Dismantling Binaries: Bisexuality

In Essence, Beegle’s article encompasses all concepts of human diversity and differential treatment as described in our textbook (Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Based on this Beegle’s study, children and youth raised in poverty suffered discrimination, they were treated differently because of their appearance, and economic

Main idea: Gender is a social construction in which individuals are placed into “two and only two” gender categories. Individuals are gendered by their appearances and performances. Certain traits or display of traits are associated with a particular gender and most often we label individuals according to that standards. Lucal explains that she is often mistaken for a man because of her short hair and outfits she wears. It is believed that all individual without proper markers of femininity is assumed to be men. Furthermore, if anyone who does not fit into the either of two gender categories, they are automatically placed into the closer category. When Lucal was at a shopping mall with her friend and her baby, people would automatically

We live in a society that is very unequal, in a way that people get treated differently depending on their social class, race or gender. Social inequality means the situation in which individual groups in a society do not have equal social status, social class or social circle. Clear boundaries in society are made that prevents

Gender can be defined as “sex roles” which are conditions that one considers to be for men or women. People tends to mistake it with sex or thinks that they are both the same. We discussed about the patterns of gender which how the authors of The Kaleidoscope of Gender describes it as “regularized, prepackaged ways of thinking, feeling, and acting” (Spade and Valentino,2017). It becomes an identity for us. We believe that there is and can only be two genders, being masculine for men and feminine for women. These roles has been forced onto us since birth: blue for boys, and pink for girls. You can see the roles being push onto a person throughout one’s life, but we don’t notice it since it’s “normal” to us.

‘‘Sex’ is a biological term; ‘gender’ a psychological and cultural one’ (Oakley 1972, p.158). To further expound on Oakley, ‘sex’ refers to the biological framework a person is born with while ‘gender’, an identity that we acquire as a result of social and cultural influence. Sex is naturally constant throughout an individual’s life whereas gender is a variable. Via gender socialisation, men and women constantly learn to adapt to society’s expectations associated with their biological form as society changes. This very concept clearly elucidates the dichotomy between sex and gender. Therefore, coming from such a perspective, it is true to say that we are born as human beings (males, females or intersex) who formulate socially accepted gender identities as a product of social and cultural implications (Abbott, Wallace & Tyler 2005). Conventionally, societies associate the male and female sexes with their definitions of masculinity and femininity respectively.

This essay question asks to discuss some of the ways in which differences and inequalities persist over time. Thus demonstrating that they are not fixed, but forever changing, being caused in diverse ways by society. The essay will first define ‘Inequality’ and ‘Differences’. It will then use two strands, ‘Making Lives’ and ‘Ordering Lives’ to discuss how they persist and will look at some differences and inequalities within, wealth, homelessness, law, and class. Concluding the whole world is effected by continuing inequalities and differences, which is only getting worse.

Social inequality is the reality of unequal chances and rewards for diverse social positions or categories

Social inequality can practically be made apparent at any moment of someone’s life – whether at work or school amongst peers or simply watching the news in the morning. According to Dalton Conley, social inequality is narrowly defined as “a condition in which a difference in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural conventions exist” (2017 p.241). Moreover, social inequality is a process whereby society can determine how a class of people is expected to coexist within predetermined social, political, and economic boundaries. The affected class will live within the predefined constraints, and the affected class will then pass the predefined constraints on to future generations. It is imperative to understand that social inequality is a result of social stratification, which according to

The stereotypical labeling of genders can determine one person’s outlook on life. The judgment can make one feel like there is a set rubric to follow in order to remain in the lines regarding which gender they belong to. Such influences from peers or partners can alter

Differentiation between groups of people is common human behaviour, which frequently occurs in all groups of people. Many aspects exist in which one can divide people into, including physical appearances, gender, and nationality. However, contrasting treatments toward people that fit into certain criteria often are inappropriate. Among the different ways to define an individual, classifying and treating people based on race is a very controversial topic that has been, and still is a subject to be discussed with, which many think are wrong and should be gotten rid of. On the other hand, just in the century prior, racial discrimination, such as segregation and slavery of entire races have existed. Although not as extreme as enslavement of ethnic

Rubin discusses sexual hierarchy and how people are constituted within it based on types of sexual practises. She approaches these schemas as a basis of understanding how various institutional forces such as Medical communities and Religious communities define good sex versus bad sex and how their discourses define how people should see various types of sex. She emphasises that “marital, reproductive heterosexuals are a lone at the top of the erotic pyramid” (279). From this point, any type of sex falls under the heterosexual ideal is considered bad sex. Rubin further argues that “sexual liberation has been and continues to be a feminist goal” and states that both the LGBTQ+ community and Feminists often debate internally whether sexual liberation is good or not

The acknowledgement of this leads people to be able to separate themselves from the group, as well as explore and develop their differences both good and bad (Durkheim, 1984, 38). The movie “Dysfunctional societies: How equality makes us stronger” demonstrates the negative side of difference through the use of inequality in America. For example, inequalities found in income consequently leads individuals to separate themselves, thus demonstrating the importance in social class, which ultimately affects community life (Jhally, 2015). High levels of inequality leads to the destruction of social cohesion ultimately affecting community life (Jhally,

Individuals in today’s society are separated by many different factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, and economic status. Another form of separation is that of stratification. There are four major systems of stratification slavery, caste, estate, and class. “Social stratification means the differentiation of a given population into hierarchically superposed classes.”(Sorokin, 1964, p. 11) Stratification can either be in the form of an open or closed system. The closed system is one that allows minimal to no movement within the system. The open system is just the opposite it allows for varying degrees of movement throughout the system. There are many ways to break down the social stratification of

Society holds many structures that mould human performance and produce opportunities for some, but inequalities for others (Morrall, 2009). These structures in society are organized by the hierarchies of class, ethnicity and gender (Crossman, 2016). Due to having a society based on hierarchies, social inequalities are inevitable. Social inequality refers to the ways in which a group or individual of a certain social position may receive unequal opportunities or distribution of ‘goods’ such as education, income, living conditions and healthcare (Walker, 2009). These unequal opportunities may be given to someone because of their ethnicity, gender, income, religion or social class (Walker, 2009). For example, people in a high social class will be able to pay for their children to go to a good private school for a good education, whereas lower-class or working class people will struggle to afford the same education.

When considering gender and sex, a layman’s idea of these terms might be very different than a sociologist’s. There is an important distinction: sex, in terms of being “male” or “female,” is purely the physical biological characteristic differences – primarily anatomical differences. (There are also rare cases of “intersexual” individuals as outlined in the Navarro article, “When Gender Isn’t a Given”.) Gender, on the other hand, is an often misconstrued concept that is commonly mistaken as synonymous with sex. A non-sociologist might surmise the following, “men act masculine and women act feminine, therefore, it must follow that gender is inherent to sex,” however, this is not necessarily the case.