SOC 2104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Role Theory
Document Summary
The earlier argument that power is the property of a group, not an individual, is related to the argument that gender is as much a property of institutions as it is part of our individual identities. One of the more significant sociological points of departure from sex role theory concerns the institutional le(cid:448)el of anal(cid:455)sis. As (cid:449)e"(cid:448)e seen, se(cid:454) role theor(cid:455) holds that gender is a property of individuals-that gendered people acquire their gen- der identity and move outward, into society, to populate gender-neutral institutions. To a sociologist, however, those institutions are themselves gendered. Institutions create gendered normative standards, express a gendered institutional logic, and are major factors in the reproduction of gender inequality. The gendered identity of individuals shapes those gendered institutions, and the gendered institutions express and repro- duce the inequalities that compose gender identity. To illustrate this, let us undertake a short thought experiment. Biological determinists and psychologists of sex roles would probably answer yes.
