This article is excerpted from Sociology 287: Introduction to Sociology at Athabasca University. For more details, visit this link.

We all see the world through eyes colored by the psychological imposition of gender. Girls are girls and boys are boys and never the twain shall meet. We think what we see is natural reality, but is it really? Sociologists would argue, not so. In truth, gender is less about physical reality and more about social control, the status quo, and power. At birth we are put in little gender boxes and these boxes limit us, and control us. Something to think about in the pink and blue world of modern life.

Women @ work? Progress has been made, but more work needs to be done. Women still fall short in top level CEO positions and are conspicuously absent in certain industries (like the tech industry). Why is this? And what obstacles do women still face when entering and thriving in the workplace? Women are still the primary caregivers of the children. Women still take more time off than men. Women are still seen through the blinkered vision of a gendered world.

The scientist who coined the term "alpha male" has recanted! There's actually no such thing, he says. Could it be nothing more than ideological self-delusion?

The penetration of women into academe is growing, but at what cost? Babies get in the way and require valuable time away from a job that otherwise requires intense attachment and commitment, and so if women are to compete and advance at acceptable rates, they choose to postpone family. Do men make the same sacrifices? Is this fair to the children whose parents may be enmeshed in the demands of work and emotionally, even physically, absent. Inquiring sociologists want to know.

The indoctrination, ahem, socialization starts at birth. Pink for girls, blue for boys. Up until recently you've been unable to escape it. But is it finally time for a change?