Samantha Cook

CCAC Sociology 101 Online

Essay #4 Gender Stratification and Socialization

Robert Young

Nov. 8, 2015
 Gender socialization is defined as the process of learning the social expectations and

attitudes associated with one's gender. Sociologists explain through gender socialization why

males and females behave in different ways, and it is because they are brought up to believe in

different social roles applying to their own corresponding gender. In the year 1955, two

sociologists, Robert Bales and Talcott Parsons, wrote and published a book together titled

Family, Socialization and Interaction Process, which gave a functionalist explanation for the

existing role of the nuclear family and established family gender roles. Parsons and Bales

described the roles of women and men compulsory in order to support the individual family as

two entirely different roles, not acting as equals and sharing all responsibilities. According to

Parsons and Bales, the nuclear family, with its gender-based social roles, worked together in a

way that helped to support the economy and society. The functionalist clarification of the family

gender roles were advanced by Parsons and Bales, thus characterizing sociology's classical or

time-honored take on family gender roles up until the 1960s. (Finley)

Beginning in the 1960s, contemporary sociology, which was passionately and forcefully

influenced by the feminist and civil rights movements, has since then argued that family gender

roles as well as the gender roles of society, are coinciding and changing to adequately help build

the shared responsibilities of employment, education, and parenting among both men and women

alike, not one particular gender being assigned or expected to do different tasks. Talcott Parsons

described gender differences in terms of harmonious roles that promoted the social integration of

families and society as a whole. Sociologists today still study family gender roles as an opening

to more information which further explores how gender is performed and manufactured within
its social construct roles and norms, and how relationships among ones’ friends and or family are

shaped and maintained; and the ways in which the family unit affects society. (Parsons)

This is a very broad and vague topic in which I will be able to present you with many

examples. The sociology of family gender roles is divided up into five parts: an outline of family

gender roles and social roles in general; a discussion of the family studies field; a description of

social role theory; an analysis of the issues associated with changing family gender roles; and an

exploration of the ways in which sociologists apply social role theory to studies of family life

and behavior. Understanding how sociologists determine and study family gender roles is vital

for all those interested in the sociology of family and relationships which also connects to the

gendered division of paid work.

Functionalists put forward a structuralist view of the family and within that context, how

they understand gender roles that are solely focused on in a marriage. Parson believed the gender

division of labor was human nature, and exactly what everyone else had wanted. He also

suggested that men and women had profound personality types and differences which were

determined simply by gender. Parson suggested that the roles which were typically carried out by

women were not inferior, just different from the roles of men. They were seen to be flattering and

dainty compared to the roles which are carried out by men, which are typically more strenuous

than doing housework and looking after the family. He believed that women were more eloquent

than men, and children were best socialized when they live in a caring environment with a less

stressful atmosphere. (Parsons, Bales)

The expressive female was also essential to calm the adult male personality by meeting

his passions as well as his sexual desires. As a result, the family seems to benefit when the
women stay at home. Also, men are better at providing for their family because they have

involved and persuasive and driven personalities. He also stated that in the working class society,

remote nuclear families have become more dominant. These families have become distant from

their extended families because of prior obligations such as work demands. The married couple

must therefore look to one another to provide for their needs when the time comes.

Feminists unfortunately seem to continuously argue that the gender division of paid labor

is culturally created and outdated, and that there is not enough existing proof that marital roles

have become more shared as the years have gone by. Feminists have views that portray that the

division of paid labor as simply working to the advantage of men, leaving the women as viewed

lower in their status, in both their work, power, and paid wage. Feminists believe the idea of

family is patriarchal because women are stereotypically expected to do housework without pay,

which supposedly makes full use of their time and well being while simultaneously oppressing

women because by society’s standards, women are expected to be dependent on men. According

to Ann Oakley's (1974) research, women still felt that housework and childcare was their

responsibility, even if and or when they are employed, they still take on the responsibility of

childcare and housework, this is known as the “triple shift” idea. Feminists also disagree with the

new rights view of separate roles and they disagree with the “march of progress” view, stating

that society has not changed and it is still unequal. (Oakley) In my opinion, even as a woman and

as contradictory as it may sound, I do not agree with the many arguments of feminism, and I

believe that the wage gap is completely understandable.

It is a commonly known fact that men are paid more than women are paid over the

courses of their lifetimes. AAUW’s The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap sufficiently
addresses these issues by going beyond the widely reported 79 percent statistic. The article

explains the pay gap in the United States. For example, in 2014, women working full time in the

United States typically were paid just 79 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 21 percent.

The gap has narrowed since the 1970s, due largely to women’s progress in education and

workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. But progress has stalled in

recent years, and the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own. As a rule, earnings

increase as years of education increase for both men and women. However, while more

education is a useful tool for increasing earnings, it is not effective against the gender pay gap.

(Hill)
Works Cited

Parsons, Talcott, and Robert Freed Bales. Family socialization and interaction process.

Vol. 7. Psychology Press, 1956.

Finley, Gordon E. "Parsons and Bales revisited: Young adult children's characterization of

the fathering role." Psychology of Men & Masculinity 7.1 (2006): 42.

Oakley, A. (1981). Interviewing women: A contradiction in terms. Doing feminist

research, 30(6), 1.

Hill, Catherine, Ph.D. "The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Fall 2015)." AAUW:

Empowering Women Since 1881. AAUW, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.