Social Stratification And Gender, Ethnicity, And General Attractiveness

There is much debate about the issue of social class in the United States. There are arguments about whether social classes are distinctly separate or fluid, dependent upon one’s community or society as a whole, and if they are subjective or objective (Hughes and Jenkins). However, despite the debate surrounding social classes, it is still important to try to define them and analyze their effects, as they are such an important part of our identity and our opportunities in society. Although our society has tried to appear as though we have no classes, and it is becoming harder to tell what class someone is in by material goods, classes do still exist today (Scott and Leonhardt). The trend has been to divide the U.S. into four major

It appears to be that the discussion of race and class in America has become amplified, especially in the last couple of years. For many, it is a touchy subject that hits close to home. With the presence of social media and news that feeds off of racial tension in America, the issues are polarizing and difficult to productively discuss. America’s handling of race and class relations is generally not something to be proud of, and there exists a long history of issues with race. It is clear that there is a lack of understanding and empathy of what others experience toward those who are oppressed. So often it is too easy to dismiss another human’s experiences as reality if one has had no prior encounter with the same challenges. Race is easy to sweep under the rug, but we must address the problem, and it is not a one size fits all solution. It is a problem that has been years in the making and continues to have an enormous impact on our human capital from an economic standpoint. And most of the time, there is a correlation between race and class.

Another part of my research included looking at other factors that relate to social stratification there are huge gaps in this area in regard to income, wealth, power, and prestige. Social stratification is defined in our book as the ranking of people and the rewards they receive based

Stratification affects life quality and ageism in late adulthood. For example, think about gender stratification. Irrational, gender-based fear may limit female independence. Throughout most of recorded history, men have had and continue to have, more physical and social power and status than women. This has caused some women

Sociologists use the term social stratification to describe the system of social standing. “Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race and education” (Griffith et al., 2016 p.187). In the United States IQ is also one of the characteristics of social stratification in terms of personal skills, achievements, and athletic abilities.

Racial discrimination is the main and ongoing problem in the social life of Americans. When we look at the gap of incomes between White and African Americans, we can see the inequality between these two groups. In general, whites have more annual earnings than their black counterparts in America. Lori Ann Campbell and Robert L. Kaufman emphasized that the wealth determinants, which are the indicators of socio-economic status, have effected more on Whites than Blacks. And even when society is organized, there is still some disparities on account of race and ethnicity. (Campbell and Kaufman, 2006). And income disparities between African and White Americans have definitely effected the peace of the social life. According to Campell and

The two types of capital are cultural capital and economic capital. This is then used by showing the resulting inequalities and allocating various social slots for men and women based on said differences. This in turn legitimizes the inheritance of social privileges in societies where democracy is thought to be the right and virtuous way. (Wacquant, 1996)

Social inequality stems from many facets of life and mindsets reproduced continuously in America. The main backbone of systematic inequality is formed off of race, gender and class, which all contain crucial aspects that further oppress those subjected to inequality in various aspects of life. The resources-schools, occupations, invested parents- around one fuels the opportunity in their lives, a concept highlighted by Malcom Gladwell, in his book, Outliers. Situations one are brought up in or uncontrollable genetic aspects can very easily restrain their opportunities. Racial discrimination, gender roles and inferiority and the lack of fluidity in the low and working class push inequality, which simultaneously influencing the rich and privileged.

In society, many people will say that everyone has equal opportunities. However, it is not the case for minorities. Due to the history of slavery, people will never see blacks and whites as equal. Mantsios asserts that Americans in the United States do not identify each other based on our class, instead of by our race, ethnic group, or geographic location. As a result, the indigenous have fewer opportunities and advantages. Mantsios states, “Racial and gender domination are other forces that hold people down” (Pg 10) ,revealing how our race and gender limits us from being successful because of the tradition of discriminating people by race and gender. An example of this issue would be that if a black and a white male were both working the same job and position, most often, the white male would get promoted and have higher paying paycheck because of the discrimination placed in our society. This disadvantage targets minorities, and is a reason why middle-class individuals will never attain the “American

"Events in the nineteenth century made it abundantly and irrefutably clear that race as a concept sui generis superseded social class as the dominant mechanism of social division and stratification in North America." (Smedley 219) For many decades people have been using race as a way to classify humans into different social categories. Lower, Middle, and Upper classes were created to divide humans into appropriate categories using their individual lifestyles, financial income, residence, and occupation. People decided to ignore this classifying system and classify one another,

Social stratification involves various inequalities within a gender, race, class. When considering the role of gender, race, and class in the social stratification system, it affects the organization system which is known for disparity based on the families’ income statutes, lack of resources, organization activity, and systematic inadequate government law. In the following essay I will focus how social stratification inequality effect families and individuals in the United States based on a gender, race, and class. Society has lived over decades experiencing different types of inequality. For example, gender inequality has been around since our ancestors. Informing society and continuous advocating about inequality is vital for positives changes

Social class can be thought of as a very important indicator of who a person is.

138). These hierarchies are based on various factors such as social class, religion, nationality, race, ethnicity, or any other social distinction recognized by both society and the individual. Along with pointing out what other, mainly sociological, theories have highlighted about social stratification, SDT considers structural factors and makes the important step in considering psychological factors. Along with considering these different factors, SDT recognizes the way structural factors (i.e. institutional and societal) create psychological factors (i.e. attitudes) and how those in turn influence structural differences through mutual constitution (Sindanius et al, 1998).

As many minorities seek to attain wealth and status in America they are strained to leave any cultural or traditional ways behind closed doors when they enter into the workplace. Many do this to avoid being excluded, and as an attempt to become more equal to other fellow work colleagues, also many feel that white "supremacy" still exists- even in a subtle way. Nonetheless, once one accomplishes such a difficult task, the obstacle of earning a substantial income to maintain a decent standard of living is still a grueling task. According to Professor Harris, a teacher of political science at San Jose State University, approximately 60% of jobs in America are obtained through personal relationships and associations. This notion demonstrates that because many non-minority groups own businesses, and they tend to hire relatives and the like -many minorities are often excluded from attaining the "better" position within a company, and because many minority families we not able to leave a legacy for their family members to carry on, many minorities often miss out on opportunities to also be able to create a legacy that can continue to thrive- and the cycle continues.

The dominant groups can play a role in marginalizing other groups based on racial and characteristics involving privilege tends to open doors of opportunity, but oppression tends to slam them shut. The dominant groups has played a role of marginalization to other groups based on racial characters that involve oppression and have emphasized pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions. The dominant groups reap advantage and benefit from access to social power and privilege, not equally available to people of color. They receive more money and accumulate more assets than other racial groups, hold the majority of positions of power and influence, and command the controlling institutions in society. The dominant groups restrict the life expectancy, infant mortality, income, housing, employment, and educational opportunities of people of color for economic, social or political power (Adams et al., 2013).