Chapter 8 Social Class and Social Stratification 10 28 2013 o What does it mean to be a member of a certain social class in the United States o Social Stratification A relatively fixed hierarchical arrangement in society by which groups have different access to resources power and prestige o Three types of Stratification Systems o Caste closed ascribed fixed immobile hereditary ranks india o Gender race class you re born into characteristics about yourself that you cannot change o Estate elite owns property and has total control over resources o Class open partially achieved status is partially achieved there is some potential for movement between classes o Social mobility can be o Intergenerational between generations o Intragenerational within a generation o Social mobility a person s movement over time from one social class to another o Social class the social structural positions that a group holds relative to the economic social political and cultural resources of a society o Varying degrees of access o Privilege vs disadvantage Consequences of Social Class 10 28 2013 o Social Class a category of people who share o A similar socioeconomic ranking o Similar life chances o Ones life chances are affected by their position in the social class hierarchy o Weber s life chances opportunities people have because they belong to a particular class o Life choices are restricted and influenced by life chances o How does a sociologist measure social class o Socioeconomic status SES o Occupational prestige is the subjective evaluation people place on your position Race and Ethnicity 10 28 2013 o How many races do you believe exist in the US o 5 o Identify what those races are o Non Hispanic White African American Native American Asian Pacific Islander Hispanic o Give a breakdown by percent of the racial categories in the US o 63 Non Hispanic White 13 1 African American 1 7 Native American 5 Asian pacific Islander 16 9 Hispanic o Myth of Race o Race is defined as a group of people who share a set of characteristics usually physical ones and are said to share a common bloodline o instead the reality is o the notion of race is socially constructed o no scientific evidence of inborn personality or character differences by race o 99 9 of humans are genetically identical o Biological characteristics defined as meaningful by a society o Race is a social construct that changes over time and across different contexts o Race as a concept is fluid always changing o Ethnicity cultural heritage shared by those with a common ancestry o Language customs food values o Majority Dominant Group Segment of the population who dominates o Minority Subordinate Groups Lack power over society s major o Economically o Politically o Culturally institutions o Types of minority Groups o Racial o Religious o Gender o Other Age Sexual orientation Disability etc o Prejudice racism and discrimination o Prejudice attitude o Evaluation of a group individuals based on perceptions despite facts that disprove them o Inflexible or rigid o Prejudgments o Stereotypes an oversimplified set of beliefs about the members of a social group or social stratum that is used to categorize individuals of that group o Reinforce prejudices o Receive ongoing support in the media o Discrimination treatment o Unequal treatment of the members of some social group of stratum o Racism behavior o Prejudice discrimination racism o In what ways do the children exhibit prejudice attitudes or discriminatory o How did the negative and positive labels placed ona group become self fulfilling prophecies 7 Males and Females Sex and Gender 10 28 2013 o Sex biological identity being male or female o Based on genitalia chromosomes o Gender The socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with members of each sex o Gender Identity How you identify o What does it mean to be a female o Look o Dress o Hair o Act o Communicate o What do people expect from you o Social construction of gender we learn these expectations by way of gender socialization o Clothes o Toys o Behaviors he is not homosexual assigned at birth medical intervention o Metro Sexual one who displays attributes stereotypically associated with homosexual men such as a strong concern for his appearance although o Transgender Those who live as a gender different from the one they were o Transsexual those who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth AND wishes to realign their gender and their sex through the use of Gender Part 2 10 28 2013 Agents of gender socialization o Parents o Childhood play and games o School o Religion o Media and Popular Cultrue Gender in the Media o Gender stereotypes are reinforced through popular culture o Media outlets continue to serve as primary outlets for gender socializing messages
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