Sociology Exam 2
Ethnicity
"a system for classifying people who are believed to share common descent based on perceived cultural similarities"
Government policies
Changes in taxation and in spending and regulation helping the poor have increased inequality
Globalization
One of the key reasons why manufacturing jobs have disappeared in the U.S. is that manufacturing is being done in countries with lower wages
Racism
Racism includes two phenomena: prejudice and discrimination
Patriarchy:
A gender system in which men have more power than women
Megaregion
A megaregion is formed when two or more large cities in geographical proximity are linked together through infrastructure and through economic activity (examples: the Northeast corridor of the U.S. that stretches from Boston through NY, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.)
gender stereotypes
"Some social expectations are based on stereotypes, beliefs about a group that are often untrue or exaggerated as a description of the group" •Example: Educators worry about the stereotype that girls and women perform worse in math because that is so crucial for many technical majors and careers •Despite receiving very slightly lower average scores in math standardized tests, girls average higher grades in math classes in high school or college because they study more •What people hear from others about whether their sex is better at something affect their confidence and even their actual performance •Exposure to the idea that men perform better at math may help produce the very reality it claims to merely describe
President Lyndon Johnson
"You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair."
Race
"a system for classifying people who are believed to share common descent based on perceived innate physical similarities" •In the United States, race has historically mattered more than ethnicity; being white protected someone from enslavement, allowed the person to vote; at times only white immigrants could become citizens; until 1967 nonwhites were not allowed to marry whites in some states •Ethnic groups of European descent (Irish, Italian, and Jewish Americans) faced discrimination but their exclusion was not written into U.S. law to the same extent •The concept of race gained power and reach from European imperial encounters with African, Asians and indigenous Americans •Europeans came to believe that the differences they observed in appearance and behavior between themselves and others could be explained by intrinsic, racial characteristics; they perceived a hierarchy in which they were at the top, justifying the domination and colonization of others
Technology
(such as computer technology) displaces some workers, while creating demand for others; it creates demand for jobs that require high levels of education (e.g., programmers), thus contributing to the college wage premium (see Figure 10.5) •Some argue that higher education has not expanded at the pace required by technological change
What is the "middle class"? How do we define classes in general?
1)Based on income? Where do we draw the line? The source of income may be more important for defining the middle class (example: part-time college instructor and unionized janitor) 2)Based on multiple components such as education, income and occupation; using this approach sociologists define Socioeconomic Status (SES) 3)Focus on a person's occupation
Why do women still earn less than men?
1)Employers still pay women less than men for the same job (despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963) 2)Women may negotiate less strongly than men because of cultural messages that women should be more modest and men should promote themselves 3)Employers pay more to workers with more years of experience; women are more likely to have dropped out of the workforce for a while to take care of children 4)Women are concentrated in lower-paying occupations (partly due to socialization) 5)Employers often set lower pay rates in jobs filled mostly by women
There are two reasons why we know that many of the typical differences we observe between men and women are at least partly socially constructed:
1)Gender differences vary between different social settings (cultures, situations) 2)Gender arrangements have changed over time (ex: the proportion of women with children who work) Example: •In a random-assignment experiment, participants played a video game. One group was led to believe their actions were being monitored, while the other was led to believe they were not monitored •Among those that did not believe they were being monitored, men and women dropped similar amount of bombs •Among those that believed they were being observed, men dropped more bombs then women (showing more aggressive behavior)
Classes are made up of individuals who:
1)Have conflicting economic interests with other classes 2)Share similar life chances 3)Have similar attitudes 4)Have the potential to engage in collective action
Some reasons for women's employment increase:
1)The incentive for women to work increased during the 1960s and 1970s as wages increased 2)The economy changed to include a higher share of jobs in service sector (including secretaries, receptionist, nurse, store clerk, etc.) which had always employed more women 3)Laws against sex discrimination (encouraged by the feminist movement) made it more possible for women to pursue careers
Great Migration
An important source of change in U.S. cities was the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest (from the beginning of twentieth century through the 1970s) Why did African Americans move? Many driven by declining agricultural opportunities, amplified by the severity of discrimination and racial inequality during Jim Crow era; also growing demand for industrial workers in the North The growth of black population in Northern cities was met with informal efforts to maintain a "color line"
Global city
An urban center where the headquarters of transnational firms that create and control the international flow of information and commerce are located •Some sociologists argue that the globalization of economic activity is leading to an increasingly sharp divide between the global elite, who control international commerce, and the global service class, who cater to the elite
Claude Fischer
By contrast, Claude Fischer has written that there is still a lot of social interaction; people in large urban centers sort themselves out into subcultures with similar interests and occupations
How do neighborhoods form and change?
Chicago School" of urban sociology was dedicated to studying neighborhood patterns argued that the form of cities can be understood as the result of a process in which segments of the population sort themselves into areas of the city in which they thrive Individuals sort themselves out based on best "fit", and a competition for resources
Work discrimination
Discrimination by employers based on sexual orientation is still legal in many states •Nearly half of sexual minority members report being discriminated in housing or employment; about 40% report being threatened with violence; 80% report being sexually harassed •Gay and lesbian youth are three times more likely to commit suicide as heterosexual youth
double standard of sexuality:
Do men like casual sex more than women, and, if so, is it because of biological differences or a result of social influences? •Our culture features a double standard of sexuality: women are judged more harshly than men for having casual sex •Think about the pejorative terms used to refer to women who are thought to have sex too casually: sluts, etc .•The terms for men who have a lot of sex casually are more positive: player, stud, etc. •Women may therefore be more motivated than men to avoid casual sex because it does greater danger to their reputations
Evidence of racial prejudice:
Evidence of racial prejudice also comes from mass media portrayals of racial groups (found through content analysis): minority groups are presented in roles that are negative or demeaning
Gender socialization
Gender is constructed through socialization (the means by which members of a society are taught its norms and practices; i.e., girls and women should behave differently from boys and men) •Parents are important agents of socialization: they dress boys and girls differently, have different aspirations for them, and give them different toys •Parents' socialization is changing in that girls are encouraged to do activities they didn't do in the past; but it's not symmetrical: few parents give dolls to boys
Occupational sex segregation
Measures the extent to which men and women are employed in different occupations: 1 is complete segregation (all occupations are 100 percent male or female); 0 is complete integration (each occupation has the same percentage of females as the paid workforce as a whole) •Women with college or graduate degrees have entered traditionally male occupations more frequently than women with less education •Yet many jobs still remain sex segregated. Why? Socialization, discrimination •Women's earnings have increased, but are still lower than men's
"one-drop rule"
In many states a "one-drop rule" was enshrined into law in the nineteenth century: anybody with at least one black ancestor was considered black •This is the same reasoning by which Obama is labeled as black even though his mother was white; there is clearly no biological basis for it; it is based on social rules
The city as a "growth machine"
Investors and governments work to increase the size of the population and make it attractive for businesses Population growth provides local governments with a larger tax base •Governments must regulate the use of land for different purposes (single-family homes, apartment buildings, businesses, manufacturing, etc.) •"From this perspective, urban change can be thought of not as a natural process of ecological change but as the direct result of political and economic interests working to promote growth..."
Decline of manufacturing
Manufacturing accounted for 40% of jobs in 1950, now it accounts for only 20%; the process of deindustrialization has meant replacing good jobs for bad ones •Deindustrialization is part of a larger pattern of economic restructuring, which refers to changes in the way that the economy, firms and employment relations have changed since the 1970s; the kinds of organizations that provided long-term job stability are disappearing
Gentrification
The process whereby neighborhoods change where new investment, new people, and new establishments move into and alter the character of the neighborhood •The successful gentrification of a neighborhood may raise rents, forcing residents to move out
Gender
Refers to "the way in which social forces structure how being male or female affects what is expected of you, how you are treated, what opportunities you have, and the results for individual men and women"
Sex
Refers to biological differences
The Erikson-Goldthorpe Class Scheme
Salariat/Service Class: Professionals, managers, and administrators Routine Nonmanual Workers: Nonsupervisorial employees- sales workers, secretaries, clerks Petty-Burgeoisie: Business owners, self-employed workers Farm Owners: Farmers and ranchers, landowners Skilled workers and supervisors: Skilled manual workers, repairmen Nonskilled workers: unskilled manual workers Farm Laborers: Farm and ranch employee
intergenerational mobility
Social scientists have shown that the overall level of inequality in a country is related to the level of intergenerational mobility [see figure 10.10] •Caution: The relation may be spurious •Upper class parents are almost always unable to directly transfer a privileged occupational position to their children; instead they attempt to do so by investing in their children's education
Evidence of racial discrimination:
Sociologists also observe discrimination using experiments and ethnographies: •An experiment shows that white job applicants with a criminal record were more likely to be considered for a job than equally qualified black applicants without a criminal record •Another experiment submitted fictitious résumés for jobs in which all qualifications were the same, but using names that were either stereotypically white and stereotypically black; those with white-sounding names were 50% more likely to be followed up
Effect of Homicides (Sharkey)
Spread unevenly across the population of cities like New York Racially segregated and poor found that children performed worse in reading and vocabulary tests in the days following a local homicide in the neighborhood •Different aspects of communities, such as the level of violence, can alter the experiences and opportunities of individual residents Residents also usually have less political influence •Some neighborhoods are also distant from good jobs •Neighborhoods also vary in recreational attractions, police effectiveness, and exposure to toxic soil and clean air
Social construction of gender:
The entire system of social processes that create and sustain gender differences and gender inequality •What is expected of a person and is rewarded depends on his or her sex, and institutions like schools, churches, corporations and governments set policies or rules that affect males and females differently
How gender revolution effects men's lives:
The gender revolution has also affected men's life: married men spent more time with children and a bit more doing housework; but men didn't move in large numbers into being full-time homemakers •Men's housework on average increased, but only by a small amount; married mothers decreased their housework by 15 hours/week, but married men increased their housework by only 5 hours/week
Social capital
The resources available to individuals through their relationships and networks. It is important for finding jobs. It may also help reduce crime Sociologists have found evidence that interaction and communication with physical neighborhoods remains essential for a healthy community life
Robert Sampson
When residents of a neighborhood have high levels of cohesion and trust, they are better able to enforce social norms of behavior in public places, and reduce crime and violence
stigma of premarital sex
While premarital sex has become nearly universal, the context has changed: •In the 1950s and 1960s those who had premarital sex did so only with the person they later married •In 1970s sex become more common in relationships that did not end in marriage (cohabitation) •In recent decades sexual activity is more common in casual liaisons ("hookups")
Social mobility
a measurement of equality of opportunity overtime. •Social mobility refers to the socioeconomic movement across generations: to what extent do parents and their children have similar social and economic positions? •A high-mobility society is one in which there is little connection between parents' and children's place in life
Social class
a term used by sociologists to identify groups of people in similar economic positions, who have similar opportunities in life, and who benefit (or are hurt by) the same government policies For Marx there were only two key social classes under capitalism: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. He thought other classes were declining in importance
Mass media
are also agents of socialization: Music, movies, t.v. shows, internet sites and advertisement portray men and women in even narrower range roles that they take in real life
Prejudices
are negative beliefs or attitudes held about entire groups; they involve the prejudgments of individuals based on stereotypes (simplified generalizations about a group)
Peer groups
are other agents of socialization: Male peers often ostracize boys who are not stereotypically masculine and ridicule boys believed to be gay
Edge cities
are self-contained cities located in junction of major highways; they have both business and cultural activities typically located in central cities. Example: Tysons Corner, Virginia
Suburbs
areas within metropolitan regions but outside the political boundaries of central cities; fostered by government subsidies for home ownership and highway construction
Barry Wellman
argued that sociologists should focus on the social tiesamong individuals regardless of where they live, as the origin of communities (social networks) An individual may have weak ties to residents of his/her neighborhood, but strong ties with others living elsewhere; communities need no longer be thought as contained in a geographic area
Jane Jacob
argued that vibrant urban neighborhoods encourage the use of public space and foster social connections
Georg Simmel
at the beginning of the twentieth century also wrote about the impersonal character of urban interactions; but he also saw the city as liberating individuals from the social controls found in smaller tight-knit communities
An erroneous cultural model
attempts to explain racial socioeconomic inequality attributing it to distinct and unchanging beliefs, norms and values of racial groups; these fixed cultural attributes are thought to drive behaviors that create advantages and disadvantages in the labor market, schools, etc. Most social scientists see cultural traits as more dynamic and complex; culture is often a response to the social context
Segmented assimilation
concept used to describe upward and downward trajectories for immigrants and their children
Suburbanization
driven by "white flight": the movement of white families out of central cities and into the suburbs in response to the influx of African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups to cities •The federal government facilitated and in fact subsidized the exodus of whites from central cities: •Since the 1930s the government supported home ownership by guaranteeing and providing mortgages directly •The government adopted a set of standards to rank the riskiness of potential loans; homes in racially homogenous white neighborhoods ranked highest; homes in black neighborhoods typically ineligible for investment •Redlining: predominantly black or racially mixed neighborhoods were outlined in red on maps
Government policies,
especially with regards to education and labor market regulation, can create opportunities for mobility: Governments decide whether disadvantaged children should receive compensatory assistance (e.g., Head Start), and whether schools in poor areas are as good as ones in wealthy areas
social stratification
examines inequalities among individuals and groups (how they are separated into "strata"). It is the systematic study of inequality
Consumption
how much individuals or families actually consume in a given time period, can also be used to measure inequality
Urban renewal policies
involve redeveloping slum housing; in practice it often led to the displacement of the poor from these communities; developers reaped huge profits Urban renewal policies were also consciously used in the 1950s and 1960s to consolidate African Americans in certain neighborhoods and reinforce racial segregation. Example: high-rise public housing projects in Chicago
Discrimination
involves actions rather than beliefs. It includes any behavior that harms individuals or puts them at a disadvantage on the basis of their group membership •Mild discrimination may involve the use of negative words; more extreme discrimination involves placing limits on people's opportunities (employment, housing, etc.) •In its most extreme form discrimination can take the form of violence, such as lynching (an act of violence that was used to intimidate, punish and terrorize blacks in the South), or genocide (the deliberate, systematic killing of a category of people)
A progressive tax system
is one in which tax rates are higher for richer people; the U.S. tax system is progressive, but increasingly less so The marginal tax rate is the additional percentage of tax that is being paid on every dollar, after a given pre-defined income-threshold (the highest income bracket). The federal government has also failed to increase the minimum wage to keep up with inflation
Wealth
is the net value of the assets (minus debts) owned by the individual or family; the most common wealth asset is real estate. Wealth differences are usually much larger than income differences
Inequality
is the unequal distribution of valued goods and opportunities
Ethnic enclaves
large stable sections of cities where the local labor market, residential market and culture are dominated by a specific ethnic group
The 1968 Fair Housing act
made discrimination in public and private housing markets illegal; yet decades later, segregation in U.S. cities has hardly declined •Immigrants have played an important role in revitalizing some distressed urban neighborhoods; increasing population and business activity •But the number of Latinos living in high-poverty barrios also rose
Some disturbing facts:
•"Almost half of all the wealth in the world is controlled by the top 1 percent of the world's population" •"There are over 1,000 billionaires in the world, about half of whom live in North America" •"The bottom 50 percent of the world's population has the same total wealth as approximately the 85 richest people in the world" •Inequality can be measured based on income, wealth or consumption, among other options
essentialist view
presumes that an individual's racial identity depends on fundamental and innate characteristics that are deep-seated, inherited, and unchangeable. The traits are thought to be part of the "essence" of people's being In this old interpretation ethnicity was based on people's cultural practices, and race is based on their biological traits •Sociologists today believe that racial identification is as subjective as ethnic classification. The major difference between race and ethnicity lies in the bases on which group boundaries are drawn
William Julius Wilson
proposed an explanation for the increasing concentration of poverty in African American urban neighborhoods: •Manufacturing jobs began do disappear in the Northeast and Midwest leaving African Americans without a source of stable working-class jobs (which had drawn them North during the Great Migration) •As joblessness skyrocketed fewer "marriageable" black men were available (who could support families), so single-parent families rose •Middle class blacks started to move out of traditional black ghettos, which leads to a greater concentration of poverty and leads to institutional deterioration
Sexual minority:
refers to anyone who is not heterosexual or who is transgendered (having changed their sex or gender from what was assigned to them at birth)
Income
refers to the receipt of money or goods over a particular accounting period (a year, month, week, day); it includes income from wages, investments, transfers from government (e.g., Social Security), transfers from relatives, etc.
Sexual orientation
refers to whether individuals are attracted to members of the other sex, the same sex, or both
Suburban sprawl
results from the stretching out of suburban boundaries
Heteronormativity
situation where the culture and institutions send the message that everyone is heterosexual, or at least that this is the only normal way to be
Cohabitation
term used for individuals who live together as an unmarried couple
Urban ghetto
term used to refer to sections of cities that are characterized by severe racial or ethnic segregations and deep poverty
community
the degree to which individuals connect with, support, and interact with each other Technology and the rise of social media can change the meaning of community
Affirmative action
was developed later as a tool to combat racial inequality; it was first used by the Nixon administration to ensure that minority-owned businesses would have an opportunity to compete for government contracts "refers to those policies that require organizations or institutions to 'actively' consider individuals' race when making important decisions" (examples: college admissions, employment in government jobs)
Labor markets
when good jobs are expanding there will be more mobility
Louis Wirth
wrote about similar themes in the 1930s: city dwellers interact in anonymous, superficial and transitory ways. He attributed this to growing specialization of urban residents, and segregation
absolute poverty
•A measure of absolute poverty is one that defines a minimum amount of income necessary for basic needs •The U.S. federal government establishes a poverty line, using a threshold of income •In 2012, the poverty line for a family of four was $23,492; for a single person it was $11,720 •In 2013, 15% of U.S. residents lived in poverty (45 million) •A relative measure of poverty compares individuals relative to the rest of society •A common relative measure of poverty is defined as families with incomes below 50% of the median income •Such a measure is often used by European governments
Do race and ethnicity matter anymore?
•Blacks and Latinos are much more likely to be living in poverty. In 2009 25% of all black and Latino families were living in poverty, compared to just 10% of white families •See figures for income, wealth, education, incarceration and health disparities •"On any given day in America, over 2 million adults are serving time behind bars, accounting for a quarter of all prison and jail inmates worldwide." •"African Americans account for 40 percent of the prison population—while accounting for only 12 percent of the general population" •Sociologists estimate that a third of the black men have a felony conviction on their record •A higher rate of criminal activity alone cannot explain this; one important reason is the so-called war on drugs, in which African Americans are far more likely than whites to be sent to prison for drug use •About 30% of Hispanics and 20% of African Americans lack health insurance, compared to 12% of whites
Where does sexual orientation come from?
•Both biology and society could have an effect: a higher percentage of identical twins of gay men were also gay, compared to a lower percentage of fraternal twins, and even lower percentage for adoptive brothers •Study also shows that genes do not completely determine sexual orientation: even among identical twins, when one is gay or lesbian, most of time the other is not
The effect of growing up poor
•Children are harmed by poverty, sometimes in hidden ways; the stress of mother's poverty may be toxic to her child even before birth •Evidence form the 2005 earthquake in Chile: babies exposed to the earthquake in the first trimester of gestation were more likely to be born preterm and underweight
Megacities
•During the twentieth century megacities formed cities with populations over 10 million, like Mexico City and Lagos, Nigeria
Equality of opportunity: do all individuals have the same opportunity to succeed?
•Equality of opportunity exists to the extent that children have similar chances of succeeding regardless of whether they are born in wealthy or poor families •If poor children have few opportunities to succeed, their talents and potential are wasted; it is inefficient for society
Likelihood of living in poverty in the U.S.
•Factors that affect the probability of living in poverty in the U.S.: education, employment status, minority status, age, and family structure •African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are much more likely to live in poverty than whites. However, the largest numbers of poor people are white •One widespread belief about the poor is that they do not have jobs. This is not true. Most people living in poverty work at least part time (working poor) •The U.S. spends less to directly alleviate poverty through welfare programs than any other wealth country, although the U.S. does spend a lot on education relative to other countries
Gender behavioral differences
•Gender differences in behavior and preferences are not "natural"; not caused by biological differences in hormones, anatomy and brain structure •Example: Testosterone is present in greater amounts in men than women; encourages aggressive, dominance-seeking behavior; however, the causal connection is complex since the social environment can change testosterone levels (it increases before competitive athletic events, winners have higher levels afterwards) •Sociologists argue that social arrangements have a powerful effect on differences between men and women
Acts of discrimination can be classified as individual or institutional (structural):
•Individual discrimination: an intentional act carried out by an individual or small group •Institutional (or structural) discrimination: occurs when the actions or policies of organizations or social institutions exclude, disadvantage or harm members of particular groups (ex: Jim Crow; Apartheid) •Institutional discrimination may or may not be intentional; example of unintentional discrimination: federal sentencing guidelines that penalize crack cocaine more than powder cocaine •Sociologists have highlighted the connection between racism and power: Race-based hierarchies do not occur by chance but rather are the product of human efforts to acquire and preserve social privileges
Why is the U.S. so unequal?
•Inequality in the U.S. is now as high as it has ever been •Inequality in the U.S. is higher than in any other rich, democratic country •There are more people living in poverty than in most other similar countries •Why? •Researchers have used tax returns to look at income inequality since 1917 (Picketty and Saez) •The increase in inequality is not limited to the U.S.; it is happening in other countries, although nowhere as fast as in the U.S. •This means that some of the factors leading to the increase in inequality must be shared across industrialized countries; yet something more may be happening in the U.S. •The four main reasons discussed by the authors are: 1) technology 2) the decline of manufacturing 3) globalization 4) government policies
Race vs. ethnicity
•Max Weber described ethnic groups as "those human groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent"; "it does not matter whether or not an objective blood relationship exists" •However, Weber did not portray race as equally subjective. Like most scholars at the time he thought that races stemmed from "common inherited and inheritable traits that actually derive from common descent." This is an essential view.
Women and education
•More women now receive college degrees than men •In 2011 there were 141 women obtaining college degrees for every 100 men obtaining college degrees; the ratio is even higher among African Americans•Similar trends are happening around the world •Girls generally like school better, study harder, get higher grades in elementary school and high school, and fewer are involved in crime
How much poverty exists in the United States and around the world?
•Poverty involves the inability to afford basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and healthcare •But how can it be measured? •What is considered necessary may change with the social and historical context (e.g., linen shirts [Adam Smith], cell phones, cars, computers)
A Brief History of Inequality
•Primitive hunting and gathering societies had relatively little possibilities for inequality because there was very little surplus •The introduction of slavery leads to the most overt form of inequality(ancient Egypt; ancient Athens, the Roman Empire) •The most common form of inequality before capitalism arose from the landownership system know as feudalism. Under feudalism landowners were entitled to receive the products of the laborers (serfs) who are tied to the land and legally obligated to work for the landlord •The industrial revolution led to rapid economic growth •From 1820-1950 average income in Western Europe increased 4 times; in just 40 years (1950-1990) it increased almost 3.5 times •The average per capita income in the U.S. is around $31,000 per year; for a family of four that would be $124,000. Is that realistic? Why? •Median income (the midpoint for all individuals) is a better measure than the mean or average income. Why
How are sex lives shaped by biology and society?
•Sexual attraction and behavior may be affected by biology, but they are also strongly affected by social construction •Social norms regulate fine details about what appearances are seen as sexually appealing or disgusting (ex: binding women's feet in pre-1920s China; ultra-thin women now considered more attractive) •Premarital sex and childbearing have been stigmatized in some historical periods and today in some nations, but they are extremely common in other societies
To what extent do family resources determine how well you do?
•Sociologists look at the correlation between parents' social standing (income, occupational status, etc.) and children's social standing as adults: •a correlation of zero means there is a lot of mobility (and opportunity) •a correlation of one means parents' standing completely determines children's standing
social construct
•Sociologists see race as a social construct, or a social phenomenon that was invented by human beings and is shaped by the social forces present in the time and place of its creation •But this does not mean race is not "real", it is just not biological
Robert Putnam
•Some sociologists perceive growing levels of social isolation in society—a lack of interpersonal contact and a decline in civic life •Robert Putnam has argued that U.S. residents spend less time in social groups and with family
How has sexual behavior changed in the last 50 years?
•Surveys show a substantial increase in the proportion of Americans having sex before marriage. Among people coming into adulthood after the 1960s 90% have premarital sex •Studies have shown that a teen's religious denomination doesn't have much effect on whether he or she has sex; religious youth just start later •Although many U.S. high school students have sex, most parents disapprove •Interestingly, the proportion of teens having sex by a given age has decreased
color blindness
•The civil-rights era laws largely embraced a principle of color blindness
The constructivist view
•The constructivist view (as opposed to the essentialist view) of race holds that racial categories are social creations not biological facts; they can also change over time •Beliefs about who is white in the U.S. have changed over time; Americans of Irish, Italian, Jewish, and other European ancestries were routinely excluded from the white category in earlier historical times •Changing definitions of who counts as white supports the constructivist view of race
How are race and ethnicity changing in the twenty-first century?
•There have been large increases in the non-white population, including individuals identifying as multiracial •It was not until 1967 that the Supreme Court struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage!! •In the 1990s the federal government revised its official racial classification to allow individuals to identify with more than one race •In the last 30 years the percentage of newlyweds married to someone of a different race or ethnicity has more than doubled •Immigration is another major demographic trend reshaping the racial and ethnic makeup of the U.S.•In 1970, 4% of U.S. population was of Hispanic; in 2012, 17% •In 1970, less than 1% of U.S. population was Asian; in 2012, 4.7% •The white population in the U.S. is projected to fall to less than 50% by around 2045
Urban areas
•U.S. Census bureau: urban areas have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile, plus surrounding regions with an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile •More than half of the world's population lives in urban areas Urban areas are created from the migration from rural areas, then the growth is due to reproduction
Assigning people to ethnic groups
•We can easily spot phenotypical differences between people, but the ways in which we then assign them to racial groups is purely due to socialization: we are trained to pick out particular bodily characteristics and then associate them with specific groups •Example: when we compare Norwegians to Italians, or Nigerians to Ethiopians or Indians and Koreans we detect physical differences, but we classify them in the same racial group •DNA patterns have been used recently to trace individuals' ancestry; but just as with interpreting physical appearance, interpreting differences in the DNA start from man-made rules •The fact that racial classification systems vary widely across countries today also supports a constructivist view (example: Brazil vs. U.S.)
How have the lives of women and men changed in the last 50 years?
•Women's lives have changed so much in the last 50 years, that sociologists often refer to these changes as a gender revolution •The biggest change has been women's increase in paid work