What are the functionalist and conflict theories of the origin of gender roles?
Functionalist suggests that men perform instrumental roles and women perform expressive roles because that division is functional to the society. Conflict theory sees the almost universal inequality between the sexes in societies as an outgrowth of patriarchy the form of social organization in which men dominate or rule over women. Patriarchy assumes that men are superior to women based on sexism or the belief that one sex is inferior and thus deserves inferior treatment.
