The disproportionate focus of sociologists on professional and managerial occupations distorts many generalizations about gender, employment, and family. Concentration on this occupational minority has led to such assumptions as the following: paid employment is the major life priority for men, and family is the major life priority for women; women lack high commitment to enter and succeed in higher level occupations while men have such commitment; men's work is more prestigious than women's work; and women are excluded from more desirable "men's jobs" while men avoid "women's jobs." The overemphasis on highly prestigious occupations has also probably led to less intensive study of the labor force in general. For example, we know very little about the reasons for the declining male employment. Much attention has been given to the question of why women work while little has been given to the parallel question for men. More research is needed on blue collar women and on men in traditionally female fields. By incorporating data based on the entire labor force, we can avoid the distortions based on studying high status occupations and strengthen the sociology of gender and the sociology of occupations. (LMS)