Gender and Stratification

Abstract

Historically, men were supposed to focus their lives on producing an income and \nparticipating in the community. This emphasis meant that the value placed on achievement has been applied to men, especially White men, and that women were evaluated \nbased on ascriptive criteria. Thus, it is no accident that a woman would be asked, "What \ndoes your husband do?" at social gatherings. Men's status in the community depended on \nwhat they did for a living, on their productive activity outside the home. It indicated their \nplace in the stratification hierarchy, their ability to share in the distribution of resources. \nMen were often called breadwinners because their income put food on the table. \nWomen, by contrast, were supposed to reproduce, raise children, and care for the home. \nThis emphasis meant that educational and occupational opportunity was restricted no \nmatter how much ability they had or how hard they worked. Women's position was set by \nbirth; as wives, they were attached to men, accompanied men, and helped men succeed. \nIt would have been odd to ask a man, "What does your wife do?" Although women were \nnot usually called breadservers, that was their role. This rather rigid gender-based system \nof domination meant that women at every class level had restricted life chances. But the \nissue goes beyond sharing in the distribution of goods and services: Women have had less \nautonomy, less freedom to make life choices. The name for these expectations and the \nbasis for gender as a system of domination is traditional gender nonns. 1 Until recently, these different rules based on birth seemed right and proper. \nDuring the early 1950s, a popular television series called "Father Knows Best" epitomized traditional gender norms. The main character was Jim Anderson. He left \neach day in the family's only car to sell insurance. His wife, Margaret, stayed homeisolated and dependent. She watched the children, cleaned house, ordered groceries, \nprepared dinner, and provided any other support services Jim needed. Minor problems \noccurred in each episode that Jim would resolve, since, of course, "father knows best." \nLooking back, the popularity of this series suggests women's enormous ability to take a \n(bad) joke. After all, it was pretty clear that one sex was supposed to be the domestic \nservant of the other. These television characters mirrored social life at that time.

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