chapter 2: subtopics and terms

Question 1

Perspectives On Identity

Answer 1

what determine race, class, gender, sexuality? - the response depends on your basic perspective that influences your view of indiv differences. There are instances which ones social environment changes their true identity.

Question 2

Essentialism

Answer 2

“focuses on what are believed to be universal, inherent, and unambiguous “essences” that clearly distinguish one group from another.”

— “From an essentialist perspective, people’s definitions and labels can change, but an individual’s essence is permanent”

Question 3

Constructionism

Answer 3

“argues that what we know to be real and essential is always a product of the culture and historical period in which we live.”
— categorical distinctions may have some biophysical components, but they are human creations and don’t exist independently of our ideas about them and responses to them

Question 4

Definitions of Differences and Identities

Answer 4

• human societies organize, attach meaning to, then alter meanings of those differences
• racial categories are not innate but are created, inhabited, applied, destroyed by people and social institutions
• the appearance and disappearance of particular race labels reflects the visibility and value of certain groups in society

Question 5

The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity

Answer 5

process by which humans come together and give meaning to people, objects, and events

Question 6

Who is Poor?

Answer 6

poor is relative and theres no universal concept of poor

Question 7

Gender

Answer 7

designates the psychological, social, cultural aspects of masculinity and femininity

Question 8

Gender Identities

Answer 8

sex is ascribed status at birth and gender is achieved through broader cultural expectations

Question 9

Doing Gender

Answer 9

– gender is ingrained social construct that actively surfaces in everyday human interaction
– children acquire knowledge abt gender through socialization and learn gender rules
– to accomplish gender one must “do gender” continuously through everyday interaction

Question 10

The Sexual Dichotomy

Answer 10

“sexual dichotomy—the natural division of sex into two binary categories: male and female.

— These categories are considered to be biologically determined, permanent (you are what you’re born with), universal (males are males and females are females whether one lives in Seattle, Seoul, or São Paulo; in the 15th century or the 21st century), exhaustive (everyone can be placed into one of the two categories), and mutually exclusive”

Question 11

Intersexuality and Anatomical Ambiguity

Answer 11

“individuals in whom anatomical sexual differentiation is either incomplete or unclear,”

Question 12

Sexual Orientations

Answer 12

“sexual orientation—which indicates the sex for whom one feels erotic and romantic desire. ”
– “saying that sexual orientation is socially constructed does not necessarily mean that it is simply a learned behavior with no inherent genetic, hormonal, or physiological correlates.”

Question 13

Heteronormativity

Answer 13

“heteronormative—that is, a culture where heterosexuality is assumed to be the normal, taken-for-granted mode of sexual expression.”

Question 14

“The Closet”

Answer 14

– “people whose sexuality places them outside the heteronormative lines of acceptability would choose to keep this component of their identity hidden”
– “remaining in the closet has been a life-shaping strategy of concealing one’s sexual identity to avoid interpersonal rejection, social discrimination, or in extreme cases, violence. Historically, the closet has been a rational ”

Question 15

Identity

Answer 15

“the definitional categories we used to specify, both to ourselves and to others, who we are inheritance of,”

Question 16

Race

Answer 16

“a category of individuals who are believed to share common inborn biological traits, such as skin color; color and texture of hair; and shape of eyes, nose, or head”

Question 17

Ethnicity

Answer 17

“the nonbiological traits such as shared ancestry culture, history, language, patterns of behavior, and beliefs, that provide members of a group with a sense of common identity”

Question 18

Racial formation

Answer 18

the sociohistorical process by which races and the concepts of races are created, modified, or destroyed

Question 19

Racialization

Answer 19

“the extension of racial meaning to a previously racially classified relationship”
– Attaching a race identifier to things that don’t inherently require it

Question 20

Gender socialization

Answer 20

process by which people learn the cultural, norms, attitudes, and behaviors appropriate to their gender through sanctions

Question 21

Social class

Answer 21

group of people who share similar economic position in society based on their wealth and income

Question 22

Wealth vs Income

Question 23

Heterosexism

Answer 23

anti-homosexual prejudice

Question 24

Moral boundaries

Answer 24

Moral boundaries between the classes consist of assessments of such qualities as honesty, integrity, work ethic, and consideration for others.

Question 25

Cultural boundaries

Answer 25

“cultural boundaries identified on the basis of education, taste, and manners. In other words, class resides as much in how people talk, the way they dress, and the books, movies, and music they prefer as it does in how much money they make.”

Question 26

Social mobility

Answer 26

“the movement of people or groups from one class level to another.”

Question 27

Conspicuous consumption

Answer 27

the acquisition of particular goods or services that serve the express purpose of displaying one’s wealth

Question 28

Invidious consumption

Answer 28

the acquisition of goods and services for the specific purpose of provoking other people’s envy of one’s presumably superior socio-economic status

Question 29

Keeping up with the Joneses

Answer 29

the comparison to one’s neighbor as a benchmark for social class or the accumulation of material goods.

Question 30

Agency

Answer 30

the ability to make any number of choices in any given situation

Question 31

heteronormative

Answer 31

culture where hertrosexuality os assumed to be the normal, taken for granted mode of sexual expression

Question 32

“outed”

Answer 32

forced to publicly acknowledge their homosexuality, serves as a means of social control, keeping homosexuals silent and invisible

Question 33

Connell, chapter on Gender main pt