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Why Does Gender Stratification Exist? Essay

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‘Wrap Your Mind around the Theory’
Question: Why does gender stratification exist?

Introduction:
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. The negative consequences of sexism has led to the pursuit of successful careers by some women, normally considered as masculine, as something to avoid. Possible reasons for this could be they may be seen as less desirable as mothers or spouses in the private sphere.

The private sphere, known as …show more content…

The report included 136 countries, “representing over 90% of the world’s population” (The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013). Although, gender equality has not been achieved in any country, in 2013 “over 96% of the gap in health outcomes, 93% of the gap in educational attainment, 60% of the gap in economic participation and 21% of the gap in political empowerment” were closed (The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013). Views upon why gender stratification exists vary within different sociological theories and hold different ideals of what the ‘norm’ should be for members of society.

Functionalists consider gender roles as the key to a functioning society. Gender roles are seen as an efficient way for society to be organised, eliminating the competition between the sexes as the genders have their allocated roles. Functionalism suggests that socialisation begins at a young age with parents socialising “boys and girls for their future roles of father and mother” (Carl et al., 2012, p. 87). Boys are raised with spatial skills, the ability to fix things and to be assertive as they usually expect to work and self-esteem is bound up with that. Girls are raised with certain skills such as ‘people’ skills, communication and the art of relating to people which prepares them for the role of raising children. According to Lenski (1966) “Stratification arises basically out of the needs of societies, not out of

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