The Role of Gender in Privilege

Privilege refers to a special right, immunity or advantage available or granted only to a particular individual. It is unique in that just a specific group enjoy it. For example, according to Barak, Leighton, and Flavin (2010), female especially in their youth enjoy the privilege of having not to prove themselves as socially strong as compared to the males in the society. Similarly, although the number of females who are within the voting stage is high than males when it comes to politics, men have high winning chances especially on those top positions. Also, when it comes to technical fields such as engineering and science, the male gender is considered much proficient than the female gender. The privilege that a person enjoys is also influenced by gender. For instance, when it comes to the economic sphere, females are underprivileged since they are excluded from many job opportunities.

Increase in the number of incarcerated females in prison has risen over the past few decades and has surpassed those of males over this period. According to Chesney-Lind and Pasko (2013), the number has increased to nearly double the rate of men incarceration since 1985. Changes in the law system have prompted this, for instance, mandatory sentencing has been enforced for certain forms of offenses such as drug offenses. Similarly, sentencing reforms such as the mandatory minimum and sentencing guidelines, for example, truth in sentencing legislation has resulted in more women incarceration. Under the law gender matter, and as a result, some legislation treats women differently as compared to men. Based on some factors such as dominance, women are not the same as men, and since most legislations are based on the men standard, these are made different.

References

Barak, G., Leighton, P., & Flavin, J. (2010). Class, race, gender, and crime: The social realities of justice in America. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Chesney-Lind, M., & Pasko, L. (2013). The female offender: Girls, women, and crime. Sage.