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SOC 134 > Exam 3 Study Questions > Flashcards

Exam 3 Study Questions Flashcards

1
Q

Explain the sociological view of rationality.

A

Sociologists view rationality as a social construction.

  • What is rational isn’t constant
  • Different communities have different standards of rationality
  • A rational behavior or statement is one that makes sense in community
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2
Q

Value Rationality

A

Involves commitment to a binding conviction.

  • it is dominant in tradition, religion and ritual
    ex. ) “What is the honorable thing to do?”
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3
Q

Formal Rationality

A

Involves cost-benefit analysis (instrumentality, calculability).

ex.) “Can it save us money?” “Can it save us time?”

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4
Q

What was Max Weber’s claim about the importance of formal rationality in the modern world?

A

Weber believed the modern world was characterized by formal rationality

Weber believed the bureaucracy was the model of rationalization

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5
Q

What is a bureaucracy?

A

Hierarchical organization governed by formal rules and regulations and having clearly specified work tasks

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6
Q

What are the 5 aspects of bureaucracy presented in lecture (and your textbook)?

A
  1. Written rules & documents
  2. Separation of person and position
  3. Specialization
  4. Hierarchy of offices
  5. Impersonality
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7
Q

How does Alvin Gouldner’s study of a Gypsum plant illustrate how bureaucracies differ from non-bureaucratic organizations?

A

Bureaucracies are clear, organized, and have formal rules while non-bureaucratic organizations are ran by the workers, little paperwork, and the workers are happy but customers and company managers are not.

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8
Q

How is McDonaldization connected to formal rationality and bureaucracy?

A

It is connected to formal rationality because it is focused on efficiency, time and saving money for the consumers.

It is connected to bureaucracy because it is a “high up” organization that is universally wide which leads it to have the elements of bureaucracy (impersonality, written rules and documents, separation of person and position, specialization, and hierarchy of positions.

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9
Q

What are the “irrationalities of rationality” that Ritzer describes?

A
  1. Inefficiency and higher costs
  2. The illusion of fun
  3. False Friendliness
  4. Health and environmental hazards
  5. Homogenization
  6. Dehumanization
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10
Q

What are the 4 aspects of McDonaldization?

A

Efficiency
Calculability
Predictability
Control

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11
Q

What is efficiency and how does efficiency play a role into McDonaldization?

A

The search for the optimum means to a given end.

  • Streamlining processes
  • Simplifying goods and services,
  • Using customers to perform work
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12
Q

What is the calculability concept in McDonaldization?

A

Emphasis on things that can be calculated, counted, and quantified

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13
Q

What is predictability and how does predictability play a role into McDonaldization?

A

Emphasis on things being the same from one time or place to another.

  • Offering uniform products
  • Replications of settings
  • Scripting of employee behaviors
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14
Q

What is control and how does control play a role into McDonaldization?

A

Control (of people) through replacement of human with nonhuman technology.

  • Machines
  • Architecture/ interior design
  • Limited options
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15
Q

How can the results of formal rationality be said to be irrational?

A

McDonaldized institutions can be formally rational, but be unreasonable or unwise which leads them to be referred to as irrational.

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16
Q

Impersonality

A

Decision-making criteria that ignore personal characteristics not related organizational goals

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17
Q

Written Rules and Documents

A

Procedural rules, contracts, position descriptions, written evaluations and job files

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18
Q

Separation of Person and Position

A

Resources of each position are to be used only for official purposes; positions require full capacity of office holder

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19
Q

Specialization

A

Organizational positions are assigned based on special skills and training

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20
Q

Hierarchy of Offices

A

Ranking of positions so that lower positions report to higher ones

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21
Q

What is demography?

A

the study of human population

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22
Q

Name demographies 3 major components of study.

A

fertility, mortality, migration

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23
Q

Fertility

A

the incidence of childbearing in a region’s population

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24
Q

Mortality

A

the incidence of death in a region’s population

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25
Q

Migration

A

the movement of people into and out of a region

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26
Q

Define birth cohort

A

set of people who were born during a particular time period

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27
Q

Define cohort effect

A

differences between cohorts based upon their specific historical circumstances

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28
Q

Define Age Effect

A

differences between cohorts based on the ages of their members

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29
Q

What are generations?

A

A type of birth cohort, constructed by social scientists, historians, marketers and others

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30
Q

What were the generations described in class?

A

GI Generation (“Greatest Generation”): 1901(?)-1927

Silent Generation: 1928-1945

Baby Boomers: 1946-1964

Generation X (Baby Busters): 1965-1980

Millennials (Echo Boomers, Gen Y): 1981-1997

Generation Z (Post- Millennials): 1997-?

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31
Q

To which generation do most of the students in the class belong?

A

Millennials

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32
Q

In what ways are the Millennial Generation different from previous ones?

A
  1. more liberal
  2. more pro - government
  3. more democratic
  4. less trusting of others
  5. unmoored from institutions
  6. more tolerant of different family forms
  7. less religious
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33
Q

What are some of the important demographic trends of the past 100 years?

A

population has gone up from 76 million in 1900 to 313 million in 2008.

-Fertility rate increased significantly during the baby boom, but leveled out after that and ever since

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34
Q

Define and explain what a social movement is.

A

organized collective action motivated by the desire to enact, stop, or reverse social change

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35
Q

What is the connection between social movements and the course theme?

A

The course theme states that people are both cause and consequence of society.

Social movements are done by people in response to what people have done to a society.

ex. if people changes society in a way that people do not like, they can have social movements to stop it.

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36
Q

What are the four types of social movements?

A

Alternative social movement
Redemptive social movement
Reform social movement
Revolutionary social movement

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37
Q

Alternative social movement? List an example

A

Alternative social movements seek change for specific individuals focused on one aspect of their lives.

Ex. The 12 step group such as AA - has shaped the way many people think about personal and social problems (e.g., medicalizing deviance)

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38
Q

Redemptive social movement? List an example

A

Redemptive social movements seek radical change for their adherents (supporter, follower)

Ex. Latter Day Saints
Ex. Heavens Gate co-foudned Marshal White (giant suicide)

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39
Q

Reform social movement? List an example

A

Reform social movement seek to change limited aspects of a society but do not seek to alter or replace major social institutions.

Ex. Anti-slavery, women’s suffrage, gay rights, etc.

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40
Q

Revolutionary social movement? List an example

A

Revolutionary social movements attempt to overthrow an entire social system and replace it with another.

Ex. Boston Tea Party

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41
Q

What is an old social movement and example

A

“Old social movements” were related to economic struggles between “haves” and “have-nots”

Ex. labor movement, Grange movement

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42
Q

What is a new social movement and example

A

“New social movements” focus on non- economic quality of life issues and identities.

Ex. feminism, gay rights, peace movement, pro-life/pro-choice, etc.

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43
Q

Explain the difference between old and new social movements.

A

Old social movements separated people and what their social status was, new social movements disregard what someones social status is and focus on group desires.

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44
Q

Explain that factors that explain why some social movements are successful and others aren’t.

A 
Shared meanings (ideology, social movement frames)
Social networks
Rising expectations
Resource mobilization 
Bureaucratization
Political opportunity structure 
Tactics
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45
Q

What is ideology?

A

A system of beliefs, values and ideas used to explain how things are or how they should be.

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46
Q

Why is ideology important for understanding social movements?

A

Ideology is one way of talking about shared meanings.

Social movements use ideology to explain what is wrong and what should be done about it

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47
Q

What are social movement frames?

A

shared understandings that explain what is wrong and what should be done about it.

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48
Q

What are master frames?

A

Frame used by many social movements in a society.

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49
Q

What is frame alignment?

A

Linkage between social movement frame and frame of social movement recruit.

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50
Q

Describe and explain each of the three social movement strategies for achieving frame alignment?

A
  1. Frame Bridging: Reaching people who already share the frame
  2. Frame Transformation: Convert people to their frame
  3. Frame Extension: Manipulate existing frames for new purposes
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51
Q

Explain how social movement success/failure is connected to social networks?

A

People are recruited into social movement activities through friends and relatives

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52
Q

Explain how social movements success/failure connected to rising expectations?

A

Rising expectations are a better predictor of protest (or rioting) than deprivation

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53
Q

Explain how social movements success/failure connected to resource mobilization?

A

key resources include money, people and organizational strength

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54
Q

Explain how social movements success/failure connected to bureaucratization?

A

There are advantages for bureaucratic social movement organizations

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55
Q

Explain how social movements success/failure connected to political opportunity structure?

A

some environments are more friendly than others for social movements

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56
Q

What are the three major types of social movement tactics? Give examples of each.

A

Persuasion
Bargaining
Coercion

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57
Q

Persuasion? Give an example

A

disseminating (spreading) group’s message

ex. using sweet talk, talking about positives

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58
Q

Bargaining? Give an example

A

offering something (votes, $) in exchange for something else.

ex. offering someone money in exchange for change

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59
Q

Coercion? Give an example

A

creating disturbances or threatening to do something

ex. having a gun held to your head to do something

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60
Q

Describe and explain the four possible consequences of social movements discussed in class.

A

Social Movements may result in…

  1. Changed Social Policies; new laws
  2. Changed Social Attitudes; groups of people may be constructed as deserving sympathy or abuse
  3. New Interest Organizations; National Organization for Women (NOW)
  4. Biographical Change for Participants; Alumni of Freedom Summer (1964) led student protest movements across the United States
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61
Q

What is stratification?

A

A ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society

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62
Q

What is stratifications connection to the social construction of reality?

A

Through stratification, society categorizes people and distributes valued resources based upon these categories.

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63
Q

What are the three key categories of people by which resources are stratified?

A

race, class, and gender

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64
Q

What are the three key resources that are stratified?

A

income/wealth, prestige & power

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65
Q

Explain Max Weber’s concept of “life chances.”

A

Max Weber thought of class stratification in terms of “life chances”

Your place in the stratification system (class, race or gender) may not determine your access to valued resources, but it affects your chances

Different stratification systems offer different opportunities (chances) for mobility

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66
Q

Define social mobility.

A

The movement of people or groups from one class to another.

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67
Q

What is intergenerational mobility?

A

(parent-to- child) mobility

The movement of social systems from parent to child.

68
Q

Be familiar with the patterns depicted in each graph.

A

STUDIES THESE B4 TEST!!!!

69
Q

What is the reproduction of inequality?

A

??

70
Q

Why is education so important for understanding the reproduction of inequality?

A

Education is a key way that inequality is reproduced

ex.) an individuals’ class standing is linked to their parents’

71
Q

What are the patterns of income inequality shown on the graphs shown during lecture?

A

Income inequality in the U.S. has been increasing for the past three-plus decades. It is higher than in other industrialized nations.

72
Q

Is income inequality in the U.S. going up or down?

A

up

73
Q

How does income inequality in the U.S. compare to other industrialized nations?

A

It is higher than other industrialized nations

74
Q

For what reasons is income inequality rising?

A
  1. Rising salaries for Wall Street and other corporate executives
  2. Growing gap between people with and without college educations
  3. Decline in labor movement
  4. Tax rates and other government policies
75
Q

What is the trend in CEO salaries?

A

The rich CEO’s are getting richer.

CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are more productive or have special talent or have more education

76
Q

How does it compare to the trend for other workers’ salaries?

A

CEO pay increased 937%
Typical worker’s pay increased 11.2%

The average CEO pay (top 350 U.S. firms): $15.6 million — 271 times pay of average worker

77
Q

What does it mean that sociologists study capitalism as a historical system?

A

It means that the “endless accumulation of capital” has been the fundamental economic objective

78
Q

What was Adam Smith’s argument about how capitalism is supposed to work?

A

He argued that the capitalist economy should be organized so that if each person follows their individual self- interest, others will benefit (the “invisible hand”)

Smith also described the ways that capitalism doesn’t work this way.

79
Q

How can capitalist firms make money without producing and/or selling valuable goods or services?

A

Capitalists may make money through corporate welfare, speculation, or fraud.

80
Q

Explain what rent-seeking is and give examples?

A

The term “rent-seeking” is used to describe manipulating economic environment.

Ex.) through government action to produce value for the company, such as through tariffs, tax breaks, exclusive licensing, creating barriers to entry.

81
Q

Why might established capitalists prefer rent-seeking to a free market?

A

Established capitalists tend to want markets to be less free (“pro- business” agenda) at the expense of other corporations and consumers.

82
Q

How can corporations make money from speculation?

A

Corporations can manipulate stock prices (and executive salary/stock options) through mergers, internal reorganizations, lay-offs, etc. that damage long- term profitability.

83
Q

What is production management?

A

Management designed to create profit by creating/ selling valued goods/services.

84
Q

How can corporations make money from fraud? Give examples.

A

Companies can make money by stealing from customers, overstating the value of their company, selling worthless or nonexistent products, and so on.

85
Q

What are the key ideas in the assigned excerpt from “The Forest and the Trees”?

A
  1. “One thing”:“We are always participating in something bigger than ourselves, and if we want to understand social life and what happens to people in it, we have to understand what it is that we’re participating in and how we participate in it.”
  2. Social systems create “paths of least resistance”.
  3. Thinking of social systems as “just people” results in defensiveness to critiques of system
  4. We can’t reduce social systems to “kinds of people”
  5. “Good people” may participate in or benefit from bad systems.This may not make them “bad people,” but it involves them in the system’s negative consequences.
86
Q

What does it mean that poverty isn’t just an individual attribute?

A

Poverty is one end of the income distribution. It’s a consequence of how we organize our economic system.

87
Q

How is poverty a consequence of our economic system? Give specific reasons.

A
  1. Our system encourages the accumulation of wealth
  2. Most people rely on their labor to make a living
  3. Efficient management of companies may involve eliminating workers or paying them little
88
Q

How do conservative and liberal approaches to poverty differ?

A

Conservative approaches tend to focus on poverty as an individual failing causing government programs to be criticized because they keep people from changing themselves.

Government programs (supported by liberals) also focus on individuals: some programs (job training) focus on improving people’s competitive advantage within the system, other programs (food stamps) alleviate suffering, but also don’t address economic system.

89
Q

How are conservative and liberal approaches to poverty similar?

A

Both conservative and liberal approaches to poverty focus on individuals.

90
Q

Define absolute poverty.

A

Inability to afford the minimal requirements for sustaining healthy existence

91
Q

Define relative poverty.

A

Individual’s economic position compared to the living standards of the majority in society

92
Q

Define poverty line.

A

Amount of yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs, according to the federal government

93
Q

Define poverty rate.

A

Percentage of people whose income falls below the poverty line

94
Q

Be familiar with the patterns of poverty found on the graphs shown in class.

A

GO OVER THIS BEFORE THE TEST (nov 15)

95
Q

What is speculative management?

A

Management designed to create profit through manipulating the value of company stock or other financial instruments

96
Q

What is race?

A

Category of people labeled and treated as similar because of some common biological traits, such as skin color, texture of hair, and shape of eyes.

97
Q

What is races connection to biology?

A

Race is determined and affected by biology.

98
Q

Why is race a social construct?

A

Society socially constructed the meaning of race and how people are affected by their race, and traits are culturally determined.

Race is a modern construction connected to other modern developments, such science, capitalism and colonialism.

99
Q

What does it mean to say that race has no “scientific” basis?

A

People’s physical traits exist in the physical world, but which ones are important for categorizing people are culturally determined

100
Q

What does the example of sickle-cell disease illustrate about the interaction between biological and social processes?

A

In the United States, sickle-cell disease is more common in blacks (1-in-500) than whites.

  • Biological process: the sickle cell mutation arose independently in areas with malaria
  • Social process: forced migration of Western Africans to North American
101
Q

In what way is race a “modern” approach?

A

Race is a modern approach to human differences connected to other modern developments, including science, capitalism, colonialism, and modern weaponry

102
Q

Explain the claim that race and racism have always been connected.

A

Defining non-white people as inferior is part of the ideological foundation for colonialism and slavery

103
Q

Be familiar with the racial taxonomies shown in class and their significance.

A

LOOK AT THIS BEFORE TEST!!!!!

104
Q

How has race been significant in U.S. history?

A

The U.S. racial system has focused on the white-nonwhite separation

105
Q

What is race’s role in the U.S. Constitution?

A

Slavery for blacks and non-citizenship for Indians was built into the U.S. Constitution.

  • -Slaves (“all other Persons”) counted as 3/5 of a person for purposes of Congressional Representation
  • -The fugitive slave clause provided for returning escaped slaves
  • Congress prohibited from banning the slave trade before 1808
106
Q

What was the significance of the Dred Scott case?

A

The Dred Scott ruling (1857) established that blacks are “beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”

107
Q

What are some of the complications of the U.S. racial system?

A

Because the white-black distinction was so important, the boundary between whiteness and non-whiteness need to be established and enforced

108
Q

Explain the one drop-rule. Why is it significant for understanding the U.S. racial system?

A

The “one-drop rule”—one drop of black blood makes someone black— was intended to preserve white purity

-you could have black ancestors from 6 generations ago and can still be considered black

The “one-drop rule” is significant for understanding the US racial system because it continues to shape the way we think about race/

109
Q

Explain miscegenation. Why is it significant for understanding the U.S. racial system?

A

Racist term for marriage or sexual relations between a man & a woman of different races.

Miscegenation is significant for understanding the US racial system because it is still down down on to this day; even when racism is “over”.

110
Q

Explain passing. Why is it significant for understanding the U.S. racial system?

A

v

111
Q

Explain the process of “becoming white”. Why is it significant for understanding the U.S. racial system?

A

Since there was a huge push to separate whites and blacks, nonwhite people and groups attempted to become white. Because of the one-drop rule, many blacks have been able to “pass” as white, and this has resulted in a large percentage of whites with black ancestry. This made is easy for new immigrant groups (Irish, jews, slavs, etc.) to become white.

112
Q

What is Loving v. Virginia?

A

In 1967, Loving v. Virginia outlawed anti- miscegenation laws

  • Mildred (black) & Richard (white) Loving
113
Q

What are the official U.S. race categories used on the 2010 census? (8)

A 
Chicano
Cuban
Hispanic
Latino
Mexican
Mexican Americans
Puerto Rican
Spanish
114
Q

How have the official US race categories changed over time?

A

1860: 3 categories (white, black, mulatto)
1960: people were allowed to identify themselves

started very small and got more complex

115
Q

What is the one official ethnic group?

A

black

116
Q

Be familiar with race patterns in the 2010 census results.

A

LOOK OVER THIS BEFORE THE EXAM!!!!!!!!!!

117
Q

Define and explain racism.

A

Belief, attitudes or actions based on the idea that humanity is divided into distinct races that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as superior or inferior.

118
Q

Define and explain personal racism.

A

Individual’s expression of racist attitudes or behaviors

-Can be either prejudice (attitudes) or discrimination (unfair treatment)

119
Q

Define and explain implicit racial bias.

A

Attitudes about race people have without awareness or conscious intent

120
Q

Define and explain institutional racism.

A

Laws, customs, and practices that systematically reflect and produce racial and ethnic inequalities in a society, whether or not the individuals maintaining these laws, customs, and practices have racist intentions

121
Q

Give examples of institutional racism.

A

Drug sentencing laws, e.g., 100-to-1 rule

Cosmetology licensing laws (as applied to African hair braiding)

122
Q

Define racial transparency.

A

Tendency for the race of a society’s majority to be so obvious, normative, and unremarkable that it becomes, for all intents and purposes, invisible

123
Q

Define white privilege.

A

Term coined by Peggy McIntosh to describe “an unearned package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious”

124
Q

Be familiar with the examples of white privilege given in class and how each illustrates the concept.

A

I can be reasonably sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race.

I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race

If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live

I can be reasonably sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.

125
Q

How does the essay about “The Rules” illustrate white privilege?

A

A black mother had a black little girl and started teacher her daughter rules regarding her race without even realizing she was doing it. Some of the rules were…

  1. Don’t touch anything when you go into stores.
  2. Know who you are.You can’t do everything they do.
126
Q

What is the pay gap between white and black households?

A

The pay gap between white and black Americans has widened over time with whites making more.

  • in 2013, white Americans were making (on average) 800$ a week while black Americans were making 600$ a week.
127
Q

How has it changed over the past several decades?

A

In 1980, the pay gap was not that wide, it has widened over time.

-Whites have always made more though.

128
Q

What are the primary reasons for the black-white pay gap?

A

Less wealth, human, social and cultural capital.
Discrimination
Resulting in different work patterns
Rising income inequality worsen the gap

129
Q

Why do black families tend to start with less economic, social and cultural capital?

A

Household composition (blacks have a greater chance of growing up in a female-headed household)

Education gap (whites have on average higher levels of education)

Wealth gap (whites have on average higher levels of family wealth)

130
Q

What evidence was presented during lecture about the existence of racial hiring discrimination?

A

There was discrimination when it came to hiring black people which resulted in different work patterns, and the rising inequality worsened the income gap.

131
Q

How do different work patterns contribute to the black-white pay gap?

A

When blacks do not work as much as white or if their jobs are not as good as white, the income gap worsens.

132
Q

DEC 1. What were the findings of Ford and Beach’s 1951 study of beauty standards in “primitive” societies?

A

Ford and Beach’s 1951 study of “primitive” societies found no universal standards when it comes to beauty standards.

133
Q

Why are the findings of Ford and Beach’s 1951 study of beauty stands in “primitive” societies significant?

A

because every culture have different standards when it comes to what they think is beautiful.

134
Q

Why might Western standards of beauty be becoming international ones?

A

Because the is where movies, television and other media occur.

135
Q

What does the evidence from Fiji suggest?

A

A 1999 study of Fiji found that eating disorders had increased fivefold since TV arrived in 1995

  • society has a real impact on our body image and how we treat our body
136
Q

Give examples illustrating the historical variation in beauty standards.

A

16 century:

  • Elizabethan era women desired a flat chest and 13- Inch waist
  • Corsets were worn.

17th century:

  • Women desired a large bust and hips
  • A pale complexion was achieved with lead- or arsenic-based paints

19th century:
- women desired a tiny “wasp waist,” full hips and bust

1920s:
- The flapper girl wanted a boyish look with slender legs and hips
- bras used to reduce breast size
- shorts skirts were a symbol of liberation

1940 and 1950s:

  • Sex symbols of mid-20th Century had an exaggerated hourglass shape
  • Mass produced pin-up art also embraced this beauty standard

1960 and 1970s:
- A lean youthful body, often with long hair, was the 1960s beauty standard.

1980- 1990s:

  • A fitness craze in the 1980s led to a beauty standard that emphasized a slim but also muscular, toned, fit body
  • Breast implants
137
Q

What is significant about the “Gibson girl”?

A

The “Gibson girl” images of illustrator Charles Dana Gibson are considered the first national standard for feminine beauty

138
Q

The corset was given as an example of a beauty-enhancing technology.

What did the corset do?
When was it most popular?
How did it serve as a rite of passage?

A
  1. The corset made the waist skinnier and curvier
  2. Most popular during 16th century.
  3. Served as a rites of passage because females wore then to attract men and be skinny.
139
Q

What arguments were made by proponents and opponents of the corset?

A

Proponents: Achieved the skinny and curvy look, attracted men

Opponents: Made it hard to breath, doctors said they caused health problems

140
Q

How does gender affect socially constructed beauty standards?

A

Women and men have different beauty standards.

Attractiveness is prerequisite for femininity, not masculinity

Female beauty standard requires more time and money to achieve

141
Q

How does race affect socially constructed beauty standards?

A

U.S. beauty standard idealizes Caucasian features and devalues those of other races.

However, black women have more satisfaction with their bodies than white women, possibly because of racial variation in beauty standards

142
Q

How does social class affect socially constructed beauty standards?

A

Wealthy people can afford to be beautiful

143
Q

What are some personal consequences of beauty standards?

A

Discrimination in many institutions

beautiful women may be considered less capable for managerial positions

Medical side effects of achieving beauty

Appearance may play a large role in age discrimination

144
Q

What are some of the advantages of meeting beauty standards?

A

Grade school teachers judge cute children more intelligent

Beauty may result in better treatment in the criminal justice system

Beautiful people are considered more competent by personnel interviewers

145
Q

What are some of the costs of meeting beauty standards?

A

Female beauty standards impose greater costs than male ones; yet achieving the standards produces mixed results

146
Q

Define sex

A

biological maleness or femaleness

147
Q

Define gender

A

psychological, social and cultural aspects of maleness and femaleness

148
Q

What is the different between sex and gender

A

Sex is about biology and gender is about what you beige you are in your mind.

149
Q

What does it mean to say that people “do” gender?

A

People can do gender creatively, but particular institutions or interactions may prescribe gender being done in specific ways

150
Q

How does sociology address the question of the differences between men and women?

A
  • Men and women are more alike than different
  • Gender differences between men and women are usually average differences
  • Many alleged differences between men and women aren’t supported by research
151
Q

What do sociologists emphasize as the primary source of gender inequality?

A

athleticism

152
Q

What is the significance of athletic differences between men and women?

A

men tend to be more athletic

153
Q

Define, explain and give examples of borderwork.

A

Cross-sex activities that strengthen boundaries between girls and boys

Ex.) contests, cooties, playground invasions

Borderwork also illustrates inequality of boys and girls

154
Q

According to the Adlers’ study, how did popularity factors differ for boys and girls? What is the significance of this?

A

Patti & Peter Adler studied friendship and popularity among elementary school students.

  • Students’ culture includes criteria for popularity
  • Boys and girls have different criteria for popularity
155
Q

Why did the boys in Pascoe’s study call each other “fags”? Why is this significant?

A

Calling someone else a “fag” indicates you are not a fag. By continually repudiating “fags”

  • boys assure themselves of their masculinity.
156
Q

What is the male-female pay gap?

A

The income gap between males and females.

157
Q

How has the male-female pay gap changed over the past four decades?

A

The gap is shrinking.

158
Q

List and explain each of the four factors that contribute to the pay gap.

A
  1. Different work patterns
    - Human capital & work choices
  2. Occupational segregation + work devaluating
  3. Occupation-wide pay discrimination
  4. Promotion gap
159
Q

What are some ways that average male and female work patterns differ? How do these contribute to the pay gap?

A

Women’s great involvement in child/elder-care creates a seniority gap
- Women’s choices may be constrained by education, home-work conflict and the family wage gap

Most of the pay gap is not explained by different work choices and human capital (education, training)

160
Q

What is occupational segregation and how does it contribute to the pay gap?

A

Around 4 in 10 of both men and women work in traditionally gendered jobs

Women’s work is less valued than men’s: Male-dominated professions tend to pay more than female-dominated professions of similar skill level

161
Q

How are the meaning of men’s and women’s work reflected in the ideas of a “family wage” and “pin money”?

A

Historically, employers (and unions) believed that men, but not women, needed a “family wage” (vs.“pin money”)

162
Q

Describe and explain Corinne Moss-Racusin et al’s study of pay discrimination, including its research method, design, and findings.

A

A 2012 study had science faculty evaluate a job application for a laboratory manager position

“Male” applicants were rated as more competent, more deserving of being hired, and deserving a higher salary ($4000 more) than “female” applicants with identical credentials

Male and female faculty had similar levels of bias

163
Q

What is the “glass ceiling”

A

an unofficially acknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and members of minorities.

Women held 13.5% (697 out of 5,161) Fortune 500 executive officer positions in 2009

Women held 15.2% of Fortune 500 corporate board seats in 2009

164
Q

How does it address the question of whether “nature” or “nurture” is more important in understanding gender differences/inequality?

A

The terms of the “nature” vs.“nurture” debate tends to emphasize socialization as the primary way society shapes us.

165
Q

Gender socialization

A

process through which one learns how to act according to the rules and expectations of a particular culture regarding gender

166
Q

What is the glass escalator?

A

Christine Williams’ research on men in female- dominated professions (nurses, teachers, librarians, social workers) found they were pushed upwards

SOC 134 (4 decks)

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