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A Cross-Cultural Comparative Analysis Of Levels Of Social Development And Gender Stratification, Helen Elisabeth Wells

Honors Papers

There is a current debate in social science literature, in Marxist theory, and in Feminist theory on the role of gender in affecting the form of inequality. Particular emphasis is placed on the controversy over whether or not women suffer universal exploitation and oppression. The debate over the role of gender in the stratification process is further complicated by a division in orientation: some consider gender inequality to be conditioned by relations of production or distribution that arise historically, and therefore are not universal (Engles 1968; Friedl 1978; Sacks 1974; Sanday 1974); while others trace it ultimately to fundamental biological …