Is Race More Real Than Gender?

To many people across a variety of different nationalities and cultures, race has been proven to be a key factor for how society views you in the eyes of those who are prominently in charge. The term race has been brought up in recent years, to be considered a form of identification, as the word race is used to describe physical characteristics such as a person’s color of skin, hair, and eyes. When in reality, the correct term they should be using is Ethnicity. As a result, the term race is used to separate people into sub-categories based on the color of their skin. This type of classification, is a man-made creation used by society to classify certain groups of people into lower classes, while keeping the predominate group in charge at the top.

The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply

Race and gender are two important terms in society that define us. However, they lead to inequality among individuals. "Race is a socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people" (Ferris and Stein 216). It is based off our biological makeup that distinct us from others (Ferris and Stein). Many people do not know the actual term of race, how deeply rooted it is, or where it derived from, but it all works in one form. Race goes a long way from how you may appear to someone. Just because someone looks a certain race does not mean they will not have inevitably biological material from other races. It is very diverse between many different populations. Race does not identify who you are but what social category you are from. Gender is how you physically appear in society. "Gender is the physical, behavior, and personality traits that a group considers to be normal, natural, right, and good for its male and female members" (Ferris and Stein 243). It is the identity of masculine and feminine. Gender identifies who we are and it reflects deeply on a person's personality. They normally change over time from the assigned sex given at birth. Society has its way of discriminating between race and gender and it shows differences distributed among individuals.

We live in a society where the mainstream values white, but not black, men, but not women, rich but not poor; and youth, but not aging. These are the values we live by that have created inequalities, stereotypes, discrimination, and segregation in our society. When individuals believe a certain group (Male, white, middle class, young) is superior, they become empowered and privilege and any other sub-group is inferior, and face discrimination and unequal opportunity. Thus, leading to –isms (racism, sexism, classism, ageism) in institutions, which create patterns of discrimination based on society’s value system. These mainstream values and – ism’s have become structured into existing social institutions, such as policing, educational systems,

From the time a child is born they are labeled, sectioned off,put in a specific group. Whether it be upper class, middle class and lower class or Mexican, African American or Caucasian. For a while that is all this child is thought of as which they had no control over. Later in life this child will enter high school where kids judge and make assumptions merely based on what he or she looks like. Then this child will become a young adult and have to apply for college where they might not get accepted because of their past, gender or ethnicity.

Race is not a biological reality because there are no indications of some biological DNA that would have a certain outcomes of a race. The variation in skin tone comes from the mix of certain races. For example, the mix of black and white would result a skin color of Latino. However, the mix of white and yellow (Asians) will most likely result a child having more essential characteristics of white people. It is impossible to classify humans into races because human is making a new race every single moment from the combination of two people who come from different races. Light skin and dark skin have a lot to deal with the temperature, latitude and langtitude of the region. It could be characterized by a regions, instead of ethnic groups. Race

Oppression and discrimination has plagued our society since early times. As a collective society one would think that over time oppression and discrimination would turn into acceptance and equality. Conversely, our society has taken sluggish steps towards diversity, acceptance and equality. Our society is focused on labeling people and putting them into limiting boxes. Oppression occurs across various groups of people based on gender, sex, race, religion, and disability. Members of these diverse groups are discriminated among work places, schools, and other places. Work places and schools promote diversity and non-discrimination, however little seems to be practiced. Oppression across generation leaves damaging consequences hindering society in the growth towards a more accepting environment.

Looking around, we are surrounded by all sorts of people. Naturally we all tend to separate and define ourselves differently to be looked at in a more positive or negative light. We fall to what society has constructed as Class and Race. And liking it or not, having it affect our daily lives involuntarily. When reading Honky by Dalton Conely, we can clearly see how this comes into play in a young child’s life when attending school.

Societal gender binary requires individuals to identify by either masculine or feminine traits (Kachel, Steffens & Niedlich, 2016). Once gender socialisation has occurred, assumptions and stereotypes follow (Holmes, Hughes & Julian, 2012, p.109). If one refutes their gender norm, sexism and discrimination typically manifests. Similarly, stereotypes affect the way people treat others. Using stereotypes to define a person is prejudice and often leads to incorrect assumptions based on the way they act, look or conduct themselves in society. Social reproduction can impact one’s life experiences through limitation and inhabitation of involvement. Allowing for the transmission of inequity from one generation to the next, social reproduction restricts personal beliefs and

Race, Class and Gender issues are commonly brought up. Throughout history many groups have been stigmatized not just for their race, but for their sex, and class as well. People of lower class incomes get slandered for where they live and for not having the economical means to purchase most common goods. Women have been considered the weaker sex for centuries, and currently, some of the old fashioned and ignorant theories on women being subordinate to men prevail.

Since the colonists landed on the eastern shore of what is now the United States, there has been conflicts between the different races. White people assumed a dominant role. They wiped out most of the Native Americans and enslaved the African people after bringing them to their colonies. These social dynamics changed over time but it has been a slow process. In Angela Davis’ book Women, Race, & Class, she delves into the oppression that was faced by people due to their social identities. She believes that people do not suffer because of class status, racial or gender identity alone but rather they suffer because of different combinations of the three.

Is a person a homosexual or do they simply identify as a female in a man’s body; is a lady African-American or does she simply have dark colored skin? These are two of the basic examples of how science and culture have differing opinions. In this work, I will examine the diametrically opposing views of science versus culture on human variation. The concepts of race versus skin color and gender versus sex will be the primary focal points of this writing. For the science perspectives, data will be used from the works of both D. Crocetti, who holds a doctorate degree in human something, and G.D. James who holds a doctorate degree in anthropology. These are both subject matter experts in their chosen fields of study. For the cultural

Nelson and Fleras defined race as the arbitrary classification of population groups into categories on the basis of perceived physical characteristics. (2005, 214). It is vital to denote that race is a social construction without a scientific basis that proves humanity is divided (Nelson, Fleras, 2005, 214). The concept of race is utilized to create a power divide between a superior race and an inferior race based on the difference in physical attributes. Race is used to exploit, use, and marginalize an “inferior” race to the benefit of the “superior” race. The social sciences are disciplines dedicated to study the implication of race among anthropology, geography, psychology, et cetera (social science, 2014). According to Nelson and Fleras, sociologists focus on the social aspects of race and how minorities are deemed as social problems and are condemned to mistreatment (2005, 212). It is believed by sociologists that Europeans were among the first to

physical and social separations of categories of people (403), genocide “systematic killing of one category of people by another (404), and Institutional prejudice and discrimination “bias built into the operation of society’s institutions” (401). Prejudice normally will target people of a differnt social class, sex, age, political affairs, sexual orientation, physical disability, race, or ethnicity. Prejudice can also take part in stereo typing “a simplified description applied to every person in some category” (398). This mainly takes place at work and white people are most likely to hold stereotypical views of minorities. Racism had been around forever and throughout world history and stills remains a huge social problem because different

In “Becoming Members of Society” Devor discusses how our childhood, our toys, and everything around us has developed into a cognitive schema that establishes certain gender roles. He states that from a young age, children start to develop their identities and gender roles. He later goes on to explain how because of these gender roles that have been formed, the hierarchical pyramid is more prominent in society. Women are seen as weak compared to men, forcing stereotypes on women as the inferior while men are superior. In lieu of “Living in Color,” Michael Omi states that popular culture leads to the racial beliefs that have been created and continued throughout history. Minority groups are portrayed in various media such as television shows, films, and magazines as insignificant and through this constant portrayal, the racial tensions between minority groups and majority groups have magnified. Aaron H. Devor and Michael Omi are both exposing the society they lived in and we still currently live in. Omi claims that we have assumed beliefs about racial minorities in concordance to their worth, stemming from stereotypes that have surpassed generations. While on the other hand, Devor analyzed stereotypes of gender, both looked at the unfair distribution of minority groups in society. Overall, both attacked historical issues of inequality still present in society today and reached the same conclusion through the use of various types of evidence as well as different types of modes