SOCL100 Unit 2 Study Guide: Social Stratification, Race, Gender, and Aging

Comprehensive vocabulary study set covering Modules 7 through 10 of SOCL100: Social Stratification, Race and Ethnicity, Sex and Gender, and Aging and the Elderly.

Social stratification

A system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy based on access to resources and social status.

Closed stratification system

A system where social position is inherited with little chance for changing status.

Open stratification system

A system where social mobility is possible and position is influenced by where you start.

Meritocracy

An ideal type of open system where status is based purely on individual merit.

Economic inequality

The unequal distribution of money and resources across the population.

Income

Money that a person receives or earns.

Wealth

The total value of what a person owns.

Social class

A person's position in the economic system, grouped by similar levels of wealth, power, and prestige.

Matthew effect

The accumulation of economic advantages over time.

Intergenerational mobility

Social mobility across generations, such as when an adult child belongs to a different social class than their parents.

Intragenerational mobility

Changes in social status or social mobility that occur within a single individual's lifetime.

Intersectionality

The idea that multiple social identities (such as race, gender, class, and sexuality) overlap and interact to shape an individual's experiences.

Minority group

A subordinate group whose members have less control or power compared to the dominant group.

Majority group

The dominant group in society that holds the most social power.

Racial essentialism

The perspective that racial groups reflect natural, biological differences between groups of people.

Racial constructionism

The belief in shared common descent based on perceived physical similarities.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, encompassing ethnophaulisms, microaggressions, and racism.

Discrimination

The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups as a result of prejudice.

Color-blindness

The push to ignore race entirely and treat everyone the same.

Color-blind racism

The use of race-neutral principles to defend and uphold the racially unequal status quo.

Color consciousness

Recognizing and valuing racial and cultural differences while actively working for fairness and equality.

White privilege

The advantage of whiteness, functioning not merely as skin color but as membership in a socially dominant group.

Ethnicity

A social category referring primarily to shared cultural characteristics such as language, traditions, and ancestry.

Sex

Biological categorization based on internal and external sex organs, chromosomes, or hormones (Male/Female).

Gender

Social traits and behaviors that are expected to be on display depending on biological sex (Masculine/Feminine).

Gender essentialism

The belief that gender differences are fundamentally rooted in biology.

Gender constructionism

The view that gender is socially constructed and shaped by culture, social norms, institutions, and individual interactions.

Social construction of gender

The concept that gender depends on social, cultural, and historical context, built on socially agreed-upon characteristics instilled through socialization.

Doing gender

The idea that gender is a recurring achievement and an outcome of interactional processes, rather than a natural property of individuals.

Cisgender

A term describing someone whose gender identity normatively aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

The patriarchy

A sociopolitical and cultural system that values masculinity over femininity.

Male privilege

Unearned social, economic, and political advantages and rights granted to men solely on the basis of their gender or sex.

Sexuality

A person's capacity for sexual feelings.

Sexual orientation

A term used to describe patterns of emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction or behavior (e.g., gay, straight, bisexual).

Heteronormativity

An institutional and pervasive ideological system that naturalizes heterosexuality and gender differences as the universal basis of family and society.

Heterosexual privilege

Benefits derived automatically by being (or being perceived as) heterosexual and gender-normative that are denied to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people.

Ageism

Prejudice and discrimination against people based on age, related to the social construction of old age.

Gerontology

The multidisciplinary scientific study of aging and older adults across the entire human lifespan.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Legislation that forbids employment discrimination against individuals who are 40 years of age or older.

Employment discrimination (Aging)

A form of discrimination where individuals aged 50 or above are denied a job simply because of their age.

Caregiving

Providing direct physical, emotional, or practical support to someone who cannot live fully independently due to aging, illness, or disability.

Sandwich generation

Middle-aged adults—primarily in their 40s and 50s—who concurrently care for aging parents and their own children.

Life course perspective on inequality

The sociological framework positing that social inequality (or privilege) accumulates across an individual's lifetime.

Feminization of aging

The demographic trend wherein women make up a larger proportion of the elderly population.