Lecture 2 CLASS Class Lecture Class Your position in society based upon your control over your means of livelihood According to Wright Class is A social category sharing a common set of subjectively salient attributed within a system of stratification Why might inequality be a threat to democracy Inequality is a can be considered a treat to democracy for several reasons This is because when there is inequality things are not shared equally there is a difference is the distribution of resources So when this happens some people will benefit more than the others If there is too much inequality some people will have more influence in democracy over the other For example if rich people pay politicians to get work done there will be no democracy If such inequality is to result a democracy cannot be formed as democracy is a form of government where all participants are allowed to participate equally Inequality between labor markets built up will build up and where there is inequality there is friction thus an equal government cannot be established Why does Wright say class relations are characterized by exploitation and domination According to Wright Class relation is defined as how some people have greater power with respect to specific kinds of productive resources than to others There is domination of one class of people over the other There are skyrocketing salaries at one end whereas on the other hand people arecollecting their pence Exploitation is where people are treated unfairly in order to take advantage from their work Different kinds of class relations are defined by different kinds of rights and powers and there are unequal rights and powers over the sheer physical use of resources In some cases people are allowed to own the labor process of other people This is domination and this absolute ownership is referred to as slavery This is why class relation can be characterized by exploitation and domination Lecture GENDER Why don t scholars see race as a biological phenomenon Race is classified as people based on certain perceived biological characteristics scholars such as Omi and Wyant say race is a sociohistoric concept based on amateur biology According to them there is no gene that we can identify as the black gene or the white gene We have no genetic proof that black and whites are different This is because race is not biologically valid There is no biological basis for race Why do Omi and Wynant say race is a sociohistorical concept According to Omni and Wyant Racial categories have varied severely over time and between different societies They define it as a pre elementary concept which means that the meaning of the term race was understood over time with specific social relations and historical context in which they are related This reflects a need to put people in categories Omni and Wyant state that the government doesn t live up to the phrase Every man is equal where there is still slavery in the country this phrase is just kept in the bound of a frame They do not act upon why they say every man is the same ELecture GENDER Explain one key difference between sex and gender Sex Biological No variation between cultures Changes across hundreds of thousands of years Gender Cultural Varies between cultures Changes across generations What are the two main reasons why women earn less than men Women take maternity leave therefore spends more time with children Women are seen are most often seen to sacrifice their careers This is because most women accept their low wage as it is almost the social norm or idea that women are suppose to earn a lower income than a man Women have household work that needs to be immediately fulfilled such as cooking changing diapers Give an example of a gender role that is changing in the US or your home country Back in the 1950 s women in Sri Lanka did not drive cars because driving a car was not seen as a woman s job However over time the views of Sri Lankans have changed and now we can see women driving on the road as much as men do From the Reading Wilson How do biological differences between males and females create conflicting interests Male gametes have relatively small low success in fertilization rates Whereas female gametes relatively large there high success in fertilization rates Biological differences such as the ability for women to create eggs which can store food and help resist drying It is much larger than the sperm cell which is the male gamete According to Wilson females place a greater investment in each of her sex cells For example females can only produce around 400 eggcells per life time Out of this only 20 can be converted into healthy individuals On the other hand males produce millions of sperm cells with each ejaculation After fertilization his physical commitment has ended the woman has to accommodate the child Males are seen as aggressive especially during their breeding season and towards their own kind Males are seen as assertive hasty fickle and undiscriminating Whereas females are seen as coy held back and they tend to wait till Males can fertilize many females during the fertilization period but females can be fertilized by only one male Women are said to be more held back and they prefer to hold on to men who are more likely to stay with them after insemination Give your own example of how culture might exaggerate biological differences between men and women Within a culture In the gym men are most often found in the weight lifting room and they are busy toning their muscles and making them bigger This is because bigger men are seen as more masculine Women are more often seen in the fitness room since the thinner women are seen as attractive Cross culturally It is dangerous for women in Bangladesh to sell goods at a market but in America women are seen an ideal figures in the market place because of their persuasive skills However women at both places are biologically the same LECTURE FAMILIES AND CLASS From Class Why is cultural capital important for social mobility Cultural capital refers to non financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond economic means Examples can include education intellect and style of speech dress or physical appearance The way you dress the way you speak up and the way you present yourself is very important for social mobility Social mobility refers to a person s or group s ability to transition markers of social status in a society What are the functions of a family