A Strong Partner for Sustainable Development

Module
in

GEE1
Course Code

GENDER AND SOCIETY

College of __________
Course-Major
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Module 4

GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR

Topic

1st Semester AY 2020-2021

Abegail P. Arpon
Instructor

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER CONTENTS PAGE

Table of Contents 3
Instruction to the User 4
Introduction 5
Chapter 1 6
Title of the Chapter 6
Overview 6
Learning Outcomes 6
Time Allotment 6
Pre-test 6
Lesson 1
Learning outcomes 8
Discussion 8
Evaluation/Post-test 8
Lesson 2
Learning outcomes 10
Discussion 10
Activities/Exercises 10
Evaluation/Post-test 12
References 13
Student Information 13
Core Values 14

INSTRUCTION TO THE USER

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This module would provide you an educational experience while

independently accomplishing the task at your own pace or time. It aims as
well to ensure that learning is unhampered by health and other challenges. It
covers the topic about ____________________________.

Reminders in using this module:

1. Keep this material neat and intact.

2. Answer the pretest first to measure what you know and what to be
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4. Answer the post-test to evaluate your learning.
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INTRODUCTION

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In each society, men and women perform gender-specific tasks to help

support their families and communities. In the Republic of the Philippines, Western
influence and colonization have greatly contributed to this gendered division of
labor, with men working for pay outside the home and women working within.
Because this gave men financial and political control over their families, a social
hierarchy formed in which women were typically subjugated to both their husbands
and their patriarchal governments, which supported this division. In recent decades,
however, the distinction between the roles of men and women has blurred. The
Philippines, like many other undeveloped countries, is exporting an ever-growing
portion of its female workforce to the First World, where the majority of these
women will work for pay as domestics and prostitutes. This unparalleled labor trend
has had dramatic consequences on the migrant women, their children and families,
and the society of the Philippines.
The reasons behind this migration are centered in the patriarchal
nature of globalization. The political economy of gender: women and the sexual
division of labour in the Philippine by Elizabeth Eviota explains that women are
being pushed into migration because the male “head of the household” often does not
make enough money to support the family and increase their standard of living (129).
She lists emerging social changes due to the globalization of the economy: “expanded
education, women recruited into wage labour, women working away from home,
migration to towns and cities, emigration to foreign countries” (133). In their
introduction to Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New
Economy, a collection of essays co-edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell
Hochschild, the pair expand on these ideas. They assert that the male-dominated
force of globalization has created a worldwide climate of competition that forces
undeveloped countries like the Philippines to try to adapt to the values and standards
of living of developed Western nations, oftentimes by taking loans from the IMF or
World Bank and then being subsequently forced to boost industry and eliminate
social programs that aid poor women and their children. All the while, these
developing nations are being exploited by Western nations for their natural resources
and cheap labor force, but this influx of Western business destroys local economies
to the point where the average Filipino man cannot find a well-paying job to support
his family in the traditional way. The Filipina wife or daughter must then work to
make up the difference, but since domestic labor in a Western society pays better
than a skilled career in her own, she often travels abroad to earn money for her
family. Conveniently, Western women demand foreign nannies as they increasingly
sacrifice caring for their family—“women’s work”—so that they can excel in the
workplace and succeed in a “man’s world.” In neither society are the male heads of
household extraordinarily willing to contribute to raising children and keeping house
(8-9).

Chapter 4
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GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR

Overview
Filipina domestics typically sacrifice their children as well. Rhacel Salazar
Parreñas, in her essay “The Care Crisis in the Philippines: Children and
Transnational Families in the New Global Economy,” states that, “When female
migrants are mothers, they leave behind their own children, usually in the care of
other women” (39). Filipinas migrate to provide domestic care for Western women’s
children, leaving their own children in the care of other women in the Philippines.
Suddenly, childcare is a job which any woman looking to earn a wage can fill. These
working women send money back to their own children, but, while money can fund
an education and purchase a home, it cannot relieve the emotional strain of missing
a mother half a world away who is caring for other children in exchange for money.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the chapter, the student can:
1. Identify and explain the social stratification of gender existing in the society;
2. Recognize the differences in the productive, reproductive and community
level roles of both men and women in the society;
Time allotment: 3 hrs.
Pre-test: What do you know?
DIRECTION: Write the letter of the correct answer. Answer the following questions
honestly before reading the proceeding to the main lessons. Avoid erasure.
1. Is an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked on the
basis of their access to scarce resources?
a. Stratification c. Institutionalized
b. Structification d. None of these
2. Refers to the amount of social honor or value afforded one individual or group relative to
another. Also referred to as status
a. Structification c. Power
b. Prestige d. Caste system
3. Refers to the ability to direct others’ behavior even against their wishes.
a. Structification c. Power
b. Prestige d. Caste system
4. is a system of stratification whereby people are classified according to their
economic possession.
a. slave system c. caste system
b. estate system d. class system
5. Is also known as feudal systems, are characteristics of pre-modern, pre-
industrial, agrarian (agricultural) societies, which were common in the
continents of Europe and Asia in the Medieval Era through the 1800s.
a. slave system c. caste system
b. estate system d. class system

Lesson 1: Social Stratification

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A. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you can:
1. Define and discuss the stratification and its functions;
2. Explain the various stratification systems.

B. Discussion
STRATIFICATION
Structure of Inequalities
Inequality exists all around us. Much of sociological research focuses
on one particular kind of inequality called stratification. Stratification is an
institutionalized pattern of inequality in which those who hold some social
statuses get more access to scarce resources than do others. For example,
giving a son more financial help than a daughter because the son is nicer is
not stratification. But if a son receives more help simply because he is
male, that is an example of stratification.
Inequality becomes stratification when two conditions exist:
The inequality is institutionalized, backed up both by social structures
and by longstanding social norms.
The inequality is based on membership in a group (such as oldest sons
or blue-collar workers) rather than on personal attributes.
The scarce resources that we focus on when we talk about inequality are
generally of three types: prestige, power, and money. Prestige, like status,
refers to the amount of social honor or value afforded one individual or
group relative to another. Power refers to the ability to influence or force
others to do what you want them to do, regardless of their own wishes.
When inequality in prestige, power, or money is supported by social
structures and long-standing social norms, and when it is based on group
membership, then we speak of stratification.

Functions of Stratification

The key functional necessity of stratification is the requirement faced by

society of placing and motivating individuals in the social structure (Davis
& Moore, 1945). Aside the social classes that social stratification creates
therefore, it also performs key functions for societal integration, continuity
and development. According to Davis and Moore (1945), Johnson (2013),
Ritzer (2011), and Shankar-Rao (2006), some of the functional necessity of
stratification are explained thus:
1. Social stratification determines individual placement: All individuals
cannot be found in prestigious positions for instance, every individual
would strive to occupy the positions they desire while considering the
rewards the society has to offer for those positions. Hence, encouraging
competition and hard-work.
2. Social stratification encourages competition and hard-work: Social
stratification encourages members of society to aspire for the top position;
average human beings do not aspire to be at the bottom (although some
may choose to be there).

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3. Social stratification regulates human relationships. Human behaviour in

the upper class is different from those in the lower echelon in stratification
system. For instance, while a lower class woman may decide to sit on the
floor in public place where no chair is available, an upper class woman may
choose to remain standing even when required to sit.
4. Social stratification performs economic function: According to Davis
and Moore (1945), individuals must be motivated to perform the duties
required of their positions. This requires motivation to fill certain positions
and to perform the duties attached to them.
5. Social stratification serves as social control: Existence of social classes is
functional to every society. Each social class has its own sub-culture which
guides and controls the behaviours of members. Certain amount of mutual
antagonism between social classes is therefore useful as one social class
serves as reference point to another. Thus, different social classes act as a
means of social control.
6. Social stratification engenders different socialisation: With the existence
of social stratification, individuals are born into different social classes
which in turn lead to different training and upbringing of members of
society. With different socialisation comes different values, norms, and
standards of behaviours. Different perspectives of life eventually make
individual members of society to seek different occupations.
7. Social stratification performs integrative functions: Members of one
class tend to restrict their intimate association to those they share class
with and rarely establish relationship with members of different class. This
is not pride or humility, but such relationship flows due to shared values
and norms of every social class. This tends to integrate members of same
class and perpetuate their peculiar values and interests.
Systems of Social Stratification

Systems of stratification can also be referred to as types of stratification

or forms of stratification. Historical sociology has shown the existence of
various stratification systems in human history. The varying of these
systems are conditioned by the degree of vertical mobility and the rate at
which people are permitted to move in and out of a given strata (Kerbo,
2006).
 Slave system: The oldest and most closed stratification system is
slavery. Slave system refers to the ownership of people, as against the class
system’s ownership of people’s labour (Ennals, 2007). It involves a
situation in which one group or individuals (often known as masters) claim
ownership of another group or individuals (called slaves), such that the
privileged group or individuals take upon themselves the power to use,
command, abuse and possess the fruits of the underprivileged group’s or
individual’s labour (Livesey & Lawson, 2010).
Estate systems: Estate systems, also known as feudal systems, are
characteristics of pre-modern, pre-industrial, agrarian (agricultural)
societies, which were common in the continents of Europe and Asia in
the Medieval Era through the 1800s. This system was based on land
ownership because farming was the predominant occupation and
there were no machines to produce goods.
Caste systems: The Hindu caste arrangement, particularly as it
operated in India prior to 1900, serves as an example of a caste
system. Caste consists of family members who bear common name,

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who share common descent especially from a mystical ancestor, who

profess to follow same hereditary calling and who are regarded by
those that are competent to give an opinion as forming a single
homogenous community (Cooley, 1956; Risley, 1892).
Class systems: Class system is a common feature of industrial
society because industrialisation itself is a product of individual efforts
in a free market resulting in differing individual wealth. By definition,
class system is a system of stratification whereby people are classified
according to their economic possession.

CLASS
Relationship to
means of production

STATUS SOCIAL
Social honor,
prestige CLASS

POWER
Ability to influence
communal action

Lesson 2: productive and Reproductive Roles

A. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you can:
1. Discuss and describe the productive and reproductive roles,

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2. Differentiate the activities of women and men.

B. Discussion

Women's productive and

reproductive roles are often described
as being 'in conflict', as women's
increasing labour force participation
has not automatically resulted in
fundamental change in their childcare
and domestic responsibilities. Gender
stereotypes regarding women's roles
both at work and at home constrain
their work opportunities and
perpetuate the socio-economic model
of a male breadwinner – a model which is no longer the reality in many
developing and developed countries.
Whilst maternity leave and part time work policies have allowed
mothers to retain their participation in the workforce, they have also
contributed to occupational gender segregation and discrimination, rather
than triggering the labour force to adapt to working mothers' unique needs
and constraints. The extension of formal childcare arrangements is welcome
but largely falls short of what is required to comply with actual workforce
conditions and hours, thereby limiting women's work opportunities. With
women comprising a significant proportion of vulnerable workers in the
formal and informal economies, many mothers lack basic rights to care and
provide for their families. Women's unpaid work remains unacknowledged
and unaccounted for in labour and social protection policies, and women
continue to be the primary care givers to children at home, in addition to the
main providers of both formal and informal childcare arrangements.

Work-Home Conflict and Gender

As Martínez and Paterna (2009) indicate, gender ideology seems to

determine the percentage of tasks considered traditionally feminine by
members of the couple, such as washing, ironing, shopping, cooking, or
cleaning. It also generates a differential meaning about household chores for
men and women. Also, recent studies have shown that there is still a division

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of house chores by gender, depending on the gender role nuclei:

instrumentality inside and outside home for men; expressiveness and
instrumentality inside home for women (Fernández et al., 2016). All this
rationale, leads us to formulate hypothesis 1:
H1: There will be a division of household chores between men and
women based on traditional gender roles. Women will spend more time than
men in traditionally female household chores and men in traditionally male
ones.
Both men and women similarly perceive a lack of parity in performing
household chores, but perceive greater equality in the care of daughters and
sons (Yago and Martínez, 2009). This leads us to propose hypothesis 2:
H2: Women will perceive their partners much less involved in
household chores and only focus on household chores traditionally
considered masculine. Men will perceive their female partners more involved
in traditionally female household chores, especially in those traditionally
considered feminine.

Implication in Household Chores and Work-Family Conflict

(WFC)
Time required for household chores and caring for the family is one of
the most important factors in the conflict coming from the family sphere,
especially in families with children. So, the dual-income couples with children
tend to have a greater number of conflicts between the partners and a higher
level of stress than their counterparts without children (Michel and Hargis,
2008). From this point of view, the gender roles model assumes that the
nature of the role demands differs in men and women, and these roles act as
moderators of WFC (Barnett et al., 1995).
The highest level of family to work interference in women comes from
the different implication of women and men in household chores, including
the care of children.
This time is spent on activities such
as caring for children (38 h a week
women versus 23 men) or family
members (20 h women versus 14 men) or
household chores (20 h women versus 11
men). So although women have begun to
strongly form part of the labor force and
to spend more time with their children
taking care of them, they neither assume
a decrease in their salary as much as
women do for work interruptions due to
family issues nor stay at home to take care of their children (Gerstel and
Sarkisian, 2006). Most men still maintain full involvement in their work
because their feminine couple assume the responsibility for caring their
children.
Moreover, men do not feel an
obligation when they are involved in the
home as women do, as they perceive it
more as a hobby or a free choice. Also,
those house chores that keep the home
every day (shopping, cooking, washing
dishes, washing clothes, and cleaning the

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house) are considered feminine, while those considered male or neutral tasks
(paying bills, taking care of the car or home maintenance) do not involve daily
devotion. Some cultural interpretation argue that women are more involved in
house chores and do not want to fully share because of the belief that this is
central to their gender identity and a source of power in the family, whereas
husbands, whose gender identity has traditionally been marked by paid work,
would not object to do less household chores than their wives (Martínez and
Paterna, 2009).

Evaluation/Post-test
DIRECTION: Give the differences of women and men. (Put check)

ACTIVITIES WOMEN MEN

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

References
https://sites.google.com/a/iastate.edu/republic-of-the-philippines/home/gender-
and-labor
https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/277811/1-s2.0-S1877042816X00122/1-s2.0-
S1877042816307698/main.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01330/full

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Vision 2020
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development of West Philippines and beyond.

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Mission
WPU commits to develop quality human resource and green
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WPU-QSF-ACAD-82A Rev. 00 (09.15.20)