ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief exploration of the development of social theoretical explanations of the relationship and focuses on the specific analyses of gender dynamics at work in a vocational context. The connections among race, class, and gender have been little understood by educators. An important aspect of the role of a critical vocational educator involves pointing out to students where gender bisects the axes of race and class. Some intersections create privilege. Women need a form of political action that takes account of the connection between their role as caretakers of children and the feminization of poverty. Patriarchy is the gender arrangement in which men form the dominant social group. In a patriarchal society, the male role is granted higher status than the female role. Critical vocational educators dedicated to a progressive democracy and economic justice understand that Americans must reconceptualize their social responsibility to working women, to mothers and their children.
