Sociology Final

Sex

the biological differences that distinguish males from females

Gender

the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female; a social position

sexuality

desire, sexual preference, and sexual identity and behavior

essentialist

arguments explaining social phenomena in terms of natural, biological, or evolutionary inevitabilities

androgynous

neither masculine nor feminine

transgender

describes people whose gender does not correspond to their birth sex

Cisgender

individuals whose gender identity matches his or her biological sex

hegemonic masculinity

the condition in which men are dominant and privileged, and this dominance and privilege is invisible

Femisism

a social movement to get people to understand that gender is an organizing principle in society and to address gender-based inequalities that intersect with other forms of social identity

patriarchy

a nearly universal system involving the subordination of femininity to masculinity

strucutral functionalism

a theory in which society's many parts -- institutions, norms, traditions, and so on -- mesh to produce a stable, working whole that evolves over time. Best embodied by Talcott Parsons

Sex role theory

Talcott Parson's theory that men and women perform their sex roles as breadwinners and wives/mothers, respectively, because the nuclear family is the ideal arrangement in modern societies, fulfilling the function of reproducing workers

Intersectionality

the idea that it is critical to understand the interplay between social identities such as race, class, gender, ability status, and sexual orientation, even though many social systems and institutions (such as the law) try to treat each category on its own

matrix of domination

intersecting domains of oppression that create a social space of domination and, by extension, a unique position within that space based on someone's intersectional identity along the multiple dimensions of gender, age, race, class, sexuality, location, and so on

sexism

occurs when a person's sex or gender is the basis for judgment, discrimination, and hatred against him or her

sexual harassment

an illegal form of discrimination, involving everything from inappropriate jokes on the job to outright sexual assault to sexual "barter" - all intended to make women feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, particularly on the job

glass ceiling

an invisible limit on women's climb up the occupational ladder

glass escalator

the accelerated promotion of men to the top of a work organization, especially in feminized jobs

bisexual

a person who is sexually attracted to both sexes

homosexual

attracted to the same sex

Heteronormativity

the idea that heterosexuality is the default or normal sexual orientation from which other sexualities deviate

Race

a group of people who share a set of characteristics - typically, but not always, physical ones - and are said to share a common bloodline

racism

the belief that members of separate races posses different and unequal traits

scientific racism

nineteenth-century theories of race that characterize a period of feverish investigation into the origins, explanations, and classifications of race

Ethnocentrism

belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group

ontological equality

the philosophical and religious notion that all people are created equal

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

eugenics

literally meaning "well born"; a pseudoscience that postulates that controlling the fertility of populations could influence inheritable traits passed on from generation to generation

nativism

the movement to protect and preserve indigenous land or culture from the allegedly dangerous and polluting effects of new immigrants

one-drop rule

the belief that "one drop" of black blood makes a person black, a concept that evolved from U.S. laws forbidding miscegenation

Miscegenation

the technical term for interracial marriage; literally meaning "a mixing of kinds"; it is politically and historically charged—sociologists generally prefer exogamy or outmarriage.

racialization

the formation of a new racial identity by drawing ideological boundaries of difference around a formerly unnoticed group of people

ethnicity

one's ethnic quality or affiliation. It is voluntary, self-defined, nonhierarchal, fluid, and multiple, and based on cultural differences, not physical ones per se.

symbolic ethnicity

a nationality, not in the sense of carrying the rights and duties of citizenship but of identifying with a past or future nationality. For later generations of white ethnics, something not constraining but easily expressed, with no risks of stigma and all the pleasures of feeling like an individual

straight-line assimilation

Robert Park's 1920s universal and linear model for how immigrants assimilate: they first arrive, then settle in, and achieve full assimilation in a newly homogenous country

Primordialism

Clifford Geertz's term to explain the strength of ethnic ties because they are fixed in deeply felt or primordial ties to one's homeland culture

pluralism

the presence and engaged coexistence of numerous distinct groups in one society

Segregation

the legal or social practice of separating people on the basis of their race or ethnicity

Genocide

the mass killing of a group of people based on racial, ethnic, or religious traits

subaltern

a subordinate, oppressed group of people

collective resistance

an organized effort to change a power hierarchy on the part of a less-powerful group in a society

prejudice

thoughts and feelings about an ethnic or racial group, which lead to preconceived notions and judgements about the group

Discrimination

harmful or negative acts (not mere thoughts) against people deemed inferior on the basis of their racial category, without regard to their individual merit

color-blind racism

the view that racial inequality is perpetuated by a supposedly color-blind stance that ends up reinforcing historical and contemporary inequities, disparate impact, and institutional bias by "ignoring" them in favor of a technically neutral approach

institutional racism

institutions and social dynamics that may seem race-neutral but actually disadvantage minority groups

culture of poverty

the argument that poor people adopt certain practices that differ from those of middle-class, "mainstream" society in order to adapt and survive in difficult economic circumstances

underclass

the notion, building on the culture of poverty argument, that the poor not only are different from mainstream society in their inability to take advantage of what society has to offer, but also are increasingly deviant and even dangerous to the rest of us

perverse incentives

reward structures that lead to suboptimal outcomes by stimulating counterproductive behavior; for example, welfare—to the extent that it discourages work efforts—is argued to have perverse incentives.

absolute poverty

the point at which a household's income falls below the necessary level to purchase food to physically sustain its members

relative poverty

a measurement of poverty based on a percentage of the median income in a given location

parenting stress hypothesis

a paradigm in which low income, unstable employment, a lack of cultural resources, and a feeling of inferiority from social class comparisons exacerbate household stress levels; this stress, in turn, leads to detrimental parenting practices such as yelling and hitting, which are not conducive to healthy child development

medicalization

the process by which problems or issues not traditionally seen as medical come to be framed as such

sick role

concept describing the social rights and obligations of a sick individual

morbidity

illness

morality

death

Epigenetics

chemical regulation of gene activity that may be switched "on" or "off" in response to environmental influence

endogamy

marriage to someone within one's social group

exogamy

marriage to someone outside one's social group

monogamy

the practice of having only one sexual partner or spouse at a time

polygamy

The practice of having more than one sexual partner or spouse at a time

polyandry

the practice of having multiple husbands simulaneiously

polygyny

the practice of having multiple wives simultaneously

nuclear family

Mother, father and children living as a unit

extended family

kin networks that extend outside or beyond the nuclear family

Cohabitation

living together in an intimate relationship without formal legal or religious sanctioning

kinship networks

strings of relationships between people related by blood and co-residence (that is, marriage)

Cult of Domesticity

the notion that true womanhood centers on domestic responsibility and child rearing

Second Shift (Hochschild)

women's responsibility for housework and child care- everything from cooking dinner to doing laundry, bathing children, reading bedtime stories, and sewing Halloween costumes

education

the process through which academic, social, and cultural ideas are developed

hidden curriculum

the nonacademic and less overt socialization functions of schooling

social capital

the information, knowledge of people, and connections that help individuals enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage social networks

tracking

a way of dividing students into different classes by ability or future plans

credentialism

an overemphasis on credentials (e.g., college degrees) for signaling social status or qualifications for a job.

Affirmative Action

a set of policies that grant preferential treatment to a number of particular subgroups within the population - typically, women and historically disadvantaged racial minorities

Social class or socioeconomic status (SES)

an individual's position in a stratified social order

cultural capital

the symbolic and interactional resources that people use to their advantage in various situations

stereotype threat

when members of a negatively stereotyped group are placed in a situation where they fear they may confirm those stereotypes

resource dilution model

hypothesis stating that parental resources are finite and that each additional child gets a smaller amount of them

Politics

power relations among people or other social actors

authority

the justifiable right to exercise power

charismatic authority

authority that rests on the personal appeal of an individual leader

traditional authority

authority that rests on appeals to the past or traditions

legal-rational authority

authority based on legal, impersonal rules; the rules rule

routinization

the clear, rule-governed procedures used repeatedly for decision making

rationalized

a never-ending process of ordering or organizing

Bureaucracy

a legal-rational organization or mode of administration that governs with reference to formal rules and roles and emphasizes meritocracy

specialization

the process of breaking up work into specific, delimited tasks

taylorism

the methods of labor management introduced by Frederick Winslow Taylor to streamline the processes of mass production in which each worker repeatedly performs one specific task

Meritocracy

a society where status and mobility are based on individual attributes, ability, and achievement

Milgram Experiment

an experiment devised in 1961 by Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, to see how far ordinary people would go to obey a scientific authority figure

power

the ability to carry out one's own will despite resistance

domination

the probability that a command with specific content will be obeyed by a given group of people

state

as defined by Max Weber, "a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory"

coercion

use of force to get someone to obey

paradox of authority

although the state's authority derives from the implicit threat of physical force, resorting to physical coercion strips the state of all legitimate authority

international state system

a system in which each state is recognized as territorially sovereign by fellow states

welfare state

a system in which the state is responsible for the well-being of its citizens

citizenship rights

the rights guaranteed to each law-abiding citizen in a nation-state

civil rights

the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality.

political rights

the rights guaranteeing a citizen's ability to participate in politics, including the right to vote and the right to hold an elected office