EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY:Conflict Explanations, Feminism

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Introduction to Sociology SOC101

Lesson 32

EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY

Each of sociology's major theoretical paradigms addresses the significance of gender in social organization.

Functionalist, conflict, inter-actionist, and feminist theories offer alternative explanations for gender

inequalities.

Functionalist Explanations

Functionalists view inequality as a product of the traditional division in human societies. Men tend to attend

to more instrumental (objectively rewarded) tasks such as wage earning and women attend to more

expressive (subjectively rewarded) tasks such as those involved in child rearing. While both types of labor

are functional (indeed vital) for society's survival, the instrumental tasks, looked after by men, always have

been more highly rewarded than the expressive tasks looked after by women. Men and women are taught

these traditional roles and have tended to conform to their requirements. Functionalists point out that,

while gender roles and their accompanying inequalities have changed somewhat in industrialized societies,

traditional arrangement remains in force in most societies. The persistence of the traditional division of

labor, according to functionalist view, testifies to the usefulness for human societies.

Conflict Explanations

Conflict theories deny the historically inevitability and necessity of the traditional division of labor between

men and women. The arrangement may have been more functional in non-industrialized societies, where

physical strength was required by many tasks. However, industrialization has changed the situation. The

continuance of the traditional gendered division of labor and the social inequality that it produces merely

contributes to unnecessary social conflict and therefore is dysfunctional.

Capitalism intensifies male domination because:

· Capitalism creates more wealth, which confers greater power on men as owners of property and as

primary wage earners.

· An expanding capitalist economy depends on turning people especially women into consumers

and encouraging them to seek personal fulfillment through buying and using products.

· To support men in the factories, society assigns women the task of maintaining the home.

· The double exploitation of capitalism lies in paying low wages to male labor and no wages at all for

female work.

Inter-actionist Explanations

Inter-actionist theories of gender inequality focus on how inequality is perpetuated by the transmission of

traditional cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity from generation to generation. For example,

learning these definitions influences people's expectations about the types of statuses that women and men

are capable of occupying and the types of roles they are capable of performing. Compared with functionalist

and conflict theories, inter-actionist theories are optimistic as to the prospects of reducing if not eliminating

such inequalities. Since gender roles and division of labor that they support are the products of what each

generation teaches the next generation, we can change them by teaching different gender roles and different

ideas about division of labor. Greater gender equality can be achieved; therefore, without having to wait for

the massive restructuring of society implied by functionalist theories, which process might take several

generations. Neither is it necessary to resort to revolutionary strategy to achieve gender equality as proposed

by such conflict theorists as Marx and Engels.

Feminism

Feminism is the advocacy of social equality for men and women, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism. In

this perspective there is a general emphasis on the crucial contribution of patriarchy (male domination) to

gendered inequalities. For example they challenge the functionalist idea that men are rewarded more than

women simply because men have traditionally performed the more highly rewarded instrumental tasks while

women have performed less highly rewarded expressive tasks. But why are women paid less than men for

performing the same instrumental tasks? The proposed answer is patriarchy.

Introduction to Sociology SOC101

Feminism views the personal experiences of women and men through the lens of gender. How we think of

ourselves (gender identity), how we act (gender roles), and how our sex's social standing (gender

stratification) are all rooted in the operation of our society.

Basic feminist ideas

Although people who consider themselves feminist disagree about many things, most support five general

principles:

The importance of change. Feminist thinking is decidedly political, linking ideas to action.

Feminism is critical of the status quo, advocating change toward social equality for women and

men.

Expanding human choice. Feminists maintain that cultural conceptions of gender divide the

full range of human qualities into two opposing and limited spheres: the female world of

emotions and cooperation and the male world of rationality and competition. As an alternative,

feminists propose a "reintegration of humanity" by which each human can develop all human

traits.

Eliminating gender stratification. Feminism opposes laws and cultural norms that limit the

education, income, and job opportunities of women. For this reason feminists advocate

passage of the Equal Rights Laws.

Existing sexual violence. Today's women's movement seeks to eliminate sexual violence.

Feminists argue that patriarchy distorts the relationships between women and men,

encouraging violence against women in the form of rape, domestic abuse, sexual harassment,

and pornography.

Promoting sexual autonomy. Feminists advocate women's control of their sexuality and

reproduction. Feminists support the free availability of birth control information. Most

feminists also support a women's right to choose whether to bear children or terminate

pregnancy, rather than allowing men as husbands, physicians, and legislators to control

women's sexuality. Many feminists support the gay people's efforts to overcome the many

barriers they face in a predominantly heterosexual culture.

Opposition to Feminism

Feminism provokes criticism and resistance from both men and women who hold conventional ideas about

gender. Some men oppose feminism for the same reasons that may white people have historically opposed

social equality for the people of color. They want to preserve their women privileges. Other men and

women, including those who are neither rich nor powerful, distrust social movement (especially its radical

expressions) that attacks the family and rejects time-honored patterns that have guided male-female

relationship for centuries.

For some men, feminism threatens the basis of their status and self respect: their masculinity. Men who

have been socialized to value strength and dominance feel uneasy about feminist ideas of men as gentle and

warm. Similarly women whose lives center on their husbands and children may see feminism as trying to

deprive them their cherished roles that give meaning to their lives.

Resistance to feminism also comes from academic circles. Some Sociologists charge that feminism willfully

ignores a growing body of evidence that men and women do think and act in somewhat different ways

(which may make gender equality impossible). Also feminism downgrades the crucial and unique

contribution women make to the development of children especially during the first years of life.

Finally, there is the question of how women should go about improving their social standing. The idea is that

women should have equal rights, but women should advance individually, according to their abilities.

Women should expect to get ahead on the basis of their own training and qualifications.

Observations about the likely state of gender

Movement toward gender equality has progressed ahead. Industrialization has both broadened the range of

human activity and shifted the nature of work from physically demanding tasks that favored male strength

to jobs that require human thought and imagination, putting the talents of women and men on equal

footing. Additionally, medical technology has given control over reproduction, so women's lives are less

constrained by unwanted pregnancies.

Introduction to Sociology SOC101

Many women and men have also deliberately pursued social equality. Sexual harassment complaints now are

taken much more seriously in the workplace. And as more women assume positions of power in the

corporate and political worlds, social changes in the 21st century may be as great as those we have already

witnessed.

Gender is an important part of personal identity and family life, and it is deeply woven into the moral fabric

of the society. Therefore, efforts at change will continue to provoke opposition. On balance, however, while

changes may be incremental, the movement toward a society in which men and women enjoy equal rights

and opportunities seems certain to gain strength.

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