Gender Hierarchy In The United States

Throughout history, women have been regarded as of lesser value than men particularly in the public sphere. This is the result of gender stratification. Gender stratification refers to the issue of sexism, “or the belief that one sex is superior to the other” (Carl et al., 2012, p. 78). The theory that men are superior to women is essential to sexism. Sexism has always had negative consequences for women. It has caused some women to avoid pursuing successful careers typically described as “masculine”—perhaps to avoid the social impression that they are less desirable as spouses or mothers, or even less “feminine.”

Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. Gender roles are never comprehensive, even within a single country, and they are always historically and culturally unpredictable. Gender roles in the United States for one cultural group likely is not true for another cultural group. Similarly, gender roles in the United States have changed drastically over the time period. Gender roles has been the historical evolution from a single family income in which only the male spouse works and generates income, to dual family income or a family in which both spouses generate family income. The shifting gender roles in the past years has been huge. It happened so quickly

It goes without saying that throughout society there exists varying degrees of gender stratification. Although many have attempted to understand why this difference between the distribution of property, power and prestige exists amongst genders, the answer is still somewhat ambiguous. Although the United States isn’t a perfect example of equality amongst genders, compared to a majority of nations across the globe, its conditions for both genders are relatively similar. One country notorious for its massive discrepancy in terms of access to property, power and prestige between genders is Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia and a number of Middle Eastern countries, there exists a great deal of gender stratification. According to the 2008 Human Rights

Throughout time gender is something that has been constantly changing due to people becoming more acceptable with who they really are. Today's times there is plethora of what someone may consider themselves as. Like whether they identify as male, female, transgender etc. Society has become more acceptable with the idea and since then gender roles have changed. because this is something that is constantly changing gender roles for a transgender person they may take on the responsibility of caring for the household , being finan1cially stable and caring for the children. "Ischomachus, I said, this is just what I'd like to learn from you. Did you teach your wife yourself what she needed to know or did she already know everything she was supposed

Marilyn Frye has universal definition of oppression as being “a system of interrelated barriers and forces which reduce, immobilize, and mold people who belong to a certain group and effect their subordination to another group” (7). Feminists are working to dismantle the restrictive powers to create equivalent opportunities for all people. On paper, it seems black and white because everyone is working together towards the same goal of equality. On the ground, the divisions of gray can be seen between the vast variety of methods and opinion. As the tension builds, there are two main camps formed: The Western feminist and the Non-Western feminist. (While I personally object to this terminology because of its Eurocentrism, I have yet to find alternatives that encompass the same meaning so it will have to stay standing as imperialist as it is.) Both sets of activists have different roles within these current predicaments facing the unjust treatment of women. Western feminists find themselves in a stalemate of passing critical judgement on another culture or standing aside and letting the injustice continue. Non-Western feminists are working against the oppression in their society as well as the overreaching Western feminists before they can make their voices heard. Therefore, my argument is that Western feminism needs be revised into becoming the megaphone for Non-Western feminist issues. That way ideas from people on the ground are not disregarded and those on the outside who

On a different note, Schmitz and Sarah (1998) examined traditional gender roles among men and women in the United States as well as in Mexico. The study revealed distinct differences between traditional gender roles perceptions held by Americans and Mexicans. The authors state that family settings in Mexico have been characterized by a dominance of the husband. The women are expected to make sacrifices for the sake of their families. They engage in household chores while the men are tasked with the role of providing income to the family. Some of the ultimate sacrifices that the women have to make include: the acquisition of education, development of careers, and having a social life. On the other hand, men enjoy all these rights as their work is majorly within the public sphere and their involvement with their family’s actual functioning is minimal. Due to Mexicans’ beliefs that gender roles stabilize families, they believe that “men should play the role of decision makers while women should play the roles of homemakers and family caretakers” (Schmitz & Sarah, 1998, p.140). On the other hand, the study found out that gender roles in the U.S were not generally delineated according to gender since they are more focused on the attainment of gender equity. Therefore, household chores can be done by either gender. However, the general trend was that women mostly performed household chores especially in households where both the husband and the wife were professionally working.

After studying the first unit of the class, I learned about different feminisms. I now know about liberal feminists, who “campaigned for equal rights of citizenship and for the end of discrimination,” (); socialist feminists, who “attributed women’s oppression to capitalism and focused on women’s economic exploitation,” (); and radical feminists, who “identified male power or patriarchy as the source of female subordination,” (). These forms of feminism developed new attitudes and goals throughout the different waves of feminism in the past two centuries.

“Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race” (Susan B Anthony). Feminism has evolved into our society in a slowly but remarkably life-changing way. Since the beginning of time, men have been deemed superior over women for the anatomy of their bodies and intellectual abilities. In the 21st century, patriarchal abuse has lessened and may not be practiced by women anymore; however, feminist (women and men) are fighting against these controversial roles implemented to them by society and culture. Many have the urge to presume that a feminist is a stereotypical man-hating activist who believes all the troubles in the world are caused by men. Feminism is anything but a stereotype; in fact the definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Equality is the main aspect that ties feminist together through the hardships of the developing society. Feminist perspectives therefore challenge and explore patriarchal interests implemented in women’s ability to express themselves and the quality of their lives. Fundamentally, feminist analysis intends to closely examine how male dominance and female advocacy manifest themselves in specific angles of society. In the world of feminist analysis, according to Donald Hall, critics and theorists are

Throughout history, countless groups of people have unfortunately been victims of subjugation, disenfranchisement and persecution. But perhaps one group of people that have continued to be subjugated the most are the same group of people that makeup the majority of people on earth; women. Despite of all the progress made in recent decades, there are still tens of millions of women a year who are repeatedly victims of infanticide and the deprivation of healthcare. Now although there are no universal panaceas for female inequality, the consensus among academics and researchers is that educating women, investing in female businesses and fostering female participation in the work force are ways to shrink the gap. Finally, it is legitimate for the United States and other countries to export feminism regardless of cultural differences because the lives of millions of women are at stake if they fail to do so.

Twenty –first century women are finding it an uphill battle to maintain both gender roles as a result of the feminist movement. They are now taking responsibility for both the provider and the nurturer, struggling more than ever to obtain and keep a better quality of life. Feminism has aided in equal employment opportunity, fighting to get women accepted into the job market, and what originally started as women empowerment turned into women entrapment, directly resulting in the number of females living in poverty disproportionately to the number of men. Women rights activists used to slander social structures that promoted careerism, are now advising women to "lean in". “Women don’t belong in 12-hour-a-day executive positions” (Kay Ebling 170), a woman’s natural biological

As the ocean, western feminism moves in waves; first wave, second wave, and third wave. These waves are all categorized by their own hardships and struggles, from the very first suffrage movement to today’s international women’s march, each of these chapters have had different icons and revolutionaries, but overall have kept the same idea in mind; to achieve equality amongst all sexes and diminish the patriarchal society, where men are the rulers of society, in order to ensure both men and women are given the same opportunities to achieve in life.

After witnessing the purported mistreatment of women in aforementioned societies, one finds oneself questioning why they endure such injustice. The answer to this inquiry, it seems, reveals itself in that these women do not view themselves as oppressed, but instead look upon women of the western world as those who are victimized (Beyond the Stereotypes). In his article “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim” Tariq Ramadan, the professor of contemporary

By the twentieth century, feminism in the Muslim world was just a reserve of the upper class women, whose role as women followed the models of the Western feminists. But most of this was greatly affected by the modern socio-political models that came up after the colonial time in the Muslim world. The models of governance and social norms in the 20thCenturyshifted from the previously adopted Western models to Islamic models of society and government. In this regard, the Muslim feminism started taking up Islamic forms as opposed to the Western feminist norms they had initially copied. This shift in socio-political norms has affected not only women in the Muslim world, but also the women living around the entire third

In this essay I will be arguing whether Muslim Women need feminism, and if so, what kind? The term feminism is a set of beliefs that recognises the distinction between males and females. Feminism is largely concerned with the idea that females are subordinated or disadvantaged in a system where males are dominated and advantaged. The term Muslim is derived by Islam, which is a belief and practice, and it indicates safety and peace. The different perspective between the western and eastern women, have led the west to create an idea that Muslim women need feminism. As the rights of women in the Middle East have systematically been denied. Many governments control and restrict the civil society.

Although Western feminism started in the 1900s, yet, it didn’t reach the Islamic world until most recently, a couple of hundred years later than the West. Despite the fact that both of the feminism movements come from totally different back grounds, and they are affected by different history and culture, still, both of them aimed for women’s best interests. Muslim women were profoundly feeling aggrieved by the discrimination they have against them. They stereotypical reputation about them in the West, and their presentation in the Western media didn’t help either. They started and supported a new fight to regain themselves the equal status they were granted by Islam centuries ago. Muslim women didn’t like to be looked at as being backward and oppressed by men in a male-dominant world. According to the feminist historian Margot Badran, “Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm. Islamic feminism, which derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur 'an, seeks rights and justice for women, and for men, in the totality of their existence.” (Badran, 2001)