W8 Flashcards
Social hierarchy:
The ordering and ranking of individuals within society (AKA social stratification).
Based on systems of inequality; privilege particular classes, castes, races, genders, etc.
Not an inevitable feature of society.
Criteria of ranking vary for society to society
Class:
A form of identity informed key perceptions of an individual’s economic worth or status. It is also a form of social hierarchy.
Rooted in economic wealth and “status class.”
Education + Consumerism
The criteria we use to differentiate people, the number of groups we divide them into and the strenghs the boundaries all vary cross culturally. According to income and personal possession- class, high, lowe, middle class- a way to differentiate people based on economic status.
Importatn role in our society,
Status calss: not just based on money but also- achievement, religion, education
Therefore now, we are also looking at ties to education and income- we value post secondary education- perceived to be better than those who don’t- even though they may make more money – we still put more status on the degree – university is seen as better than college.
Fancier cars or clothing- another
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ascribed status:
: An identity that is perceived as fixed and unchanging because a person is believed to be born with it.
perceived as fixed and unchanging- born with it, for example race
Achieved status-
An identity that is believed to be in flux and that is dependent upon the actions and achievements of an individual.
depends on their achievements
Meritocracy:
A social system in which individuals are rewarded and resources are distributed according to achievement, effort, and ability.
caste system
Caste System: A form of social stratification and identity where individuals are assigned at birth to the ranked and endogamous social and occupational groups of their parents.
In a caste system, a person’s place in the social order is fixed.
i.e. Indian caste system
Groups are based upon traditional occupational roles and Hindu categories of purity and pollution.
Castes do not determine one’s occupation; they exclude you from a certain job.
people at the bottom of pyramid have the bad jobs- waste, street
Untouchable-
aka the dalit (untouchable and unclean- the shoe makers, sweepers, require them to come in contact with human or animal waste
Race:
A culturally constructed form of identity and social hierarchy. Race refers to the presumed hereditary physical characteristics of a group of people.
Physical and phenotypic differences are frequently erroneously correlated with behavioural attributes.
Racist theories exist not just in pop culture; they are also found in science.
Justification of social position based upon a person’s innate biological makeup.
North America- views race as a natural, ascribed category.
Anthropological lens: race as a constructed, flexible category, i.e. Ecuador.
racism
Refers to the discrimination and mistreatment of particular “racial” groups.
Race as a designator of social, political, and economic hierarchy, i.e. The United States and Canada.
white privilege
Refers to the fact that, in many societies, “white” people have access to greater power, authority, and privileges than non-white people.
Samuel George Morton-
believed a person’s intelligence is related to brain size.
Measured cranial capacity- sampi in sweeden
Concluded that “white” skulls had a larger mean capacity than those or other races.
Research later reexamined- Stephan Jay Gould
Mean capacity found to be inaccurate.
Data from “black” skulls included proportionally more female skulls.
Results used throughout 20th century to support racial rankings.
Morton’s experiments highlight society’s efforts to show that people deserve their position in society.
Equal opportunity ideology
Failure of society
Concept of intelligence neatly resolves the blame game.
Trying to prove that intelligence is inherited.
Assumptions of “intelligence.”
Connections among race, class and “intelligence”
Intelligence cross-culturally— South Pacific maritime navigators.
Social construction of intelligence:
Intelligence as a “fixed” mental entity that is differentially distributed in the population.
Measurable by a person’s educational and occupational success, and inherited.
Galton: argued that the intelligence of eminent men was linked to the fact that they had eminent parents.
Pearson: concluded that “Out mental and moral nature is quite as much as our physical nature, the outcome of hereditary factors.”
Spearman: tried to prove that there were different degrees correspondence between an individual’s performance on different types of tests.
Galton: what did he say
said that if your parents are smart, then you are smart
argued that the intelligence of eminent men was linked to the fact that they had eminent parents.
pearson
Pearson: concluded that “Out mental and moral nature is quite as much as our physical nature, the outcome of hereditary factors.”
spearman
Spearman: tried to prove that there were different degrees correspondence between an individual’s performance on different types of tests.
new racism
New Racism: A form of “soft” racism that posits racial differences as cultural, rather than biological.
sex
Hormonal, chromosomal, or physical differences between males and females.
Gender
Culturally constructed ideals of behaviour, dress, occupations, roles, and comportment for particular sexes.
What does it mean to “construct” gender?
Gender as a performance- “… gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts…” (Butler 1990, 140).
Gender norms differ cross-culturally.
i.e. the Tchambuli of New Guinea. Women do the fishing, control the power and economic life of the community, the men are dependant on the women- opposite in our culture. The men are concerned with their appearance, and flirtatious. It is not that they are feminime- these are constituted as feminine qualities.
There is no universal standard of what is appropriate dress, demeanour, behaviours, occupations, and roles for men and women.
Specific norms, roles, and standards are learned
third gender
Third Gender: A gender role given to someone who does not fit within strictly masculine or feminine gender roles in a society that recognizes the possibility of at least three genders.
Hegemonic Masculinities:
Refers to ideals and norms of masculinity in a society, which are often privileged over others.Fall outside the ideal= less masculine.
Constructed, performed, and maintained through particular actions.
Impact of gender hierarchies:
Correlation with poverty.
Eating disorders.
