Gender Inequlity Essay

Social Impacts of Gender Inequlity The United States, like all other societies, places women and men unequally at many different levels of social organization (Long). Gender inequality remains a major barrier to human development. Gender inequality refers to the unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals wholly or partly due to their gender. Gender is a primary marker of social and economic stratification. Gender inequality is a characteristic of most societies, with males on average having more and better opportunities in positions at social, economic and political hierarchies. Gender inequality exists in employment, politics, sports and even formal education. Gender socialization, gender stratification, social construction of gender,

In gender socialization males and females learn what it means to be boys and girls, and later in the future they learn how to be men and women. For example, females learn to do different household chores than males; girls learn how to bake and clean and of course guys learn how to take out the garbage and mow the lawn. Gender socialization gives men and women different orientations of life and occurs through such diverse means as parental attitudes, schools, how peers interact with each other, and mass media.
Gender stratification refers to the social ranking, where men typically inhabit higher statuses than women (Long). It is the hierarchical distribution of social and economic resources. All human societies are stratified by gender, which means, males and females are channeled into specific statuses and roles. Each society sets up barriers to provide unequal access to power, prestige, and presumed worth on the basis of sex. For example, the roles assigned to men and women are accorded differing amounts of income, power or prestige and these patterns of inequality contribute to the society's system of

The gender role approach focuses on learning behaviors that are defined as masculine or feminine. Gender roles are influenced early in life. Children quickly learn that they are girls or boys and act accordingly. Gender roles make women unequal. For example, issues such as whether women should serve in the military, or men should be eligible for family benefits are questions arising out of gender roles.
Gender/Power is another contribution to gender inequality. Gender is a form of social control. The sociological significance of gender is that it is a device by which society controls its members. Gender/Power opens and closes access to power property and even prestige. Gender is inseparable from power and is defined by access to power. The statements "be a lady," or "be a man" are all based on culturally conceived ideas about gender. The images attached to labels such as feminine and masculine, not only guide our behavior, but they also serve the basis of power