriarchy, and this is only recently beginning to change. Many advancements in society can be attributed to women.

Conflict Theory Lens on Gender Stratification

w1619393 — 2025-07-18 00:44:16 UTC

Conflict theory says that society is constantly experiencing a struggle for dominance and control of resources. If we look at gender stratification as a conflict theorist, we might be able to say that men are the dominate group and women are in the subordinate group. Men hold the majority of the power, and they have access to the most resources. Women are at a disadvantage in comparison. A conflict theorist may also say that social issues are created by the oppression of women, and this is something I agree with. This oppression can also be seen in the household. At one time, women relied on men to provide income while they maintained the home and cared for children. This has changed over time, and women are now becoming wage earners and gaining power within their households. At the same time, women are not receiving the same economic opportunities as men. Women come home from full time work and perform 9 more hours of household chores than men who are working full time. This severely limits the free time that women have, while men are more likely to indulge in hobbies. (OpenStax, 2021) (Crash Course, 2017)

References

w1619393 — 2025-07-18 00:53:05 UTC

CrashCourse. (2017). Gender Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #32 [Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1_4FPtzrI

‌CrashCourse. (2017). Sex & Sexuality: Crash Course Sociology #31 [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqt-_ILgv5c

How economic inequality harms societies | Richard Wilkinson. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ7LzE3u7Bw&t=1s

Lorde, A. (n.d.). The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House. Penguin. (Original work published 1984)

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Openstax. (2021). 5.3 Agents of Socialization - Introduction to Sociology 3e | OpenStax. Openstax.org. https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/5-3-agents-of-socialization

Openstax. (2021, June 3). 9.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Social Stratification - Introduction to Sociology 3e | OpenStax. Openstax.org. https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/9-4-theoretical-perspectives-on-social-stratification

"The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House"

w1619393 — 2025-07-18 01:00:59 UTC

"Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap of male ignorance and to educate men as to our existence and our needs. This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master's concerns. Now we hear that is it the task of women of color to educate white women--in the face of tremendous resistance-- as to our existence, our differences, our relative roles in our joint survival." (Lorde, 1984)