Exam 4 Flashcards
A socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important
Race
What is the classification of race based on?
Physical characteristics
What does it mean to say that race is a socially constructed concept?
Race comes into being when the members of a society decide that some particular trait is actually important
What are the four racial categories that Americans tend to see?
Black, White, Asian, and Hispanic
How many single race options are on the US census?
6
How many multiracial options are on the US census?
57
People with light skin and fine hair
Caucasoid
People with darker skin and coarse hair
Negroid
People with yellow or brown skin and distinctive folds on eyelids
Mongoloid
Why do sociologists consider the terms caucasoid/negroid/mongoloid misleading?
-No one society contains biologically pue people
-Great variations of physical characteristics exist among similar groups
-There is some overlap of physical characteristics between groups
What do categories of race allow people to do?
Rank people in a hierarchy (stratification)
A shared cultural heritage (not necessarily focused on biological factors)
Ethnicity
People define themselves as members of a category based on common ancestry, language, and religion that give them a distinctive social identity
Ethnic category
People who have a common history and identity, shared customs, language, and religion; people who see themselves as, or are seen by others as, distinct group
Ethnic group
The notion that a small amount of African heritage makes an individual wholly black
One-Drop rule
A rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people; based on scant or incorrect information
Prejudice
Prejudgements that exaggerate the virtues of people like ourselves
Positive prejudice
Prejudgement that condemn those who are different from us
Negative prejudice
Simplified description applied to everyone in a category
Stereotype
Who developed the social distance scale?
Emory Bogardus
Measures how closely people are willing to interact with members of some category
Social distance scale
The belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another
Racism
What are the four theories of prejudice?
Scapegoat theory, authoritarian personality, culture theory, and conflict theory
Person or category of people, typically with little power, whom other people unfairly blame for their own troubles
Scapegoat theory
People who rigidly conform to conventional cultural values and see moral issues as clear-cut matters of right and wrong
Authoritarian personality
Some prejudice is found in everyone because prejudice is part of every culture
Culture theory
Conflict theory
Prejudice is tool of powerful people to oppress others
Unequal treatment of various categories of people
Discrimination
Discriminatory treatment of certain people that is built into a social system; may not intend to discriminate
Institutional discrimination
Who formulated a model showing the possible relationship between prejudice and discrimination?
Robert Merton
This person is neither prejudiced nor practices discrimination
Non-prejudiced non-discriminator (All weather liberal)
This person may be free of prejudice, but they will join clubs that exclude people who belong to out-groups, along with other discriminatory measures; often feel guilt because they are acting against their beliefs
Non-prejudiced discriminator (Fair weather liberal)
This person will believe in many of the stereotypes about other groups and definitely feel hostility toward these groups; however, they keep silent in the presence of those who are more tolerant
Prejudiced non-discriminator (Timid bigots)
This person openly expresses their beliefs, practices discrimination, and defies law if necessary, but they consider such conduct virtuous
Prejudiced discriminator (Active bigot)
The greater number of people
Majority
Any category that a society sets apart and subordinates (smaller in number)
Minority
What are the theories of minority integration?
Assimilation, Amalgamation, and Accommodation
The process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture
Assimilation theory
Claims that all diverse peoples blend their biological and cultural differences into an altogether new breed- the American
Amalgamation theory
A state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing (pluralism)
Accommodation theory
Biological reproduction by partners of different categories
Miscegenation
The physical and social separation of categories of people
Segregation
The systematic killing of one category of people by another
Genocide
Biological distinction between male and female
Sex
The personal traits and social positions of members of society attach to being male or female
Gender
Ideal or appropriate behavior for a person of a specific gender
Gender roles
Argues that girls and boys are actively involved in constructing their own gendered identities
Gender theory
Who said that culture is key to gender distinctions; if gender is culturally constructed, then concepts of “male” and “female” should vary by location
Margaret Mead
The unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women
Gender stratification
A form of social organization in which females dominate males
Matriarchy
A form of social organization in which males dominate females
Patriarchy
The belief that one sex is innately superior to the other
Sexism
Explain the Pink World and Blue World
At birth, girls are handled gently, and boys are handled more aggressively
The female world revolves around what?
Cooperation and emotion
The male world revolves around what?
Independence and action
What percentage of males and females work today?
71% of males, 67% of females
What percentage of jobs are held by women and men, respectively?
47% for women, 53% for men
What are some factors that contributed to a change in work force?
-Decline in farming
-Growth of cities
-Shrinking family size
-Rising divorce rate
What are considered pink collar jobs?
Administrative support work
Why are women kept out of jobs?
-Some work is defined as a “man’s”
-Women are defined as less competent
-Glass ceiling
What is the main reason women earn less?
They work jobs that pay less
Comments, gestures, or physical contact of a sexual nature that are deliberate, repeated, and unwelcome
Sexual harassment
An analysis of interplay of race, class, and gender, which often results in multiple dimensions of disadvantage
Intersection theory (intersectionality)
The support of social equality for women and men, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism
Feminism
A particular approach to achieving equality between men and women that emphasizes the power of an individual person to alter discriminatory practices against women
Liberal feminism
Argue that liberation can only be achiefved by working to end both the economic and cultural sources of women’s oppression
Socialist feminism
The perspective within feminism calls for a radical reordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts. Violence if necessary.
Radical feminism
The idea that people are inclined to form social groups, incorporate group membership into their identity, take steps to enforce group boundaries, and maximize positive distinction and in-group succeess
Social identity theory
A law limiting legal recognition of American Indians to those who have at least a certain level of documented indigenous ancestry
Blood quantum rule
The idea that people come in two and only two types, males who are masculine, and females who are feminine
Gender binary
People who are assigned male at birth who identify as men as well as people assigned female at birth who identify as women
Cisgender
People assigned male at birth who don’t identify as men as well as people assigned female at birth who don’t identify as women
Transgender
People who identify as both man and woman or neither man nor woman
Nonbinary
The recognition that our lives are shaped by multiple interacting identities
Intersectionality
The form of masculinity that constitutes the most widely admired and rewarded kind of person in any given culture
Hegemonic masculinity
An invisible ride to the top offered to men in female-dominated occupations
Glass escalator
The sorting of different types of people into separate neighborhoods
Residential segregation
Residential segregation so extreme that many people’s daily lives involve little or no contact with people of other races
Hypersegregation
A practice of refusing loans to or steeply overcharging anyone buying in poor and minority neighborhoods
Redlining
Places that lack beneficial or critical amenities
Resource deserts
The practice of exposing racial and ethnic minorities to more toxins and pollutants than white people
Environmental racism
