soc120 exam 2

What is unequal and who is it divided among?

Resources: health, wealth, income, education, relationships

Divided among: individuals, families, social groups

Goldin

work more like pharmacists instead of like law firms because they have lenient schedules, 9-5 is same as 12-8

Family of Origin strongly predicts many outcomes - why/how

Race + Class + Gender are the starting point for any sociological analysis of inequality

Intersectional Approach

These categories coexist, and their effects can't be isolated

-privileged in some categories and marginalized in others

-relevance of each identity depends on context

What are key predictors of inequality BETWEEN families?

race and class

-who has more money?

-who has access to high-quality education and healthcare?

What are key predictors of inequality WITHIN families

gender

-who does more work?

-whose opinion carries more weight?

-who controls the money?

What is sex?

The biological features that distinguish male and female

-chromosomal sex (XX vs XY)

-hormonal sex (ex: testosterone level)

-sex organs, both internal and external (ex: uterus)

Definition of intersex

Baby born with anatomy/chromosomes that don't fit neatly into male or female "box"

usually doctors assign a sex and did surgeries to make it fit

What is gender?

The social overlay of sex differences that are usually more visible than sex, meaning changes over time and place (ex: history of pink)

-what gives those differences meaning/social significance

-creates some differences (ex: underarm and leg hair)

What is identity?

Internal; which genders do we understand ourselves to be?

The sex assigned at birth may/may not correspond to gender identity

What is expression?

Expression is external; how do we present ourselves in relation to common standards for a gender category?

ex: fashion, grooming, personality, sports

What is the social constructivist perspective?

Majority of sociologists see gender as a "social construct"

-People believe in gender and then act in accordance with those beliefs

-Doesn't mean it isn't "real", it has significant impact on the lives of people even though it is social construct

When do we learn gender norms?

a VERY young age

How do parents shape our gender norms?

-Behavior that's encouraged or discouraged

-Explicit statements

ex: gender appropriate way to behavior/dress

How do peers shape our gender norms?

Imitating others' behavior

Social punishment for practices not considered "normal"

How does the media/pop culture shape our gender norms?

TOYS

Movies/TV/Books

How is gender continually reinforced throughout our lives?

External Constraints:

Laws

Political representation

Gender wage gap

"Doing" Gender:

Gender difference is maintained via INTERACTION

Something we PERFORM rather than something we are

ex: housework

What is the second shift?

The labor performed at home (housework, childcare), typically by women, that is done in addition to paid work performed in the formal sector

Changes in women's paid work weren't mirrored by changes in men's unpaid work (women entered the workforce, but men didn't help out with domestic work)

What are the three key theories in the persistence of gender inequality in unpaid labor?

Time availability

Relative resources

Doing gender

Theoretically, relative resources and time availability is gender-neutral, but in different-sex partnerships, the male partner usually earns more/works more for pay

What is relative resources?

Partner who earns more money has more power; can bargain out of doing housework

What is time availability?

Partner who works more hours for pay has less time to do housework

What are the limitations of economic logic?

When there is a female breadwinner, income/hours are less predictive of housework

How is the household seen as a "gender factory"?

Doing/not doing housework is a key way we "do" gender

Housework and breadwinning carry different meanings for men and women (women are expected to be homemakers, men are seen as the primary breadwinners)

How do men and women allocate work hours?

Total work time is similar

Men spend greater proportion of work time on employment

Women spend greater proportion on housework and caregiving

Explain the process of cognitive labor

Anticipate (recognizing upcoming need, problem or opportunity), Identify (determine options for fulfilling need), Decided (choose among previously identified options), Monitor (ensure decision was executed and need sufficiently addressed)

Who does cognitive labor?

Females lead in everything but finances and home/car maintenance

What are the implications of cognitive labor?

Focus on time and activity likely leads us to underestimate gender gaps in family contributions

Women are doing more cognitive work, and especially more of the most burdensome components

These gaps exist in same-gender couples, but smaller

What is the optimistic take?

"The end of men and the rise of women" -Hanna Rosin

"Why the modern male is struggling"

Women are better-educated, more likely to start college, more likely to graduate, and have higher average grades

Growth of the service sector; decline of manufacturing

Cohen another interpretation of women

don't mistake movement toward equality for a reversal of the gender hierarchy

predicting the future isn't "as simple as extending the line on a graph"

many indicators suggest change has slowed or stagnated

What was Plan A?

Egalitarianism

What was Plan B for women vs men?

Self-reliant women and neotraditional men (she can work, but my career comes first)

What are obstacles of plans?

Paid work factors:

Gender wage gap

Occupational Segregation

Motherhood penalty/Fatherhood Premium

Unpaid work factors:

Gendered division of labor

What factors contribute to the gender wage gap?

Occupational segregation and discrimination

What is occupational segregation?

The tendency for men and women to go into different jobs

Women have gone into previously male-dominated fields, but the reverse is less true

Men's jobs tend to pay more

This is now the primary driver of wage gap

What are the key facts about discrimination?

-Blatant discrimination less common, subtler forms still present

Motherhood penalty/fatherhood premium

Mothers make less comparable than non mothers, fathers make more than comparable non fathers

Theories about the Motherhood Penalty

Reduced human capital

(linked to working part time, interruptions from work to care for children)

Lower work effort

(less productive because devote more energy to kids)

Discriminatin

(employers assume mothers are less committed)

correll benard and paik

audit study of actual employers

-researchers responded to more than 600 newspaper ads for high-level business positions

-sent out fake resumes for four equally qualified candidates (2 men, 2 women)

-one resume signaled parenthood, other did not

either 1) mother applicants are seen as less committed and less suitable than women who aren't mothers and 2) fathers will be judged as more competent and committed than non-fathers

How has COVID impacted gender?

Both men and women did more housework, but the gap didn't close

Women left the workforce in huge numbers, prompted by lack of childcare

What is race?

Visible features (phenotype)

People believed to share common ancestry reflected in physical similarities

But most traits are constantly changing, little biological or genetic basis for race

Racial categorization depends on where societies draw "boundary" lines

What is the social construction of race?

US census bureau said racial categories were "not an attempt to define race biologically, or genetically", but "reflect a social definition of race"

Social definition has changed over time with new names and categories

What were the census categories from 1790?

Free white males > 16

Free white males < 16

Free white females

Other free people

Slaves

How do racial categories and boundaries change over time?

Where lines are drawn depends on current social/political dynamics

ex: Irish and Italians weren't always considered white

How is racial identity formation spurred by internal and external processes?

How do others see you and treat you?

Where do you perceive common interests/solidarity?

Things can change over time

What is ethnicity?

Common cultural identification based on language, religion, traditions

ex: Hispanic, African-American

What is racial ethnicity?

An ethnic group believed to share physical characteristics

What is endogamy?

Homogamy, marriage and reproduction within the same group

Majority of marriages

What is intermarriage? What are factors of intermarriage?

Marriage outside race, went up since 1970

Most common among Asians and Hispanics

Factors: growth of higher education, desegregation, declines in prejudice

What is the racial makeup of the US?

On track to be a majority minority country

African American families...

are less likely to involve marriage

have a higher rate of non-marital births

have higher rates of poverty

more likely to live with extended family

Why might African Americans have more relatives other than parents/children?

social deficit theory - exemplified by 1965 Moynihan Report

backlash among social scientists led to "revisionist" perspectives

Black-White differences in union formation

racial gaps in "union formation" are lower than in marriage

many "single parents" live with the child's other parent; they just aren't married - cohabition

still, "retreat from marriage" is steeper among African Americans

Why are there differences in union formation between blacks and whites?

66 employed, unmarried Black men for every 100 unmarried Black women

Economic pressures (deindustrialization)

Mass incarceration

Higher mortality rates among Black men

Long tradition of self-reliance among Black women

Latino families in the US...

are the largest minority group (~62 million)

most common origins are Mexico (62%), Puerto Rico (10%), and Central America (9%)

Why is it hard to generalize across groups of Latino families?

entered US under different circumstances

Cubans have highest average income of all Hispanic groups in US

Puerto Ricans and Central Americans more disadvantaged

What are some general patterns about Latino families?

Higher rates of births to unmarried women

Higher rates of poverty

Larger families (both more children and strong intergenerational ties)

Familism - strong emphasis on family obligations

Asian families...

relatively new immigrants (post 1965)

7% of US population, fastest growing minority group

Why is it hard to generalize Asian families?

big 3 (Chinese, Indian, Filipino) largely students and professionals at time of immigration -> higher income/education than US average ("model minority")

other small groups (Cambodian, Hmong) were more often refugees -> lower income/education than US averageWhich one isn't a reason why Americans are afraid of sex?

A) religion

2) lack of education

3) virginity rocks

4) confusion about their sexual orientation

What are some general patterns about Asian families?

heavy emphasis on education (linked to Confucian background) and care for elders

often live in multigenerational households

more educated than US average

lower rate of births to unmarried women

lower rates of families in poverty

What percent of the population is immigrants?

14% of the population

What are the key milestones of US immigration?

1924 - Immigration Act

Restrictive country-based quota system; shuts off immigration from Asia

1965 - Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act

Replaced country quota system with a new system of preferences

Emphasized family connections and immigrant skills

Why was post-1964 the "new immigration"

most legal immigration is family-related

immediate family of US citizens not subject to any quotas

change in national origins of immigrants

pre-1965 were Europeans

post-1965 were Latin American and Asian

Acculturation

acquiring the culture and language of destination country

Assimilation

gradual reduction of distance between immigrants and host society (requires adaption on both sides)

Generation

where an immigrant sits relative to family's original migration (whether migrated, what age)

first-gen -> migrated from outside

1.5 gen -> migrated as child

second-gen -> born in US

What are challenges for immigrant families?

different generations may acculturate at different rates

second-gen immigrants more likely to think of themselves as a "typical American"

can cause intergenerational conflict; tension between "fitting in" and retaining ties to origin country (ex: marrying within the race)

least conflict associated with "selective acculturation" where both parents and kids adapt to parts of the new and native cultures

What are some opposites of assimilation?

first-gen immigrants are often healthier than US born residents of the same ethnicity

moderately acculturated youth tend to do better than native-born peers on many measures

over time effects fade and immigrant youth "catch up" to their American-born peers (ex: adopting a more "Western," less healthy diet, acculturation process is stressful)

acculturation and assimilation are complex processes with a mix of positive and negative consequences

What is social class?

group of individuals who share a similar economic position based on a combination of income, wealth, education, and occupation

these are correlated, but also plenty of individual exceptions

What is the upper-class?

aka the 1%, the capitalist class

~1% of the population

make their money from things they own (businesses, real estate, stocks)

very high standard of living

may work, but don't depend on salary

What is the upper-middle class?

~14% of the population

high-educated and high-income (doctors, lawyers, consultants)

high standard of living

dependent on salary to maintain class position

What is the middle-class?

aka lower middle-class

~30% of the population

usually have some college education or advanced training

work in jobs like nursing, teaching, lower-level management

What is the working-class?

~30% of the population

usually have HS degree/trade school degree

work in jobs like office support, retail, factory

similar standard of living to middle class, but less stability

What is the working poor?

~15% of population

employed in unstable and low-wage jobs (ex: manual labor, restaurant support)

characterized by financial insecurity

What is the underclass?

~10% of population

unemployed or part -time/seasonal work

often depend on public benefits to pay for basic needs (middle and upper classes depend on different kind of benefits)

What is the order of social class?

capitalist -> upper middle class -> lower middle class -> working class -> working poor -> underclass

What does ascribed mean?

characteristics we have no control over

What does achieved mean?

characteristics we accomplish through our own efforts and abilities

Is class ascribed or achieved?

we're born into the social class of our parents, but that's not necessarily where we land as adults

What did the charts say about class and income?

a low-income kid has at most 17% they will end up as a high-income adult

chances a child will earn more than their parents are declining (a coin flip)

chances a child attends college correlate with income

Why does family of origin matter so much?

early patterns can be difficult to overcome

there are critical windows in brain development

establishing the path/built up effects

ex: "word gap" where in 1992 lower income kids hear millions fewer words by age 3

What is social capital?

resources that come via relationships and interpersonal connections (ex: friendships)

What is cultural capital?

resources that come via knowledge of/familiarity with dominant institutions (ex: education)

Is class correlated with capital?

yes! :)

Why does social and cultural capital matter?

it impacts parents' ability to access programs and institutions that facilitate children's development

What are neighborhood effects?

where you live in linked to your financial resources

geographic differences in school quality, enrichment programs, access to outdoor spaces (ex: playgrounds)

What are negative shocks?

chances of random bad things happening (job loss, accidents, health emergency)

wealthier families are less likely to experience negative shocks because they can afford to invest in more prevention (ex regular check-ups) and they are better positioned to minimize the impact

Franklin

"African Americans and the birth of modern marriage"

-wrote about professional black and white women in late 1800s/early 1900s with focus on activists

-black women had an easier time juggling role of activist with role of mother and wife

-higher rates of marriage among black women activists, black women made up larger proportion of black professions than white women did among white professionals

-white women viewed economic dependence as desirable, employment as misfortune

-black women activists are fighting for good of ALL black people, value in achievement in both spheres, investment in education with expectation of working outside home

-marriage squeeze: decrease in availability of eligible partners led to lower marriages in 1970s, women wanted equally educated men, but those men wanted women of other races

Hochschild and Machung

"The Second Shift"

-intensive interviews with 50 couples and participant observation in a dozen homes -> women worked more, but men didn't do more in the household

-more mothers were working

-leisure gap between men and women at home

-women were more torn between work and family, talked longer and more about it than husbands

-men had more control over when they made their contributions than women do

Nancy and Evan

-Nancy wanted him to do more work, Evan thought he shouldn't because it was her choice to work outside of the home

solution: upstairs-downstairs, Nancy does upstairs (which is a lot more) and even does downstairs (garage and his hobbies), resulting in bottling up anger

Gerson

"Falling back on plan B"

Asked young adults what they wanted in their future family life and what they would do if they couldn't reach their ideal

-women see work as essential to their survival, men fear equal-sharing will negatively impact their careers because of time-greedy workplaces

-self-reliant women, neotraditional men

-decline of commitment

-balance between work and home

-children in dual-income households felt two working parents was more satisfying

-common ingredient -> ability for parents to be flexible and reorganize breadwinning and child rearing

-resistance to flexibility left them unable to sustain and secure their homes

-flexible approaches helped adapt, inflexible left them ill prepared

Neotraditional vs Egalitarianism

neotraditional: women and men can work, but the man's work comes first

egalitarianism: equal rights and opportunities

Furstenberg

"Diverging development"

-development is shaped by social class position and process associated with class position are either lessened or amplified over early life

-social classes are not tightly bounded categories, they are fuzzy sets created by experience and exposure

-opportunities for lower class are a lot more restricted

-developmental influences begin in the womb, children are born into the world unequally

-children without opportunity to develop attachments were emotionally incapable

-Hart and Risley study revealed variation among words and interactions for children among families

-anticipatory socialization: advanced training for social roles outside the home

-opportunities are made up of environments shaped by social position

-cultural capital: knowledge of how the world works

-lower income families are more vulnerable to troubles

-social capital: social resources families use to promote positive action

Schwartz

"Why is everyone afraid of sex?"

Americans are more sexually constrained than liberated, more miserable than happy, and more misinformed than informed

-sex is more fulfilling when it is part of an expression of love

-media is saturated with sex

-more sexual partners and hook ups due to decoupling of relationship status and sex

3 main reasons

1) national policy ignores comprehensive sex ed, promotes abstinence sex-ed

2) laws outlawing sexual pleasure

3) confusion about homosexuality

-defended vibrators by calling them medical devices

-women's sexuality is feared unless it's related to reproduction or men

-Kinsey scale, 0-6 on sexuality, showed variety of homosexual experience

-sources of fear of sexuality are religion, double standard and patriarchal norms, STDs, cultural expectations, being "masculine"

-imagery of sex is idealized instead of representational

Penner and Saperstein

racial fluidity

longitudinal panel study of how people self-identify and how surveyors classify them

studied from 1979-2002

"instead of taking race as a given, scholars should be asking who is perceived or identifies as a particular race, when, and why?

findings: 1/5 were classified as a different race over the course of the study

racial identification also changed for some, but was only measured at beginning and end of study

high-status people: redefined as white (or not black)

low-status people: redefined as black (or not white)

key variables: poverty, unemployment, incarceration, marital status

conclusion: race doesn't simply affect a person's social status. a loss or gain in status can alter how people identify and how they are perceived by others

Why is sex still taboo?

Religious traditions

Perceived danger of female sexuality

Focus on STIs and other possible negative consequences of sex

Confusion and fear regarding sexual competence

Fears (and misconceptions) about sexual orientation

Schalet: Not Under My Roof!

Interview study of Dutch and American parents and teenagers

Similar demographics race, class, religion, and education

Vast majority of Dutch parents permit mixed-gender sleepovers for teens, vast majority of Americans oppose

American vs Dutch Approaches

American parents dramatize teen sex

-growing acceptance of premarital sex, but not among teens

-focus is on abstinence education and fear-mongering

-teens report ambivalence and lack of control in early sexual counters

Dutch parents normalize teen sex

-widespread acceptance that sex is part of growing up

-sex ed puts more emphasis on positive aspects of sex

-teens feel more in control of early sexual encounters

T/F: Teen birth rates are declining

true! :)

this is because teen sex is declining

Sex ed effects

abstinence-only sex ed is positively correlated with teen pregnancy and birth rates

more comprehensive sex ed is associated with lower rates of sexual activity, risky behaviors, STIs, and pregnancy

Sexual preferences

attraction, desire, arousal

Sexual behavior

how preferences and opportunities translate into sexual acts

Sexual identity

the classification of people based on their sexual preferences and behaviors