Social Stratification - Essay Example

Social Stratification Stratification has affected my life as much as the culture of the USA, stratification being a fundamental trait of the culture of my country. Money is a measure of power in the society (Eye of Paradox, 2007). Stratification has had mixed effects on my life. While on one hand, it has provided me with a basis to identify with people belonging to a certain class, on the other hand, it has eradicated the equality at all levels which has its own negative implications. My life would have been worse if I had been living in a caste-based system instead of a class-based system.

When individual lives in a class-based system, there is at least a hope that one day he/she would be able to move up the ladder by earning more money. The individual tends to make efforts for that like doing two or three jobs simultaneously. However, in a caste-based system, there is no hope that one would be able to improve the circumstances in the future, since the caste cannot be changed, and changing social perceptions about a particular caste is not any easier. Caste based system is more torturing and suppressing for the people at the bottom as compared to the class based system (Mahey, n.d., p. 149). There are three fundamental types of stratifications that one experiences in the everyday life, namely racial, ethnic, and gender stratification.

Of the three, gender stratification has the maximal role to play in the individual’s everyday life, followed by racial stratification, and lastly, the ethnic stratification. This is because of the fact that gender, race, and ethnicity of an individual are recognized by the society in the very order. Everyone belongs to a particular gender. Race is mostly unitary whereas it is possible for one individual to have more than one ethnicity (Conley, 2003). References:Conley, D. (2003). What is the difference between race and ethnicity?

Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-experts-03-02.htm. Eye of Paradox. (2007). The Impact of Social Stratification. Retrieved from http://eyeofparadox.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/the-impact-of-social-stratification/. Mahey, S. (n.d.). The Status of Dalit Women in India’s Caste Based System. University of Alberta. pp. 149-154. Retrieved from http://www.dalits.nl/pdf/StatusDalitWomen.pdf.