Inequality,

Class and Social Structure

Worried about home foreclosures? Not
the wealthy. The rich now spend
$50,000 to $250,000 ( approx. P2m –
P10m )on their children’s playhouses
and tree houses.
 Social Inequality
- is the existence of unequal opportunities and
rewards for different social positions or statuses
within a group or society.

 Stratification
- to arrange or to
divide into classes
or social strata.
Global Inequality
What do you stand in line for?
 Causes

 Blame the poor - that the poor are responsible for

their own poverty. There are some evidences to
support this theory because the main reason people
are poor is the lack of employment.

 Blame the society - that society is responsible for

poverty. While it is true that unemployment is a main
contributor to poverty, the reasons people don't
work are more in line with this approach.
 Effects

 Social inequality affects nearly every dimension of our lives.

 Politics also follow class lines.

 The opposite pattern seems to be true for people

from poor backgrounds.

 Social class also impacts family life.

Sociological Perspectives in Global Inequality

 World Systems analysis(Functionalist and conflict)

 Dependency Theory(Conflict)

 Modernization Theory(Functionalist)
 Minority, Racial and Ethnic Groups

 Racial Group
 Physical Differences

 Ethnic Group
 National origin

 Culture

 Minority Group
 Less than half of some larger population

 Less control or power than majority

Social Class and Structure
 Social Stratification
 Social stratification is the organized pattern of social
relationships and social institutions that together
compose society.

 Social stratification are not immediately visible to

the untrained observer, however they are present
and affect all dimensions of human experience in
society
 Components of Social Stratification

 Institutions. These are established patterns of

human relationships. These include things like
family and politics that provide set ways for us to
interact with one another.
 Social groups. These are smaller groups that have
something in common with one another. This could
be something as small as a family or as large as a
religion.
 Components of Social Stratification

 Status. Within each social group, people have

different statuses. You can, for example, be the child
in a family or you can be the husband.
 Roles. These are the expectations that go with your
status. If you are a child in a family you are expected
to obey your parents, for example, but are not
generally expected to help support the family.
 Systems of Stratifications

Slavery

Castes

Estates
Social Classes
 Slavery

 The most extreme

form of legalized social
inequality for both
individuals and groups.
 Castes

 Castes are hereditary ranks that are usually

religiously dictated and that tend to be fixed and
immobile.

 Caste membership is an ascribed status (at

birth, children automatically assume the same
position as their parents)

 Each caste is quite sharply defined, and

members are expected to marry within that caste.
 Estates
 The estate system , or feudalism, required
peasants to work land leased to them by nobles in
exchange for military protection and other services
 Social Classes

A class system is a social ranking based primarily

on economic position in which achieved characteristics
can influence social mobility.

 Upper class
 Upper-middle class
 Lower-middle class
 Working class, and
 Lower class
Upper and Lower Classes
 Middle Class

Upper-Middle Class

Lower-Middle Class

Working Class
Social Construction of Gender
Introduction

 Gender roles are

 Gender roles are

created by humans to
of
their societies

 Life chances in the

stratification system
depend upon the
combination of age
and sex (and other
categories as well)
 Sex and Gender
Sex - biological characteristics.

Sex Characteristics:
Primary - physical characteristics.
Secondary - develop during puberty.

Gender - learned attitudes and behaviors.

Gender identity - perception of themselves as masculine or feminine.

Gender stereotypes - cultural beliefs about how men and women are
supposed to behave.

Gender roles - characteristics, attitudes, feelings and behaviors that

society expects of females and males.
 Gender roles within the
Philippines
GENDER ROLES IN THE
PHILIPPINES ARE FOUND IN
MANY DIFFERENT PLACES LIKE
SCHOOL SYSTEMS, DATING,
MARRIAGE, FAMILIES AND
WORKFORCE
 SCHOOL SYSTEMS

 strict on students, especially males.

 students must look presentable.
 only the wealthy go and receives the higher
education.
 males are better in math.
 females are more responsible.
 stressed by their parents.
SCHOOL SYSTEMS

 strict on students,
especially males.
 students must look
presentable.
 only the wealthy go and
receives the higher
education.
 males are better in math.
 females are more
responsible.
 stressed by their parents.
 DATING

 no date until the age of

eighteen.
 girl’s parents meet the
guy in a meeting first
before going out.
 male pays for the date.
 female on a date must
look presentable and
classy.
MARRIAGE

 economic status
determines the size of
the wedding.
 expectations for
women before marriage.
 male’s family pays for
the costs.
 FAMILY

 men have supreme

dominance in the house
hold.
 men are the sole provider.
 females are required to stay
at home and do the chores.
 women make more
decisions at home.
 driving responsibilities.
 elderly should not live by
themselves especially if they
have lost their spouse.
 WORKFORCE

Men Women

 early adopters of technology  can work longer hours

 demonstrate strengths in  honest
negotiation  compassionate
 tend to convey more  rank higher in leadership
confidence in
performance-oriented
settings
 score more promotions
Are LGBT people considered deviant?
Sociological Perspectives on
Gender
 Cross-Cultural Perspective

 Gender stratification requires:

• Individual socialization into
traditional gender roles within family
• Promotion and support of traditional
roles by other social institutions

• Every society has men and women who resist and

successfully oppose stereotypes
 Functionalist Perspective

 Gender differentiation contributes to overall social

stability
• Instrumentality: Emphasis on tasks
• Expressiveness: Maintenance of harmony
and internal emotional affairs of family

 Dividing tasks between spouses was functional for

the family as a unit
 Conflict Perspective

– Functionalist approach masks underlying power

relations between men and women

– Relationship between females and males

is traditionally one of unequal power

– View gender differences as reflection

of subjugation of one by another group
 Feminist Perspective

– Engels: “women’s subjugation

coincided with rise of private property”

– Many contemporary theorists view

subordination as part of overall exploitation and
injustice inherent in capitalist societies

– Matrix of domination: Convergence

of social forces that contribute to
subordinate status of poor, non-white women
FIGURE 11-1 MATRIX OF DOMINATION
 The Interactionist approach

– Study gender stratification on micro level

• Men more likely than women to:
– Change topics of conversation
– Ignore topics chosen by women
– Minimize ideas of women
– Interrupt women

– We “do gender” by reinforcing traditionally

masculine and feminine actions

– Continuing investigation of role of gender

in cross-sex conversations (crosstalk)
Sociological Perspectives on Gender
Women: The Oppressed
Majority
 Sexism

 Ideology that one sex is superior to the other

 Generally used to refer to male prejudice and
discrimination against women
 Institutional discrimination

 Denial of opportunities and equal rights to

individuals or groups as a result from the normal
operations of a society
 Women: The Oppressed Majority

 Women suffer both from individual acts of sexism

(such as sexist remarks and acts of violence) and
from institutional sexism
 Sexual Harassment

 Behaviour that occurs when work benefits are made

contingent on sexual favours, or when touching, lewd
comments, or the appearance of pornographic
material creates a “hostile environment” in the
workplace.
 The Status of Women Worldwide

 In too many nations women are denied equal pay,

sexually harassed at work, or dismissed from job
because of pregnancy

– Women everywhere
suffer from
second-class status
– Women not
responding passively
Women in the Philippine
Workforce
 Labor Force Participation

 Preliminary results of the October 2013 Labor Force

Survey (LFS) showed a 0.1 increase in the Labor
Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for females at
49.8% (from 49.7% in 2012), and 0.2 decrease for
males at 78.1% (from 78.3% in 2012).
 Labor Force Participation

 The number of employed and unemployed Filipinos

in October 2013 were estimated at 37.7 million and
2.6 million respectively. Female employment was
estimated at compared to 22.9 million
males.

 Female unemployment rate for the same period was

relatively lower at 5.9% which is equivalent to
compared to male at 6.8% which is
estimated at 1.7 million.
 ‘Women rule the workforce in the Philippines’

 Department of Labor and

Employment (DoLE) : “Females
have been steadily
in executive positions over
the last five years.”

 This, said Labor Secretary Arturo

Brion, citing an international
survey of several countries, made
the Philippines “
”.
 ‘Women rule the workforce in the Philippines’

 By 2004, the ratio was female

supervisors to 1.613 million males.

 In 2006, there were female managers

to 1.629 million males.

 Brion said 97 percent of businesses in the

Philippines have
, the highest among 32 countries surveyed
and also significantly higher than the global average
of 59 percent.
 ‘Women rule the workforce in the Philippines’

In 2006, women also dominated men in various

occupations:
 professionals - versus 2.2 percent
 technicians and associate professional -
versus 2.2 percent
 clerks - 7.7 percent versus 2.7 percent
 service workers and shop and markets sales workers
- versus 7.6 percent
 laborers and unskilled workers versus
28.8 percent
Emergence of a Collective
Consciousness
 Feminism

 Belief in social, economic, and political equality for

women
 Early Feminism in the Philippines

 The Philippines has been noted as having one of the

in the world.

 The was the site

for early feminism in the Philippines.

 These achievements reflect a long history of efforts

by women to in
governance as well as in society.
Gender Gap - Closed

 PH has had two female

presidents: Corazon
Aquino from 1986-1992
and Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo from 2001-2010

 First woman Supreme

Court justice Cecilia
Muñoz Palma in 1973
before the United States
had one: Sandra Day
O’Connor in 1981