PATTERNS AND TRENDS = FUNCTIONALISM

Question 1

What do functionalists argue about women and men in society?

Answer 1

• men and women have separate roles based on biological differences and that contributes to a smooth-running society
• women give birth and nursing a child is a natural
• women are domestically involved and men are breadwinners

Question 2

what does Murdock argue?

Answer 2

• studied gender roles in over 200 societies and found that women are located in homes due to the biological function of bearing children
• gender division in labour was evading in all societies and universally they were functional

Question 3

what do Parsons and Bales argue?

Answer 3

• men have instrumental roles and women have an expressive role

Question 4

what is the human capital theory?

Answer 4

• the wage gap and other employment-related differences can be explained by the human capital an individual develops through knowledge and skills they have obtained often through education
• personal incomes vary according to the amount of investment that is made in human capital

Question 5

what did Rastogi argue about human capital?

Answer 5

• sees human capital as knowledge competency attitude and behaviour embedded in an individual
• supports how men are work-oriented and committed whereas women choose to prioritise the role of homemaker and caring resulting in gender inequities in the workplace and so women have lower levels of human capital than men

Question 6

evaluation of functionalists

Answer 6

• feminist oakley has shown gender roles are socially constructed rather than biological differences
• human capital ignores structural constraints in society that cause disadvantages for women
• hasn’t kept pace with social change in gender roles
• refers to the experiences of the white middle class and ignores other social groups

Question 7

who are the functionalist sociologists arguing about gender inequalities?

Answer 7

• Murdock = biological factor in 200 societies studied
• Parsons and Bales = instrumental and expressive role
• Rastogi = human capital