Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online

Extract

Women's position in the economy and their general well-being in all other spheres of life depend heavily on the type of society in which they reside. All societies have a complex division of labor by sex. In some, men's and women's tasks are not differentially evaluated and rewarded; in others differential evaluation is so strong that men receive the lion's share of property, material goods, and rights and privileges while women become the property of men and their work and work products are controlled by men. Societies differ because of alternative modes of organization of the productive forces and the subsequent differences in the parts played by the two sexes in these economic arrangements. Gerhard Lenski (1966) described six different types of societies based on the level of technology of the primary means of production, while gender scholars (Dunn et al. 1999) filled in the distinct implications for women.In the earliest foraging and simple horticultural societies, women's contributions to food, clothing, and shelter ensured respect for them, as families depended on women's work for survival. Meanwhile, men garnered a bit more prestige because they hunted for the highly prized meat and distributed it outside the family. Material inequality was almost unknown because redistribution norms prevailed and each member of society had access to the means of production (Lenski 1966).When ... log in or subscribe to read full text