Gender

Around the world, gender is the primary division between people. Every society sort’s men and women into separate groups and give them different access to property, power, and prestige. These divisions always favor men as a group. This is known as gender stratification.

According to historian and feminist Gerda Lerner there is not a single society known where women-as-a-group have decision-making power over men (as a group). Consequently, sociologists classify females as a minority group.

Some analysts believe that in hunting and gathering societies, women and men were social equals and that agricultural societies also had less gender discrimination than is common today .In these societies, women may have contributed about 60 percent of the group’s total food. Yet, around the world, gender is the basis for discrimination.

Difference between sex and gender are defined as Sex refers to biological distinctions between males and females. It consists of both primary and secondary sex characteristics. Gender, in contrast, is what a society considers proper behaviors and attitudes for its male and female members. Sex physically distinguishes males from females; gender refers to what people call “masculine” and “feminine.”

Credit: Notes from James M Henslin, “Sociology- A Down to Earth Approach”