MicroCase Exercise #3
Race matters everywhere and it affects everyone. It can affect a person 's life chances, how an individual is viewed or interacted with, and how likely they are to obtain a job. Race is primarily a socially constructed group, in which individuals categorize others based on certain characteristics. From these constructed groups people base their opinions and judgements. In addition, individuals categorize others based on sex. For each sex there is expected behavior and norms for those in each group. There are also stereotypes that become tied to different races and sexes that become the lenses through which people perceive one another. Through everyday interaction, people use these stereotypes to categorize others they …show more content…
This view stands on the framework that social inequality serves as a motivation for people to fill different positions in society that are needed for the survival of the whole (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). However what about large income gap, such as during the time of slavery? Well a functionalist would take the stance that during the time of slavery there was much inequality among blacks and whites. Whites were prominent, they owned the land, held the power, and the money. In contrast, blacks were slaves and seen as property. Slavery then formed into a form of stratification called a caste system. As time went on, slavery became part of the past. However, the stereotypes, attitudes, and behaviors did not change. Instead, over time, stereotypes become fixed and were harder to change (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). This is exactly what happened to blacks throughout history. Despite the gradual push for equal rights in recent years, stereotypes and inequality still continues today. As seen in the MicroCase results, blacks are still looked down upon; they are less likely to obtain high paying jobs and are still tied to many historical …show more content…
Sex and gender inequality is a large social factor and it affects many aspects of a people’s life, especially income. “Gender stratification is especially obvious in the persistent earnings gap between women and men” (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). This has been shown through the data collected from MicroCase. The men were considerably more likely to have a higher income compared to women. The gender income gap seen here can be explained through the functionalist theory. This framework stands on the belief that men fill jobs that are instrumental and therefore pay more, whereas women fill roles and jobs that are expressive (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). For example, men are more likely to obtain jobs such as construction, while woman are more likely to obtain jobs such as a teacher or nanny. Jobs in construction are considered instrumental and are paid more; while jobs like teaching are expressive and tend to pay less. Therefore, the reason for the income gap between sexes is due to the types of jobs men and women hold. The jobs men hold are paid more whereas the jobs women hold are paid less. In the end, it all works for the function of society as a
Race matters everywhere and it affects everyone. It can affect a person 's life chances, how an individual is viewed or interacted with, and how likely they are to obtain a job. Race is primarily a socially constructed group, in which individuals categorize others based on certain characteristics. From these constructed groups people base their opinions and judgements. In addition, individuals categorize others based on sex. For each sex there is expected behavior and norms for those in each group. There are also stereotypes that become tied to different races and sexes that become the lenses through which people perceive one another. Through everyday interaction, people use these stereotypes to categorize others they …show more content…
This view stands on the framework that social inequality serves as a motivation for people to fill different positions in society that are needed for the survival of the whole (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). However what about large income gap, such as during the time of slavery? Well a functionalist would take the stance that during the time of slavery there was much inequality among blacks and whites. Whites were prominent, they owned the land, held the power, and the money. In contrast, blacks were slaves and seen as property. Slavery then formed into a form of stratification called a caste system. As time went on, slavery became part of the past. However, the stereotypes, attitudes, and behaviors did not change. Instead, over time, stereotypes become fixed and were harder to change (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). This is exactly what happened to blacks throughout history. Despite the gradual push for equal rights in recent years, stereotypes and inequality still continues today. As seen in the MicroCase results, blacks are still looked down upon; they are less likely to obtain high paying jobs and are still tied to many historical …show more content…
Sex and gender inequality is a large social factor and it affects many aspects of a people’s life, especially income. “Gender stratification is especially obvious in the persistent earnings gap between women and men” (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). This has been shown through the data collected from MicroCase. The men were considerably more likely to have a higher income compared to women. The gender income gap seen here can be explained through the functionalist theory. This framework stands on the belief that men fill jobs that are instrumental and therefore pay more, whereas women fill roles and jobs that are expressive (Anderson, Taylor, Logio, 2015: p. 177). For example, men are more likely to obtain jobs such as construction, while woman are more likely to obtain jobs such as a teacher or nanny. Jobs in construction are considered instrumental and are paid more; while jobs like teaching are expressive and tend to pay less. Therefore, the reason for the income gap between sexes is due to the types of jobs men and women hold. The jobs men hold are paid more whereas the jobs women hold are paid less. In the end, it all works for the function of society as a