For the Academic students

1. Course No: Soc 4207
Course Title: Sociology of Gender
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Presentation Topic:
Theories of Gender Inequality
Students of Khulna University
Name ID
Moli Khatun 141622
Shakil Ahmed 141627
Jannanatun Nayeem 141645

2. Meaning of Gender Inequality
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Gender refers to the social, cultural and psychological differences between men
and women (Giddens, 2001), while, gender inequality is the idea and situation
that women and men are not equal. Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment
or perceptions of individuals wholly or partly due to their gender. It arises from
differences in gender roles ( Wood, 2005).
According to Giddens (2001) “Gender inequality refers to the difference
in the status, power and prestige enjoyed by women and men in
various contexts.”
According to Schaefer (2007) “Gender inequality is the denial of opportunities and equal rights
to individuals and groups based on gender that results from the
normal operations of a society.”

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Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
Sociologists view gender inequality in different ways. Some see the gender inequality basically as
stable and ongoing entity. Some sociologists see gender inequality as composed of many groups in
conflict, competing for scarce resources. Other sociologists, gender inequality is produced and
reinforced through daily interactions and the use of symbols. To still other sociologists analyzes gender
inequality through the intersection of gender, race, and class (Schaefer, 2007). These four views, the
ones most widely used by sociologist, are:
1. The Functionalist Perspective;
2. The Conflict Perspective;
3. The Interactionist Perspective; and
4. The Feminist Perspective.

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1. The Functionalist Perspective
Functionalism, also known as “structural functionalism,” is a macro sociological perspective that is
based on the premise that society is made up of interdependent parts, each of which contributes to the
functioning of the whole society (Mill, 1869). The functionalist perspective, which also emphasizes the
way in which the parts of a society are structure to maintain it stability. Functionalist suggest that gender
inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor, or a social system in which a
particular segment of the population is clearly responsible for certain acts of labor and another segment
is clearly responsible for other labor acts (Giddens, 2001).
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality

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Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
According to Functionalists, any given element of social structure contributes to overall social stability, balance,
and equilibrium. In this view point gender inequality maintain overall social stability, balance, and
equilibrium in pre-industrial society as well as contemporary society.
Pre-industrial society
Functionalist suggested that in preindustrial societies social equilibrium maintain by assigning
different task to men and women. In their assigned hunting roles, men were frequently away from
home for long period and centered their lives on the responsibility for bringing food to the family.
It was functional for women-more limited by pregnancy, child birth and nursing- to be assign to
domestic roles near the home as gathers and subsistence farmers and as caretakers of children and
household (Mill, 1869).
(Functionalist Perspective)

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Contemporary Society
Talcott Parsons, a leading functionalist thinker concerned himself with the role of the family in
industrial societies. In parson’s view, the family operates most efficiently with a clear-cut sexual
division of labor in which women take the expressive, emotionally supportive role and men the
instrumental, practical role, with the two complementing each other (Parsons & Bales, 1956).
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
Expressiveness denotes concern for the maintenance
of harmony, providing care and security to children and
offering them emotional support and the internal emotional
affairs of the family (Giddens, 2001; Schaefer, 2007).
(Functionalist Perspective)

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Anthropologist George Murdock (1949) saw it as both practical and convenient that women should
concentrate on domestic and family responsibilities while men work outside the home. On the
basis of a cross-culture study of more than hundred societies, Murdock conclude that the sexual
division of labor is present in all cultures. While this is not the result of biological ‘programming’, it
is the most logical basis for the organization of society.
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
(Functionalist Perspective)
Instrumentality refers to an emphasis on tasks, focus on more distant goals, being the bread-
winner in the family and a concern for the external relationship between one’s family and other
social institutions (Giddens, 2001; Schaefer, 2007).

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2. The Conflict Perspective
Where the functionalist see stability and consensus, conflict sociologist see a social world in continual
struggle. The conflict perspective assume that social behavior is the best understood in terms of conflict
or tension between competing groups.
In relationship to gender, Conflict theory explains that gender inequality came to exist because the men
are trying to maintain power and privilege at the cost of the women’s benefit.
Men have become powerful in industrial times because their size, physical strength, and freedom from
childbearing duties allowed them to dominate women physically (Schaefer, 2007). In contemporary
societies such consideration are not so important, yet cultural beliefs about the sexes are long
establishment, as anthropologist Margaret Mead (1973) and feminist sociologist Helen Mayer Hacker
(1974) both stressed.
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality

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(Conflict Perspective)
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
If we use an analogy of Marx’s analysis of class conflict, we
can say that males are like the bourgeoisie or capitalist; they
control most of the society’s wealth, prestige, and power.
Females are like the proletariat, or workers; they can acquire
valuable resources only by following the dictates of their bosses.
Men’s work is uniformly valued; women’s work (whether
unpaid labor in the home or wage labor) is devalued (Schaefer,
2007).

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Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
(Interactionist Perspective)
3. Interactionist Perspective
While functionalist and conflict theorists who study gender stratification typically focus on macro-level
social forces and in institutions, interactionist researchers tend to examine gender stratification on the
micro level of everyday behavior. From a symbolic interactionist perspective, gender inequality is
produced and reinforced through the socialization process as well as daily interactions and the use
of symbols.
In response to this phenomena, the sociologist Charles H. Cooley’s developed the theory of the
“looking-glass self” (1902). In this theory, Cooley argued that an individual’s perception of himself
or herself is based primarily how society views him or her. In the context of gender inequality, if
society, that man will consider himself as masculine. Men and women are expected to perform their
gender to the point that it is naturalized, and thus, their status depends on their performance.

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Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
The Feminist Perspective
The feminist movement has given rise to a large body of theory which attempts to explain
gender inequalities and set forth agendas for overcoming those inequalities. There are three main
feminist perspectives-
a. Liberal feminism
b. Radical feminism
c. Black feminism

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Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality (Feminist Perspective)
Liberal feminism
Liberal feminism looks for explanations of gender inequalities in social and cultural attitudes.
They draw attention to many separate factors which contribute to inequalities between men and
women. For example, liberal feminist are concerned with sexism and discrimination against
women in the workplace, educational institution and the media. They emphasis that the
equality in law is important to eliminating discrimination against women (Giddens, 2001; Mill,
1869).

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Radical feminism
Radical feminist believe that men are responsible for and benefit from the exploitation of women.
The analysis of patriarchy- the systematic domination of female by males is the central concern
to this branch of feminism. They concentrate on the family as one of the primary sources of
women’s oppression in society. According to this view, domestic violence, rape and sexual
harassment are all part of the systematic oppression of women as inevitable in all male
dominated societies, whether capitalist, socialist, or communist (Giddens, 2001; Mill, 1869).
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
(Feminist Perspective)

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Black feminism
Black feminism concentrates on particular problems facing black women. Black feminist have
seen, factors such as class and ethnicity, in addition to gender, as essential for understanding the
oppression experienced by non-white women. Black women are multiply disadvantaged, they
argue, on the basis of their color, sex, class position. American black feminist emphasize the
influence of the powerful legacy of slavery, segregation and the civil right movement on gender
inequalities in black community (Giddens, 2001; Mill, 1869).
Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality (Feminist Perspective)

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Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
Perspectives Emphasis
Liberal feminist Gender inequality in terms of social and cultural attitudes
Radical feminist Men are responsible for the exploitation of women through patriarchy system
Black feminist Black women based on class and ethnicity oppressed by white women
Table 1: Feminists Perspective of Gender Inequality
(Feminist Perspective)

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Table 2: Comparing Major Theoretical Perspective of Gender Inequality
Functionalist Conflict Interactionist Feminist
View of inequality Contributes to social
stability
Rooted in the female-
male power relationship
Reflected in people’s
everyday behavior
Men greater privilege and
power over women
Level of analysis Macro Macro Micro Macro
Key concepts
Division of labor,
social system
Dominant, subordinate Symbolic interaction, role
performance, masculinity,
femininity
Patriarchy, race, class,
ethnicity
Proponents Talcott Parsons,
George Murdock
Karl Marx Charles Horton Cooley John Stuart Mill’s
Limitation
Conservative,
neglected women
rights
Over emphasis on the
economic basis
inequality
Lack of attention to macro
level processes
Minimize the practical
benefits of marriage and
family

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Wood, J. (2005). Gendered Lives. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Scribne.
Giddens, A. (2001). Sociology. Oxford: Polity Press.
Hacker, H. M. (1974). Women as a Minority Group, Twenty Years Later. Denmark: Beverly Hills.
Mead, M. (1973). Does the World Belong to Men-or Women? Redbook, 141, 46-52.
Mill, J. M. (1869). The Subjection of Women. London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer.
Murdock, G. (1949). Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.
Parson, T., Parsons, T., & Bales, R. F. (1956). Family: Socialization and Interaction Process.
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Schaefer, R. T. (2007). Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
References