Functionalism: The Purpose Of Gender Categories

Structural Functionalism aims to understand society in an objective way. It views society as an entity that is “objectively real”. It emphasizes the unity of society, and how individuals perform roles and how these roles are vital in meeting the needs of the collective whole. For instance, because every society has stratification, stratification must have certain functions and these functions can contribute to the survival of the social system as a whole. Furthermore, structural

My ideal definition for gender is one that sets out not to rob us of the individual complexity we all possess for the sake of not agitating the social norms and status quos that dominate the mindset of our society. The Lorber reading has a compelling way of exemplifying this when she states, “…the norms and expectations get built into our sense of worth and identity as a certain kind of human being, and because they believe their society's way is the natural way." (Lorber 45) This quote brings up a certain dichotomy of debate within women and gender studies, one that was mentioned briefly in class, being how much of our perception of gender comes from an inherent sense of self and how much can be accounted for by social conditioning.

The Functionalist theory emphasizes the contributions (functions) that all parts of society (e.g., social institutions) make within society. This theory has contributed to sociology by providing a view “which emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain stability.” (Schafer 2013, pg13)

The Functionalist model outlines that social inequality is necessary in our modern society as long as recruitment is based on merit and rewards are distributed fairly. (Marsh, 2013) This indicates that people who work harder will get better opportunities in their life. Durkheim is a key Functionalist who states how society has changed since the 1900s and how traditional society has been replaced with modern society which is more focused on the division of labour (Study.com, 2015). The division of labour promotes differences and weakens social cohesion. Social cohesion refers to the willingness of members of a community to cooperate in order to survive. This means that even though the proletariat is the majority, people will not stand up to the bourgeoisie. Davis and Moore state "social inequality is an unconsciously evolved device by which societies insure that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified persons" which means that people who are more talented deserve the most important roles

Each person in society works with whatever role they are given and together they work to create a working system. If these roles are progressive and seem to work, they are seen as a “norm”. These become social norms and then these ideas are placed upon others and people assume it is their duty to act a certain way. If the person does not act in the way society deems normal, they are outcasted. Through the functionalist theory, if everyone is acting according to their role and performing their part of the labor, then conflict is

The Functionalist theory believes that society functions so that each individual plays a specific role. Their perspective of social inequality is the belief that "inequality is not only inevitable but also necessary for the smooth functioning of society."

Social Inequality refers to any difference between groups or individuals in society which results in one having inferior life chances than the other. Functionalists believe these inequalities are the result of the meritocracy we live in. This is a system based on the idea that social stratification is necessary and desirable for the society. Functionalists argue that inequalities have a purpose; they are functional for society. Functionalism is a structural theory based on the notion that society is based on shared values. This consensus means that society will be in a state of equilibrium and there is harmony, as a result of which there will be social solidarity.

Functionalism looks at society in aspects of how it contributes to the steadiness/cohesion of the whole society (Anderson, Taylor, & Logio, P. 18). There are many institutions that are looked at that include the economic system, government, education, religion, health care, and family. All of which have different roles and perform different functions to ensure that society operates in a well-ordered manner. An example of this would be how family reproduces, takes care of children, exposes children to culture and heritage, supports other family members, and shares life experiences. Shared values and social stability are keys to this perspective. When this system breaks down it is because people’s needs are not being covered and shared values are deteriorating. When this occurs, it affects all parts of functionalism and the society must achieve

It is no surprise that women, on average, earn less than men no matter their race or educational level despite being at the same work level as men. As seen from a functionalist perspective, women earn less than men due to many reasons such as the fact that they choose to get married and have kids, which in its turn interrupts their schooling and/or careers. Later, when women once again choose to focus on their careers they are already far behind their male counterparts. Functionalists also believe that society is a complex system made up of small parts that work together to make up a whole. This theory suggests that the wage gap only exist because one part of the population, (men), are needed for certain acts of labor, whereas the other part

The functionalist feels that social inequality is necessary for the society to work as a whole.

Functionalism looks at society as a part of many small parts that work together to meet the needs of a society. Conflict Theory sees society as a "survival of the fittest". Society is viewed as a competition with a finite amount of resources with people in society competing for resources such as education, jobs, and housing. Symbolic Interactionist Theory looks at how people interact with each other. This theory emphasizes that communication is the key to allow people to understand the society they are living

The Functionalist Perspective in sociology states that everyone in the society holds a position and in this position their status has a set of roles or certain behaviors that are required to perform the tasks at hand (Kornblum and Julian, 2004.) The roles consist of nurses at the medical institutions, lawyer's at international firms or just a blue collar worker at any type of factory. For the most part, each status' role is involved in an institution of some kind and is needed for the economy and society to function as a whole. "The Functionalist Perspective looks at the way major social instructions like the family, military, the health-care system, and the police and courts actually operate (Kornblum and Julian, 2004, 6.)" This basically means that for these institutions that are needed to fulfill these roles and duties for the economy, the roles and behaviors of employees need to evolve as a whole so that the institution can function (Kornblum and Julian, 2004.) For example, a nurse needs to know certain things about her job like what medicine can treat a certain

The way society is taught to be socialized is salient and goes unnoticed, therefore it is valid to claim that gender is socially constructed through our everyday practices, whether we are aware of the construction or not. With socialization beginning the instant a child is born, the process is continuous through out adolescence and varies dramatically across the two genders. With guidance from institutions and arenas such as education, sports, music and the mass media gender seems to be coerced, as it comes with a scripted set of behaviors and attitudes. This essay argues that gender is socially constructed on an everyday basis. To further explain this thesis the essay will draw on early childhood socialization of masculinity and femininity,

Functionalism relies on social stratification. Kingsley Davis, an American Sociologist and Demographer said "As a functioning mechanism society must distribute its members in social positions and induce them to perform the duties of these positions". Without this casting of society’s members, the institutions would be unbalanced and equilibrium could not be reached. Functionalism sees this as a positive and inevitable aspect of society. In Marxism, the lower classes are exploited because they can be. Social change in Functionalism occurs when one of the institutions alters in some way. These changes only come about when society requests it. These changes in institutions cause society to behave, inevitably different.

Structural Functionalism is “A major sociological perspective that views society as an interdependent system of parts (structures) and purposes (functions) that work together to make a society operate (Larkin, 2015)”. In order for a society to work all parts of the same society must work together. In structural functionalism society nearly depends on one another to stay afloat. If Something changes it can causes a disruption in society and begins to make things become unbalanced. Functionalism focuses on many groups that make up society, for example Government, Judiciary, and religion are some of the key groups that benefits in society strengthening their social relationships and the very world humans live in.