Why is gender considered a dimension of social stratification?
Answers
Stratification is where society places rankings in categories of different groups of people in a hierarchy. This can cause some groups to have greater status, power, or even wealth.
Specifically, gender stratification, is this social ranking system involving men and women. For instance, until recently women earned much less than men because they are were not considered as much as “providers” in a household.
Another example, although somewhat unorthodox, is the sexual expectations of each gender. Men are encouraged to sleep with many women. However, women are denounced for such a thing.
Finally, stratification has effects on men as well. Males are pressured to be “real-men.” They are discouraged from showing emotions or sensitivity of any sort. Meanwhile, females are known for being “hormonal” and it is okay to society.
Overall, gender stratification is simply unequal power or expectations between men an women.
Hope this helps!
798 Views
The word stratification does not have to involve bias.
Stratification literally means grouping - so male and female stratifies gender. 0–20, 20–40yrs, 40–60yrs, 60+ … this is stratification (or grouping) of ages. There is no inherent bias in stratification in terms of mathematics.
Now, how we deal with these is another thing. When we add the word ‘social’ or ‘gender’ to the mathematical word ‘stratify’, it takes on a different meaning. Generally, it will add a bias to the sample by assigning advantage to one group over another.
If you are looking at gender stratification in a mathematical sense, it is simply the grouping of genders (which could be binary - or not). If you are looking at it from a study of society, it is most likely going to include some of the gender politics that has become popular in recent years.