Race and gender impact our lives in many different ways that leads to a surplus amount of problems that we are currently dealing with on a daily basis. With race we have racial division, racism, segregation and racial profiling. With gender we have inequality and sexism. Race and gender issues disrupts society all around us. It can be seen in the employment field, neighborhoods, schools, public areas and even in hospitals. These problems are hurting society and we must take a look into the issues at hand to understand how we can effectively communicate with each other to resolve and prevent them from emerging again. Biologically race is defined by a shared set of genetic characteristics and physical features. The problem with society is that …show more content…
Sexism refers to prejudice and discrimination based solely on someone’s sex or gender. For example, men receive 63% longer sentences than women of the same crime. (Prof. Starr 's research shows large unexplained gender disparities in federal criminal cases, 2015) I think some of this may be due to women being looked as innocent or victims especially if the woman is a mother. I feel that people tend to look at mothers as the primary caregiver and don’t want to separate the children from their mother as it may hinder the child’s life. Ann Leon-Guerrero mentions how some religious ideologies define and regulate gender differences. According to Islamic tradition, women are relegated to home and family life, while men have all the power outside their home. (2015) Women in this culture are oppressed while men are free to do whatever they please to do. This is an example of how some women are lacking the same equality as men. Women are also treated unequally in the work place. In society men are placed higher on the totem pole than women are in the work field. I believe this is based on how men take on more high risk physical jobs while majority of women take low risk jobs. (Perry, 2015) Ann Leon-Guerrero mentions that theorists have noticed a correlation between an increase amount of working women and the number of increase divorces. They even suggest that
There is a specific meaning to race and how its role impacts society and shapes the social structures. Race is a concept that “symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi & Winant 55). In other words, Omi and Winant get down to the crux of the issue and assert that race is just an illusion. Race is merely seen as an ideological construct that is often unstable and consisting of decentered social meanings. This form of social construction attempts to explain the physical attributes of an individual but it is constantly transformed by political struggles. The rules of classifying race and of identity are embedded into society’s perception. Therefore, race becomes a common function for comprehending, explaining, and acting in the
Sexism is the ideology that maintains that one sex is inherently inferior to the other. Sexism or discrimination based on gender has been a social issue for many years; it is the ideology that one sex is superior or inferior to the other. Sexism does not only affect females, but also males. Men are very often victimized by social stereotypes and norms based on gender expectations. Sexism has appears in almost all social institutions including family, the media, religion, sports, the military, politics, and the government. However, although both genders are affected, men have benefited from sexism the most (Thompson 300-301.)
There is a difference between a biological and a social view of race. Biologically, race is seen as genetic, unchanging, and distinct categories of people; this includes physiological differences within different races. A social view of race is not simply scientific, but also includes the societies where people live, how race affects social hierarchy as well as psychographic and geographic traits.
Race has no biological meaning. There is only one human race; there are no subspecies, no single defining characteristic, traits, or even gene, separates one “race” from another. Instead of being a biological concept, race is a social construct, and a relatively modern one at that. It was created to give light-skinned Europeans an advantage by making the white race superior and all others inferior. Throughout its history, the concept of race has served this purpose well.
...lieve that races are distinct biological categories created by differences in genes that people inherit from their ancestors. Genes vary, but not in the popular notion of black, white, yellow, red and brown races. Many biologist and anthropologists have concluded that race is a social, cultural and political concept based largely on superficial appearances. (4)
Race is a concept which people over time used to separate people. It is the classification to subdue a specific group to higher ones own rank. It could be said that race is a biological aspect, however history has proven otherwise. The appearance of a person does not explain their racial category. Today, the world is more diverse than ever and there is no one category to separate people.
Last semester when I signed up for classes, I thought Sociology 260: Social Problems in the US would be a course where a minimal amount of time would be spent on discussing social problems and a maximum amount of time would be used to discuss public policies to combat such social problems. I wanted to jump the gun. I did not see that in order to implement a public policy, which would be of use, I had to fully understand all facets of the problem. Through these various books and articles, The Condemnation of Little B by Elaine Brown, "The Ghosts of 9-1-1: Reflections on History, Justice and Roosting Chickens," in On the Justice of Roosting Chickens by Ward Churchill, Perversions of Justice: Indigenous Peoples and Angloamerican Law by Ward Churchill, No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Justice System by David Cole, Welcome to the Machine: Science Surveillance, and the Culture of Control by Derrick Jensen and George Draffan, "Mastering the Female Pelvis: Race and the Tools of Reproduction," in Public Privates: Preforming Gynecology From Both Ends of the Spectrum by Terri Kapsalis and "Race and the New Reproduction" in Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts, a better understanding came to light on social issues currently seen as problematic like poverty, health care, race and discrimination, gender inequality and crime.
Overall, minorities, especially females, carry many diverse social and economic struggles and barriers. Society remains constant in its male dominant and racial biases. These gender and racial stratifications are social norms and values that cripple society’s growth and must be broken. If the stigmas that limit female and racial equality do not halt, then women and monitories will forever reign beneath men and Whites and American will never truly be a land of the free and
The two terms are often misconstrued as if they have identical meaning. The term ‘race’ is based on the thought of biological and physical differences. According to Robb, “the concept of ‘race’ included any… groups of people which held them to display inherent, heritable, persistent or predictive characteristics, and which thus had a biological or quasi-biological basis” (1995:1). In the study of race, particularly during the late part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, groups of people were classified on the basis of different phenotypical characteristics determined by physical attributes such as skin pigmentation, cranial capacity and hair type or colour (Miles, 1993:59). Hannaford (1996) refutes the idea that race is a biological concept, “We assume that the racial and ethnic diversity we see all around us has always existed as a historical, social, and biological fact that needs no further interrogation” (p3).
Although we often use race to classify, interact, and identify with various communities, there is a general consensus among scientists that racial differences do not exist. Indeed, biologists such as Joseph Graves state, "the measured amount of genetic variation in the human population is extremely small." Although we often ascribe genetics to the notion of race, there are no significant genetic differences between racial groups. Thus, there is no genetic basis for race. Our insistence and belief in the idea of race as biology, though, underlines the socially constructed nature of race. Racial groupings of people are based on perceived physical similarities (skin color, hair structure, physique, etc.), not genetic similarities. Nevertheless, we are inclined to equate physical similarities with genetics. Sociologists also use a temporality to argue that race is a social construct. The notion of race results from patterns from the signification of certain traits to different groups of people. However, these patterns (and societal notions of race) change over time. For example, the 20th century belief that "In vital capacity… the tendency of the Negro race has been downward" is certainly not commonplace among individuals today. Notions of race also differ across societies. Racial attitudes towards blacks, for example, are inherently different between the United States and Nigeria. These arguments all suggest that race is socially constructed. The lack of a universal notion of race means that it is not a natural, inherent, or scientific human trait. Rather, different societies use race to ordain their respective social
In Anderson and Collins’, chapter on “Why race, class, and gender still maters” encourage readers to think about the world in their framework of race, class, and gender. They argued that even though society has change and there is a wide range of diversity; race, class and gender still matters. Anderson and Collins stated, “Race, class, and gender matter because they remain the foundation for system of power and inequality that, despite our nation’s diversity, continue to be among the most significant social facts of peoples lives.” (Anderson and Collins, 2010) When I was a little girl, I never knew that people were classified in to groups such as race, class, gender. I knew there were people that had a different color of skin than my color of skin. I knew that there were rich people and poor people, and that there were girls and boys. I saw everyone as being human beings, as being the same and not classified as something. As I was growing up, I started to see the differences in classifications in groups. It was not because I just woke up knowing that there were different classifications, but because I was taught about them in school and society. Anderson and Collins stated, “Race, class and gender shape the experiences of all people in the United States. (2010) This means that experiences that we have gone through in life are formed from a race, class, and gender view.
The biological understanding of race in the United States is that people from different places have different genetics and genes in their body, accounting for different traits in each people. These people could be grouped together by their biological traits because their similarities in genes would make them look alike. People wanted to believe that there actually were true biological differences between people. Race in the past and present (somewhat) has been categorized based on continental origin, skin color, nose structures, and hair type. To define a person’s race, someone could ask questions like: “what type of hair do they have, curly or straight? Is their skin dark or light? Are their eyes blue, brown, or black?” Based off of these
Race is a term that references on differences such as, facial characteristics, skin color, and other related characteristics. Race is not in reference to genetic make up. A feature of race as a social construct is that it down plays the extent to which sectors of population may form a discrete ethnic group. Based on specific characteristics race makes up a person and differs within groups. In other words race is a large group of people distinguished from others on the basic of a common heritage or physical trait.
Sexism is discrimination based on the gender. Although it mainly occurs against women, so men may also suffer some sexism. Sexism is the belief of one sex being superior to the opposite sex and is unequally treated. Sexism can be experience in different ways; the most frequent being the work place. Such discrimination can be experienced by limiting job position opportunities and salary.
This essay explored one 's experience of race/ethnicity and gender. It really made you think about your personal experiences based on your race/ethnicity and gender. For me it actually made me think deeply about how my race/ethnicity and how my gender has affected my life. There were a series of seven questions split into two parts, one based on race and ethnicity and the other part based on gender.They were the following : " What were the expectations and influences of parents, peers, schooling, religious training, mass media, and other agents of socialization on race/ethnicity?" Have you ever felt that you were treated differently than others because of your race or ethnicity. How did this make you feel?" What effect does your gender, class, age,