The, Race, And Gender

Race and gender are two facets that inherently dominate individuals everyday lives. A person’s social environment, work environment, and educational environment is congruent to their race and gender. From birth, it has been set up that everyone is assigned to a label. A pink or blue blanket is swaddled around a newborn child and a box is checked signifying that child’s place in society. These two actions ultimately define how a child is to be viewed and treated. As children grow into young adults they either decide to stick with their original assignment, while others decide to deviate from it. These individuals deviation results in many of them being viewed harshly and looked down upon because they strayed from their social norms. This constant cycle of being classified and labeled from birth is the social institution of gender and race. These social institutions aid in the inequality that is present in society, and race and gender are shaped by this. However, if these social institutions were removed, race and gender could dissipate. This is due to the fact that race and gender are not real, but are socially constructed concepts used to organize the power, or dominance, within our society to one social group over the other groups.

Identity is the characteristics that determine who a person is, not all factors in a person’s identity are chosen for example race or gender, whereas being a New York Yankee fan is a chosen aspect in someone’s identity. Following that statement there are certain pre-determined assumptions about particular pieces that make up one’s identity, those assumptions, however are not chosen by the person with said identity. If you are a woman in today’s society you are under constant criticism, whether it is in your work ethic, the way you look, and even the way you conduct yourself. Sadly, being a woman is not the only aspect of someone 's identity that is constantly under scrutiny. Race is a major part a person’s identity, whether they themselves think so or not. This is a white man’s world that we live in so consequently if you are anything other than that you will most definitely encounter hardships in life.

In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Mayella Ewell is the conflict of the story. To challenge herself to see if she is powerful based on class, gender, and race. Mayella is powerful due to her race; however, she would not be powerful due to her class and gender. One might think she is powerful over all; however, she does not have power in the eyes of some readers. Proceeding on to see if Mayella has power in race.

My pre-adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately white upper-class community I began to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.

Take me for example, as I’m categorized as someone who has more in common with the oppressed people. My race is one part of the reason why. I’m a Multi-racial individual, being half African American and half Mexican. This in turn makes me oppressed, because society in America has made it clear throughout generations that white people are the superior race in America. So if you’re not white and is anything less than that, then you are considered a minority. Now it wouldn’t really be a problem, if it weren’t for the fact that, once again, privilege cannot exist without oppression. Just because of the color of my skin, I’m already stereotyped. A person who is white is paid more, a person who is white are placed first before anyone else regarding searching for jobs and internships. Even if I’m walking, I feel like I have to watch myself

I would like to discuss the issue of race and ethnicity in sports. We will also explore the bigger questions. How much does race and ethnicity matter in the sports world? Are certain races dominant in certain sports? Is there a difference in how we treat players based on race and ethnicity? Does it matter? I would like to answer some of these questions and gain a better understanding of how much of a part they play.

The idea of race and gender is an idea that has been socially constructed. Society has created roles for race and gender, they are determined by what society thinks is appropriate for the gender or race. Some people argue that certain behavior roles are based on gender where as others may believe that it is based on race. I will first discuss how in today’s society we promote to stop racism yet it is still happening everyday, and people are just blind to see it. Creating a role for race is racism, some people do not understand that. I will then talk about gender, how it is socially constructed, and labeling “roles” for men and women. I will also discuss how race and gender intersect in the formation of identities. How gender and race is socially constructed, us people have the power to change it but we use our power to look past it and pretend like it does not exist. Majority of society has been blinded to the fact gender and racial roles do not exist, society has created it and now we think it is the norm.

In Anderson and Collins’, chapter on “Why race, class, and gender still maters” encourage readers to think about the world in their framework of race, class, and gender. They argued that even though society has change and there is a wide range of diversity; race, class and gender still matters. Anderson and Collins stated, “Race, class, and gender matter because they remain the foundation for system of power and inequality that, despite our nation’s diversity, continue to be among the most significant social facts of peoples lives.” (Anderson and Collins, 2010) When I was a little girl, I never knew that people were classified in to groups such as race, class, gender. I knew there were people that had a different color of skin than

I interviewed two individuals and we discussed race, class, gender and what effect each has on them. The first One of the interviewee is a White-American female. She works at Glory medical clinic and weight loss, as a medical assistant. She feels that by being white, she has more advantages and opportunities than being a minority or of a different race. By being white, and part of a major race, people will respect her more and not look at her differently. She can blend into a crowed of the same kind of people and not feel different. I asked her what she meant by the word different and she said that people look down upon people that are of a inferior races than their own. She also said that, its not that people are trying to be racist, but the white race is the

Race, ethnicity, religion, class, sexual orientation, ability, and gender have all impacted my life in ways beyond my total comprehension. However, I can begin to identify some of the notable interactions and effects and discuss the ways in which they might present themselves in my teaching practices. I am a White, European American, Christian, and heterosexual female without a medically ascribed disability. I can say that ultimately (and unfortunately) my cultural and physical identity is considered normative within the United States and has placed me on a path of privilege and power. Throughout my life, though, I have been fortunate to encounter other cultural groups in very meaningful ways. My international, religious, and family experiences have shaped my worldview most notably.

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.

The way we identify ourselves is constructed from societal, environmental and family backgrounds. Most of the identities presented above are socially constructed by the government and group people in certain clusters that marginalize or praise people. The messages received from my mother, Isamar (older sister) and friends vary in all sections of the identity spectrum. Most people perceive themselves as how the government has labeled them and do not look outside of the box and realize who they really are. The color of our skin, gender or sexual orientation should not be able to determine one’s social class in contrast; our intelligence, skills and abilities are what should do that for us.

Sex refers to biological identity male or female while gender refers to social expectation and behaviors assigned to each sex, but not everyone conform this expectation we can say that gender is based on self-concept and the way we interact with others this is formed through social life(family ,friends , religion , media…)where a lot of behaviors are shaped through what is socially accepted and what is not which for example even though many people are not naturally born into these gender expectation there is a strong set of ideas built about how “normal” men and women should look and act, with all of this associated mostly with masculinity and femininity for example men become doctors and women become nurses, men are the breadwinners and women take care of home and children, boys play with trucks and girls play with dolls men are tall and muscular and women are petite ,thin and sensitive and of Couse men are supposed to marry women and only this anything else is an undesirable and not accepted there is no place for intersex people too. “Intersex” is a term used for a many conditions in which is someone who is born with a different sexual anatomy that is not what you can call typical female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male characteristic anatomy on the inside. Or they be born with genitals organ that seem to be in-between the natural male and female types.

I am covered in skin too dark to be considered smart, but too light to be completely cast away. I am plastered in feminine characteristics too overt to be respected and revered, but too covert to not be overly-sexualized. Society has trapped me in the middle of two stereotypes and left me fighting to escape into my own identity. Questions like “where will I be … what will I be doing … who will I be doing it with ... “ricochet throughout my mind daily. Most importantly, my consciousness persistently ignores the most integral question blaring in my head: “who will I be …” because at times, it’s easy to lose yourself in the swarm of prejudices and discriminatory settings, overwhelming internal conflicts, and chaotic circumstances hurdled at you.

Systemic Oppression thus can be defined across the changing view of the color line . No longer is the economic elite