Social Hierarchies Flashcards
Social Hierarchy (social Stratification)
Refers to the ordering or ranking of individuals within a society
2 views of stratification
- Stratification is inevitable due to resource control, specialized occupations, and the power of elites to control others
- Stratification is avoidable and it goes against human nature
Social Classes
A form of hierarchy typically based on an individual’s economic worth or status (mobile and fixed aspects)
Meritocracy
When individuals are rewarded for their hard work and resources are distributed according to people’s achievement, effort, and ability
Caste Systems
A form of social stratification where an individual is assigned a social status at birth based on the social and occupational ranking of their parents (ex. India)
Race
The presumed genetic, natural, heritable characteristics of a group of people (race is a social construct)
Franz Boas
Worked to discredit the idea of race
What % of physical variation is found within groups that are considered to be of the same race?
94%
Racism
Systems of prejudice based on physical differences are paired with behavioural, physical, physical, or intellectual differences
Racism in Canada
- Ku Klux Klan (designed to terrorize freed slaves)
- Canadian Nazi Party and Edmond burke Society (Believed whites are superior)
- Racism towards indigenous people
White Privilege
The positioning of “white” individuals at the top of racial hierarchies and that they have greater authority and privileges over non-white people
Samuel George Morton
- Scientist and physician from 1800’s
- Collected and measured skulls from around the world
- believed a person’s intelligence was related to the size of their brain
Stephan Jay Gould
Re-examined Morton’s work in 1981 (Found heavy bias and skewed results)
Allan Hanson
- A single entity
- Measurable and unequally distributed
- The amount if fixed throughout life
- The amount people have determines their success in life
- Largely inherited
Francis Galton and Karl Pearson
- Each studied intelligence and its inheritance (both had flaws)
Sex
Hormonal, chromosomal, or physical differences between males and females
Gender
The cultural interpretation of sex. There is no cross-culture universal understanding of gender and how people of a certain gender should behave, dress, act, etc
Third Gender
The acknowledgement that people may not fit into the designated masculine or feminine gender roles that align with the sex of the individual
Two-spirit People
Biological males who do not feel like they fit the standard male role
Sworn Virgins of Albania
Women who choose to take on a more traditional male role in terms of dress
Transgender
People who feel like they were born into the wrong body, meaning that their biological sex does not match with the gender they identify with
Hegemonic Masculinity
Ideals and norms of masculinity in a society, which are often privileged over others
Peggy Reeves Sandy
Did a study on fraternities and hegemonic masculinities
Emily Martin
- Conducted a study on the language used to talk about menstruation and female reproduction
- Compared it to the language used to describe men’s reproductive systems
Ruth Sidel
Compared the united states to the titanic
Michael Todaro
- Found that women are more likely to be malnourished, but less likely to receive medical help
- Female headed households tend to be poorer
- Wealth is not shared equally within households
Language, Gender and Hierarches
Voice pitch
Grammar
Speaking/not speaking
Conversational styles
Intersectionality
Overlapping social categories of inequality that are woven together to create interdependent systems of disadvantage (ex. Plastic surgery in Brazil)
New Racism
A form of “soft” racism that positions racial differences as cultural rather than biological, but are still viewed as insurmountable or too great to overcome (ex. identity soup)
Lalaie Ameeriar
Did a study on Pakistani women in the workplace
Universal Declaration of human Rights
- Right to be free of threat of torture or inhumane treatment
- Right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being
- Right to security in circumstances beyond the person’s control
