Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Sociology - Essay ExampleThis paper intends to focus on the determine of gender on life chances. Gender has a highly significant influence on life chances of an individual. Gender refers to ideas and practices that atomic number 18 socially determined concerning the significance of being male or female. This is clear from the past changes in the attitudes of both men and women, which are witnessed through the changes in roles played by them especially in relation to marriage, employment, and rearing of children. Gender ideology was a crucial determinant of womens experiences in the early republic. Although new market imperatives made womens labor increasely valuable to household survival (writ small) and capitalist production (writ large), older patriarchal arrangements continued to designate the opportunities of working women (Rockman, 1816). The activities and attitudes of men and women are different and this is not natural but is taught through primary socialization when they were children. This is further contributed by secondary socialization when they kindle up. ... The family is an integrative and dynamic unit that can provide the foundation for ones core values and belief systems (Haralambos and Holborn 2000) (McQuillan & Ravanera, 2006, p 160). The family influence can be quite high during childhood days. Gender discrimination starts from early ages as boys and girls are treated differently by their parents. A girl child is ofttimes expected to do housework. Besides female children are given lesser freedom and parents usually remain protective of them. Schools also influence in increasing the discrimination between male and female children. Similarly, peer group also determines childrens behavior in certain ways. At school females are reliable at studies at school levels and the number of girls going to universities is higher than that of boys. But when it comes to earnings, males generally receive higher income than females. Similarly, the numbe rs of women who do part time jobs are higher and, again, in most cases, they receive lower salary than their counterparts, because these jobs fit their home and family commitments. It is also seen that women are heading most of the single parent families. A majority of them are widows and this is mainly because the life expectation of women is higher than men. These factors contribute to an increase in the rate of poverty and the burden of this falls on women. Thus, the military force and supremacy automatically transfer to the hands of men. patriarchate is a sexual system characterized by male superiority over power and economic privilege. Patriarchy places limits on the achievements of women and reduces the value of the feminine by picturing women as limited human beings, the opposite of privileged and capable men. Women are the majority of the unemployed. Men