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

Sociology - Essay Example This paper intends to focus on the influence of gender on life chances. Gender has a highly significant influence on life chances of an individual. Gender refers to ideas and practices that are 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. â€Å"Gender ideology was a crucial determinant of women's experiences in the early republic. Although new market imperatives made women's labor increasingly valuable to household survival (writ small) and capitalist production (writ large), older patriarchal arrangements continued to limit 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 furth er contributed by secondary socialization when they grow up. ... The family is an integrative and dynamic unit that can provide the foundation for one’s 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 often 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 children’s behavior in certain ways. At school females are good 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 numbers of women who do part time jobs are higher and, again, in most cases, they recei ve 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 power and supremacy automatically transfer to the hands of men. Patriarchy is a sexual system characterized by male superiority over power and economic privilege. â€Å"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