Intro to Sociology Final (Chapter 9 - Week 8)
Microaggressions (race, ethnicity, and gender/sex chapters)
A statement action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority. - indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group.
How do these American meanings get conveyed?
Disney Princes: teach men about attracting women. - riches - charm - looks - fame
And we "know" how to act... (linking back to race and ethnicity too)
Doll Test -> Gender Roll Doll Test -> Kids Around the World
More Power...
Education / Religion / Government
More Power... (70)
Education / Religion / Government
Power... (setup for Tracey write-up)
Education / Religion / Government
Education Funding
* Chart in slides * -> Real Estate taxes fund your school -> As real estate prices go UP schools get more money -> As more student go to traditional 4-year colleges, school ratings go up -> As schools are rated higher, more families with $$ move to the town -> As taxes go up, people who own their houses but don't have increasing income (like seniors) have to move out --
Religion
- Any institutionalized system of shared beliefs and rituals that identify a relationship between the sacred and the profane. - Sociologists are NOT looking to identify what is "truth" - Religions shape and are shaped by cultural institutions and processes (and individual behavior) - Religion provides morals, values, rules, and norms. - Promotes shared community, promotes inequality - Conflict theory looks at sexism in religion.
Key Concepts
- Cisgender: cis prefix means "same" ; when gender identity and/or expression aligns with the sex assignment at birth. - Transgender: when gender identity and/or expression is different from the sex assigned at birth. - Gender Nonconforming: when gender identity and/or expression differs from SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS about gender roles - Binary: system of classification with only two distinct and opposite categories (male/female) - Essentialists: those who believe gender roles have a genetic or biological origin and therefore cannot be changed -Constructionists: those who believe that notions of gender are socially determined, such that dichotomous binary system is just one possibility among many.
Gender and Sexuality
- LGBTQ: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer - think about SYSTEMS and OUTCOMES - UN Video: Free & Equal - The Price of Exclusion Rate of Suicide Attempts Chart - Much higher for those in the LGBTQ community than the overall population! KID IN TEXAS example: Kai and Kimberly - Mom confronts religious community as her daughter lives her life (transgender child) AND IT WASN'T ALWAYS THIS WAY... examples: dictionary definitions of heterosexuality: - 1901 - abnormal, perverted appetite - 1923 - morbid sexual passion - 1934 - manifestation of sexual passion for one of the opposite sex; NORMAL sexuality.
Not All Compulsory Education is the Same
- Overall Differences (video) - Georgia Paddling - Corporal Punishment - I sued the school system - Prince EA
Voting Rights Equality?
- Selma (video) - Until WHEN? Voting Rights Act: - signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965, aimed to overcome barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to VOTE under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. - Links to voter tests - Disparities in polling places Next Step Barriers: example: Louisiana Literacy Test to VOTE - a number of specific tasks, simple but take a lot of paying attention - strict rules: 10 min, 1 wrong is a failure, do nothing more/less than is says
American Politics
- Special Interest Groups - "Fourth Estates" - Opinion Leaders
American Political System - A Sociological Perspective
- Turnout in U.S. presidential elections (graph) - History (video) - U.S. voter turnout trails most developed countries (link and chart) Disenfranchised: - those who are barred from voting. - a majority of states disenfranchise convicted felons while they are incarcerated. - other states also disenfranchise felons while they are on parole, on probation, or permanently.
Chapter 9: Gender and Sex
- Why do we as SOCIOLOGISTS care? - Cultural norms, stereotypes and their relation to systems (education, government, religion, etc.)
Voter ID Laws
- show your ID to get to vote - is this "bad" or "good?" - Front-line Overview (link) - North Carolina (link) Is it a big deal? - video Voter Status: - voter ID laws are a new way of discriminating voters - affects voting rights of African-Americans - need to show a form of ID to vote
Separation of Church and State
--> Separation of church and state is an American principle, but aspects of religion still influence American culture and government. --> Many federal schedules are organized around Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter without regard for religious holidays of other groups. --> Presidents have religious advisors ---
From the Book (Direct)
-Nature and Nurture are interrelated rather than oppositional. - Behavior Influences Biology, just as biology influences behavior - Human sexual dimorphism, the belief is that anatomy defines men and women, is highly contested in modern society
Gender Inequality
1. Early Society: - roots in biological differences - hunting and feeding babies 2. contemporary society: - transition of culture/jobs * ads for women moving into the workforce * "Having representation in places of power and influence is the only way women will achieve equality on a global scale. [ Because as the saying goes, when you don't have a seat at the table, it usually means you're on the menu." ] * men edited out of pictures - shows truth about equality *
** Remember: language is the most important component of transmitting culture **
1. Positions of power and authority often directly emphasize the male gender in their very names. 2. The English language also seems to assume that the default category for all human experience is male. The root of words like mankind, man-made, manslaughter, and manpower assume that man means human. 3. Language conveys a double standard in sexuality for men and women. 4. Speech patterns reflect our sexist culture. Men dominate women in conversation and are more likely to interrupt. 5. Gender-neutral language is developing to reflect a change in culture.
Current Event
College Admissions Scandal: Felicity Huffman & Lori Loughlin Kelly Williams-Bolar
Education
Education reproduces society by transmitting values, norms, and social stratification ("tracking"). •Just as educational attainment affects social status and life chances, social status also affects access to education. •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWDUixwo9eU&feature=related - Linking policy and education •Females, nonwhite ethnic groups, the poor, and the disabled face individual and institutional discrimination in schooling. •The "hidden curriculum" refers to the lessons that students learn indirectly through their school experience, but that are an implicit part of their socialization in the school environment. We know what education IS, BUT how does this pervasive system exist within our culture?
Educational Redemption
Educational Trends: - Charter Schools (DeVos) (Very Controversial) - Common Core - Home schooling is the education of school-age schildren under their parents' supervision outside of a conventional school campus. - school vouchers allocate government funds to help parents in poorer neighborhoods send their children to the private school of their choice. - Community Colleges - Distance Learning
Impact in Our Domains
Family: - Single women head more than 16.7 million households, whereas single men head only 2.3 million. And although more women are participating in the paid labor force, they are still responsible for a large portion of the unpaid labor within the home. Health: - Women have longer life expediencies than men; however, the gap may be closing as more women engage in stress-related behaviors, such as working outside of the home, smoking, and drinking alcohol. Education: - Women are more likely than men to finish high school and attend college. However, men are likelier than women to earn college degrees, and they earn more money per degree granted.
The Women's Movement
Feminism is a belief in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes and also refers to the social movements organized around that belief. * - three waves - NOT all women got rights and opportunities! - Second wave - African-American women, Civil Rights Act
Gender, Sexuality, and Theory
Functionalism: - traditional sex roles are a-okay - "more appropriate for men to play instrumental roles and females to play expressive roles" Conflict Theory: - Gender inequality is a result of exploitation - Women serve a critical role of unpaid labor - if we change things, how would all of that work get done??? - men have the power and resources and have sought to keep their status in tact. Symbolic Interactionism: - Gender is learned through socialization, inequality is reproduced through interactions with family, peers, school, and media. - We categorize to make sense of the world - this often starts with gender 'definition.' Theory from Ferris * red chart in book *
And how do we absorb these roles?
Gender-role socialization is the subtle, PERVASIVE process of becoming masculine or feminine.
How do we absorb these roles?
Heteronormativity! FAMILY: begins gender role socialization even before birth. Social Learning: process of learning behavior and meaning through interction. * Gender prevades every aspect of family life. * SCHOOLS: continue gender-role socialization through segregation into same-sex groups and gender stereotyped tasks. * Teachers typically interact with male students in favorable ways, and textbooks still contain sex-based language and gender stereotypes. * PEERS reinforce gender stereotypes through peer pressure. - Boys tend to gain prestige through athletic ability, humor, or taking risks and defying norms. - Girls tend to gain prestige through social position and physical attractiveness. MEDIA are major reinforces of gender stereotypes through television, movies, books, video, games, music, music videos, magazines, and so on. - Girls are pressured to conform to images and standards of beauty that they see in the media. - Boys absorb portrayals of masculinity as violent, uncaring, and buffoon-like.
The Men's Movement
Men's Rights Movement - Due to feminism, men are discriminated against and oppressed in the legal arena and in everyday life. - Feminism has created a new kind of sexism by privileging women and/or attempting to erase differences altogether. Pro-Feminist Men's Movement - Men's lives are also constrained by sexism and patriarchy. - Men should support feminism because it will help end oppression for all people.
Messaging of Ownership
Men's message to women in most cases. They have ownership over women, their bodies, their actions, interactions, etc.
Separate?
Obama (and other presidents) swear into presidency on books (religious background) - bible - quran - etc.
Key Concepts
Patriarchy: a male-dominated society; has existed in most, if not all, past and present societies. - from this P.O.V., gender inequality can be traced back to biological differences in earlier societies. However, this does not explain the persistence of gender inequality in contemporary societies. Sexism: the belief that one's sex, usually male, is superior to the other. - Misogyny: an ingrained prejudice against women; dislike hatred, or contempt of women.
Major Theories of Power in Politics
Pluralism: •Power is held by a variety of organizations and institutions, each with its own resources and interests. •Equal access to the power structure •Has a system of checks-and-balances (laws, policies, courts) Power Elite: •C. Wright Mills •Small number of influential individuals who occupy the top positions within the major economic, political, military institutions in the country. •Insular and self-perpetuating. •Collaborate to serve their own interests
The meaning of gender in media...
Princesses: what they do or project towards younger generations. Girls think they have to: - make these changes, - have these qualities/things/opportunities, - look and play the part
Gerrymandering
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power. - redrawing of legislative boundaries: makes more sections of majority voters for the power party for a better chance to win elections; less power is given to places that will vote against the power
Role of Religion
REMEMBER: It is not about YOU and YOUR religion. It is about your CULTURE (for example, birth control at EC)
So why does it matter?
Ramifications: - Money? - Status? - Privilege? How does a religion get recognized? - 1st Amendment: free exercise of religion Hobby Lobby Supreme Court Ruling: - Catholic (religion in store - hiring) Refuse to fill miscarriage abortion med by pharmacists: - Necessary for still birth - Allows normal processes that must happen Kim Davis (elected official) refuses to issue marriage license to same sex couples, citing religious beliefs: - "Allowed" ?? - Follow up
Religiosity in the US
Religiosity is the regular practice of religious beliefs - measured in attendance at church/worship service - Extrinsic Religiosity: •Can be self-reported rating of importance or gathered from actions/behaviors - Intrinsic Religiosity: •Importance of beliefs to the individual
Technology in Politics
Role of tech in finding Trump voters - trumps tweets draw attention and cause drama... - ...does this drama help bring voters in?
From the Book (Direct Definitions):
Sex: an individuals membership in one of the two biological categories: male or female. - even in biology, these categories are not always distinct. seventeen babies in 1,000 are born inter-sexed, having a variant chromosomal makeup and mixed or indeterminate male and female sex characteristics. Gender: refers to the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers normal, natural, right, and good for its female and male members.
Transition: Social Institutions
Social Institutions: collection of patterned social practices that are repeated continuously and regularly over time and supported by social norms. Social Institutions: systems and structures that organize daily life. They are paradoxical because they operate at a macro-level (above the individual) to influence interactions, but these micro-level interactions create, sustain, and deconstruct the institutions themselves.
Micro - Macro Link
Social Structure (macro): - institutions impact individuals (systems) Everyday Experiences (micro): - individuals influence institutions (person-to-person)
Education: Application of Theory
Structural Functionalism: •Educational inequality is preparation for occupational inequalities later in life. •The Credential Society - Randall Collins (reproduce the existing class structure) Conflict Theory: •Power is in the hands of a small group of elite decision makers and the masses lave little power in the democratic process. •Savage Inequalities - Jonathan Kozol Symbolic Interactionism: •The social world is constructed through the interaction of individuals. •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTghEXKNj7g (Pygmalion Effect - start at 1:25)
Politics: Application of Theory
Structural Functionalism: •Power is held in a variety of hands, each group has equal access to power and can be part of a system of checks and balances. Conflict Theory: •Power is in the hands of a small group of elite decision makers and the masses lave little power in the democratic process. Symbolic Interactionism: •Messages in the media (the social construction of the political candidates) shape our perception and influence our voting behavior.
Sex, Gender, and More
The Gender-bread Person http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2015/03/the-genderbread-person-v3/#sthash.14HIhRn1.dpbs
Social Institution: Government
Types of government systems: - totalitarian - democracy - oligarchy - anarchy - republic - etc. * authority and power are divided differently in each type * The complexities: - Government exercises power and control, utilizing their authority. As sociologists, we want to ask 'who has the power and who does not'? (how individuals get the power matters too!)
So what then...
We know how to look the 'part' ... this is gender role socialization (subtle, pervasive process of learning gender roles) in action!!!!! - how do you KNOW what my sex is? - how do kids learn who is what?
Patriotism
What does it mean to be "un-american?" Can I: - kneel for the anthem? - burn the flag? - say bad things about politicians? example: Colin Kaepernick
How Does This Apply To You?
What kind of curriculum SHOULD you get? - climate change? - HIV/AIDS as a public health issue? - Islam in schools? - Sex Ed.? - Suicide?
Education - Systemic Differences
White school districts are the wealthiest - report says $23 billion more wealthy
Why are we studying them?
Why are we studying politics, education, and religion? Due to their intertwined nature and their effects on everyday interactions. - These are dominant social institutions that function at the macro level to shape everyday interactions. - At the micro level, those same everyday interactions construct the social institutions. - They intersect in distinctive ways in our lives. SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS shape your individual experience and YOU contribute to shaping those social institutions.
Impact in Our Domains
Work and Income: - Female-dominated jobs pay far less on average than male-dominated jobs At the high end f the pay scale, discrepancy between males' and females' earning earnings increases. - The feminization of poverty results from a combination of social forces, including the gender gap in wages, the higher proportion of single women taking on financial responsibility for children, and increasing child care. The Military: - Gender harassment is used to enforce traditional gender norms and punish violations of these norms. Criminal Justice: - the social construction of masculinity as aggressive, dominant, and physical translates directly into statistics regarding gender and crime. - Men are likelier to commit crimes as well as be victims of violent crimes such as homicide and assault. - Women are far likelier than men to be victimized by their intimate partners. Women outnumber men in arrests only for prostitution and as runaways.
And this matters because...
even though the meanings of sex and gender are socially constructed and variable, [the consequences of these meanings are real and unequal.]
Education
•The central means by which a society transmits its knowledge, values, and expectations to its members. •Formal or informal and is commonly tied to the school system. •Modern education in Western civilization has its roots in ancient Greece (approx. 8th century BCE). •The importance of education increased during the European Enlightenment when particular types of knowledge—reason, logic, and science—became valued over religion. •In 1852, school became legally mandatory in MA. By 1929, mandatory education from the elementary level through high school had spread to every state in the nation.
