Chapter 11 sex and gender

Chapter 11 Sex and Gender Sex: refers to the biological and anatomical differences between men and women. Primary sex characteristics: genitalia used for reproduction. Secondary sex characteristics: boobs, hips, deep voice, facial hair. Hermaphrodite: a person in whom sexual differentiation is ambiguous or incomplete. Transsexual: a person who believes that they were born the wrong sex. Transvestite: male who lives as women or vice versa but does not alter their genitalia. Sexual orientation: refers to an individual’s preference for emotional-sexual relationships with members of the opposite sex, same sex, or both. Gender: the culturally and socially constructed differences between females and males found in the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with femininity and masculinity. Gender role: refers to the attitudes, behaviour and activities that are socially defined as appropriate for each sex and are learned through the socialization process. Gender identity: a person’s perception of the self as female or male. Body consciousness is how a person perceives and feels about his or her body, it also includes an awareness of social conditioning in a society that contributes to the self knowledge. Sexism is the subordination of one sex, usually female based on the assumed superiority of the other sex. Patriarchy — males rule Matriarchy — women rule Gender bias consists of showing favouritism toward one gender over the other. Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favours or other verbal of physical conduct of a sexual nature. Wage gap: a term used to describe the disparity between womens and mens earnings. Pay equity or comparable worth is the belief that wages ought to reflect the worth of a job, not the gender or race of the worker. Employment equity: a strategy to eliminate the effects of discrimination and to fully open the competition for job opportunities to those who have been excluded historically. Feminism: the belief that women and men are equal and that they should be valued equally and have equal rights. Functionalist — instrumental and expressive tasks — division of labour by gender ensures stability. Neoclassical economic — human capital — genders inequity in the labour market results from womens diminished human capital. Conflict — gendered division of labour — the gendered division of labour at home and work is the result of male control of women and resources. Liberal feminism — equal rights — womens equality is equated with equality of opportunity. Socialist feminism — gendered job segregation — capitalism must be eliminated and a socialist economy established to obtain gender equality. Radical feminism — patriarchy — patriarchy must be abolished for gender equality to be achieved. Multicultural feminism: double or triple jeopardy — race, class and gender oppress women. Post-modernist feminism- deconstructing gender — categories of male and female and man and women are artificial and malleable. People create, modify and maintain their gender though every day interactions. Symbolic interactions — doing gender — individuals create, maintain and modify their gender through every day interactions. Chapter 12 Aging Chronological age — a person’s age based on their date of birth Functional age — observable individual attributes, such as physical appearance, mobility, strength and coordination that are used to assign people to age categories. Life expectancy is the average length of time a group of individuals of the same age will live. Cohort — a group of people born within a specific period of time. Gerontology is the study of aging and older people. Social gerontology is the study of the social aspects of aging. Age stratification is the inequalities, differences, segregation or conflict between age groups. Ageism — prejudice and discrimination against people on the basis of age, particularly when they are older people. Elder abuse- refers to physical, mental, financial and medical abuse or neglect on people 65 or older. Disengagement theory is older people make a normal and healthy adjustment to aging when they detach themselves from their social roles and prepare for their eventual death. Activity theory — states that people tend to shift gears in late middle age and find substitutes for previous statues, roles and activities. Hospice is a homelike facility that provides supportive care for patients with terminal illnesses. Functionalist Parsons — functional theory — devaluing the contributions of older people is dysfunctional for socities because of the contribution older people can make. Cumming and henry — disengagement theory — older people make a normal and healthy adjustment to aging when they detach themselves from their social roles and prepare for their eventual death. Symbolic interactionist Havinghurst et al. — activity theory — people tend to shift gears in late middle ages and find substitutes for pervious statues roles and activities. Cowgill — role theory — aging will be more successful if cultures provide active roles for older people. Harrington Meyer — conflict theory — as people grow older, their power starts to diminish unless they are able to maintain their health. Those who have been disadvantaged in their younger years will be even more disadvantaged when they are old. Hardy and Hazelrigg — feminization of poverty — because many older women grew up in an era in which women were not treated as mens financial equals, they are much more likely than men to be poor in old age. Post Modernism Katz, Polivka — de-differentiation of life course stages — postmodern society has eroded the rigid states of the life course. Older people are now able to experiment with new identities with the assistance of anti-aging techniques. Chapter 13 the Economy and work Economy is the social institution that ensures the maintenance of society through the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Primary sector production is the extraction of raw materials and natural resources from the environment. Secondary sector production is the processing of raw materials into finished goods. Post-industrial economy is based on the provision of series rather than goods. Capitalism is an economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production from which personal profits can be derived through market competition and without government intervention. Corporations are large scale organizations that have legal powers, such as the ability to enter into contracts and buy and sell property, separate from their individual owners. Multinational corporations are large companies that are headquartered in one country and have subsidiaries or branches in other countries. Oligopoly exists when several companies overwhelmingly control and entire industry. Socialism is an economic system characterized by public ownership of the means of production, the pursuit of collective goals and centralized decision making. Mixed economies combine elements of a market economy (capitalism) with elements of a command economy (socialism). Democratic socialism is an economic and political system that combines private ownership of some of the means of production, government distribution of some essential goods and services and free elections. Occupations are categories of jobs that involve similar activities as different work sites. Marginal jobs differ from the employment norms of the society in which they are located. (fast food, cleaner) Contingent work is part time work or temporary work. Unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force actively seeking jobs. Labour union is a group of employees who join together to bargain with an employer or a group of employers over wages, benefits and working conditions. (Functionalist) The economic cycle — the business cycle is the rise and fall of economic activity relative to long term growth in the economy. This system is largely self-correcting, though government intervention may be necessary, (Symbolic interactionist) Rifkin — the end of work — only by working less can people be free. Less work and more leisure time will lead to greater personal fulfillment and stronger communities. (SI) Wuthrow, Hochschild — work is important to identity — even for lower level employees, work is important to ones sense of identity. However, work may conflict with other parts of ones life. Conflict- marx- alienation theory — work in capitalist societies is characterized by conflict between workers and employers. Work is alienating when workers needs for self-identity and meaning are not met and when work is done strictly for material gain, with no accompanying sense of personal satisfaction. Workers have little control over their work environment. Wharton — womens work is devalued — work is gendered. Women are not paid as highly as men, work in the home is typically assigned to women and these gender biases persist because they are an integral part of a patriarchal society. Chapter 14 Power, Politics and Government Politics is the social institution through which power is acquired and exercised by some people and groups. Government is the formal organization that has the legal and political authority to regulate the relationships among members of a society and between the society and those outside its borders. State is the political entity that possesses a legitimate monopoly over the use of force within its territory to achieve its goals. Power is the ability of persons of groups to carry out their will despite opposition from others. Authority is power that people accept as legitimate rather than coercive. Charismatic authority is power legitimized on the basis of a leaders exceptional personal qualities or accomplishments. Routinization of charisma occurs when charismatic authority is succeeded by a bureaucracy controlled by a rationally established authority of by a combination of traditional and bureaucratic authority. Traditional authority is power that is legitimized by respect for long standing custom. Rational legal authority is power legitimized by law or written rules and regulations. A monarchy is a political system in which power resides in one person or family and is passed from generation to generation through line of inheritance. An authoritarian political system is one controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government. A totalitarian political system is one in which the state seeks to regulate all aspects of peoples public and private lives. A democracy is a political system in which the people hold the ruling power either directly or through elected representatives. Pluralistic model: power in political systems is widely dispersed throughout many competing interest groups. Special interest group: political coalitions made up of individuals or groups that share a specific interest they wish to protect or advance with the help of the political system. Elite model: power in political systems is concentrated in the hands of a small group of elites and the masses are relatively powerless. Power elite is composed of leaders at the top of business, the executive branch of the federal government and the military. Political party is an organization whose purpose is to gain and hold legitimate control of government. Political socialization is the process by which people learn political attitudes, values and behaviour. Functionalist Durkheim-consensus theory- citizens share a consensus on central concerns and government plays key functions that no other institution could fulfill Dahl-pluralist theory- power in political systems is widely distributed among many competing interest groups. Symbolic interactionist Gusfield — some political interest groups engage in symbolic crusades in which the recognition of the crusaders values by the government was at least as important as achieving the instrumental goals of the movement. Conflict Marx-marxist theory- the government serves the interests of the ruling (or capitalist) class that controls the means of production. Mills — power elite theory — most decisions in society are made by power elites who control business, government and the military. Domhoff — ruling class theory — societies are rules by a small, interconnected group of people who have power over the politicians who govern the society. Feminist — mcintosh — feminist approach — historically, the state has excluded women from the political process. Women will inevitably be subordinated by the patriarchal state until they achieve real political power. Post modern — Foucault — governance theory — the state does not just control through exercising top down commands. The state also controls people by making conformity part of each individuals self-identity. People essentially govern themselves. Chapter 15, families and intimate relationships Families we choose are social arrangements that include intimate relationships between couples and close familiar relationships with other couples and with other adults and children. Families as relationships in which people live together with commitment, form and economic unit and care for any young, and consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group. Kinship refers to a social network of people based on common ancestry, marriage or adoption. Nuclear family is a family composed to one or two parents and their dependent children, all of whom live apart from other relatives. Marriage is a legally recognized and or social approved arrangement between two or more individuals that carries certain rights and obligations and usually involve sexual activity. Monogamy — a marriage to one person at a time. Polygamy is the concurrent marriage of a person of one sex with two or more of the opposite sex. Polygyny is the concurrent marriage of one man with two or more women. Polyandry is the concurrent marriage of one women with two or more men. Patrilineal descent is a system of tracing descent through fathers side of the family. Matrilineal descent is a system of tracing descent through the mothers side of the family. Bilateral descent — a system of tracing decent through both sides of the family. A patriarchal family is a family structure in which authority is held by the eldest male. Matriarchal family is a family structure in which authority is held by the eldest female. An egalitarian family is a family structure in which both partners share power and authority equally. The sociology of family is the sub discipline of sociology that attempts to describe and explain patterns of family life and variations in family structure. Cohabitation refers to a couples living together without being legally married. Homogamy refers to the pattern of individuals marrying those who have similar characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, religious background, age, education or social class. Dual earner families are families in which both partners are in the labor force. Second shift — the domestic work that employed women perform at home after they complete their work day. Infertility is defined as an inability to conceive after one year of unprotected sexual relations. Heterosexism — an attitude in which heterosexuality is considered the only valid form of sexual behaviour. Functionalist — role of families in maintaining stability of society and individuals well being — in modern societies, families serve the functions of sexual regulation, socialization, economic and physiological support and provision of social status — family problems are related to changes in social institutions, such as the economy, religion, education and law/government. Conflict- families as sources of conflict and social inequality — families both mirror and help perpetuate social inequalities based on class and gender — family problems reflect social patterns of dominance and subordination. Feminist — families as patriarchal institutions — womens subordination is rooted in patriarchy and mens control over womens labour power — family problems such as child abuse, wife abuse, and elder abuse are the result of attempts to control women and perpetuate gender inequality. Symbolic interactionist — family dynamics, including communication patterns and the subjective meanings that people assign to events — interactions within families create a shared reality — how family problems are perceived and defined depends on patterns of communications, the meanings people give to roles and events, and individuals interpretations of family interactions. Postmodern — permeability of families — in post modern societies, families are diverse and fragmented. Boundaries between workplace and home are blurred — family problems are related to cyberspace, consumerism and the hyper real in age increasingly characterized by high tech haves and have nots. Chapter 16 Education Education is the social institution responsible for the systematic transmission of knowledge, skills and cultural values within a formally organized structure. Cultural retransmission is the process by which children and recent immigrants become acquainted with the dominant cultural beliefs, values, norms, and accumulated knowledge of a society. Informal education — learning that occurs in a spontaneous, unplanned way. Formal education is learning that takes place within an academic setting, such as school, which has a planned instructional process and teachers who convey specific knowledge, skills and thinking processes to students. Mass education refers to providing free, public schooling for wide segments of a nations population. Cultural capital — social assets that include values, beliefs, attitudes and competencies in language and culture. Tracking — the assignment of students to specific courses and educational programs based on their test scores previous grades. Hidden curriculum is the transmission of cultural values and attitudes, such as conformity and obedience to authority, through implied demands found in rules, routines and regulations of schools. Credentialism — a process of social selection in which class advantage and social status are linked to the possession of academic qualifications. Functional illiteracy is the inability to read and or write at the skill level necessary for carrying out every day tasks. Functionalist: education is one of the most important components of society. Schools teach students not only content but also to put group needs ahead of the individuals. Conflict: schools perpetuate class, racial ethnic and gender inequalities through what they teach to whom. Symbolic interactionist: labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy are an example of how students and teachers affect one another as they interpret their interactions. Postmodernist: in contemporary schools, educators attempt to become substitute parents and promulgators of self-esteem in students, students and their parents become the consumers of education. Chapter 17 Religion Religion is a system of beliefs, symbols and rituals bsed on some sacred or supernatural realm, that guides human behaviour, gives meaning to life and united believers into a community. Faith — unquestioning belief that does not require proof of scientific evidence. Sacred — those aspects of life that are extraordinary or supernatural. Profane — the everyday, secular or worldly aspects of life. Rituals — regularly repeated and carefully prescribed forms of behaviour that symbolizes a cherished value or belief. Simple supernaturalism – the belief that supernatural forces affect people’s lives either positively or negatively. Animism is the belief that plants, animals or other elements of the natural world are endowed with spirits or life forces that have an impact on events in society. Theism- a belief in a god or gods Monotheism-a belief in a single supreme being or god who is responsible for significant events. Polytheism — a belief in more than one god Nontheistic religion — a religion based on a belief in divine spiritual forces, such as sacred principles of thought and conduct, rather than a god. Church is a large, bureaucratically organized religious body that tends to see accommodation with the larger society in order to maintain some degree of control over it. Sect is a relatively small religious group that has broken away from another religious organization to renew what is views at the original version of the faith. A cult is a religious group with practices and teachings outside of the dominant cultural and religious traditions of a society. Functionalist Durkheim — functions of religion — religion has three important functions, providing meaning and purpose in life, promoting social cohesion, and providing social control and support for the gov. Weber — the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism — the religious teachings of Calvinist Protestantism were directly related to the rise of capitalism. Conflict — marx — conflict theory — the capitalist class uses religious ideology as a tool of domination to mislead the workers about their true interests. Religion can also promote strife between groups and societies Symbolic interactionist- lofland and stark — conversion theory — conversion to non-traditional religious movements was more likely if individuals had certain predisposing background factors and if they had come to a turning point in life, had close personal tires to members of the group, a lack of tires to people outside the group, and intensive interaction with group members. Feminist — mcguire — his religion and her religion — religious symbolism and language typically create a social definition of the roles of men and women. Typically these definitions subordinate women to men. Post modern — Haynes — religion as oppositional — the postmodern condition stimulates ideology turning to religion under certain circumstances. While secularization continues in much of the industrialized West, in lower-income countries religion often functions as a mobilizing oppositional ideology. Chapter 18 Health, Healthcare and Disability Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social well being Medicine is an institutionalized system for the scientific diagnosis, treatment and prevention of illness. Preventive medicine — medicine that emphasizes a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent poor health before it occurs It it receiving increasing attention. Sick role — patterns of behaviour defined as appropriate for people who are sick. Acute illness is illness of limited duration from which the patient recovers or dies. Chronic illness is applied to a long term or permanent condition that may or may not be fatal. Medicalization refers to the process whereby an object or a condition becomes defined by society as a physical or psychological illness. Senile dementia — a term for diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, that involve a progressive impairment of judgement and memory. Epidemics — sudden, significant increases in the numbers of people contracting a disease. Disability is a physical or health condition that reduces a persons ability to perform tasks he or she would normally do at a given stage of life and that may result in stigmatization or discriminating against the person Universal health care system: one in which all citizens receive medical services paid for through taxation revenues. Functionalist — parsons — illness is dysfunctional both for the individual who is sick and for the larger society. All societies have a rock role which is patterns of behaviour defined as appropriate for people who are sick. Conflict — inequalities in health care — care among the issues for conflict theorists are the ability of all citizens to obtain health care, the impact of race, class and gender on health care, the relative power of doctors and the medical model in the health care system, and the role of profit in the health care system. Feminist — Findlay and miller — medicalization blames women for their problems. It also forces women to conform to traditional role expectations and limits their freedom of behaviour, appearance and relationships. Symbolic Interactionist — Conrad and Schneider — all illnesses have a subjective component. Medicalization is the process whereby an object of a condition becomes defined by society as a physical or physiological illness. Postmodern — morris — modernist western biomedicine is being challenged by the postmodern emphasis on culture, but the future of our cultures understanding of health and illness is not yet clear. Chapter 19 Population and Urbanization Demography — the subfield of sociology that examines population size, composition and distribution. Fertility is the actual level of childbearing for an individual or a population. Crude birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 people in a population in a given year. Mortality — the incidence of death in a population. Crude death rate — the number of deaths per 1000 people in a population in a given year. Infant mortality rate — the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1000 live births in a given year. Migration is the movement of people from one geographic area to another for the purpose of changing residency. Immigration is the movement of people into a geographic area to take up residency. Emigration is the movement of people out of a geographic area to take up residency elsewhere. Population composition — the biological and social characteristics of a population. Sex ratio — the number of males for every hundred females in a given population. Population pyramid — a graphic representation of the distribution of a population by sex and age. Demographic transition — is the process by which some societies have moved from high birth and death rates to relatively low birth and death rates as a result of technological development. Metropolis is one or more central cities and their surrounding suburbs that dominate the economic and cultural life of a region. A central city is the densely populated centre of a metropolis. Invasion is the process by which a new category of people or type of land use arrives in an area previously occupied by another group or land use. Succession is the process by which a new category of people or type or land use gradually predominates in an area formerly dominated by another group of activity. Gentrification is the process by which members of the middle and upper middle classes move into the central city area and renovate existing properties. Functionalist Burgess- Concentric zone model — due to invasion, succession and gentrification, cities are a series of circular zones, each characterized by a particular land use. Hoyt — sector model- cities consist of wedge shaped sectors, based on terrain and transportation routes, with the most expensive areas occupying the best terrain. Harris and Ullman — multiple muclei model — cities have more than one centre of developmeny, based on specific needs and activities. Conflict Marx — capitalism and urban growth — members of the capitalist class chose locations for skyscrapers and housing projects, limiting individual choices by others. Symbolic Interactionists Simmel — view of city life — due to the intensity of city life, people become somewhat insensitive to individuals and events around them. Wirth — urbanism as a way of life — the size, density, and heterogeneity of the urban population result in elaborate division of labour and space. Gans — urban villagers — five categories of adaptation occur among urban dwellers, ranging from cosmopolites to trapped city dwellers. Feminist Appleton — gender regimes in cities — different cities have different prevailing ideologies regarding access to social positions and resources for men and women. Wilson, Michelson — gender and vity life — cities offer women a paradox, more freedom but more danger. Postermodern Dear and Flusty — decentred cities — the post modern city has man centres with low density and urban sprawl. They have more private space and greater diversity. They are becoming centres for consuming and entertainment. Hannigan — fantasy city — city planners have attempted to bring people back to the city centre by establishing urban entertainment districts that often include branded, risk free attractions. Chapter 20 Collective behaviour Collective behaviour is voluntary, often spontaneous activity that is engaged in by a large number of people and typically violates dominant group norms and values. A crowd is a relatively large number of people who are in one anothers immediate vicinity. A mass is a number of people who share an interest in a specific idea or issue but who are not in one another immediate vicinity. A mob is a highly emotional crowd whos members engage in, or are ready to engage in violence against a specific target — a person, a category of people, or physical property. A riot is violent crowd behaviour that occurs when a large number of people react to a real or perceived threat with strong emotions and self destructive behaviour. A panic is a form of crowd behaviour that occurs when a large number of people react to a real or perceived threat with strong emotions and self destructive behaviour. Civil disobedience is nonviolent action that seeks to change a policy or law by refusing to comply with it. Mass behaviour is collective behaviour that takes place when people who are separated respond to the same event in the same way. Rumpours are unsubstanciated reports on an issue to subject. Gossip refers to rumours about the personal lives of individuals. Mass hysteria is a form of dispersed collective behaviour that occurs when a large number of people react with strong emotions and self destructive behaviour to a real or perceived threat. A fad is a temporary but widely copied activity enthusiastically followed by large numbers of people. Fashion may be defined as currently valued style of behaviour, thinking or appearance. Public opinion consists of the political attitudes and beliefs communicated by ordinary citizens to decision markers. Propaganda — information provided by individuals or groups that have a vested interest in furthering their own cause or damaging an opposing one. Social movement is an organized group that acts consciously to promote or resist change through collective action. Terrorism is the calculated unlawful use of physical force or threats of violence against persons or property in order to intimidate or coerce a government, organization or individual for the purpose of gaining some political, religious, economic or social objective.