It is important to know that gender stratification exists, and gender stratification still is prevalent in high income nations, such as our own. Women are treated differently than men are, and saying inequality does not exist is just being blind to the situation. The first step in making a change is developing an awareness to the problem, and the only way we can bring our country closer to equality is to change our culture. Sparking cultural change is one of the most difficult things a group of people can do. It takes persistence, will, and persuasion. Change will only come about if enough people work in little ways to change our society. Culture begins to take root, specifically gender beliefs, around preschool. If our society and education were to change, gender beliefs would change. We need to stop forcing our own preconceived notions and ideas about gender onto the next generation. If toys were not labeled specifically as boy or girl, children’s early activities would be very fluid. Children learn through play, and it is this segregation of play at an early age which divides us and lays ground for later gender assumptions. However, if gender were to be completely eradicated from society, it may be difficult on children. Humans, by nature, seek to categorize and rationalize, which may be difficult if gender boundaries were dissolved. If gender, a socially constructed idea, were to be erased, there would be no gender identity struggles. There would be no concept of transgender because there would be no ideas of feminine or masculine in which to identify. In its simplest form, the only version of transgender would be genital envy because the only difference would be your actual anatomy. It would be interesting to see how our culture turns out in the next century because if society, especially American society, continues to go in the direction it is headed, the concept of gender may be voluntary. aardvark123
I couldn't agree with you more when you said that we need to make everyone realize that there is a problem between the treatment of men and women in our country. Becoming aware of the situation is difficult. From what I see in the media, people that speak up about these differences are typically women themselves. I absolutely hate it when these women are sometimes immediately labeled as being bossy and difficult to work with. I think that we can change how our nation sees differences between genders by teaching children. Like you said, erasing gender would eliminate the problem. Teaching children that there is no toy that they are suppose to play with and that there is no career that they are suppose to get would change how we categorize men and women. Check123
Everything you've stated is the complete truth. It is us the people who need to stop portraying negative images unto our youth and give them a chance to make their own rationalize concepts on their own and then make a decision of what's best for them instead of being told they can't act a certain way or play with this toy or even hang with people that have different views. And what makes it even worse is that we're allowed to dehumanize and stereotype people every day with no repercussions and then we expect for children to be respectful little boys and girls. We have to learn to lead by example. If America is so great and allows people so many different freedoms then why are we still enslaved? Bennodles123
Gender stratification has always been around. Throughout the globe it is usually more dominant in low income countries mostly in African countries, and some Arab countries. Even though women have more equality in the U.S., there are still people and there will always be people who think that women are inferior, and should be treated as such. Same in a situation when a man wants to specialize in a career path that isn't considered "manly" like being a nurse or a teacher. That mindset is flawed and it is wrong. For example, if a women is in the exact same career as a man, they should be paid the same salary. We are all humans, and there are some cases where women do better at their jobs than men, and they still are being treated or paid with the respect that they deserve. In the video, they showed the little kids a female doll and a male doll. The person then asked a series of questions and the kids were to point to which doll the question pertained to. There was one question where they asked, "Who goes to work?" and two of the kids pointed to the male doll. I am not for certain when this video was made, but in these times we are living in, I believe women work outside of the home more now than they did. Then they showed that men usually work as construction workers, doctors, and firefighters. Women can do that just like men can. Children should be taught that women can do what men can. It is not just the men that goes to work, it is women as well. Some work at home and some work outside, but they do work just like men. Gender stratification will always be a problem, hopefully both men and women can accept that just because you are women does not mean that you cannot do what is considered a "mans job" and men cannot do what is considered a "woman's job." We are all human beings, and we deserve equality. panda123
I definitely support your view that there should never be jobs considered “men’s jobs” or “women’s jobs.” Men and women both have different strengths and it is only through combining these strengths that we can establish our greatest workforce. I think this is becoming more apparent as more and more women enter the workforce and the number of men and women at a job gradually equalizes. The wrong idea still remains however, as shown when the kids choose that men are the ones that go to work. It is important that we illustrate gender equality to newer generations for that is how they learn what is normal. -Chameleon123
I agree one hundred percent with what you said. I think people should be paid for the job they do not the sex they are. I also agree that more women are joining the workforce. Before I went back to school both my wife and I worked full time. When I decided to go back to school my wife was the person in the family to go to work and I was the one who took care of the kids and cleaning the house, since I did not go to work full time anymore. This probably would not of worked twenty plus years ago. Back then my wife’s pay would be less than the seventy to eighty cents per dollar difference than it is now. Now my wife works the “man's job” and I work the “woman's job”. I think we both do a good job at it too. Diver 123
In my opinion, I don’t think we should be categorizing men and women. There is always a certain identity that is associated with being a male and being a female. Gender stratification needs to be stopped. Society says that there are certain characteristics that defines a women and a male. Those that defy those characteristics are usually looked down upon and are labeled as being a sissy, a tomboy, or even gay. We shouldn't be criticizing those that break away from the societal norms. We should be changing our societal norms and we should be saying that it doesn't matter if a boy wants to play with dolls or a girl wants to be a firefighter. In order to see each other as equal beings, we need to teach our younger generations ‘you do you,’ meaning that you have the choice of expressing who you are however you want to. It is interesting to see our country fight over this problem today. In the media, we often see politicians bring the issue to attention, however, there has not been much of a change recently. I understand that societal change takes time, but I feel that this issue needs to be fixed quicker. America is a high-income country. As a high income country we need to realize that this change is important and, through this change, we will live up to what our constitution says about how all people are created to be equal. Like we discussed in class today, the world has primarily been lead by men in history. We are at a time in our history that show that we should try to incorporate more women into leadership. Though there are differences between men and women biologically, we should use those differences to benefit humankind as a whole. Men and women think differently and we should combine the way we both approach situations. Check123
I agree I always had this idea that men and women alike should be able to express their gender identity however they choose to do so. In an ideal world masculinity and femininity would work alongside each other towards a common goal in any career but as of now we are not able to do this. For example, our ideal leader has primarily masculine qualities I wish women did not have to sacrifice their femininity to be able to be taken seriously in the workplace. I don't want to take away masculinity or femininity from anyone because they are important to many people. -Glass123
Gender stratification is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. While reading the definition, I already believe that the women are the people who are receiving the lower end of the unequal distribution of the three in the description. It’s so sad to think about how gender plays a role in just about everything that we do. It’s sad that just because I was born a female that I’m not afforded the same pay or even the same jobs that males are able to obtain in our patriarchal world. I don’t understand how if I go and work just as hard or harder than my counterparts that I’m still only worth a fraction of what he’s worth. It’s also sad to think that in our sexist society people, including women, confine themselves to such a mundane way of thinking that they can’t see outside of the box. Instead of trying to keep women out of power it might be beneficial to be able to pull ideas from another viewpoint, but because every single aspect of our lives are so sexist, we as a people can possibly open our minds to think that women can help solve issues too. We don’t have to stand tall or have big muscles to fight battles, we have our minds that will far more exceed the strength of any man. Watching the video made me realize how conditioned we are as a culture, and really shows the similarities of each society that we may encounter. They pointed out that the girl doll takes care of the baby and cleans the house and that the boy doll goes to work; times shouldn’t be like that when a couple adds to their family, responsibility of taking care of the baby shouldn’t just be on the mother/ wife it’s should be a shared responsibility. It seems that kids can just be kids anymore because of fear of what other children and adults may say to them if boys were to wear dresses or girls were to play with trucks and cars. We have stripped away their freedom to be who they are and their imagination. Benoodles123
You are absolutely right. We do take away from the child's freedom when we tell that that girls do this while boys do that. I also think that it can be very frustrating when women go to work and work just as hard as men but get paid way less. I never really realized how sexist our world was until I read it in your post. You're right, we do live in a very sexist world where society tells us what is acceptable for women and men. You have some very valid points and I absolutely agree with what you are saying. sunflower123
I agree. History has been written primarily by white men, and without a diverse background, how can you choose which lessons to learn from. If there were more women of all backgrounds in power and taken seriously, we would have much better brainstorming sessions in the government and, in turn, much better policies. By law, we are an equal opportunity nation, but are we really? Women earn about $50,000 less in a lifetime than men doing the exact same job. How equal are we? Our differences should not be looked down upon. They should be celebrated. Diversity brings about change and innovation, and it is about time for women to be rewarded equally for their hard work. aardvark123
Gender stratification is basically a social ranking where men end up having a higher ranking and more privileges than women. If you look back historically, men had all of the power. It was not until 1920 that woman got the right to vote. Unfortunately, today woman still do not have equal standing with men. Women do not get paid the same amount of money nor do they progress in their jobs to get the higher ranking positions, which is something that is called a Glass Ceiling- a set of invisible barriers that prevent women from advancing. Woman also work as “pink color jobs” which is typically a secretary or nurse, it is basically something that society assumes that men would not want to do. Also, the kids all pointed to the girl doll as being the one who like to clean and take care of the children. But when they were asked who went to work it was the boy doll they pointed to. While I think that women should fight to get equality, I also think that there are some women who are perfectly content with staying home and being a stay at home mom/house wife. If that is something that women want to do then we should respect that and not look down on them for “assuming the roles society is handing them”. That also goes for men, if they want to stay home and take care of the kids/house then who are we to tell them no? I think that women have come a far way and are getting closer to equality, but we are still not there yet and hopefully it will happen soon. Kids are taught everything they know, so they are just repeating what someone told them about wat is acceptable for their gender and what isn’t. If a boy want to play with dolls then let him, and if a girl wants to play with GI Joes/firetrucks or whatever a “boy toy” is then let her. We act like it’s the end of the world with a kid is playing with the opposite gender toy when it is really something that is insignificant. sunflower123
Gender stratification is a very real thing throughout the world, including the United States. Wealth, power, and privilege are unequally distributed between men and women, almost always favoring men. There are multiple factors that contribute to this, such as the general difference in the type of work men and women do, but there is no denying that a huge part of it is discrimination against women. From watching their parents, teachers, peers, siblings, etc., children develop a sense of what a man is supposed to be like and what a woman is supposed to be like. These differences noted by the children may seem harmless, such as “men don’t wear dresses” or “girls have long hair,” but these standards restrict people and can lead to serious problems. For example it can lead to the mindset that women are limited in their career choice between nurses, secretaries, or teachers. Adults and older siblings need to be extremely cautious of how they portray their sex and the other sex. Children absorb so much of what they see and as a result they can become sexist if they learn it from their parents or anyone else they may hear it from. A little boy in the video said “Boys are better than girls because boys are stronger than girls.” This is an example of how even at such a young age, children can develop positive or negative opinions about their gender or other genders. In the United States it is not uncommon for males to get in a mindset that they are more powerful than girls, and for girls to be told that they are subordinate to males. Thankfully this inequality that has been taught for generations is lessening as more and more people break from the cycle and teach the younger generation of kids that they are equals. -Chameleon123
Gender stratification is something that is very prevalent in our entire society. I think it is very sad that children of such a young age are growing up with these thoughts about gender. I think most of our country is a patriarchy because of the way different men treat women. The fact that women are not treated as equally just based on the fact of them being a women is very unfair. We do not get to choose our gender or our race. This can tie over into race as well. We do not get to choose our race or our gender so it is unfair to be treated different based on your gender or the color of your skin. The fact that women are seen as a minority is very sad. It is 2017 and the world needs to be evolving at a faster pace. I do not think we truly see the problem with women being less equal. I also believe that men all over the world will agree that they are superior to women. In this video it is very prevalent the children are so young and they are already thinking these different things based on their gender. Children this young have to be learning this from someone else. That means from older people that they look up to. They do not learn these different thoughts about gender from themselves. They do as their parents, teachers, or other peers do. I don't think that women should have to fight for their equality it is something that we have earned and should have given to us. It is not fair for men to be treated superior just based on the fact that they are men. Like I said it is much like race it should not even be a problem in our society. Everyone needs to be treated equally no matter who they are, what they look like, or what gender they may be. Litv123
I couldn't agree with you more some men will say that they are superior to women and we even seen it for yourself children are picking up these bad habits. Really it starts when we are young, that's when we learn manners and all that good stuff so to already pick up these habits is sad. Just think about it the little boys will grow up alway thinking they're better then the next due to the fact they were born a boy. And you're right we don't get to choose our gender but i don't think we should have to suffer because of the way were born. Dancer 123
The interviewer asks a young boy what would happen if he wore a dress. The boy answers “All the girls and all the boys will laugh at me” he fully understands the social norms regarding what girls should do, and what boys should do. He is guided by a fear of embarrassment from his peers. This part of role performance the child can sense that he must act a certain way in order to be accepted by society. Our sociology book says as we enter school, at a kindergarten age, our ideas about gender roles are solidified. This is evident in this video because when asked about stereotypical gender roles the students were always guessed the correct gender stereotype. One of the young girls could barely talk, but she seems to know with certainty that boys cannot wear dresses and that girls have long hair. Although you can see that the girl has long hair so it’s possible that she thinks that all girls must be similar to herself. At first my thinking was that all these little kids must live in stereotypical gender environments and they are so they are just simply reporting what they see around them, but this seems statistically unlikely. Therefore, I think there is a familiar aspect to their ideas about gender, but also their thoughts about gender are most likely reinforced by whatever media they are consuming. We discussed how television shows like the Roadrunner affected how violent children acted so it follows that shows with gender stereotypes would influence children’s feelings about gender. The parents of the kids have their own embedded feelings of gender stereotypes that they may push on their kids. For example, it is common for a father to enforce strict guidelines of masculinity because they do want their son to be perceived as feminine. -Glass123
I must agree with on how it is common for a father to enforce strict guidelines of masculinity because they do want their son to be perceived as feminine. Just as the woman teach their girls how to dress in a feminine way and clean up. Society has always been about gender stratification. Men want their boys to be men and women want their girls to be women. I think that we all know what is expected out of both genders. Society makes it known to us what is expected of us. Whether it may be shown on TV, instilled from parents based off morals and values, or even been influenced by others. Men and women are supposed to be different that’s why they are identified differently, but they should be treated equally. Rendezvous123
The video not only deals with gender stratification, but also preconceived gender roles. Gender stratification is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. Gender roles is the attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex. The gender roles are what the children were showing by asking them questions to see who they associated with these roles. For instance when asked who takes care of the children and cleans the house all the children pointed to the girl doll, and when asked who works they all pointed to the boy doll. It is interesting how at such a young age the children have gotten these ideas. The children pick up fast on what they see and assume this is the norm or how it is suppose to be. The next issue the video dealt with is gender stratification. The video talks about how men and women are capable of doing the same job but not receiving the same amount of pay. Both in class and in the video the statistic of pay difference between men and women is women make about seventy to eighty cents on the dollar when compared to what a man makes. Even though this is a shocking statistic, I fully believe it. I am not saying it is right. I believe in equality of pay regardless of what sex you are. It should not matter what sex you are, if you are capable of doing the job, then you should get paid the same as anyone else who is doing the job. I also believe that a woman deserve the same right as a man to be able to climb the corporate ladder. Now I have worked for a company that did have a female C. E. O. for the first five years I worked there. The second five years I worked there, there was a male C. E. O. in charge. In the ten total years working there the employees could not tell a difference in how the company was run as to whether a male or female was in charge. This just proves that a woman is just as capable as a man is for running a company. I do not know the details of the pay difference between the two to see how much they differed. I do know that this is an anomaly to the norm. It is proof though that women are capable of climbing the corporate ladder. Maybe this is a sign of how some companies are trying to change the norm and look outside the box. Diver 123
For starters, i agree with the wording of how kids can pick up on things fast. Especially if their parents address it as a norm that just makes it all the more faster. The pay is also a big issue. We’ve discussed it quite a bit in class, and then of course with this video. You’d think in 2017 the pays would be equal by now but of course nothing has really changed in that department. I liked your C.E.O. example, that really proves a great point that the sex of the employee doesn’t matter. The differences in gender really need to be stopped, especially in the workplace in my opinion. rosethorns123
Before birth, children are being generalized based on their sex. Baby girls are dressed up in pink, while baby boys are dressed up in blue. When they start playing with toys, boys move onto toys such as trucks or action figures, while girls may get a doll or a play kitchen set. So basically at the age of five, little girls are already being taught how to cook for their husbands (which is just a joke please don’t attack me for that comment). Kids already know what a “typical gender role” is. They know it’s different when a boy plays with a doll, or a girl plays with a football. So next in the video, some kids are sat down and they are asked gender questions, can boys wear dresses? Do girls have long or short hair? Ect. So, because these kids already have gender roles drilled into their heads they already think that boys can’t wear dresses and girls can’t have short hair. One boy says that boys are better because they are stronger.I just want to know who is filling these kids heads up with all of these gender roles. Do I need to talk to the parents? This video progressively gets harder to watch when the kids are asked gender role questions about dolls. The first one being, “who likes to clean the house?” and they all start pointing to the girl doll (first of all no one likes cleaning). So eventually the video dives into the differences in pay when it comes to the work force. Of course women make less even though they may be doing the exact same thing that the male is doing. I really hope that in our future, people stop putting these gender roles on children and teach them instead to open their eyes and see the world as equal. rosethorns123
I love the enthusiasm you have in this, "do I need to talk to the parents?" I would just like to impose the question, is it bad if a boy or a girl assumes a gender role? We have been talking a lot about how society forces gender roles onto people. I think that in order to make the issue better we need to know where we went wrong? So is forcing people into gender roles wrong or is having gender roles the issue? Was it when we decided that we want girls to wear cute pink bows and boys to wear blue because it's cool? Or was it when we decided that different attributions should only reside within one gender? As a kid, I would not say that I was pushed into the gender role of a girl. I loved playing dress up and pretending I was a princess just as much as I loved playing outside in the mud and riding around in tractors. But, my room was pink and my brother's was blue. Was that wrong of my parents to do? -M&M123
Boys will be boys. I have heard this all of my life. I was in a primarily white school district and I grew up in a white, nuclear family. Often times that phrase, boys will be boys, is used to somehow defend negatively deviant behaviors done by men. Because men have the ascribed status of being a man, our society sometimes gives them the right to participate in negatively deviant behavior. Examples of these behaviors that men get away with strictly for their anatomy include violence, rape, and much more. Society has built up the male status for hundreds of years. Men are built up in society to be stronger, smarter, more successful, and better. This dominance simply given to men is unjust, and only hurts our country and our world. Statistically speaking, there is a 50% chance that someone will be a male. So, we can always expect there to be around 50% of the world’s population to be men. Giving only 50% of the world the opportunities to really succeed hurts the world. Take doctors for example. Doctors save lives and are a vital job to have in the world. If we limit the amount of doctors in the world to only consist of men, we are denying the population of half of the amount of opportunities for help that it could be receiving. People need to get passed their prejudice against women and start accepting that they can be equally, if not more, successful. Women deserve to feel just as empowered as men do. I love what Obama finished his speech with, “I believe when women succeed, America succeeds.” We are living in a time that is crucial in the shaping of our country. We just had our first black president, a woman ran for president, women are taking on jobs that have been primarily men forever, and women are getting educated (even more than men are). I would like to add on to this. “When women succeed, America succeeds,” and when America succeeds the world may succeed. We are one of the most powerful nations in the world. If we can get our country together and achieve success, we can inspire other nations. It is nations like the United States that can actually help solve world problems such as hunger and sex trafficking. It will never be perfect, but it can always be better. -M&M123
While I agree with your premise, you lost me a little bit when you started talking about only giving 50% of the world's population a chance at opportunities to succeed. Obviously, this is not happening currently and, even if it did occur in the past, what event became such an atrocity that we as the human race could not prevail against? This notion that Obama made about America succeeding depends primarily on the success of women in this country does not make logical sense. The argument that America can "inspire other nations" is valiant, but dubious nonetheless considering 1 in 6 people in the USA face food insecurity and human sex trafficking is still an extremely large problem in our own country. -ThreeTwo123
Gender stratification has always been around. It associated between boy and girl gender roles. Boys are masculine, active, aggressive, tough, daring, and dominant. Girls are feminine, soft emotional, sweet, and submissive. The gender roles are sets of cultural expectations that define the ways in which the members of each sex should behave. Children at an early age know the typical gender roles. At the age of 2 they know if they are a boy or girl. They know that it is wrong to do things of the opposite sex. They know that they don’t wear the same type of clothes. One of the boys stated that if he was to put on a dress the girls and boys would laugh at him. At the age of 3 and 4 they really give stereotype responses. For example, the girl is the one who cleans up and the boy is the one that goes to work. The video stated some statics on how women and men are not equal when it comes to work force. Women earn 5% less than their male colleagues according to the 2011 St. Louis Federal Reserve. That amount is about $35 a week, $1,750 a year, and $52,500 over a 30-year career. Women work hard, but are yet still not equally paid as men. According to Global Gender Gap Report 2010, the United States is number 19 in gender equality. We have never had a female President. I wonder why is that? Is simple society feels that a man should be the leader and the women shall follow. Obama made a statement that women deserve equal pay for equal work. He feels that women deserve to have a baby and not have to worry about their job. He feels that women deserve to have a day off to take care of a child or an elder parent. I must totally agree with Obama. Society makes it so hard for women to accomplish their goals. Today, it takes two to survive for someone with a family to live comfortable. I feel that women should have the same rights as men. Maybe if we did have a woman as a President things would be different. Rendezvous123
I agree with everything you have said Rendezvous123. Gender stratification with definitely always be around no matter what happens in the society. There will always be stereotypes set forth by our community towards males and females and what they are suppose to like and do. I love that you added the statistic in from the 2011 St. Louis Federal Reserve. At first it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but after you put it that way it really does add up and women are at quite the disadvantage and it is extremely silly because that is almost solely based on gender. I would be very interested to see how things would be with a female president and I hope we have an outstanding candidate come within the next few years and hopefully we can take advantage of that situation and see how things would be different. Scuba123
I do like how you raised the question of why is it exactly that we haven't had a woman President yet in America. Although it seemed like the odds were stacked against her, I was almost certain that Hillary Clinton would win the election and secure the Presidency last November. With the powers that be ultimately having control over who does what and says what at the top of the ladder, I wonder if they felt like having a woman President would alienate their ability to keep control and maintain a pervasive, male dominant society. Hopefully that will change eventually.-MrG123
There will always be gender stratification in our world today. There were always be things we associate with girls and things we associate with boys. This is just how our mind work. I do not believe this is a bad thing, it is just there. I think that it could indeed be a bad thing depending how we respond to the emotions and thoughts that we are having. You should never have a problem with your child wearing a certain color, or playing with a certain toy, even if society says that that is "girly" or "she is a tomboy". All people have the right to express themselves however they want, and the purity of our actions at that age are so beautiful that they should be left alone as long as they are not having a negative effect on others. This video has multiple examples of gender stratification. It uses the example of blue and pink and how we associate clue with boys and pink with girls. Another example would be seeing boys with firetrucks and girls with dolls. If we were to see boys with dolls and girls with firetrucks something in our heads would say, wait, that isn't right. It is how we respond to that emotion that can get us in trouble. We set specific gender roles to males and females and to how they are suppose to act and like. If they do not fall into the specific roles we give them we see this is "different". Young children develop these gender roles very young in life and are given stereotypes set out by society. It would be an insult if someone asked a little boy if he wanted to wear pink or put on a dress, because he knows this is girly and he could be laughed at by his peers. This is why gender stratification will always be in our society and could be a problem if used in a discriminatory manner. Scuba123
I agree that gender stratification will always be present in our society. However, I believe it is a negative thing. There are too many negative labels because of gender roles. People should be able to express themselves without being ridiculed for it. If a boy is playing with dolls, then he is considered too "girly" or "gay". That is definitely negative. The fact that women get paid less than men is also awful. Gender stratification and gender roles need to not become such a social norm because they are harmful to children and adults. Even though it is negative in my opinion, I agree with you that our minds are wired like that. -softball_savvy123
If there was ever a doubt in anyone's mind that gender stratification still exists in America today, there is a plethora of outstanding evidence to show that it in fact, does. As Obama stated in the clip we watched, women still earn just seventy-seven cents for every dollar that a man makes. In modern day America there is something deathly wrong with that picture. Nowadays women are performing extravagant tasks and participating in rigorous jobs or careers, only to be treated like a dead raccoon on the side of the road. A large part of the problem is certainly still the stigma that exists, and is plugged into the minds of every human being since their conception from the womb. That stigma being that men are tough, strong, and are the only ones capable of performing jobs requiring a multitude of immense brains and strength. That couldn't possibly be further from the truth however, as research shows that in today's age, women are moving further and further away from the dainty and exquisite desk jobs of the past. Furthermore, melding themselves into workforces like construction, emergency services, as well as President and/or CEO positions of large companies. To eliminate this stigma in America, we must first start by giving women equal pay and ultimately recognizing them for their commitments to extravagant careers and their determination to succeed. Also comes the always reflecting "glass ceiling" which prevents women from getting most jobs where a man would get hired on the spot, no questions asked. If women begin to receive equal pay for the equal work that they are doing, the American culture will begin to see a total reconstruction and elimination of male/female gender stratification that ultimately must begin at the roots of society, being taught from infancy.-MrG123
I also believe that equal pay for equal work is a logical first step to take in reducing gender stratification. However, I feel that this alone wouldn't make for a total reconstruction/elimination of it in our lifetimes. The "glass ceiling" you mentioned is the reason for this; although there is talk of breaking it by way of traditional paths like trying hard in school and setting high goals, the problem lies not in the women, but in the society that creates this barrier. I feel like a simple move like leveling the playing field will not accomplish much if our cultural and education systems don't make significant changes as well. -dday123
It is weird that our society places so many gender roles on children and adults. The toys that little kids play with are even gender specific. Boys should plays with trucks, and girls should play with dolls. If they do not, then they are either too feminine or too masculine. Even babies showers or gender announcements are displayed by gender roles. If it is a boy, then there will be a ton of blue. If it is a girl, then there will be pink. It is sad that gender roles have become a social norm in today's society. It surprised me that children from ages two to five are aware of the gender roles. This is because of society. They develop stereotypes about these gender roles. One little boy pointed to the female doll when the narrator asked which one should clean the house. Another boy pointed to the male doll when asked who should be going to work. Another child pointed to the female doll when asked who should be caring for babies. It is crazy to me that these stereotypes about males and females start so young. I do not think gender stratification will ever cease to exist but there are ways to make it less common in our society. Since it is engraved into our minds so much and has become such a social norm, toys and various activities that children do will always be labeled as "girly" or "manly". I was pleased that former President Obama was trying to create equal pay for both males and females. At the moment, males get paid more. I believe women should be able to do anything men can. Men should be able to be nurses without being ridiculed or called "gay", and women should be able to be engineers and surgeons. One of my closest friends is majoring in engineering. She was the only girl in some of the classes she has taken. It is definitely a male dominated occupation but I am glad she is striving for engineering because she is extremely smart in the math and science field. I know a man that is working to become a therapist for children. He is great with children, understanding, and has a lot of experience. Men and women can be great in any type of occupation and they should not be made fun of or labeled for doing any type of job. -softball_savvy123
Gender stratification is something that has been around for awhile now. Considering it has been around for sometime i still see little difference in the workforce for women. Gender stratification is “ the unequal distribution of wealth, power , privilege between men and women” in other words men have more power over women. Which I feel is wrong due to the fact we aren't giving women the same opportunities as men due to their gender that they did not get to chose, they were born into these genders and if you are born a girl you just got the short end of the stick.In the video these kids already knows who is going to be the stay at home parent and who is going to spend there whole day at work but i don't think their parents taught them this I feel like they are learning such things from the televisions and the cartoons they watch. There is always a mom who stays at home and cooks and cares after the children and the father who is always at work or doing “manly” things. Typical american house story. I wrote a paper on gender dominated professions once and described how when we give our children a pink or blue blanket at birth we are already depriving them of opportunities in the workforce once they reach that stage of life. Yb this i mean we are categorising our children and assuming they like the color pink or blue. Society has made it awkward for men to wear pink because then they will be seen as “gay”. But if a women wears a blue pantsuit she is seen as uptight or controlling. Because blue is a man color and pink is seen as a women color. People never really seem to realize how we deprive people of opportunities just because of their gender. Dancer 123
I found the section of the video where they included child interviews to be the most interesting. Though many of today’s college students might not feel a strong connection to traditional gender roles and biases, it is easy to see how these children developed such strong feelings about gender at a very young age. It is important to note that children begin discriminating based on gender at the same age when they begin identifying with a specific gender and initially recognize whether they are male or female. As I mentioned in my other blog post about racial stratification, the media is a powerful force in terms of enforcing these stereotypes. These children had particularly strong feelings about topics that have nothing to do with male or female biological functions - like childbirth and pregnancy - but are instead related wholly to our cultural expectations. For example, dresses and shirts have would have no “gender” if it weren’t dictated by our society, much like the fact that dresses and shirts wouldn’t even exist without our society. When discussing the topic of gender stratification, I am always drawn towards the social-conflict approach of sociological analysis. I view traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity as existing purely to drive forward the best interests of capitalists and the broader ruling class. For instance, a male is dictated as the one going off to work in an effort to separate the family and maximize production. In my opinion, this system is not a conducive way to ensure better lives for all individuals. Railroading individuals into two concrete, rigid groups is an irresponsible way of categorizing anything, especially with a topic as varied and multilayered as masculinity/femininity. I am, however, pleased with the progress that is being made against these stereotypes. The topic Dr. White brought up in class today about children in Nordic countries being raised the same regardless of gender is a look at the bright future I believe to be in store for the topic of gender stratification. -dday123
To me, the most interesting portion of this video was the section where the children were being interviewed. These young children seemed to have a good sense of how gender is portrayed in their lives. When one child is asked “Are you a boy or a girl?” he laughs at the ridiculousness of the question because it is so obvious to him. “A boy!” he exclaims. Society has already immensely influenced these children through various modes such as observing how their peers act, watching what their parents do, and of course paying attention to what is on the television. The media has been, and will continue to be, a major factor concerning how children shape their beliefs about themselves. The aspect of the interview which I found most interesting was when the interviewer asked the children about which one of the Barbie dolls would be most likely to do housework or take care of their kids. All of the children pointed to the female doll without a second thought because that is what they have been exposed to in their lives. The other interesting part of this video was about the supposed “wage gap” between men and women. My views on this subject may not be politically correct, but I have done some research and still hold them to be true. There was a study done by James Chung, a senior researcher for a private firm, after the 2010 census information came out and what he found seemed counter-intuitive from what people had been saying. Chung discovered that “... in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the U.S., the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group. In two cities, Atlanta and Memphis, those women are making about 20% more...the new study suggests that the gap is bigger than previously thought, with young women in New York City, Los Angeles and San Diego making 17%, 12% and 15% more than their male peers, respectively.” http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html While I realize that this only accounts for major cities, this is only to serve the point that the playing field is even in many places. If businesses could pay women less for the same amount of work a man does, they would hire only women. But they can’t, so they don’t. -ThreeTwo123
I also think that social media is a huge influence on society when it comes to gender roles. I think that there are a lot of movies and tv shows out today that help diminish the gender role issue. This is progress considering millions of more people watch television. I think it's interesting to hear that in some cities, women are earning more than men. I'm curious to know what jobs in specific they make more in. I assume that a lot of women earn more in certain roles. I think it's very true that a business could be spending less money in hiring women if they didn't have to pay them as much. It makes me wonder if the gender bias plays a part in not hiring women even though they don't have to pay them as much. -Kiwi123
In this video, there are a lot of younger children asked about gender roles. All of them agree that girls wear dresses and boys don't. Most of them also said they will never be the other gender. At an extremely young age, gender roles are already planted in children's minds so well that thinking of being like the other gender is looked at as a bad thing. I think this proves why for some gay people or transgendered, it is so hard to come out to society as wanting the same gender or wanting to be a different gender. Although in recent years society has become more accepting of changing genders, it still looks down upon the act in general. The children in the video all said that the woman doll is the one who cleans the house and the man had a job. To so quickly assume which gender does simple tasks that every person does over another gender is a problem. I think that today, the stereotypical woman who cleans the house is so old fashioned. Many more women have become independent recently and working harder outside the home. I think that the job of a teacher being considered a pink collar job is a problem. Although women have that sensitive caring personality biologically, men are just as inspiring and caring. Plenty of my most influential teachers were men. I think that more men should teach students at a young age just to prove to children that both genders can teach them just as much. I think Obama said it best that when women succeed, America succeeds. If all women had the same rights as men and got paid the same, then every single person despite their gender would succeed in America. This would be beneficial to more than just women. -Kiwi123
I didn't even think about the point you made on those who identify as transgender or gay. It does probably make it hard for them to come out and be who they truly are when they are taught these specific gender roles at such a young age. One of the little boys in the video even said that if they were to wear a dress, all the other children would laugh at him. I know that we usually tend to think about the younger girls, and how they are so often taught that they must be soft and pretty. However, most people forget to acknowledge that at the same time we're placing a stigma on young boys, teaching them that they can't play with dolls, wear pink, or show all of their emotions. I think when you said that if more men taught these boys it was okay to be feminine at a young age that it would really improve the gender stratification we experience today. Daisy123
This video honestly came as a shock to me. I was unaware that at such a young age these black children feel as though they are not good enough just because of their brownness. I am fully aware that there is many various forms of racial stratification in today’s society, however I didn’t realize that it began at such a young age. This doll study used the same image of a young child, but each doll had a different shade of skin from varying from very white to very dark. The intended purpose of the study was to see if young children have a bias towards whiteness. The first little girl was asked which doll was the smart child. She responded, without hesitation, the lightest colored doll. Then she was asked which child was the dumb child, and she responded with the darkest doll. The little girl completely ignored all of the colors in between, and said that the reason she chose the lightest doll as the smart child was solely because she was white. The last 5 year old girl they spoke about responded in a similar way. They asked her which skin color she liked the most, and she chose the second lightest doll. The girl said that she wanted this color skin because it was lighter than hers, and because brown is a “nasty” color. She even said she’s not sure of the reason why brown looks nasty, it just does. This is very upsetting to hear because this vibrant, young girl believes that she looks nasty because of the negative stigma we, as a society, place on minorities. It’s not just black children experiencing negative racial stigma, it is every child that doesn’t have the white skin perceived as pretty. More than 61% of the younger black children in this study said the two darkest shades looked ugly. More than half of the black youth today sees themselves as inferior because of racial stratification. In modern society, we are starting to see the narrowing of racial stratification, yet we have not even put a dent in the surface. Negative stigma needs to stop being placed on certain skin colors, cultures, and ethnicities if we want the youth of tomorrow to experience less racial stratification. Daisy123
It is important to know that gender stratification exists, and gender stratification still is prevalent in high income nations, such as our own. Women are treated differently than men are, and saying inequality does not exist is just being blind to the situation. The first step in making a change is developing an awareness to the problem, and the only way we can bring our country closer to equality is to change our culture. Sparking cultural change is one of the most difficult things a group of people can do. It takes persistence, will, and persuasion. Change will only come about if enough people work in little ways to change our society. Culture begins to take root, specifically gender beliefs, around preschool. If our society and education were to change, gender beliefs would change. We need to stop forcing our own preconceived notions and ideas about gender onto the next generation. If toys were not labeled specifically as boy or girl, children’s early activities would be very fluid. Children learn through play, and it is this segregation of play at an early age which divides us and lays ground for later gender assumptions. However, if gender were to be completely eradicated from society, it may be difficult on children. Humans, by nature, seek to categorize and rationalize, which may be difficult if gender boundaries were dissolved. If gender, a socially constructed idea, were to be erased, there would be no gender identity struggles. There would be no concept of transgender because there would be no ideas of feminine or masculine in which to identify. In its simplest form, the only version of transgender would be genital envy because the only difference would be your actual anatomy. It would be interesting to see how our culture turns out in the next century because if society, especially American society, continues to go in the direction it is headed, the concept of gender may be voluntary. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more when you said that we need to make everyone realize that there is a problem between the treatment of men and women in our country. Becoming aware of the situation is difficult. From what I see in the media, people that speak up about these differences are typically women themselves. I absolutely hate it when these women are sometimes immediately labeled as being bossy and difficult to work with. I think that we can change how our nation sees differences between genders by teaching children. Like you said, erasing gender would eliminate the problem. Teaching children that there is no toy that they are suppose to play with and that there is no career that they are suppose to get would change how we categorize men and women. Check123
DeleteEverything you've stated is the complete truth. It is us the people who need to stop portraying negative images unto our youth and give them a chance to make their own rationalize concepts on their own and then make a decision of what's best for them instead of being told they can't act a certain way or play with this toy or even hang with people that have different views. And what makes it even worse is that we're allowed to dehumanize and stereotype people every day with no repercussions and then we expect for children to be respectful little boys and girls. We have to learn to lead by example. If America is so great and allows people so many different freedoms then why are we still enslaved? Bennodles123
DeleteGender stratification has always been around. Throughout the globe it is usually more dominant in low income countries mostly in African countries, and some Arab countries. Even though women have more equality in the U.S., there are still people and there will always be people who think that women are inferior, and should be treated as such. Same in a situation when a man wants to specialize in a career path that isn't considered "manly" like being a nurse or a teacher. That mindset is flawed and it is wrong. For example, if a women is in the exact same career as a man, they should be paid the same salary. We are all humans, and there are some cases where women do better at their jobs than men, and they still are being treated or paid with the respect that they deserve. In the video, they showed the little kids a female doll and a male doll. The person then asked a series of questions and the kids were to point to which doll the question pertained to. There was one question where they asked, "Who goes to work?" and two of the kids pointed to the male doll. I am not for certain when this video was made, but in these times we are living in, I believe women work outside of the home more now than they did. Then they showed that men usually work as construction workers, doctors, and firefighters. Women can do that just like men can. Children should be taught that women can do what men can. It is not just the men that goes to work, it is women as well. Some work at home and some work outside, but they do work just like men. Gender stratification will always be a problem, hopefully both men and women can accept that just because you are women does not mean that you cannot do what is considered a "mans job" and men cannot do what is considered a "woman's job." We are all human beings, and we deserve equality.
ReplyDeletepanda123
I definitely support your view that there should never be jobs considered “men’s jobs” or “women’s jobs.” Men and women both have different strengths and it is only through combining these strengths that we can establish our greatest workforce. I think this is becoming more apparent as more and more women enter the workforce and the number of men and women at a job gradually equalizes. The wrong idea still remains however, as shown when the kids choose that men are the ones that go to work. It is important that we illustrate gender equality to newer generations for that is how they learn what is normal. -Chameleon123
DeleteI agree one hundred percent with what you said. I think people should be paid for the job they do not the sex they are. I also agree that more women are joining the workforce. Before I went back to school both my wife and I worked full time. When I decided to go back to school my wife was the person in the family to go to work and I was the one who took care of the kids and cleaning the house, since I did not go to work full time anymore. This probably would not of worked twenty plus years ago. Back then my wife’s pay would be less than the seventy to eighty cents per dollar difference than it is now. Now my wife works the “man's job” and I work the “woman's job”. I think we both do a good job at it too. Diver 123
DeleteIn my opinion, I don’t think we should be categorizing men and women. There is always a certain identity that is associated with being a male and being a female. Gender stratification needs to be stopped. Society says that there are certain characteristics that defines a women and a male. Those that defy those characteristics are usually looked down upon and are labeled as being a sissy, a tomboy, or even gay. We shouldn't be criticizing those that break away from the societal norms. We should be changing our societal norms and we should be saying that it doesn't matter if a boy wants to play with dolls or a girl wants to be a firefighter. In order to see each other as equal beings, we need to teach our younger generations ‘you do you,’ meaning that you have the choice of expressing who you are however you want to. It is interesting to see our country fight over this problem today. In the media, we often see politicians bring the issue to attention, however, there has not been much of a change recently. I understand that societal change takes time, but I feel that this issue needs to be fixed quicker. America is a high-income country. As a high income country we need to realize that this change is important and, through this change, we will live up to what our constitution says about how all people are created to be equal. Like we discussed in class today, the world has primarily been lead by men in history. We are at a time in our history that show that we should try to incorporate more women into leadership. Though there are differences between men and women biologically, we should use those differences to benefit humankind as a whole. Men and women think differently and we should combine the way we both approach situations. Check123
ReplyDeleteI agree I always had this idea that men and women alike should be able to express their gender identity however they choose to do so. In an ideal world masculinity and femininity would work alongside each other towards a common goal in any career but as of now we are not able to do this. For example, our ideal leader has primarily masculine qualities I wish women did not have to sacrifice their femininity to be able to be taken seriously in the workplace. I don't want to take away masculinity or femininity from anyone because they are important to many people. -Glass123
DeleteGender stratification is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. While reading the definition, I already believe that the women are the people who are receiving the lower end of the unequal distribution of the three in the description. It’s so sad to think about how gender plays a role in just about everything that we do. It’s sad that just because I was born a female that I’m not afforded the same pay or even the same jobs that males are able to obtain in our patriarchal world. I don’t understand how if I go and work just as hard or harder than my counterparts that I’m still only worth a fraction of what he’s worth. It’s also sad to think that in our sexist society people, including women, confine themselves to such a mundane way of thinking that they can’t see outside of the box. Instead of trying to keep women out of power it might be beneficial to be able to pull ideas from another viewpoint, but because every single aspect of our lives are so sexist, we as a people can possibly open our minds to think that women can help solve issues too. We don’t have to stand tall or have big muscles to fight battles, we have our minds that will far more exceed the strength of any man.
ReplyDeleteWatching the video made me realize how conditioned we are as a culture, and really shows the similarities of each society that we may encounter. They pointed out that the girl doll takes care of the baby and cleans the house and that the boy doll goes to work; times shouldn’t be like that when a couple adds to their family, responsibility of taking care of the baby shouldn’t just be on the mother/ wife it’s should be a shared responsibility. It seems that kids can just be kids anymore because of fear of what other children and adults may say to them if boys were to wear dresses or girls were to play with trucks and cars. We have stripped away their freedom to be who they are and their imagination. Benoodles123
You are absolutely right. We do take away from the child's freedom when we tell that that girls do this while boys do that. I also think that it can be very frustrating when women go to work and work just as hard as men but get paid way less. I never really realized how sexist our world was until I read it in your post. You're right, we do live in a very sexist world where society tells us what is acceptable for women and men. You have some very valid points and I absolutely agree with what you are saying.
Deletesunflower123
I agree. History has been written primarily by white men, and without a diverse background, how can you choose which lessons to learn from. If there were more women of all backgrounds in power and taken seriously, we would have much better brainstorming sessions in the government and, in turn, much better policies. By law, we are an equal opportunity nation, but are we really? Women earn about $50,000 less in a lifetime than men doing the exact same job. How equal are we? Our differences should not be looked down upon. They should be celebrated. Diversity brings about change and innovation, and it is about time for women to be rewarded equally for their hard work. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteGender stratification is basically a social ranking where men end up having a higher ranking and more privileges than women. If you look back historically, men had all of the power. It was not until 1920 that woman got the right to vote. Unfortunately, today woman still do not have equal standing with men. Women do not get paid the same amount of money nor do they progress in their jobs to get the higher ranking positions, which is something that is called a Glass Ceiling- a set of invisible barriers that prevent women from advancing. Woman also work as “pink color jobs” which is typically a secretary or nurse, it is basically something that society assumes that men would not want to do. Also, the kids all pointed to the girl doll as being the one who like to clean and take care of the children. But when they were asked who went to work it was the boy doll they pointed to. While I think that women should fight to get equality, I also think that there are some women who are perfectly content with staying home and being a stay at home mom/house wife. If that is something that women want to do then we should respect that and not look down on them for “assuming the roles society is handing them”. That also goes for men, if they want to stay home and take care of the kids/house then who are we to tell them no? I think that women have come a far way and are getting closer to equality, but we are still not there yet and hopefully it will happen soon. Kids are taught everything they know, so they are just repeating what someone told them about wat is acceptable for their gender and what isn’t. If a boy want to play with dolls then let him, and if a girl wants to play with GI Joes/firetrucks or whatever a “boy toy” is then let her. We act like it’s the end of the world with a kid is playing with the opposite gender toy when it is really something that is insignificant.
ReplyDeletesunflower123
Gender stratification is a very real thing throughout the world, including the United States. Wealth, power, and privilege are unequally distributed between men and women, almost always favoring men. There are multiple factors that contribute to this, such as the general difference in the type of work men and women do, but there is no denying that a huge part of it is discrimination against women. From watching their parents, teachers, peers, siblings, etc., children develop a sense of what a man is supposed to be like and what a woman is supposed to be like. These differences noted by the children may seem harmless, such as “men don’t wear dresses” or “girls have long hair,” but these standards restrict people and can lead to serious problems. For example it can lead to the mindset that women are limited in their career choice between nurses, secretaries, or teachers. Adults and older siblings need to be extremely cautious of how they portray their sex and the other sex. Children absorb so much of what they see and as a result they can become sexist if they learn it from their parents or anyone else they may hear it from. A little boy in the video said “Boys are better than girls because boys are stronger than girls.” This is an example of how even at such a young age, children can develop positive or negative opinions about their gender or other genders. In the United States it is not uncommon for males to get in a mindset that they are more powerful than girls, and for girls to be told that they are subordinate to males. Thankfully this inequality that has been taught for generations is lessening as more and more people break from the cycle and teach the younger generation of kids that they are equals. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteGender stratification is something that is very prevalent in our entire society. I think it is very sad that children of such a young age are growing up with these thoughts about gender. I think most of our country is a patriarchy because of the way different men treat women. The fact that women are not treated as equally just based on the fact of them being a women is very unfair. We do not get to choose our gender or our race. This can tie over into race as well. We do not get to choose our race or our gender so it is unfair to be treated different based on your gender or the color of your skin. The fact that women are seen as a minority is very sad. It is 2017 and the world needs to be evolving at a faster pace. I do not think we truly see the problem with women being less equal. I also believe that men all over the world will agree that they are superior to women. In this video it is very prevalent the children are so young and they are already thinking these different things based on their gender. Children this young have to be learning this from someone else. That means from older people that they look up to. They do not learn these different thoughts about gender from themselves. They do as their parents, teachers, or other peers do. I don't think that women should have to fight for their equality it is something that we have earned and should have given to us. It is not fair for men to be treated superior just based on the fact that they are men. Like I said it is much like race it should not even be a problem in our society. Everyone needs to be treated equally no matter who they are, what they look like, or what gender they may be. Litv123
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more some men will say that they are superior to women and we even seen it for yourself children are picking up these bad habits. Really it starts when we are young, that's when we learn manners and all that good stuff so to already pick up these habits is sad. Just think about it the little boys will grow up alway thinking they're better then the next due to the fact they were born a boy. And you're right we don't get to choose our gender but i don't think we should have to suffer because of the way were born. Dancer 123
DeleteThe interviewer asks a young boy what would happen if he wore a dress. The boy answers “All the girls and all the boys will laugh at me” he fully understands the social norms regarding what girls should do, and what boys should do. He is guided by a fear of embarrassment from his peers. This part of role performance the child can sense that he must act a certain way in order to be accepted by society. Our sociology book says as we enter school, at a kindergarten age, our ideas about gender roles are solidified. This is evident in this video because when asked about stereotypical gender roles the students were always guessed the correct gender stereotype. One of the young girls could barely talk, but she seems to know with certainty that boys cannot wear dresses and that girls have long hair. Although you can see that the girl has long hair so it’s possible that she thinks that all girls must be similar to herself. At first my thinking was that all these little kids must live in stereotypical gender environments and they are so they are just simply reporting what they see around them, but this seems statistically unlikely. Therefore, I think there is a familiar aspect to their ideas about gender, but also their thoughts about gender are most likely reinforced by whatever media they are consuming. We discussed how television shows like the Roadrunner affected how violent children acted so it follows that shows with gender stereotypes would influence children’s feelings about gender. The parents of the kids have their own embedded feelings of gender stereotypes that they may push on their kids. For example, it is common for a father to enforce strict guidelines of masculinity because they do want their son to be perceived as feminine. -Glass123
ReplyDeleteI must agree with on how it is common for a father to enforce strict guidelines of masculinity because they do want their son to be perceived as feminine. Just as the woman teach their girls how to dress in a feminine way and clean up. Society has always been about gender stratification. Men want their boys to be men and women want their girls to be women. I think that we all know what is expected out of both genders. Society makes it known to us what is expected of us. Whether it may be shown on TV, instilled from parents based off morals and values, or even been influenced by others. Men and women are supposed to be different that’s why they are identified differently, but they should be treated equally. Rendezvous123
DeleteThe video not only deals with gender stratification, but also preconceived gender roles. Gender stratification is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. Gender roles is the attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex. The gender roles are what the children were showing by asking them questions to see who they associated with these roles. For instance when asked who takes care of the children and cleans the house all the children pointed to the girl doll, and when asked who works they all pointed to the boy doll. It is interesting how at such a young age the children have gotten these ideas. The children pick up fast on what they see and assume this is the norm or how it is suppose to be. The next issue the video dealt with is gender stratification. The video talks about how men and women are capable of doing the same job but not receiving the same amount of pay. Both in class and in the video the statistic of pay difference between men and women is women make about seventy to eighty cents on the dollar when compared to what a man makes. Even though this is a shocking statistic, I fully believe it. I am not saying it is right. I believe in equality of pay regardless of what sex you are. It should not matter what sex you are, if you are capable of doing the job, then you should get paid the same as anyone else who is doing the job. I also believe that a woman deserve the same right as a man to be able to climb the corporate ladder. Now I have worked for a company that did have a female C. E. O. for the first five years I worked there. The second five years I worked there, there was a male C. E. O. in charge. In the ten total years working there the employees could not tell a difference in how the company was run as to whether a male or female was in charge. This just proves that a woman is just as capable as a man is for running a company. I do not know the details of the pay difference between the two to see how much they differed. I do know that this is an anomaly to the norm. It is proof though that women are capable of climbing the corporate ladder. Maybe this is a sign of how some companies are trying to change the norm and look outside the box. Diver 123
ReplyDeleteFor starters, i agree with the wording of how kids can pick up on things fast. Especially if their parents address it as a norm that just makes it all the more faster. The pay is also a big issue. We’ve discussed it quite a bit in class, and then of course with this video. You’d think in 2017 the pays would be equal by now but of course nothing has really changed in that department. I liked your C.E.O. example, that really proves a great point that the sex of the employee doesn’t matter. The differences in gender really need to be stopped, especially in the workplace in my opinion. rosethorns123
DeleteBefore birth, children are being generalized based on their sex. Baby girls are dressed up in pink, while baby boys are dressed up in blue. When they start playing with toys, boys move onto toys such as trucks or action figures, while girls may get a doll or a play kitchen set. So basically at the age of five, little girls are already being taught how to cook for their husbands (which is just a joke please don’t attack me for that comment). Kids already know what a “typical gender role” is. They know it’s different when a boy plays with a doll, or a girl plays with a football. So next in the video, some kids are sat down and they are asked gender questions, can boys wear dresses? Do girls have long or short hair? Ect. So, because these kids already have gender roles drilled into their heads they already think that boys can’t wear dresses and girls can’t have short hair. One boy says that boys are better because they are stronger.I just want to know who is filling these kids heads up with all of these gender roles. Do I need to talk to the parents? This video progressively gets harder to watch when the kids are asked gender role questions about dolls. The first one being, “who likes to clean the house?” and they all start pointing to the girl doll (first of all no one likes cleaning). So eventually the video dives into the differences in pay when it comes to the work force. Of course women make less even though they may be doing the exact same thing that the male is doing. I really hope that in our future, people stop putting these gender roles on children and teach them instead to open their eyes and see the world as equal. rosethorns123
ReplyDeleteI love the enthusiasm you have in this, "do I need to talk to the parents?" I would just like to impose the question, is it bad if a boy or a girl assumes a gender role? We have been talking a lot about how society forces gender roles onto people. I think that in order to make the issue better we need to know where we went wrong? So is forcing people into gender roles wrong or is having gender roles the issue? Was it when we decided that we want girls to wear cute pink bows and boys to wear blue because it's cool? Or was it when we decided that different attributions should only reside within one gender? As a kid, I would not say that I was pushed into the gender role of a girl. I loved playing dress up and pretending I was a princess just as much as I loved playing outside in the mud and riding around in tractors. But, my room was pink and my brother's was blue. Was that wrong of my parents to do? -M&M123
DeleteBoys will be boys. I have heard this all of my life. I was in a primarily white school district and I grew up in a white, nuclear family. Often times that phrase, boys will be boys, is used to somehow defend negatively deviant behaviors done by men. Because men have the ascribed status of being a man, our society sometimes gives them the right to participate in negatively deviant behavior. Examples of these behaviors that men get away with strictly for their anatomy include violence, rape, and much more. Society has built up the male status for hundreds of years. Men are built up in society to be stronger, smarter, more successful, and better. This dominance simply given to men is unjust, and only hurts our country and our world. Statistically speaking, there is a 50% chance that someone will be a male. So, we can always expect there to be around 50% of the world’s population to be men. Giving only 50% of the world the opportunities to really succeed hurts the world. Take doctors for example. Doctors save lives and are a vital job to have in the world. If we limit the amount of doctors in the world to only consist of men, we are denying the population of half of the amount of opportunities for help that it could be receiving. People need to get passed their prejudice against women and start accepting that they can be equally, if not more, successful. Women deserve to feel just as empowered as men do. I love what Obama finished his speech with, “I believe when women succeed, America succeeds.” We are living in a time that is crucial in the shaping of our country. We just had our first black president, a woman ran for president, women are taking on jobs that have been primarily men forever, and women are getting educated (even more than men are). I would like to add on to this. “When women succeed, America succeeds,” and when America succeeds the world may succeed. We are one of the most powerful nations in the world. If we can get our country together and achieve success, we can inspire other nations. It is nations like the United States that can actually help solve world problems such as hunger and sex trafficking. It will never be perfect, but it can always be better. -M&M123
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with your premise, you lost me a little bit when you started talking about only giving 50% of the world's population a chance at opportunities to succeed. Obviously, this is not happening currently and, even if it did occur in the past, what event became such an atrocity that we as the human race could not prevail against? This notion that Obama made about America succeeding depends primarily on the success of women in this country does not make logical sense. The argument that America can "inspire other nations" is valiant, but dubious nonetheless considering 1 in 6 people in the USA face food insecurity and human sex trafficking is still an extremely large problem in our own country.
Delete-ThreeTwo123
Gender stratification has always been around. It associated between boy and girl gender roles. Boys are masculine, active, aggressive, tough, daring, and dominant. Girls are feminine, soft emotional, sweet, and submissive. The gender roles are sets of cultural expectations that define the ways in which the members of each sex should behave. Children at an early age know the typical gender roles. At the age of 2 they know if they are a boy or girl. They know that it is wrong to do things of the opposite sex. They know that they don’t wear the same type of clothes. One of the boys stated that if he was to put on a dress the girls and boys would laugh at him. At the age of 3 and 4 they really give stereotype responses. For example, the girl is the one who cleans up and the boy is the one that goes to work. The video stated some statics on how women and men are not equal when it comes to work force. Women earn 5% less than their male colleagues according to the 2011 St. Louis Federal Reserve. That amount is about $35 a week, $1,750 a year, and $52,500 over a 30-year career. Women work hard, but are yet still not equally paid as men. According to Global Gender Gap Report 2010, the United States is number 19 in gender equality. We have never had a female President. I wonder why is that? Is simple society feels that a man should be the leader and the women shall follow. Obama made a statement that women deserve equal pay for equal work. He feels that women deserve to have a baby and not have to worry about their job. He feels that women deserve to have a day off to take care of a child or an elder parent. I must totally agree with Obama. Society makes it so hard for women to accomplish their goals. Today, it takes two to survive for someone with a family to live comfortable. I feel that women should have the same rights as men. Maybe if we did have a woman as a President things would be different. Rendezvous123
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you have said Rendezvous123. Gender stratification with definitely always be around no matter what happens in the society. There will always be stereotypes set forth by our community towards males and females and what they are suppose to like and do. I love that you added the statistic in from the 2011 St. Louis Federal Reserve. At first it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but after you put it that way it really does add up and women are at quite the disadvantage and it is extremely silly because that is almost solely based on gender. I would be very interested to see how things would be with a female president and I hope we have an outstanding candidate come within the next few years and hopefully we can take advantage of that situation and see how things would be different. Scuba123
DeleteI do like how you raised the question of why is it exactly that we haven't had a woman President yet in America. Although it seemed like the odds were stacked against her, I was almost certain that Hillary Clinton would win the election and secure the Presidency last November. With the powers that be ultimately having control over who does what and says what at the top of the ladder, I wonder if they felt like having a woman President would alienate their ability to keep control and maintain a pervasive, male dominant society. Hopefully that will change eventually.-MrG123
DeleteThere will always be gender stratification in our world today. There were always be things we associate with girls and things we associate with boys. This is just how our mind work. I do not believe this is a bad thing, it is just there. I think that it could indeed be a bad thing depending how we respond to the emotions and thoughts that we are having. You should never have a problem with your child wearing a certain color, or playing with a certain toy, even if society says that that is "girly" or "she is a tomboy". All people have the right to express themselves however they want, and the purity of our actions at that age are so beautiful that they should be left alone as long as they are not having a negative effect on others. This video has multiple examples of gender stratification. It uses the example of blue and pink and how we associate clue with boys and pink with girls. Another example would be seeing boys with firetrucks and girls with dolls. If we were to see boys with dolls and girls with firetrucks something in our heads would say, wait, that isn't right. It is how we respond to that emotion that can get us in trouble. We set specific gender roles to males and females and to how they are suppose to act and like. If they do not fall into the specific roles we give them we see this is "different". Young children develop these gender roles very young in life and are given stereotypes set out by society. It would be an insult if someone asked a little boy if he wanted to wear pink or put on a dress, because he knows this is girly and he could be laughed at by his peers. This is why gender stratification will always be in our society and could be a problem if used in a discriminatory manner. Scuba123
ReplyDeleteI agree that gender stratification will always be present in our society. However, I believe it is a negative thing. There are too many negative labels because of gender roles. People should be able to express themselves without being ridiculed for it. If a boy is playing with dolls, then he is considered too "girly" or "gay". That is definitely negative. The fact that women get paid less than men is also awful. Gender stratification and gender roles need to not become such a social norm because they are harmful to children and adults. Even though it is negative in my opinion, I agree with you that our minds are wired like that. -softball_savvy123
DeleteIf there was ever a doubt in anyone's mind that gender stratification still exists in America today, there is a plethora of outstanding evidence to show that it in fact, does. As Obama stated in the clip we watched, women still earn just seventy-seven cents for every dollar that a man makes. In modern day America there is something deathly wrong with that picture. Nowadays women are performing extravagant tasks and participating in rigorous jobs or careers, only to be treated like a dead raccoon on the side of the road. A large part of the problem is certainly still the stigma that exists, and is plugged into the minds of every human being since their conception from the womb. That stigma being that men are tough, strong, and are the only ones capable of performing jobs requiring a multitude of immense brains and strength. That couldn't possibly be further from the truth however, as research shows that in today's age, women are moving further and further away from the dainty and exquisite desk jobs of the past. Furthermore, melding themselves into workforces like construction, emergency services, as well as President and/or CEO positions of large companies. To eliminate this stigma in America, we must first start by giving women equal pay and ultimately recognizing them for their commitments to extravagant careers and their determination to succeed. Also comes the always reflecting "glass ceiling" which prevents women from getting most jobs where a man would get hired on the spot, no questions asked. If women begin to receive equal pay for the equal work that they are doing, the American culture will begin to see a total reconstruction and elimination of male/female gender stratification that ultimately must begin at the roots of society, being taught from infancy.-MrG123
ReplyDeleteI also believe that equal pay for equal work is a logical first step to take in reducing gender stratification. However, I feel that this alone wouldn't make for a total reconstruction/elimination of it in our lifetimes. The "glass ceiling" you mentioned is the reason for this; although there is talk of breaking it by way of traditional paths like trying hard in school and setting high goals, the problem lies not in the women, but in the society that creates this barrier. I feel like a simple move like leveling the playing field will not accomplish much if our cultural and education systems don't make significant changes as well. -dday123
DeleteIt is weird that our society places so many gender roles on children and adults. The toys that little kids play with are even gender specific. Boys should plays with trucks, and girls should play with dolls. If they do not, then they are either too feminine or too masculine. Even babies showers or gender announcements are displayed by gender roles. If it is a boy, then there will be a ton of blue. If it is a girl, then there will be pink. It is sad that gender roles have become a social norm in today's society. It surprised me that children from ages two to five are aware of the gender roles. This is because of society. They develop stereotypes about these gender roles. One little boy pointed to the female doll when the narrator asked which one should clean the house. Another boy pointed to the male doll when asked who should be going to work. Another child pointed to the female doll when asked who should be caring for babies. It is crazy to me that these stereotypes about males and females start so young. I do not think gender stratification will ever cease to exist but there are ways to make it less common in our society. Since it is engraved into our minds so much and has become such a social norm, toys and various activities that children do will always be labeled as "girly" or "manly". I was pleased that former President Obama was trying to create equal pay for both males and females. At the moment, males get paid more. I believe women should be able to do anything men can. Men should be able to be nurses without being ridiculed or called "gay", and women should be able to be engineers and surgeons. One of my closest friends is majoring in engineering. She was the only girl in some of the classes she has taken. It is definitely a male dominated occupation but I am glad she is striving for engineering because she is extremely smart in the math and science field. I know a man that is working to become a therapist for children. He is great with children, understanding, and has a lot of experience. Men and women can be great in any type of occupation and they should not be made fun of or labeled for doing any type of job. -softball_savvy123
ReplyDeleteGender stratification is something that has been around for awhile now. Considering it has been around for sometime i still see little difference in the workforce for women. Gender stratification is “ the unequal distribution of wealth, power , privilege between men and women” in other words men have more power over women. Which I feel is wrong due to the fact we aren't giving women the same opportunities as men due to their gender that they did not get to chose, they were born into these genders and if you are born a girl you just got the short end of the stick.In the video these kids already knows who is going to be the stay at home parent and who is going to spend there whole day at work but i don't think their parents taught them this I feel like they are learning such things from the televisions and the cartoons they watch. There is always a mom who stays at home and cooks and cares after the children and the father who is always at work or doing “manly” things. Typical american house story. I wrote a paper on gender dominated professions once and described how when we give our children a pink or blue blanket at birth we are already depriving them of opportunities in the workforce once they reach that stage of life. Yb this i mean we are categorising our children and assuming they like the color pink or blue. Society has made it awkward for men to wear pink because then they will be seen as “gay”. But if a women wears a blue pantsuit she is seen as uptight or controlling. Because blue is a man color and pink is seen as a women color. People never really seem to realize how we deprive people of opportunities just because of their gender. Dancer 123
ReplyDeleteI found the section of the video where they included child interviews to be the most interesting. Though many of today’s college students might not feel a strong connection to traditional gender roles and biases, it is easy to see how these children developed such strong feelings about gender at a very young age. It is important to note that children begin discriminating based on gender at the same age when they begin identifying with a specific gender and initially recognize whether they are male or female. As I mentioned in my other blog post about racial stratification, the media is a powerful force in terms of enforcing these stereotypes. These children had particularly strong feelings about topics that have nothing to do with male or female biological functions - like childbirth and pregnancy - but are instead related wholly to our cultural expectations. For example, dresses and shirts have would have no “gender” if it weren’t dictated by our society, much like the fact that dresses and shirts wouldn’t even exist without our society. When discussing the topic of gender stratification, I am always drawn towards the social-conflict approach of sociological analysis. I view traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity as existing purely to drive forward the best interests of capitalists and the broader ruling class. For instance, a male is dictated as the one going off to work in an effort to separate the family and maximize production. In my opinion, this system is not a conducive way to ensure better lives for all individuals. Railroading individuals into two concrete, rigid groups is an irresponsible way of categorizing anything, especially with a topic as varied and multilayered as masculinity/femininity. I am, however, pleased with the progress that is being made against these stereotypes. The topic Dr. White brought up in class today about children in Nordic countries being raised the same regardless of gender is a look at the bright future I believe to be in store for the topic of gender stratification. -dday123
ReplyDeleteTo me, the most interesting portion of this video was the section where the children were being interviewed. These young children seemed to have a good sense of how gender is portrayed in their lives. When one child is asked “Are you a boy or a girl?” he laughs at the ridiculousness of the question because it is so obvious to him. “A boy!” he exclaims. Society has already immensely influenced these children through various modes such as observing how their peers act, watching what their parents do, and of course paying attention to what is on the television. The media has been, and will continue to be, a major factor concerning how children shape their beliefs about themselves. The aspect of the interview which I found most interesting was when the interviewer asked the children about which one of the Barbie dolls would be most likely to do housework or take care of their kids. All of the children pointed to the female doll without a second thought because that is what they have been exposed to in their lives.
ReplyDeleteThe other interesting part of this video was about the supposed “wage gap” between men and women. My views on this subject may not be politically correct, but I have done some research and still hold them to be true. There was a study done by James Chung, a senior researcher for a private firm, after the 2010 census information came out and what he found seemed counter-intuitive from what people had been saying. Chung discovered that “... in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the U.S., the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group. In two cities, Atlanta and Memphis, those women are making about 20% more...the new study suggests that the gap is bigger than previously thought, with young women in New York City, Los Angeles and San Diego making 17%, 12% and 15% more than their male peers, respectively.” http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html
While I realize that this only accounts for major cities, this is only to serve the point that the playing field is even in many places. If businesses could pay women less for the same amount of work a man does, they would hire only women. But they can’t, so they don’t.
-ThreeTwo123
I also think that social media is a huge influence on society when it comes to gender roles. I think that there are a lot of movies and tv shows out today that help diminish the gender role issue. This is progress considering millions of more people watch television. I think it's interesting to hear that in some cities, women are earning more than men. I'm curious to know what jobs in specific they make more in. I assume that a lot of women earn more in certain roles. I think it's very true that a business could be spending less money in hiring women if they didn't have to pay them as much. It makes me wonder if the gender bias plays a part in not hiring women even though they don't have to pay them as much. -Kiwi123
DeleteIn this video, there are a lot of younger children asked about gender roles. All of them agree that girls wear dresses and boys don't. Most of them also said they will never be the other gender. At an extremely young age, gender roles are already planted in children's minds so well that thinking of being like the other gender is looked at as a bad thing. I think this proves why for some gay people or transgendered, it is so hard to come out to society as wanting the same gender or wanting to be a different gender. Although in recent years society has become more accepting of changing genders, it still looks down upon the act in general. The children in the video all said that the woman doll is the one who cleans the house and the man had a job. To so quickly assume which gender does simple tasks that every person does over another gender is a problem. I think that today, the stereotypical woman who cleans the house is so old fashioned. Many more women have become independent recently and working harder outside the home. I think that the job of a teacher being considered a pink collar job is a problem. Although women have that sensitive caring personality biologically, men are just as inspiring and caring. Plenty of my most influential teachers were men. I think that more men should teach students at a young age just to prove to children that both genders can teach them just as much. I think Obama said it best that when women succeed, America succeeds. If all women had the same rights as men and got paid the same, then every single person despite their gender would succeed in America. This would be beneficial to more than just women. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about the point you made on those who identify as transgender or gay. It does probably make it hard for them to come out and be who they truly are when they are taught these specific gender roles at such a young age. One of the little boys in the video even said that if they were to wear a dress, all the other children would laugh at him. I know that we usually tend to think about the younger girls, and how they are so often taught that they must be soft and pretty. However, most people forget to acknowledge that at the same time we're placing a stigma on young boys, teaching them that they can't play with dolls, wear pink, or show all of their emotions. I think when you said that if more men taught these boys it was okay to be feminine at a young age that it would really improve the gender stratification we experience today. Daisy123
DeleteThis video honestly came as a shock to me. I was unaware that at such a young age these black children feel as though they are not good enough just because of their brownness. I am fully aware that there is many various forms of racial stratification in today’s society, however I didn’t realize that it began at such a young age. This doll study used the same image of a young child, but each doll had a different shade of skin from varying from very white to very dark. The intended purpose of the study was to see if young children have a bias towards whiteness. The first little girl was asked which doll was the smart child. She responded, without hesitation, the lightest colored doll. Then she was asked which child was the dumb child, and she responded with the darkest doll. The little girl completely ignored all of the colors in between, and said that the reason she chose the lightest doll as the smart child was solely because she was white. The last 5 year old girl they spoke about responded in a similar way. They asked her which skin color she liked the most, and she chose the second lightest doll. The girl said that she wanted this color skin because it was lighter than hers, and because brown is a “nasty” color. She even said she’s not sure of the reason why brown looks nasty, it just does. This is very upsetting to hear because this vibrant, young girl believes that she looks nasty because of the negative stigma we, as a society, place on minorities. It’s not just black children experiencing negative racial stigma, it is every child that doesn’t have the white skin perceived as pretty. More than 61% of the younger black children in this study said the two darkest shades looked ugly. More than half of the black youth today sees themselves as inferior because of racial stratification. In modern society, we are starting to see the narrowing of racial stratification, yet we have not even put a dent in the surface. Negative stigma needs to stop being placed on certain skin colors, cultures, and ethnicities if we want the youth of tomorrow to experience less racial stratification. Daisy123
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