Marginalisation is the powerlessness and exclusion experienced by a group, resulting from an inequality of control of 'resources and power structures' (Kenny 1999 p 22) within society. Feminism argues that woman are marginalised due the patriarchal structure of society (Andrews 200 p28). In an attempt to explore my own position in society as a woman, I have chosen to research the marginalisation experienced by women in terms of gender, class and age. I have taken a sociological approach to my research, which included a literature review of sociological papers written in relation to gender, class and age, and two interviews with a woman (who for the purposes of confidentiality, will be referred to as Sally), about how being a woman has affected her life experiences. By comparing the information given by Sally, to the previous research conducted by sociologists, I will identify examples of how women are marginalised in modern society, and reflect on these findings to broaden my own understanding of womanhood.
             Social Science is an area of study which 'attempts to explain social phenomena', such as marginalisation, by using systematic and scientific methods to analyse 'the social world' (Lucas 2004 p7). Sociology is a branch of Social Science, and explores the relationship between people and society (Lucas 2004 p 21). A sociological approach to research examines 'how the larger societal context can provide social or cultural explanations for social behaviour' (Lucas 2004:21). Therefore the interviews conducted for this research focused on how the interviewee's experiences affect her perception of her social status. The first interview was informal and consisted of unstructured questions relating to Sally's age, gender, class, religion, race and ethnicity. The questions asked in the second interview were more structured and related specifically to Sally's gender, class and...