Inequality exists across organizations, institutions and societies, but these disparities between groups of people can be analyzed in a number of ways. Jonathan Kozol, in his book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools devotes his research to the divide between classes and races within the educational institution. The primary depth of his work lies in visits to an East St. Louis public school and a New York public school (Kozol 262, 265). These two environments – starkly contrasted in their financial, racial, and educational structures – allow Kozol to explain a form of institutional racism that continues to be detrimental to many members of American society. In a different study, sociologist C. J. Pascoe discusses gender inequality in her book Dude, You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. To do so, Pascoe analyzes the use of the epithet “fag” as a form of homophobia that perpetuates inequality (Pascoe 316). Her study articulates how a gendered homophobia actually proves detrimental to the movement of gender equality (Pascoe 322).
