One of the most lively and social place to go and make some observation on the role of ethnic, gender or social stratification is in public malls around the city. I looked around and tour one of these malls and find out what things I could notice or observed that I needed in my study. I went to the place one Sunday afternoon where I expected more types of people to come. I stayed for about two hours. I went on particular places or departments to observe important gender or sexual orientations, gender roles and socialization rules and other social differences established by our culture or the society.
Inside the mall one can find the most diverse group of people from both genders male and female even some homosexuals, mixture of races from Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and even Asians, people from different age ranging from old to very young and also from different economic backgrounds, from those in upper and middle class families.
When it comes to gender socialization there are noted differences between men and women with their preferences, manner of dressing and how the malls cater to their particular interests and needs. Besides that, there are also who deviated from the norms and displayed their homosexual lifestyles. Malls are favorite hang out place to chill out especially by young people. Here you will observe that the young generation of people is free to express their individuality by making shocking fashion statements. Women are portrayed in advertisement usually as symbols of sex or lust so even young girls are seen and conditioned to wear revealing clothes that highlights their femininity. Men are symbols of dominance and authority so they tend to dress more conservatively.
In the structural-functional analysis, gender role identification is important to set boundaries between the roles of the two sexes and their designated or expected behavior in the society. Women need to adjust to the standards of the society as well as the men. Advertisements in malls have used women to promote their products and to attract men to buy them. But nowadays several advertisements have celebrated more femininity than masculinity so it seems that women have dominated men already. The culture seems to be more hegemonic but is accepted by many. Homosexuals also are gaining acceptance so they are free to express themselves in public. The overemphasized care for women’s beauty had made a big part of the shopping industry so when we go to malls expect more women than men inside. From different stores inside the mall gender stratification is applied from gift stores, music stores, drugstores, photo studios, movie houses and even store personnel policies. There are times that women are more favored than men since they have more variety of services to choose from.
How about ethnic stratification? Inside the malls there are diverse group of people coming from different races. There we can see that there are more mall employees who are whites than from other race. They are more accepted and can land jobs immediately. Mall security policies tend to be stricter than other race than with pure Americans. They are more popular and more accepted by those owning the business. White Americans tend to hold much better positions in different companies inside those malls while other races are found doing menial or low paying jobs.
Lastly social stratification also involves major differences in economic status. There are malls especially for those who are low income and mall shops that are especially for those who have more money. Better facilities and services are reserved for the rich ones or those coming from high profile in terms of wealth. Those from lower spectrum of the economy will certainly have no special privileges than those who have more wealth.
Work Cited
“Gender Stratification: Chapter Overview”. . 21 July 2009. <http://www.pearsoned.com/>
“Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity: Chapter Summary.” Online Learning Center 21 July 2009 http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/
“Sexual Orientation and the Local Mall” 21 July 2009 <http://osdir.com/ml/education.sociology.teachsoc/2007-08/doc6dPv0fzMuo.doc>
