From the course Gender, Love and Sexuality, I learn a more integrated view about gender stratification

in the world.
Gender stratification can be perpetuated because sexism. Sexism is ideology about one sex is superior to
another sex. Sexism can be divided into two types, the first one is individual sexism and the second one is
institutional sexism.
Examples of individual sexism include the statement that Biology is density. It claims that men
dominant women because of biological difference. As the result, men and women should perform different
gender role. Gender role is some kind of cultural and our society expectation about what each gender should
perform. These expectations are myths and stereotypes. Gender stereotype is an unreliable generalization
about oneself based on ones gender instead of ones individual characteristic. For example, homosexuality
appeared before heterosexuality which implied that people saw the same sex love abnormal and it was not the
role of gender. It is myths and stereotypes as the source of western culture, the ancient Greece, love between
an older man and a child men was norm. Also, in Platos The Symposium, it shows that ancient people
thought love between same sexes was just a kind of nature. The concept of heterosexual privilege was just
people wishful thinking.
Institutional sexism is talking about policy, procedure and legal system that offers different opportunities
to different sex. Example of this kind of sexism includes Patriarchy. Patriarchy, the rule of father, is a system
of social organization that gives disproportional power to male. Example of disproportional power includes in
traditional Chinese family, father make all the decision while wife and children follow. Patriarchy also
strength another social organization, the masculinity. Masculinity has four interrelation parts which are
hegemony, subordination, complicity and Marginalization.
Hegemony can be performed as men always in dominant position while women in subordination. In
Hong Kong, it always appear in workplace. The unequal between men and women such as inequity pay and
incomparable worthiness. In equity pay, although salary between women and men almost equal, it found that
men always earn higher wage than female. In comparable worthiness, salary should be given base on the skill
and ability instead of gender. According to this principle, female in female-dominated sector should enjoy
same salary as the male in male-dominated sector, however, it found that female in female-dominated job earn
less than male counterpart in male dominated job. This situation may be can explained from two parts, first is
female themselves and the second is the employer. Female tend to choose sex appropriated job. They are less
willing to choose unpleasant and dangerous job or those require shift. Also, female tend to underestimate their
ability and bargain a lower salary. Employers are less willing to invest childbearing women. They see females
need less important, even female employers may have this attitude like men see women as others and women
have this kind of view too. And employers assign different position to male and female, and train them
differently. This may imply that employer value female dominated job less. Female is marginalized.
Hegemony not only creates female subordination group, but also group with different sex ordination.
Men with sex ordination other than heterosexuality are labeled as others. As system of society is dominated by
men, they will design the rule or even the law to protest their interest, to protest masculinity as the legitimate
way to being a man. It will create a lot of humiliation to make the others loss face such as calling somebody
sissy, turned, queer etc. I even think the word queer is from the word weird.
Female also take part in this hegemony, although female are being suppressed and marginalized, a
rebellion of women did not occur maybe because of female gain benefit from this unfair system too. As learnt
from lesson, one of the reason is female are separated into small group and cannot centralized the power.
Masculinity also encourage male to be gentle, the bread earner etc. Just like Connell said there were a great
number of who support patriarchy but also were gentle to their wives, their mother and never had violence act
to women, they also shared the workload of housework etc.

People are using feminism to combat gender stratification. Feminism is an advocate of equality
between men and women in term of social, economic and political aspect. I think feminism in Hong
Kong is to expand the right for women such as Equal Pay for Equal Work. Replacing domestic
housework by collective means of housework and children such as child care central, domestic
helper etc.
However, it has a strange feeling that female seeking independence at the same time seeking a
perfect another part to rely. And sometime, it has a feeling about feminism is seeking another
form of patriarchy, they seeking absolute equal opportunity at the same time less responsibility. I
believe it is only a small part of people with this view.