Understanding Gender In Relation To Race And Social Class - Essay Example

? UNDERSTANDING GENDER IN RELATION TO RACE AND SOCIAL and Number: Submitted: We cannot understand gender without a consideration of its relationship with social class and/or race. Discuss with reference to at least two different approaches to this relationship outlined on the course. Introduction Race, social class, and gender are often studies as separate subjects. However, the three subjects are related and it is therefore difficult or impossible to separate them. Indeed, we cannot understand gender without considering its relationship with social class and race Sheldon, R (Tracy and Brown, 2001, p. 123). The main challenge is that most of the available literature handles the subjects separately and it is difficult to find a study that addresses the relationship between the three phenomenons. According to John Money, gender is more of a role that the state of being male or female. Therefore, gender studies encompass the holistic aspect of roles across the two genders. There is a great disparity in gender roles across different social class and races as discussed in the lectures. Literature Review Race, social class, and gender organize any given society as a whole. These three constructs create a variety of contexts for a living norm of a family. This is through their character of unique distribution of opportunities in the society. Race is not a biological reality but a socially defined reality. Society continually creates and transforms racial categories. Race is used as a tool for socially identifying groups based on physical differences (Lynxweiler, and Gay, 2000, p. 89). People who occupy an almost similar or relative similar economic rank will form a social class. Every social class will possess its own distinctive culture. Gender just like race and social class is a basic organizing principle of a society (Raffaelli, 2011, p. 34). Cultural and social definitions of femininity and masculinity are the basis of men and women treatment. These will form the difference in dividing labor, allocating social rewards and assigning roles. The gender system tends to deny both men and women the full range of human and social possibilities. Gender can be thought of in two ways. There is the Traditional Gender Roles Approach. History needs of the society and biology have naturally separated men and women into their distinctive roles in society (Anderson, 2007, p. 67). Gender inequality is usually because of behavior learned by individual men and women. Such a perspective ignores the most important aspect of roles. Roles are supposed to be unequal in resources, opportunities, and power. The other way gender can be thought about is The Family as a Gendered Institution. This perspective holds that gender is a factor in the practices, assumptions, and power dynamics of the institutions. Patriarchy is a form of social organization where women are dominated by men. Patriarchy will shape families the same way it does to other institutions (Liaz os, 2002, p. 34). There will be public, private, and capitalist patriarchy. A structured gender inequality will interact with other inequalities including class, race, and sexuality. This will result in sorting out mane and women differently (Agnew, 2006, p. 56). It is the same inequalities that will come together to produce differences among mane and differences among women. This means in general is that man will gain privileges at the expense of women. Domestic division of labor limits women’s occupational opportunities. This domestic division of labor is in the kind and amount of work done in homes by women. To better, understand Gender and its relationship to class and race. It is important to understand class, race, and gender’s structured inequalities. Gender, class, and race organize a society as a whole. They create a variety of contexts for family lives through the unequal distribution of opportunities in the society. Within these three contexts, various forms of stratification that will foster inequalities that are group based. Social resources and opportunities are distributed differently. These are relational systems of power and subordination. There are systems interconnected and at the same time unequal. Families are the basic units that can resist inequality. Groups within the society are socially defined and treated unequally. Class describes people who come from a relative similar economic rank. Occupational is the frequency used indicator of class. Occupation will determine opportunity, income, and lifestyle. There are different and numerous definitions of class (Majors, and Mancini, 2004, p. 56). Each class will have a distinctive culture associated with its existence. Any comparisons between any classes will turn out to be accounts ‘deficits’ of lower status families. This is the culture of poverty, underclass. The cultural explanations ignore and obscure the material and social realities of class. Structural explanations of class will examine ways in which social class will shape the network of relationship existing between individuals, institutions, and families. They focus on the relationships of power between groups of classes. Occupation is not the key to social class. The control one possesses in their work, work of others, investments and decision-making is the key. The class structure will organize family differently. Gender will cut across class and race racial divisions. Race, class, and gender are conceptualized as systems of oppression. They are also conceptualized as epistemological assumption in different ways. Gender, race, and class are contextual. These three have persisted and existed all through history. Their hierarchies are not and have never been fixed. They will constantly undergo changes as part of new political, economic, and ideological events, trends and processes. The meanings of gender, race, and class will vary across historical periods and across nations and regions. This is because race, gender, and social class have to be understood within a specific global and historical context. There are the Class-Based Family Differences. There are Families in Poverty (Lower Class) lack of opportunities make nuclear family difficult to sustain: poor are more likely to expand family boundaries, use larger network of kin than non-poor. Poverty reduces the likelihood of marriage: undermines the availability of economically secure partners There are Blue-Collar Families (Working Class). This is the largest single group of families. Economic changes, increased vulnerability move these families further from idealized nuclear family model. Pioneers of contemporary family patterns interact more with kin than middle class families do. There are Middle Class Families. These are the idealized family form. Many sustain middle class status through wives’ employment. They are able to rely on non-familial institutions (rather than kin) such as medical coverage, credit at banks There are Families of Professionals (Upper Middle Class). They are likely to merge spheres of work & family: leisure activities revolve around occupational concerns & associates, family life often subordinate to husband-father’s occupation (Quinney, 2007, p. 67). Autonomy of nuclear family is strengthened by economic resources & built-in ties with supportive institutions Wealthy Families (Upper Class) have economic power based on wealth (not income) provides opportunities not available to other families. They have the ability to generate additional resources. Family lifestyles made possible by control over labor of others. Family boundaries are more open than those of middle class. It includes extended family. Kin-based family form serves to preserve inherited wealth. Class boundaries are more rigidly drawn, marriage market restricted to small (but national) pool of eligible partners linked by exclusive schools, colleges, clubs, and resorts. Marriage is more than legal-emotional commitment. It is a means for concentrating capital & maintaining in-group solidarity. Gendered division of labor maintains class solidarity. Women’s philanthropic work serves “gate-keeping” function, preserves institutions that benefit family & class. Gender, race, and class can be said to be socially constructed. Their meaning develops out of struggles of a group over valued resources in the society. The dominant culture will define the categories within race and gender social identities. Research has suggested that gender Racial and class identities are multidimensional, fluid and personalized social constructions. They will reflect an individual’s current context. Gender identity will involve an individual’s relationship to their gender as a social category. It will always carry a different spin in a psychological subspecialty literature. Historically, gender identity was categorized as part of medicine. It generally referred to an individual’s psychological sense of being male or female. This construct is only useful when studying gender identity origin. Today’s modern psychiatric and clinical psychology literature gender identity was first published in the third Diagnostic and statistical manual in 1980. Gender identity disorders today are characterized by ‘persistent and strong cross-gender identification accompanied by persistent and strong discomfort with an individual’s sex’ (American Psychological Association 1994, P.493). The diagnosis possible in gender disorders is in children, adolescents, or adults and others unspecified. This is the same way that there are changing demographics in the racial identities. Racial demographics in the United States are rapidly shifting the same way. Studies show that black children’s preferences have changed from white to black. Furthermore, they show a bicultural appreciation pattern. Historically, it was virtually unheard of for there to be neither women nor men defined genders. It was simple; one was either male or female. There only existed black or white people also, but not multi colored individuals. Modern changing demographics have changed the identities to accommodate a number of variables. Today there exist homosexuals, mixed race individuals who cannot be specifically categorized. Race has a social definition. Unlike the human DNA race does not have a scientific background. There is a wide difference in the allocation of resources and differentiation of duties across different races. Power, privilege, and prestige between men and women also vary across the races. This implies that race is a fundamental aspect for studies involving gender. Indeed, racial studies give us extra knowledge on gender studies. Racial formation empowers a society to continuously recreate and transform itself. This has led to the establishment of distinct races or categories of people that have distinct roles for male and female. Certainly, gender is not the state of being male or female but rather it is the value of the society on an individual. Racial studies create an element of differentiation within a society (Lauderdale, 2003, p. 123). From the differentiation, people are categorized according to their gender. On the other hand gender present a bigger differentiation between humans than race does. Would it then be appropriate to consider gender as different races? Each race presents its own differences between males and females. However, the racial studies/analysis proves the existence of differences between members of a given society. Macro Structural disparity and Racial-Ethnic relationships Racial differentiations initiate various opportunities that shape families in various ways. Racial-ethnic family setup dictates critical aspects in the life of an individual. For example, there is a significant correlation between race and poverty, employment problems and family well-being. Kinship systems and family support also differ across different races. These differentiations provide a perfect platform for gender studies. Indeed, differentiation of roles across gender is related to races and ethnicity (Heitzeg, 2009, p. 232). Therefore, we need to explore where the differentiation comes from before making any form of conclusion. Income level is the most fundamental aspect of differentiation across different races. Income level differences are evident across different genders and they dictate the role of women and men in the society. For instance, most Africans live in abject poverty and, therefore women are the most affected. Unlike in the European society, African women are essential to their economies. In most poverty-stricken areas, women go out to in the field to work on behalf of their families. The women do most of the duties while their men/husbands do minimal work. Consequently, African women are affected most by natural calamities such as drought, floods, and diseases. On the contrary, European societies have men as the sole breadwinner within a family. The men do most of the tasks and provide for their family holistically. These differences hinder us from attaining an absolute definition of gender. This is because the differences are so immense that they prevent any meaningful definition or categorization of gender (Dogra, 2007, p.40). Therefore, gender studies cannot exist without considering ethnicity and the impacts of different ethnicities on gender roles. Lastly, different ethnicities have their own expectations on an individual. For example, women and men have different expectations from the wider society. These expectations vary across different races and they continue to define our societies in terms of gender. Conclusion Race and class share almost the same demographics with Gender. To understand gender, therefore, it is important to understand Race and Social Class. Gender from time in history has been defined by the nature of environment, political and social. This is the same way that Race and Social class has. It is, therefore, vital to realize that Gender possesses a strong relationship with both Race and Social Class Works Cited Agnew, R 2006, Pressured into crime: An overview of general strain theory. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Anderson, M 2007, Race, Class, and Gender. 6th Ed, CA: Wadsworth, Belmont. Dogra 2007, Rural Marketing, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, India. 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