The power of status

In Jane Austen's novels, social status has a lot of power on how a person is seen. Emma is of high status and can act however she wants without repercussions, yet people like Mr. Martin have to act extremely polite in order to get the least bit of respect, and are still not seen as "gentlemen". 

This being said, Emma's status does not erase society's expectations of her. She is a female and therefore must conform to the "female lifestyle". Knightley is watching out for Emma throughout the novel, but in this time period looking after someone is making sure they behave and follow society's rules. He aims to keep her in line and continually tests how much he can say to her before she gets upset, which I see as asserting his male dominance. 

I think social status certainly does allow for a more lenient lifestyle. The rules that apply to most town people do not apply to the more prestigious families such as the Woodhouses, but there is a difference between being male and rich and being female and rich.