Functionalism: The Problem of Sexism and Gender Roles
Our society is faced with many social problems that have existed for ages. Sociology studies and investigates these issues and how they impact individuals within our society. Each of the three sociological theories has a different perspective on how the problem is viewed and dealt with. One of these pressing issues is sexism towards women and gender roles. Of the three sociological theories, functionalism has had a huge impact on gender studies.
Social Problem
In our society, gender roles are instigated at a very young age. Society develops a standard or a norm of what role a women or man should play (Griffiths et al., 2015). For example, young girls are taught to play with dolls and learn
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Some women would prefer to be barefoot and pregnant housewives that spend their days cooking and cleaning while their husband goes to work. However, other women embrace their right to pursue educational and occupational dreams. Unfortunately, because it has not been all that long ago that women were not considered to be qualified for a spot in most work places, they experience a lot of discrimination in the workplace. Because gender roles are almost deeply embedded in our society, women often do not get put up for the same job opportunities and promotions that their male equal might be subject …show more content…
During World War II, a lot of America women became Rosy the Riveter. When the war ended and the men returned home, they wanted to return to the traditional ways but many women did not want to give up their jobs and the supply of money they were making. This created a huge shift in the role of women in society that is still taking effect today (Griffiths et al., 2015). The traditional gender roles are still believed to work by some functionalists (Shepard, 1993). Famed sociologists Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales believed that “Families… require one adult in an ‘instrumental’ role and another adult in an ‘expressive’ role. The husband-father, who usually assumes the instrumental role, is responsible for family in the occupational, political, and economic situations. In preforming the expressive role, the wife-mother is concerned with maintaining relationships within the family, taking care of children, and providing emotional security for all family members”(pg. 300). Even though this may have worked at one time, many sociologists do not believe with Parsons and Bales; they think that modern society treats people not based on their role, but their abilities. Many sociologists believe that the functionalist perspective is outdated and only explains how gender roles came to be, not what they
Throughout the world, discrimination in all forms has continued to be a constant struggle; whether it’s racial, gender based, religion, beliefs, appearance or anything that makes one person different from another, it’s an everyday occurrence. A major place that discrimination is occurring at is in the workplace. One of the largest problems discrimination issues is believed to be gender. Women, who have the same amount of experience as men are not getting paid at the same rate as men, these women also are equally trained and educated. According to the article Gender Pay, it was discovered in 2007 that a woman makes 81 cents for every dollar a man earns.(“Gender Pay”) . This shouldn’t be happening in today’s society for the fact the society lived in today is suppose to be more accepting. Men are viewed as being more popular, valuable and having higher powers than women. The Reason Discrimination is involved in the equal pay equal work is because of the significance it has to how some businesses pay their employees.
Have you ever felt discriminated against in the workplace? Usually, women are the most common people that are mistreated in the workplace. There are many reasons why women are discriminated against, but none of them are excuses for women for not being successful. Women face sexism by getting less pay than men, not getting promoted as equally as men, and facing other gender stereotypes, but sexism can be solved by women confronting their internal and external barriers and finding people that can help women.
Women are not born with the same physical capabilities as men and therefore they are discriminated upon as not being capable of achieving the same tasks as males in the same or similar positions in the work environment. Although women have contributed to the economic growth of their country and work as doctors, teachers and electrician there is still a great deal of discrimination. Women have low status because they are exploited by powerful men for work they do. Selma state ”Women are not treated fairly with the respect they deserve from institutions.” Women face discrimination in the work place all over the world. Even when applying for a job, women have to undertake the legacy of an old chauvinist society. For instance, a manager/ owner have problems hiring a woman for a position that is traditionally held by a man because he thinks that she would not fit and should not be rewarded with the financial merit as that of
Traditional gender roles in the United States and other societies have always been dictated as where the man goes and works for a salary as women stay at home to take of house related work. However, many changes in the traditional family has made gender roles go through significant changes. Many women have gone through college and have obtained college education degrees, which has allowed women to advance their careers. The break down of rigid gender roles and the increase in participation of women in the workplace have granted women more choices in life. The choices many women now have in there career fields has made some controversial views on the intelligence of women achieving the status of their male counterparts The first view obtained in the workplace is the ability to make a even paying field for both men and women. Many constituents have pledge to achieve equality for women through laws forbidding the use of any sexist policies that may constitute discrimination against sex. The second is weather working women have been allowed to working women have the same opportunities rewarded to them as men do. Many political action committees have help perpetuate feminist movements which intended to build equal opportunity workplaces for both men and women however, many questionable issues still arise at weather working conditions have become better for women.
In the year of 2016, news companies, magazines, social media sites, activists, students, and others from many different parts of the globe are still pushing for a variety of women’s rights in a plethora of areas. Among these crucial areas is the workforce. Years after the women’s rights movement initially began, women are still struggling to gain equal access to job opportunities simply because of gender-based discrimination. As part of a platform that was especially promoted by the feminist Second Wave, equal access in the workforce matters because it directly affects how women are able to define their goals, the way in which they can pursue their aspirations, and their capability to provide for
However, there is still and will always be debating points stating that gender socialization either doesn’t occur or doesn’t pose a problem. This can be refuted using multiple examples that trace back to one main topic: sexism. Sexism essentially has been the byproduct of gender socialization in the sense that it is based off the notion that ‘one sex isn’t
In the workplace environment it is a known fact that women are passed over for higher positions that would allow them to earn higher wages. Author of “Workplace Gender Discrimination and the Implicit Association Test" Jo- Ann Kadola stated, “Women earn 18 % less per hour than men working the same job, with the same title, with the same credentials even when a woman has a higher education.” (Kadola23) This is known as the gender gap, it happens in all occupations whether in management, directors or any high level position. Overall men and women never earn the same pay for the same job. This is known to be a worldwide fact. On every job women are always asked to prove or provide credentials for a job that men are able to obtain without proof. Kadola also stated, “Women have to show skills more often, they are required to take or be more responsible than men.” (Kadola24) Men are generally respected more. Their opinions hold more value. Men tend to have more freedom in making decisions. When it comes to merit raises they will receive a higher percentage based on the fact that they are men. When women enter the workplace it is a perceived notion that she will get married and start a family. Therefore a working mother is looked down upon based on the fact she is no staying home caring
Gender discrimination in the workplace is something that both men and women experience, women more than men. For instance, the current gender pat gap is 21 percent. This means that women are currently making 21 percent less than what their male counterparts are making. It has decreased over the years, but it is still a significant gap. In the workplace, women do not only experience discrimination in pay, but also in opportunities. An article states that, women are deemed less communal than men and that makes them less suited for certain careers (Miner, et. al, 2014). This thought alone puts women at a disadvantage when they are entering the labor force.
‘Boys will be boys’, a phrase coined to exonerate the entire male sex of loathsome acts past, present, and potential. But what about the female sex, if females act out of turn they are deemed ‘unladylike’ or something of the sort and scolded. This double standard for men and women dates back as far as the first civilizations and exists only because it is allowed to, because it is taught. Gender roles and cues are instilled in children far prior to any knowledge of the anatomy of the sexes. This knowledge is learned socially, culturally, it is not innate. And these characteristics can vary when the environment one is raised in differs from the norm. Child rearing and cultural factors play a large role in how individuals act and see themselves.
For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...
Equality for all sounds like a simple concept for everyone to live by, but it seems that even in today’s society around the world women are lacking the equal rights they deserve. Ever since we can remember in our history, women have always received the short end of the stick when it came to their rights. Right to vote, right to a job, right to equal pay, and the list can go on and on. There have been many attempts for women to receive the same rights as men, but not all have been successful. This is especially true in the workforce. The workforce is the main issue when it comes to equal rights for women in today’s society. Women have been mistreated in the working environment and have affected them socially, but throughout all of this there have been attempts to stop it.
A functionalist perspective suggests that our society is made up of interdependent parts and that gender roles support its social stability, balance and equilibrium. According to “The Sociology of Gender: Theoretical Perspectives and Feminist Frameworks” by Linda L Lindsey, “In preindustrial societies social equilibrium was maintained by assigning different tasks to men and women. Given the hunting and gathering and subsistence farming activities of most preindustrial societies, role specialization according to gender was considered a functional necessity.” During this time survival was a more difficult task and so men and women had to rely on each other to live. In today’s society, these roles have begun to shift and it is more common to find females providing while males stay at home, but for the majority, our original gender roles are still intact. The functionalist theory even in a contemporary society finds that the survival of the family unit relies on conservative gender roles. This theory is not realistic in today’s society because women are more motivated to be educated and career based, instead of devoting their life to motherhood. Lindsey claims, “ Such a divide is artificial and dysfunctional when families need to cope with the growing
As the times change, so do the standards. Women previously have been looked at as homemakers, housewives, subordinates. In this new century, this has changed dramatically. Not only have women sought extensive amounts of education, they have sought means to expand and solidify their skills. Although women continue to face discrimination, the qualifications of the playing field have leveled out.
...d women’s biological purpose has provided men a source of comparative advantage in work. It is, therefore, natural for most companies to think that women cannot be as capable as men in terms of assuming strenuous or challenging positions because women, by default, become less participative and more vulnerable when they start to have family and children. Apparently, this situation has led to various gender discriminations in the labor market.
A gender role attitude is an individual’s interpretation and expectation on how a woman or man should behave. These assumptions create a socially accepted “norm” about each gender. In various lectures, we examined three common gender role ideologies; traditional, egalitarian, and transitional. A traditional gender role would fit into society’s fundamental outlook on a household. An individual holding this view would believe that men should work and earn money for the family, while women stay at home to do house work and take care of the kids. An egalitarian position believes that both women and men should equally distribute responsibility throughout every situation they are faced with. This would include dividing duties up evenly despite what type it is (more strenuous chores vs. easy chores). A transitional approach combines the traditional and egalitarian approaches together. A couple who practices this attitude would split up the tasks equally but in a way that still views men as holding the majority of the “household” power. For example, women would do the dishes and clean the house while men would cut the lawn and fix the car because those jobs are “more difficult”.