Gender Stratification

“Gender stratification can be defined as social, societal classes where men are considered to have more and higher statuses than women. Gender stratification’s primary focus is on inequalities between men and women, depending on the life circumstances. The inequalities can be illustrated in terms of wealth, privileges, and power. Gender stratification can be analyzed from two perspectives: the historical and current views, which will be well explained in this paper.
Gender stratification started some years back; women were denied many opportunities to see only domestic objects. They were discriminated against in various contexts in terms of marriage, sexuality, and legal status. There are various rights that women were denied, but they made sure that they fought their way up and made sure that they were rights that recognized their existence (Wade and Ferree, 2015). They were restricted from voting, serving on juries, working after marriage, using birth controls in marriage, having custody of their children, be in a position to work in political offices, can enroll in the military, ask for a divorce in case of violence in marriage, have their wages and own properties. While they were denied access to all these aspects, the men had the legal right to vote and had the decision of either helping or providing solutions to the interests of their wives and children.
Women were perceived as men’s property as per the early legal codes. In the years 1700, women had little legal rights and still were denied privileges in most areas. Sexism was also practiced, where was the favourism of males as to the females. Sexism is believed to put more value on male children over females, and women are regarded as naturally weaker than men, which led to the belief that men can be the only ones fit to join in the leadership positions (Wade and Ferree, 2015). In China, during the one-child policy, their main focus was on the male child and not the female ones.
Historically, marriage was only meant to serve political, economic functions rather than love, personal fulfillment, and joy. Before the Victorian era, love was not considered as a reason to enter into marriages. Marriage was characterized by concerns gaining funds and resources, forming partnerships and alliances amongst families, and labor division where an organized marriage system was practiced and the elders of the family members used to make the marriage arrangements. Marriage has evolved, and several changes were initiated. The feminist activists in the years 1800 and 1900 advocated for women’s rights and were on the frontline to fight and end the property and patriarch marriages. Their main concern was that the females should be allowed to own property and not be the property to be owned by men (Wade and Ferree, 2015). Changes were beginning to be experienced where women gained the responsibility of being the breadwinner or housewives catered for the men’s domestic services. Men were to provide support to the services altogether. Failure to observe and support the women, men, were to be taken to court and charged with a contract breach. A family wage was introduced where the men received enough income payments to cater to the family needs. Women were also allowed to go to work as the era of traditional organized marriages was coming to an end, and women started having their incomes. The introduction of different marriages was present, such as gay marriage and courtship before marriage singlehood.
According to Wade and Ferree, the Puritans believed that sex was only meant for reproduction, and sex was not to be practiced for leisure or pleasure. Individuals who violated the rules received punishments in the form of public shaming, whipping, or death. There was a division in the public and private sectors where male and female social spheres were separated. The reproduction of children become low as the children were burdens since the onset of the agricultural era. The need to have a few children was on the rise due to the demands of going to schools and overpopulated lodgings, which were also expensive. Sex was no longer used for reproduction but as an expression for love.
Sexuality and reproduction perspectives were reviewed, and there was the introduction of the first birth control contraceptive in the years 1960. The Supreme Court enacted and passed the right to using birth control pills. Over time, single people were also allowed to the birth control method. Abortion became a legal action passed by the Supreme Court as well. There were police brutality cases and harassment towards gay individuals where they protested as homosexuality was believed to be related to mental disorder (Wade and Ferree, 2015). After the protests, they were allowed to go on with their practices, and it was no longer viewed as a mental disorder. Under sexuality, women wanted to correct the idea that they did not have the right to the masculine side in terms of sex. They wanted to make sure that their view about sexuality was respected and valued. Sexual freedom should be practiced to consent from both parties and not a coercive action.
Sexual violence was common in the past, where many cases of rape and assault were reported. There were approximately one point nine million numbers of women that were raped in the years back. Factors that led to partner violence were drug abuse, emotional abuse, lack of employment in men, social classes, and the family’s history of abuse. Sexual violence can be well explained n sexual scripts, which are the social rues of sexual interaction. Sexual assault is still present even in modern society. Female genders are the victims of rape. There is always the fear of exposing the criminals responsible for the actions (The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, n.d). Men have the highest percentage of ninety-two cases of arrest due to sexual assault.
The rape culture is the environment that views women as vulnerable objects to men and raises the bar for men as they are regarded as naturally aggressive. Rape culture is linked to justifying sexual assault by naturalizing and supporting sexual violence and pressure. Hookup is an example of rape culture forced or coerced behaviors ox sex are deemed as usual. It should be noted that hookup culture has the similarities of rapists, and it becomes a challenge in most cases where the victims believe that it was a sexual pleasure and not violence. Most cases of assault are from bisexual women.
In the modern world, there are differences in the employment sectors in different workplaces. The occupational classification of women and men in STEM employment shows the differences. STEM workers are employees who work in engineering, technology, and science jobs. Most of these jobs have more men than women, where mostly the minority groups are discriminated (Landivar, 2013). Most of the workers employed in this sector are men as they are believed to have more skills and this field of opportunity is better suited for men.”

Your assignment: Add more to this. Use the Powerpoints to help you on this. Do not repeat anything above. Use different ideas from the Powerpoints that I have provided you and elaborate on it. The topic above is talking about gender stratification (historically and currently). Do not add a introduction or conclusion. If you use any outside resources, cite it in APA.