social inequality
condition in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, power, or prestige
stratification
structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards & power in a society
income vs. wealth
income-salaries and wages
wealth-encompasses all of a person's material assets (land, stocks, property)
ascribed status
born with ex: being white, A.A, male, female
achieved status
something you earn to own efforts ex: getting job, college degree
class system
social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility
Rossides five class model:
1.upper class (1-2%) 2. upper middle class (10%) 3. lower middle class (30%) 4. working class (40%) 5. lower class (20%)
measuring social class: objective method
class largely viewed as a statistical category (education, occupation, income, place of residence)
prestige
respect & admiration an occupation holds in society ex: if lawyer vs. garbage person
esteem
reputation a specific person has earned w/in an occupation ex: rate my professor
wealth & income
-distributed unevenly
-Americans not seriously concerned about income/wealth inequality
-wealth much more unevenly distributed than income
-richest 5th of pop. hold roughly 84.5% of nation's wealth
absolute poverty
minimum level of subsistence that no family should live below, used as guideline to determine eligibility for gov. benefits
relative property
floating standard by which people at the bottom of society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison to nation as a whole
which country has one of the highest poverty rates?
United States
who are the poor?
not a static social class
Gan's view, poverty & the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor groups
1.society's dirty work performed at low cost 2. create jobs that serve the poor (legal & illegal) 3. upholds conventional social norms 4. guarantees higher status of the more affluent 5. absorbs cost of social change
life chances
opportunities to provide material goods, positive living conditions, & favorable life experiences (times of danger, affluent & powerful have better chance of surviving than people of ordinary means)
social mobility
movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society's stratification system to another
open vs. closed stratification system
open system-position of each individual influenced by the person's achieved status
closed system-allows little or no possibility of moving up
horizontal mobility
movement w/in same range of prestige (side to side, job w/ certain prestige but might leave to go somewhere else, not going higher or lower)
vertical mobility
movement from one position to another of a different rank (go upward or down ex: from lawyer to janitor, or vice versa)
intergenerational mobility
a change in social position relative to your parents (tends to go up a little bit)
intragenerational mobility
social position changes w/in a person's adult life (ex: moving from minimum wages (janitor job) & keep moving upward throughout life)
occupational mobility
much easier for men, males easier time moving up
glass cieling
women can see opportunities for advancement, but then can't get further
glass escalator
men promoted much easier
the impact of education
if start at top (plueno start) have easier time moving up, if start low, (code of street) hard to go up
impact of gender
women all around have a much harder time
social construction of gender: defining sex & gender
sex refers to biological identity, gender refers to learned behaviors associated w/ each sex
sex differences: nature vs. nurture, biological determinism
refers to explanations that attribute complex social phenomena to physical characteristics, children & aggression, physical differences
gender roles
expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, & activities of males & females (most people don't display strictly "masculine" or "feminine" qualities all the time)
gender role socialization
what men do in the house vs. what women do, boys must be masculine: active, aggressive, tough, dominant women must be feminine: soft, emotion, sweet, submissive ex: a real life barbie doll
gender socialization
teaches expectations for each sex & effects: self concepts & men (media), social & political attitudes, perceptions about others, relationships w/ others
womens gender roles
traditional gender roles have restricted females more than males ex: Duke Case (slept w/ variety of dif. man & rated them based on dif. factors)
women in the workforce: labor force participation: glass cieling
invisible barrier that blocks promotion of a qualified individual b/c of gender, race, ethnicity
compensation
disparity b/t men & women not explained by a women's career choices
men's gender roles
attitudes toward parenting changing, but little change in traditional male gender role, boys who adapt to cultural standards of masculinity may grow up to be in expressive men who have more difficulty sharing their feelings
multiple masculinities
men play a variety of gender roles ex: changes in G.I. Joe, more muscular ex: girl in texas being gang raped, blamed on b/c she was dressed provocatively, idea that men can't control themselves
homophobia
homophobia: fear of prejudice against homosexuality, contributes sig. rigid gender-role socialization
homophobia in sports
a "negatation of masculinity" -motivational device for coaches, play on insecurities of adolescents
boyhood organized sports & the construction of masculinities" by Michael A. Messner
the boyhood development of masculine identity and status, a process of interaction with ppl & social institutions, young men should be involved in sports
female athletes & homophobia, disidentifiers of female athletes:
female athletes stretch boundaries of femininity, disidentifiers of female athletes: 1. accentuate feminity 2. promiscuity 3. non-sport activities
agents of gender socialization (3)
1. parents/siblings 2. childhood play & games 3. schools (parents normally 1st & most crucial agents of socialization
sexism
defines as different from & inferior to men. slang terms define male/female anatomy
racial group
group that is set apart from others because of the physical dif. that have taken on social sig. ex: whites, A.A, asian American in U.S.
ethnic group
set apart from others primarily b/c of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns ex: puerto ricans, jews, polish am. in U.S.
minority group
subordinate group whose members have sig. less control or power over their lives than the members of a dominant or majority group have over theirs
5 properties of minority group
1. unequal treatment 2. physical or cultural characteristics 3. ascribed status 4. solidarity (strong sense of group, feeling of us vs. them) 5. in-group marriage
race is a social construction
process of defining races typically benefits those who have more power & privilege than others, dif. in skin color dramatic effect but not hair color
racial formation
sociohistorical process in which racial catergories are created, inhabited, transformed and destroyed ex: "one drop rule"-single group of black blood, defined black
how many people are of multiple races
2008, over 6 million people in the U.S. about 2% of the pop. reported that they were in 2 or more races (half under 18, growing pop.)
stereotypes
unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize ind. dif. w/in a group
ethnicity
distinction b/t racial groups & ethnic groups is socially sig. socially constructed physical dif. ten to be more visible than ethnic differences. ethnic group, unlike racial group is set apart from others b/c of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns
prejudice
neg. attitude toward an entire category of ppl, often an ethnic or racial minority
ethnocentrism
tendency to assume that one's culture (way of life) represent the norm or superior to others
racism
belief that one race is supreme & all others are innately inferior
hate crime
criminal offense committed b/c of the offender's bias against race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, or sexual orientation
discrimination
the denial of opportunities & equal rights to ind. & groups b/c of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons
prejudice (attitude vs. behavior)
either cond. can be present w/o the other. ex: a prejudice person does not always action his/her biases, white president might choose (despite stereotypes)to hir the vietnamese American, prejudice w/o discrimination, or discrimination w/o prejudice, ** prejudice attitudes should not be equated w/ discriminatory behavior
institutional discrimination
denial of pportunities & = rights to ind. & groups that results from the normal operations of a society
affirmative action
refers to positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions & educational opportunities
nickel & dimed: barbara ehrenreich (3 major issues) & why random drug test
1. housing 2. food 3. transportation, random drug-test to keep the workers on their toes, create social hierarchy, says society would not function w/o this class, society would crumble "are in fact the major philanthropists of our society