Week 9 - Difference and Identity Flashcards
2 types of perspectives
- essentialist
2. social constructivist
essentialist
belief in he existence of fixed unchanging properties
- attribution of essential characteristics to groups
social constructivist
the thought that all of our conceptual underpinnings are socially constructed and thus, contingent and dynamic
- they are not give or absolute
Identity (4)
- held by individuals but carries social expression
- expressed though 2ndary features such as dress, social functions and language
- “How we make ourselves”
- how we make sense of each other
Identity: 3 types of Difference
- complex differences
- subtle differences
- social differences
complex differences
class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, age, disability
subtle differences
occupational background, social experience, residence
social differences
not just artificial categories
sexuality
controversial in less developed words
- Heterosexuality is dominant sexual expression
Queer Theory
the study of all people who are seen as and/or made to feel different because of their sexual identity
what is race?
a problematic classification of human beings based n skin color and other physical characeristics
3 dimensions of whiteness (3+1)
structural advantages standpoint cultural practices (whiteness carries dominance and its power is not visible to white peoples at all times)
hegemony
a social construction in which member of a society interpret their interests in terms f the world view of the dominant group
Ethnic Group
group whose members perceive themselves as different than others due to a common ancestry or shared culture
Assimilation
ethnic group is absorbed into a larger society (loses own identity)
