Topic 3.3 Gender and Social Stratification

8/13/2019 Topic 3.3 Gender and Social Stratification

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KHAIRULANUAR ABD RAHMAN

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

KIRKHS, IIUM

[email protected]


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The reality of gender stratification can be seen,in the world of working women and men.

Womenexperience gender

inequality as aresult of

economic,political, andeducational

discrimination.

Women'sposition in the

work forcereflects their

overallsubordination

in society.

In any field, thegreater theincome and

prestigeassociated with a

job, the morelikely it is to be

held by a man.


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Gender stratification in everyday life iseasy to see:

Female nurses assist male physicians,

female secretaries serve maleexecutives, and

female flight attendants are under the

command of male airplane pilots.


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By defining some kinds of work as"men's work " companies define

women as less competent than men.


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Women and men are largely segregated in different occupationsthat are considered " women's work " and " men's work, and the

consequences are serious.

Gender-segregated work refers to the concentration of women

and men in different occupations, jobs, and places of work.

In most workplaces, employees are either gender segregated orall of the same gender.

In industrialized countries, most jobs are segregated by genderand by race/ethnicity.


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Primary sector jobs are more secure, have better payand benefits, and offer a better chance foradvancement.

Because many employers assume that men are thebreadwinners, men are expected to make more moneythan women in order to support their families.

Women have been viewed as supplemental wage

earners in a male-headed household, regardless of thewomen's marital status.

Consequently, women have not been seen aslegitimate workers but mainly as wives and mothers


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Those who enter female-dominated occupations often have tojustify themselves and prove that they are "real men."

They have to fight stereotypes ("is he gay? Lazy?")

about why they are interested in such work.

Gender-segregated work affects both men and women.

Men are often kept out of certain types of jobs.


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Even if these assumptions do not pushmen out of female-dominated

occupations, they affect how the menmanage their gender identity at work.

For example, men in occupations such as nursingemphasize their masculinity, attempt to distancethemselves from female colleagues, and try to

move quickly into management and supervisory

positions.


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Occupational gender segregation contributes to stratification insociety.

Women's jobs are usually lower paying and less prestigious.

As a result of gender and racial segregation, employers are ableto pay many men of color and all women less money, promote

them less often, and provide fewer benefits.If the workers demand better working conditions or wages,they are often reminded of the number of individuals who

would like to have their jobs.


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One of the most serious is

economic impact.

Female-dominated jobstend to be less

prestigious than jobsdominated by men; they

also typically pay less.

"Women's work" isconsistently devalued

when job evaluators setwage rates for specific

occupations.


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Occupationalsegregation contributes

to a pay gap -thedisparity between

women's and men'searnings.

Women at all levels ofeducational attainment

receive less pay than

men with the samelevels of education.


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Pay equity or comparableworth is the belief that

wages ought to reflect theworth of a job, not the

gender or race of theworker.

One way is to comparethe actual work of

women's and men's jobsand see if there is a

disparity in the salariespaid for each.


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Analysts break a job intocomponents-such as the education,

training, and skills required, the

extent of responsibility for others'work, and the working conditions-and then allocate points for each.

For pay equity to exist, men andwomen in occupations that receivethe same number of points should

be paid the same.


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Most married women nowshare responsibility for thebreadwinner role, yet many

men do not accept their shareof domestic responsibilities.

Consequently, many womenhave a "double day" or

"second shift" because of

their dual responsibilities forpaid and unpaid work.

Working women have lesstime to spend on housework;

if husbands do notparticipate in routine

domestic chores, some choressimply do not get done or get

done less often.

Especially in families withyoung children, domestic

responsibilities consume agreat deal of time and energy.


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Some analysts refer to these women as "the sandwichgeneration"-caught between the needs of their youngchildren and of their elderly relatives.

Many working women care not only forthemselves, their husbands, and their childrenbut also for elderly parents or in-laws.


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Gender-based income disparity has to do with the family.

Both men andwomen havechildren, butour culturegives more

responsibilityfor parenting

to women.

Pregnancy andraising smallchildren keepmany young

women out ofthe labor force

at a time whentheir malepeers aremaking

significantcareer

advancements.

When womenworkers

return to thelabor force,

they have lessjob seniority

than theirmale

counterparts.

In addition,women who

choose to havechildren maybe unable or

unwilling totake on

demandingjobs that tie uptheir eveningsand weekends.

They may takejobs that offer

shortercommutingdistances,

more flexiblehours, andemployer

provided childcare services.


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As women have entered thelabor force, the amount of

housework women do has gonedown, but the share done by

women has stayed the same.

Women in all categories dosignificantly more housework

than men.

Men do support the idea ofwomen entering the paid laborforce, and most husbands counton the money their wives earn.

But many men resist taking ona more equal share of

household duties.

Women pursuing both a career and afamily are often torn between their dual

responsibilities in ways that men are not.


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Henslin, J.M. 2008. Sociology. A down to earth approach. 9thedn. Boston:

Pearson Allyn & Bacon.

Kendall, D. 2001. Sociology in our times. 3rdedn. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth/ Thomson Learning.

Kendall, D. 2010. Sociology in our times. The essentials. 7thedn. Belmont,

CA: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning.

Macionis, J. J. 2008. Sociology, 12thedn. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

Schaefer, R. T. 2008. Sociology. 11th

edn. Boston: Mc Graw Hill.Renzetti, C.M. 2000. Living Sociology. 2ndedn. Needham Heights, MA:

Allyn & Bacon.

Topic 3.3 Gender and Social Stratification

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