1. WARNING!
This presentation may contain information that might actually cause you to think.

2. Learning Culture, Building Identity
Socialization
Learning Culture,
Building Identity

3. AND

4. Stratification and Inequality
Examining the Implications of
Class, Race, and Gender

5. Socialization Socialization Agents of socialization
The life-long process of learning culture
Agents of socialization
Family, schools, work, peer groups, media, religion, etc.

6. Constructing Identity: The “Self”
The “Self” (George Herbert Mead)
Infants only know the “I.” Through social interaction, however, they learn the “me”—the self as a distinct object to be perceived by others
“Looking Glass Self” (Charles Horton Cooley)
Sense of who we are that is defined by incorporating the reflected appraisals of others. OR “we see ourselves as we think others see us.”

7. Becoming who we are, finding our “self,” is always a social process.

8. Roles and Identity Formation
Expected patterns of behavior for a particular social status
Role Taking
Key to our identity and concepts of self because, we often see ourselves from the perspective of others

9. How do you suppose these people “see” themselves?

18. Learning Culture and Our Place In It
“We willingly play the roles we find ourselves in.” – P. Berger (1963)
We come to accept and expect the position which we occupy. Tastes, hobbies, careers, goals, and aspirations, who we partner with, etc.

19. Switch…

20. Social Stratification
Ranking system of groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society

21. Systems of Stratification
Slavery
Economic form of inequality in which some people are the property of others
Caste
Hierarchical stratification based on ascription (e.g. elite, warrior, merchant, servant, untouchable)
Class
Stratification based on wealth, income, education, and occupation; (SES) socioeconomic status.

22. Theories of Stratification
Functionalist Theories
Highest rewards (e.g. salaries and prestige) are given to most important positions in society ensuring the most qualified people occupy these positions
Conflict Theories
Stratification reflects unequal distribution of power in society that serves the interests of those at the top

23. Back to socialization…

24. What are some ways in which gender is learned?
Learning Gender
What’s the difference between “sex” and “gender”?
Sex = reproductive organs, male/female/etc.
Gender = socially significant aspects, social construct
Gender specific socialization
In family
In schools
In workplaces
Where else?
What are some ways in which gender is learned?

26. We will come back to gender in a bit.

27. Learning Race “Race” is a social construct
“Race” is genetically the same as eye color

28. BUT

29. In our culture, “whiteness” has historically been “normalized.”
Race is socially significant. As such it shapes our identity and our social location.
In our culture, “whiteness” has historically been “normalized.”
The default race has privileges

30. Switch!

31. Racial Inequality and Stratification

32. Racial Prejudice vs. Racism
From Beverly Tatum’s, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
Racial Prejudice
any preconceived opinion, either favorable or unfavorable, based on one’s race
Racism
a system of institutional policies and cultural messages that is advantageous to white people and disadvantageous to people of color (e.g. housing, jobs)
prejudice + power

33. Personal Racial Prejudice vs. Institutional Racism
We often focus on the racist actions of individuals rather than the institutions that maintain and perpetuate racial inequality
For example…

34. Disparities in Drug Sentencing as an Example of Institutionalized Racism
About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using illegal drugs
African Americans represent about 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense
African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months) (Info from NAACP and the Sentencing Project)

35. Disparities in Drug Sentencing as an Example of Institutionalized Racism
Powder vs. Crack Cocaine
Used to be a 100 to 1 disparity in sentencing
As of 2010 Congress voted to change the law to decrease the disparity. They changed it to…
18 to 1 disparity in sentencing!!! WHAT!!!?
The majority of cocaine users, both crack and powder, are white. But the majority of people convicted for cocaine are people of color. And crack has historically been concentrated in African American communities.

36. Let’s talk a little more about incarceration in the United States:

37. Incarceration Trends in the US
From 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America quadrupled-from roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million people
Today, the US is 5% of the world’s population and has 25% of the world’s prisoners
Combining the number of people in prison and jail with those under parole or probation supervision, 1 in every 31 adults, or 3.2 percent of the population is under some form of correctional control

38. Racial Disparities in Incarceration
African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population
African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites
Black and Latino Americans make up about 30% of the US population but about 60% of those incarcerated

39. Racial Disparities in Incarceration
One in six black men had been incarcerated as of If current trends continue, one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime
Nationwide, African-Americans represent 26% of juvenile arrests, 44% of youth who are detained, 46% of the youth who are judicially waived to criminal court, and 58% of the youth admitted to state prisons (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice)

40. White Privilege
It isn’t that all white people are to blame for discrimination; most are not. But white people nevertheless benefit from racism.
And I’m not just talking about incarceration! White privilege applies to jobs, housing, racial profiling while driving or at the store, etc. It is hard to see it, but it is happening all the time.
[This is just as true in the case of male privilege, heterosexual privilege, or any other form of privilege.]

41. Active Racism vs. Passive Racism
blatant, intentional acts of racial prejudice
E.g. not serving black people at your restaurant
Passive racism
more subtle forms of racism
E.g. laughing at racist jokes, not challenging exclusionary hiring practices, accepting as appropriate the omission of the history of people of color in the curriculum

42. Active Anti-Racism
Everyone needs to take an active anti-racist stance. But white people can play an especially powerful role since they have more access to the societal institutions in need of being changed.

43. Not All People “Of Color” Are Equally Targeted By Racism
Other factors intersect and matter! Like what?
Class
Sex
Gender
Sexual orientation
Country of origin / immigration status
Etc.

44. Social Class
Group of people who share similar economic/social/political position in society
Measures: income, wealth, occupational prestige, educational attainment, culture, taste
SES: socioeconomic status
Wealth = All assets owned by an individual including cash, savings, investments in property, stocks, bonds, etc.
Income = All wages and salaries earned from paid occupation. Also interest on savings.

45. Back to socialization!

46. Learning Class Social Class affects values
E.g. Respecting conformity, not questioning authority
Our class background shapes our:
Opportunities
Aspirations
Expectations
Social Class helps determine the options we consider on the menu of life

47. Back to stratification!!!

48. Inequality and Life Chances
Working class and poor people are:
Less likely to go to college
More likely to get arrested, convicted, go to prison, and receive the death penalty than upper class people
More likely to die prematurely

49. Our economy is worth, roughly, $188 trillion.

50. Which is split between, roughly, 311 million people.

51. Our country’s wealth split evenly would give everyone, roughly, $600,000.

53. From 2009-2011, 100% of all new income went to the top 1%
The bottom 99% actually saw a loss in their income.

54. Forbes 400 Richest Americans
Have a combined net worth of over $1.54 trillion
Bill Gates = $66 billion
All 400 are billionaires ($1.1—$66 bil.)
More than half inherited their wealth

55. Over $200 billion is inherited each year, half of which comes from just 7 percent of estates.

56. Should inheriting wealth be allowed?

57. Now back to gender…

58. Gender Inequality and Stratification

59. How many of you consider yourselves to be feminists?

60. Gender Stratification
Social system in which socio-economic resources and political power are distributed on the basis of one’s sex and gender

61. Wage Gap On average women earn .81 cents for every $1 a man earns
This applies to men and women doing equal work!
Why does the gender gap in pay persist?
Occupational segregation
Discrimination
Institutional Sexism

62. Housework – “The Second Shift”
Women still do majority of household work, including caring for children
Women working full time outside the home spend on average 19 hours/week on housework; men average 10 hours/week
This work is essential for society!

63. Trigger Warning

64. Rape as Social Control (IN THE US!!!)
Unlike men, women must worry about walking alone at night
Rape is used in war to terrorize and punish
Why no “War Against Rape” ?
1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime
(IN THE US!!!)
1 in 6 women will be the victim of attempted or completed rape
1 in 4 women in college are victims of rape
Only 5% actually report the crime!!!
82% of sexual assaults are by people who know the victim

65. Mr. Robinson’s #1 Rape Prevention Tip:
DON’T RAPE!

66. Reflect
Where do you fit in on the spectrum of social class and privilege?
What group or groups are you a part of?
What roles or identities do you take on?
How are your own social class/race/gender attitudes and opportunities shaping your life?