Test 2 Prep

What is a sexualized workplace, and what are the consequences for the women who work in one?

At Bazooms female sex appeal is explicitly part of the job, and Bazooms states women should expect harassment. This is a problem because it is harder for workers to complain about harassment, and they have no power to challenge management. They have to accept being sexualized objects and poor treatment as part of workplace conditions.

How is the degrading treatment of women linked to rape?

Degrading women by calling them sluts, etc., treats them as if they are worthless. It takes away womens' humanity, making it easier to violate and hurt them. Degrading talk is also used as a way to blame the victim, for example by saying they wanted or deserved to be violated.

What does Risman say is the 'doing gender' explanation of gender, and what's a weakness of this explanation?

Doing gender says a person is held accountable to the label of woman or man when interacting with others. Gender does get reinforced by labels, but it also exists in organizations and in how people identify themselves.

According to Shapiro, what is the difference between wealth and income?

Income is salary and salary replacement. Wealth is the total value of things families own, minus their debt. Income does not account for spending or debt.

How does Kim explain the high incidence of international adoption in Asian countries like Korea, but the low incidence of domestic adoption of Black and Latino babies?

Most adopters are white and they consciously and subconsciously see Asian babies as closest to 'healthy white' American babies. As 'honorary whites' Asian babies tend to be more desirable to white parents.

How does Van Ausdale and Feagin's story of the wagon demonstrate children's understanding of a racial hierarchy?

Renee uses race to keep Ling-Mai from exerting control. She argues that her whiteness entitles her to pulling the wagon (control and dominance), and Ling-Mai's non-whiteness means she must be subservient.

What are discredited vs. discreditable stigmas? And how are anorexics and bulimics different in this regard?

A discredited stigma is visible to others, a discreditable stigma cannot be seen. Because their weight is normal, bulimics suffer from discreditable stigmas. Anorexics have visible stigmas, people can see the disease in their bodies and in how they are underweight. They also have invisible stigma in that they have an anorexic identity.

Why do McLorg and Taub lean toward a more social and environmental explanation of anorexia and bulimia, rather than blaming the individuals or families for their pathology?

Anorexia seems to be worse for women, who are targeted by advertising that celebrates thinness. Anorexia also only exists in wealthy, industrialized, nations. These are contextual characteristics, and not characteristics of the individuals themselves.

What different things do wealth and income tell us with regards to racial inequalities?

Black and white income disparities tell us the current state of inequality. Wealth disparities show the consequences of unequal historical and ongoing opportunities.

According to Van Ausdale and Feagin, in what ways do children use race to police social boundaries?

Children exclude and include playmates based on race. They use language (Spanish, English, or being bilingual) to exclude some playmates, for example Elizabeth. Some students use language as a means of bridging and making connections.

Compared to higher-income children, what demographic groups are children in $2-a-day poverty likely to be from?

Children in extreme poverty are more likely to be Black or Latino, compared to higher-income children. They are also more likely to be from female-headed households, and to be from the Southeast.

According to Domhoff, how are the upper-class "prepped for power?"

Children of the upper-class receive a different education from a very young age. Their schools teach upper-class children how to act and be wealthy with the right vocabulary, cultural knowledge, tastes in clothign, music, food, etc., manners and values. These children are separated from everyone else from elementary school, boarding school, and elite college - preventing others from learning these lessons.

What is emotional labor (at Bazooms)?

Emotional labor happens when employees project or suppress emotion to sustain a role or appear a certain way to keep customers happy. Workers at Bazooms learn to manage how they themselves feel to make customers happy.

Monique's situation is a good example of chronic, $2-a-day poverty. Have families like Monique's become more or less common since the mid-1990s, when welfare rules were changed?

Families in this kind of poverty have become three times more common, from around 400,000 to over 1.3 million in 2012.

What are some ways that gender inequalities reflected in the formal power structure at Bazooms? What ways are they reflected in the informal power structure?

Formal power was reflected by the fact that management was all men, and subordinates were women. Womens jobs were always at- risk. Informal power was reflected by 'interactional techniques' that sustain dominance, such as calling women 'girls' and making humiliating comments about how they look.

What is Risman's multilevel 'gender as a social structure; approach? What does she mean by gender as a social structure? What are the three levels?

Gender exists independently as a separate 'organizing principle' of society, outside of organizations and individuals. It has consequences on the individual, interactional (between two people), and institutional level. At the individual level, it socializes people to believe they are men or women. At the interactional level it upholds cultural expectations. At the institutional level it leads to glass ceilings, which reproduce gender power. Risman accounts for all three.

What does Risman say is the 'gendered selves' explanation of gender, and what is one weakness she identifies?

Gendered selves focuses on family patterns and how gender socialization creates roles people are motivated to fill. This theory relies heavily on individual socialization, and assumes women and men regulate themselves without ever rebelling or revolting. It doesn't look at outside pressures on women and mens' roles.

Why do Boswell and Spade say it's a problem that most parties happen at fraternity houses?

Holding parties at fraternity houses gives men power over alcohol and space, which are valuable. Men abuse this power. Fraternities set their own agendas, which women must follow. Women are taken off of comfortable turf, and men have an unfair advantage.

What does Rosenhahn mean when he says that there is "enormous overlap in the behaviors of the sane and the insane?"

If you are labeled insane, your anxious, depressed, or 'acting out' behavior is treated differently. People do things for good, logical reasons, and behaviors are treated differently for people with different labels.

What are the two forms of racial domination?

Institutional racism refers to patterns of domination existing in 'social institutions' such as corporations, public policies, laws, schools, and culture. Interpersonal racism is formed from the patterns of domination existing in everyday interactions including overt prejudice and daily habits. For example, not voting for a Black candidate for president, or avoiding eye contact with a Black man walking down the street.

In Shaefer et al., what does Monique's experience with $2-a-day poverty suggest about how easy or hard it is to land in these circumstances?

It's too easy to find yourself in $2-a-day poverty. Little, minor, events can create big problems down the road - for example, staying in a hotel while waiting for a shelter bed, writing a bad check, renting a house with burst pipes. Small actions, out of her control, led to Monique losing custody of her children and having her wages garnished.

According to LeDuff, what are some ways that the meat packing industry feeds racial tensions between groups?

Jobs are organized by race, in a hierarchy, with whites usually getting the best jobs, and Blacks and Mexicans the worst. If one group falls behind, the races blame one another. The company offloads blame from bosses to workers, and racial animosity keeps everyone under control.

What are some of the physical characteristics that children used to organize racial categories?

Language, hair style, and skin color.

Why do girls not use 'lesbian' and 'dyke' as frequently in the way that boys use 'fag?'

Lesbian sexuality is more accepted because it's fetishized by men in their fantasies. The label is not described as hurtful, but women are still held to gender norms.

According to Boswell and Spade, what are some features of low-risk vs. high-risk houses?

Low-risk houses have equal gender ratios, treat women respectfully, have conversations between males and females, and places to sit and talk. High-risk houses have skewed ratios, degrade women openly, have little conversation only flirting, and have no seating and loud music.

How much of the New Mexico prison riot was due to the prison population being full of 'bad' people?

Many prisoners showed kindness and empathy helping captive guards and prisoners in protective custody escape. Many of the prisoners also participated in peaceful protest a few years before the riot. Very little of the riot was due to the prisoners being 'bad people.'

What is the difference between a Type 2 error in medicine vs. psychiatry?

Medical illness is less stigmatizing and people can be cured. Psychiatric illneses are 'pejorative' and people are never considered cured.

According to Pascoe, is the 'fag' label more about sexuality or gender? Explain why.

Pascoe argues 'fag' has nothing to do with sexual preference, but is more about policing gender (masculinity). Boys use it to call out other boys who don't perform masculinity correctly, and to encourage them to act 'manly.'

What does Pascoe say were the racial differences in the deployment of the 'fag' label?

Pascoe noted Black boys did not use the fag label as much. She attributed this to the hypersexualization of Black boys in the US. Blacks could engage in dance and attention- seeking without appearing to worry, because these things had cultural valuable, for example within hip-hop culture.

What is the difference between primary deviance and secondary deviance?

Primary deviance is a person's actual 'deviant' behavior (anorexia or bulimia). Secondary deviance is when a person thinks of themself, adopts the self-concept, of the deviant behavior. It's when the person thinks of themself as anorexic or bulimic.

What do Desmond & Emirbayer mean when they say race is "misrecognized as natural"?

Race and racial classification are falsely attributed to biology or the physiological outcome of evolution. This is a 'misrecognition' because race comes from people and people's ideas - not from biology. Race is fundamentally social; a "well-rounded fiction" we tell ourselves and we choose to believe.

Why is it important not to frame adoptive parents' preferences for certain children as matters of individual choice and personal taste?

Referring to adoptive parents' preferences as personal choice keeps us from seeing the social structure of race and white privilege that shape their preferences. Parents' tastes are embedded in social, historical, and cultural forces. We can only identify and fight these forces if we see and identify these patterns.

What is the point of social clubs for the upper-class?

Social clubs solidify important social ties, for example between executives, even though no work is done. They send the signal that members are part of an exclusive group and mark people as powerful. They are a place of bonding.

What are the "dysfunctions" of stratification that Tumin provides in his critique of the functionalist (Davis and Moore's) perspective?

Social stratification limits equal access and training, which limits the talent available to find in society. Social stratification limits the expansion of people working to their full potential (productive resources). Social stratification provides elites with political power, which allows them to reenforce their advantages in the status quo. Social stratification limits the equal distribution of self-esteem, limiting individual creative potential. Social stratification encourages hostility, distrust, and suspicion among segments of society, limiting social integration. Social stratification makes some people feel they are not significant members of society. Because they do not feel like significant members, Social Stratification means some people feel less loyalty to society. Social stratification unequally motivates people to participate in society, and creates apathy and disregard.

According to Colvin, what was the 'snitch system?' What effect did it have on relationships among prisoners?

The 'snitch system' was a tactic used to coerce imnmates into providing information on each other. Administrators threatened to spread rumors or label prisoners as informants or 'snitches' if they failed to provide information. Being labelled a snitch carried deadly consequences. This system eroded trust and diminished the influence of prison leadership, making the prison a more dangerous place.

According to Shapiro, how strong is the relationship between income and wealth? Why is this significant?

The relationship between income and wealth is weak. People can have a lot of income, but not a lot of wealth. This matters because even if the racial gap in income declines, a big gap in wealth can remain.

What does Risman say is the structural explanation of gender, and what is a weakness she identifies?

The structural explanation of gender assumes work and family social structures create male and female behavior. Processes that create gender exist in organizations (the workplace or the family structure), and not in the individual personality or self. Even in places that are gender-equal, however, there is still sexism and gender stratification.

Explain the "tokenistic fallacy."

The tokenistic fallacy is believing the presence of a few minorities in positions of power is evidence that racial obstacles no longer exist. Desmond & Emirbayer say we should concern ourselves with larger patterns of racial inequality, and millions who still confront barriers, rather than a few successful minorities.

What are the two determinants of positional (job) rank according to Davis and Moore?

The two things that determine positional rank are "Differential Functional Importance" and "Differential Scarcity of Personnel." Differential Functional Importance means less essential positions such as waitresses must not compete with more essential positions such as medical doctors. More essential positions are thus rewarded more. Differential Scarcity of Personnel means that jobs that require a lot of talent are associated with special skills and training, and reward an elite few with prestige and money. Positions that require low talent do not merit as great a reward.

What role did uncertainty in the prison administration play in creating the conditions that led to the riot?

The warden and top administration experienced substantial turnover, leaving the actual prison to be run by mid-level administrators. These administrators used policies that were punitive and encouraged violence.

Why is there nearly 100% turnover at the slaughterhouse?

The work is dangerous, repetitive, and degrading. Workers are tired, numb, and get injured in their hands, backs, shoulders, etc. They are treated poorly and recieve very low pay.

What are some ways that women working at Bazooms also exert their own agency?

They complain and gossip, undermining management. They adjust their uniforms so they feel more comfortable, manipulating their gender role. They portray alternate identities, for example stating they are college students, to counteract their sexualized identity. They also co-opt their identity by playing up their sexual roles to make better money. They negotiate their sexuality and harassment by telling customers it is not OK to grab their butts.

Why haven't the workers at the slaughterhouse unionized?

They fear that even talking about a union will get them fired. Racial tensions feed into this, Blacks and whites don't like unions supporting illegal immigrants, Mexicans worry about doing anything that risks their jobs or leads to deportation.

What is the difference between a Type 1 and Type 2 error, and why do physicians have a bias towards a Type 2 error.

Type 1 is a false negative, Type 2 is a false positive. For a physician, Type 2 is call a healthy person sick. Doctors tend towards Type 2 because the legal and professional costs are lower than missing when a person is sick.

What do debutante balls and the importance of volunteering suggest about the role of women in upper-class society?

Upper-class women are still viewed as secondary to men, primarily as romantic interests. They do not have as much power or prestige, and tend mainly to the home front and tasks deemed as more 'feminine' including community help.

Which women are at the highest risk for rape, and why?

Women that were unknown to fraternity brothers at parties were at the highest risk. These women were 'nameless and faceless' and easier to victimize.