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
The most accepted definition of sexism is a gender based bigotry; women earning only seventy percent the amount of men for the same job, or men serving sixty-three percent longer
Race is socially constructed meaning and biological. Biological race is impossible because there is no genetic or DNA make-up difference from one race to another. Racial inequality is a very big issue that the world is dealing with, especially the United States. People tend to discriminate because of the way someone looks or where they are from. These could be an example prejudice which is the act of prejudging a person because of their appearance, thoughts and/or ideas (Jensen). Also stereotyping, discrimination, and racism go hand in hand with prejudice. Stereotyping is when a person uses a set of generalizations of a group of people that en...
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.
...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)
People have different physical characteristics, for example skin, hair or eye color, tall or short stature, and other ways evolution has adapted humans to be able to live and thrive in different areas of the world. For hundreds of years race has been a factor in how people have categorized each other. Race is defined as “a group of persons related by a common descent or heredity, characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal characteristics” (“Race”). Race is part of what makes us unique as individuals, however it has not been scientifically identified in the physical make up of what is known as the human genome. There is no scientific proof that gives race the ability to be a social construct, yet it has been a large part of American history and society in history and still has a presence today. Race is a reality.
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.)
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.
Race, class, and gender hypothesis appear to survive struggle at diverse level encounters and usually face depletion in presenting a complete and inclusive theory of continuing discrimination that can give details or identify the altering patterns of race and gender dissimilarity in the United States from the past few decades.
Society is defined as people who live in a specific geographic territory, interact with one another, and share many elements of common culture. Within a society there are many components that make up that society. There is crime, culture, social class, gender, marriage and the family, religion, education, medicine and health care, the political order, etc. However, race and ethnicity has a great and powerful influence in society, and has for many years. On the reverse side, society also influences the different races and ethnicities of people. Race is defined as “a group of people who have been singled out on the basis of real or alleged physical characteristics” (Curry, Jiobu, Schwirian 209). Ethnicity is defined as “common cultural characteristics
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.
Whether race is real or not depends on how race itself is defined. There are phenotypic differences among different populations but whether those differences are significant enough is debatable. The patterns of features that we notice in different races can be identified as characteristics of the areas from which they come and where their ancestors have been for thousands of years. We call the differences we see in each other ‘race.’ Race exists as more of a social construction than a significant biological entity. Race has a more social role in society and first came about as a sociocultural construction (Smedley, 1997).
No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality (Eitzen, Zinn, and Smith 2012). Every society treats women and men differently. Research shows that sex and gender are entirely separate concepts, yet, society lumps them together and the terms oftentimes are used interchangeably. We can distinguish that sex indicates biological differences between males and females, and gender assigns cultural and social behavior based on sex. However, everything in society is needlessly gendered; advertising, occupations, institutions. Society makes gender a huge factor that determines what roles children and adults alike fulfill. This fosters a culture where roles are pre-fabricated for us, somewhat eliminating free choice, and limiting
Anderson, M.L., & Collins P.H. (2010). Race, Class, & Gender: An Anthology. Why Race, Class, and Gender Still Matter. 8th Edition.
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.
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,