Sociology of Inequality: Race, Gender, and Sexuality

This flashcard set covers key terminology from lecture notes on social inequality, focusing on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and institutional dynamics.

Race

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

Racism

The belief that members of separate races possess different and unequal traits.

Social Darwinism

The application of Darwinian ideas to society- namely the evolutionary "survival of the fittest".

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"; also known as exogamy or outmarriage.

Critical Race theory

A legal theory that asserts that race is not natural but rather is socially constructed to oppress nonwhite, and that racism is inherent in the U.S. legal institutions.

Racialization

The formation of a new racial identity by drawing ideological boundaries of difference around a formerly unnoticed group of people, involving stereotyped assumptions based on appearance.

Prejudice

Thoughts and feelings about an ethnic or racial group, which lead to preconceived notions and judgements (often negative) 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.

Institutional Racism

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

Genocide

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

Sex

The perceived biological differences that society typically uses to distinguish males from females.

Sexuality

Desire, sexual preference, and intimate behavior.

Androgynous

Neither masculine nor feminine (neutral).

Transgender

Describes people whose gender does not correspond to their birth sex.

Cisgender

Describes people whose gender does correspond to their birth sex (the opposite of transgender).

Feminism

A social movement to get people to understand and address gender-based inequalities.

Sexism

A form of prejudice that occurs when a person's sex or gender is the basis for judgement, discrimination, or other kind of differential treatment.

Sexual harassment

An illegal form of discrimination revolving around sexuality that can involve everything from inappropriate jokes to sexual barter (where victims feel the need to comply with sexual requests for fear of losing their jobs).

Emotional labor

Managing emotions and their outward expressions to meet the expectations of a job, particularly in female-dominated occupations.

Glass Ceiling

An invisible limit on women's climb up the occupational ladder.

Bisexual

An individual who is attracted to both genders/sexes.

Homosexual

An individual who is attracted to and/or has relations with people of the same sex (one gender/same gender).

Collective resistance

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

Segregation

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

Pluralism

The presence and engaged coexistence of numerous distinct groups in one society; a network of cultures functioning with diversity.