According to Amnesty International, a range of crimes are commonly committed against individuals who do not conform to traditional gender roles or sexual orientations (however those are culturally defined). Inequalities based on sexual orientation and gender identity exist around the globe. Western nations, however, decry the practice and are working to expose and stop it. Nations favoring this practice, often through systems of patriarchal authority, defend it as a longstanding cultural tradition among certain tribes and argue that the West shouldnвЂ™t interfere.

Consider the controversy surrounding female circumcision (also known asВ female genital mutilationВ or FGM). Gender inequality is another global concern. Prejudice and discrimination-whether against a certain race, ethnicity, religion, or the like-can become a causal factor by creating and aggravating conditions of economic inequality, both within and between nations. For example, we can compare wages in the United States to wages in Mexico.В Social inequality, however, is just as harmful as economic discrepancy. Most of us are accustomed to thinking ofВ stratification as economic inequality. Examining social stratification requires a macrosociological perspective in order to view societal systemsВ that make inequalities visible.В Although individuals may support or fight inequalities, social stratification is created and supported by society as a whole through values and norms and consistently durable systems of stratification. All societies today have social inequality. Social inequalityВ is the state of unequal distribution of valued goods and opportunities. There are typically very few at the top and a great many at the bottom, with some variously populated layers in the middle. Unlike relatively even strata in rock, though, there are not equal numbers of people in each layer of society. SocietyвЂ™s layers are made of people, and societyвЂ™s resources are distributed unevenly throughout the layers.В Social stratification has been a part of all societies dating from the agricultural revolution, which took place in various parts of the world between 7,000-10,000 BCE. The distinct horizontal layers found in rock, called вЂњstrata,вЂќ are an illustrative way to visualize social structure. You may remember the word вЂњstratificationвЂќ from geology class.

ItВ refers to a societyвЂ™s ranking of its people into socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power.

Social stratification is a system of ranking individuals and groups within societies. (Photo courtesy of Just a Prairie Boy/flickr) Many factors determine a personвЂ™s social standing, such as income, education, occupation, geography, as well as age, race, gender, and even physical abilities. People are sorted, or layered, into social categories. Figure 1.В Strata in rock illustrate social stratification.

Thinking rock clear sort