Sociology - Social Inequalities: Class and Gender

Not just about economic capital.

. Also 'educational caital and cultral capital'.- Pierre Bourdieu. Habitus is therefore important.

But do these things necessarily co-incide?

High in economic and cultural capital

High in economic, and low in cultural

Low economic and high cultural

Low in both.

Treatment by parents produces gender. Imitation and Identification.

Nancy Chodorow (1976) : Psychoanalytic approach.Femininity/Masculinity - rooted in emotional structes establishedin early life.e.g men emotionally restricted , independent and work orientated.Women more emotionally connected, less work orientated and attentive to others.

Sue Sharpe (1976)Children 'rehearse' future roles at home.Changes in attitudes.

Bronwyn DaviesReproduction of gender through social norms.Importance of social action: how we do gender.

"Merit rewarded in Britain is not divided by class,but united by aspiration." - Gordon Brown

To understand why social inequalities are reproduced...wealth retention, power, habitus.

Each class has its own habitus. Social class isan elementary fact.

We continue living in highly stratified societies.

Works to keep upper class powerful + lower class powerless

Much of this is unintentional.

Josepth Rowntree said the gap between rich and poor is at alltime high, widest in four years at the moment.

11 years life expectancy difference betweenrich and poor.

Roughly 20% of population suffer deprivation.

Some don't have high street bank account.Have to spend 10% income on energy bills.Poor access to transport.

What is gender?

Sex is biological, gender as social.

Gender is not inherent in people (biologicallyor psychologically).

a) Produced by social structures (Walby)b) Produced through micro-practices.

It is difficult to seperate the effects of nature and culture.

Bodies sit between nature and culture.