Feminist Theories: The oppression of women at home and in the workplace due to gender stratification“One is not born not a woman, but we become one,” says sociologist Simone de Beauvoir (quoted in Zaretsky). Similarly, sociologist Judith Butler argues that “gender is less a biological fact than a social fiction” (Zaretsky). Another sociologist, Berk, makes a similar claim, saying that the family is where one first learns to manage gender in accordance with societal norms; the creation and functioning of a family perpetuates society (Berk). These arguments, based on the work of Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault, are rooted in the idea that "what we consider essential human characteristics are rather malleable traits shaped by social habits", or in the idea that the characteristics we attribute to gender are socially constructed, as opposed to biologically predetermined (Zaretsky). However, these culturally constructed gender roles come with gender stratification. In the United States, for example, women are generally free to do what they want, as participation in traditional gender roles is less and less the social norm, although there are still double standards in society and the workplace. Even the act of marriage itself has rituals that assign specific gender roles, including the bridge being "given" to her husband and her being expected to take his last name. This also continues into marriage, where the wife is traditionally assigned to the home and responsible for cooking and caring for the children. In other countries, such as India and Saudi Arabia, however, women face discrimination from the government, which contributes to the maintenance of strict gender roles in society. Use the...... middle of paper ......pe Family Care." The New York Times September 17, 2012, sec. Ecnomix: n. pag. Print. Mathison, Dirk. "n Patriarchal Saudi Arabia, A woman's place is always at home, not at the front. " People September 10, 1990: n. pag. Web. Ritzer, George. Modern sociological theory. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. Print. Suad, Joseph Women and power in the Middle East. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. Print. Woman Suffrage: In the United States, 1776-1959. Encyclopædia Britannica Web. Zaretsky, Robert. ; in America, it is an academic discipline. in France, it brings angry people into the streets. by Robert Zaretsky." The Boston Globe March 2, 2014: n. pag. Print.