Theories of Gender Inequality: M. Kirby, Stratification and Differentiation © Mark Kirby 1999

7 Theories of gender
inequality
By the end of this chapter you should:

• be aware of a wide range of sociological theories on gender in-
equality;
• be able to distinguish between three broad approaches to the
question of gender inequality, namely sex and gender socialisation
models, structural theories of patriarchy and sex and gender for-
mation approaches;
• have a critical understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of
each approach;
• be aware of the variety of theories contained within each broad
approach;
• have practised structured exam questions.
Introduction
There are biological variations in human physiology, and one of these
is the difference between men and women. The origins of the sociol-
ogy of gender lie in a challenge to biological theories of inequality.
The link between biology and differential treatment, which was seen
as the key explanation of why women were treated differently and the
fact that this differential treatment often meant unequal treatment,
with women treated as second-class citizens, has been questioned.
The term gender was developed to suggest that the social roles allo-
cated to individuals identified as biologically male or female are not
natural in any way but socially constructed. The extent to which biol-
ogy constrains us to act in certain ways is seen as extremely limited
and certainly can not explain all aspects of differential treatment and
inequality.
In attempting to explain inequalities based on such constructed notions
of gender, early theorists focused on the socialisation process whereby
children learn to act in certain gendered ways. However this approach
tended to focus on attitudes and did not offer a developed notion of
how such attitudes are embedded in the structure of society, which
serves to reinforce such attitudes. The problem is therefore more than
simply a matter of trying to change attitudes.
118
M. Stratification
Kirby, Stratificationand Differentiation
and Differentiation
© Mark Kirby 1999
The central concept developed to explain the structural nature of
the oppression of women is that of patriarchy, meaning the systematic
power of males over females. This concept was developed in radical
feminist theory, which focuses on male power in the form of male
violence and control over women's bodies. Marxist feminists, on the
other hand, explain the structured inequality faced by women by refering
to the needs of capitalism.
One problem with explanations based on patriarchy is the tendency
to assume that all women face the same form of oppression since
patriarchy is conceived of as a universal phenomenon. The fact that
middle-class women may experience gender inequality differently from
working-class women, or black women differently from white women,
has led to concern that the category 'woman' is insufficient to de-
scribe the variations in experiences of inequality, and to a desire to
understand the differences between women in diverse situations. This
approach has been influenced by postmodernist notions that reject
all-embracing explanations. Finally the approach dismisses the divi-
sion between sex and gender since it rejects the idea that clear bio-
logical differences (sex) can be distinguished from gender. Such an
approach may be called 'sex and gender formation'.
This chapter will consider the various theories that have sought to
explain gender inequality:
• Biological theories of sexual inequality.
• The sociology of gender.
• Power and the structures of inequality: patriarchy and/or capitalism.
• Sex and gender formation
Biological theories of sexual inequality

The basic biological argument rests upon the proposition that the
hormones that differentiate the two sexes are responsible for their
different behaviours in society. For example it is argued that the greater
aggression exhibited by males, and which can be seen as the basis of
their dominance over females, results from male hormones such as
testosterone and androgen. Goy and Phoenix (1971) conducted
experiments on female rhesus monkeys and observed increased
aggression among monkeys injected with testosterone before birth.
Goldberg (1979) argues that testosterone is responsible for male domi-
nance and this explains the existence of male dominance in every
society. The two main criticisms of this theory are (1) it is mainly
based on experiments on laboratory animals, and as such the findings
are not applicable to humans in non-laboratory (that is, real life) situ-
ations; and (2) the studies correlate aggression with male hormones
and suggest that it is the hormones that cause the aggressive behaviour.
Theories of Gender Inequality 119

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7 Theories of gender

By the end of this chapter you should:

Biological theories of sexual inequality

Theories of Gender Inequality 119

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