Explaining Gender Stratification and Inequality in the Workplace and the Household

Abstract

Dissatisfied by existing theoretical explanations of gender inequality in the labor market, Fiorentine and Brines argue for incorporating gender-based symbolic-normative structures as consequential for gender stratification. Fiorentine incorporates norm-based gender differences in occupational choice as determinants of gender stratification but largely fails in his effort to incorporate the concepts of agency and equity as the means by which inequality persists. Brines challenges the logic of a gender-neutral exchange in the division of household labor and succeeds in distilling evidence of how beliefs about gender are the currency of symbolic exchange between domestic partners. Although differentially successful in their efforts, both works recognize the importance of seeking gender-based cultural explanations of gender stratification.