Introduction to Sociology

Monday, May 10 at 7:30-9:00 AM in Textor 101

Be on time. No make ups will be given without prior arrangement.

Double Dare – the glass ceiling among stunt women

The Wal-Mart gender discrimination case
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec04/walmart_7-5.html#

Follow up on the Walmart Case – the case has finally been approved as a class-action suit and can now go forward… Betty Dukes (from the film clip) will be the named plaintiff.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/01/betty-dukes-walmart-greet_n_559892.html

The pressure to be a “real man” has social costs:
-Men are 2X more likely to die from accidents
-85% of murderers are male
-90% of assualts are committed by males
-Men are 3X more likely to be the victims of assualt
-1 in 4 men will use violence against his partner
-99.8% of rapists in prison are male
-Men are at higher risk of  road rage, binge drinking, and drunk driving

What might a sociologist say about this situation?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Bugis of Indonesia have 5 gender categories:

What Not to Wear – AKA gender police

Men who wear pink

Gender stereotypes in media

This documentary on intersex from Nova is my favorite.  Unfortunately, the quality available online is not very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMPlkltGRx4

Here’s more information from Nova - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gender/spectrum.html

Another documentary (not as good) from the Discovery Channel – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEir4IWHYrY

The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) – http://www.isna.org/

Caster Semenya is a South African runner who competes as a woman (here is a site from the NYTimes that maintains the latest update on Caster – http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/caster_semenya/index.html?inline=nyt-per).

In August of 2009 (the same day Caster won a gold medal), the International Association of Athletics Federations insisted that Caster undergo a sex test to determine whether she is allowed to compete as a woman.  See an article on the dilemmas of sex testing in sports here – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/sports/25intersex.html

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has insisted that women with male characteristics (but not males with female characteristics) have a medical problem and must undergo “treatment” before being cleared to compete in the Olympics. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/sports/olympics/21ioc.html

Note throughout the discussion of Caster’s case, intersex is treated as “disorder” or “medical concern” rather than a type of genetic variation.  This frame (1) encourages us to see intersex as a problem we need to do something about and (2) reinforces our culturally-based belief that there are only two sexes (male/female).

The Texaco Case (1996) – http://revcom.us/a/firstvol/883/texaco.htm

Fairmont Hotel Management (2003) - https://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=35394588dc6f4b6691d92c380c0469d0

Fed Ex (2007) - http://www.lieffcabraser.com/fe-race-discrim.htm

I brought up some of these issues in class.  Here are news articles where you can read more…

This article discusses how unemployment patterns vary significantly by race. Unemployment held steady for whites, decreased for Asian Americans, and increased for blacks and Hispanics.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/04/03-1

This article discusses the difference in net worth between white women ($42,600) and women of color ($5):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/11/women-of-color-have-media_n_495238.html

This article discusses how the standards for college admissions are often higher for people of Asian descent than other groups:

http://multicultural.syr.edu/home.php?inc=news&mode=details&id=234

It is worth noting that both of these articles frame the discussion around a white norm.  In other words, whites are used as the standard to which non-white groups are compared.  As a result, the question becomes focused on the disadvantages faced by non-white groups (for example, why are black men facing higher unemployment rates).  However, if we fully want to understand inequality, we should also flip the question around and ask why whites are faring so much better than other groups.  Why do whites have lower unemployment than Hispanics and blacks?  Why do whites have a higher net worth than other racial groups? By reframing the question, we can develop an understanding of inequality that addresses privilege and disadvantage.

These articles address problems with the census’ race/ethnicity classifications:

This article from Time Magazine addresses the census’ inability to adequately capture people of Hispanic and Arab Descent:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1975883,00.html?artId=1975883?contType=article?chn=us

This article highlights the debates over inclusion of the word “Negro” on the census form:

http://www.thegrio.com/news/the-word-negro-in-2010-census-form-offends-some-blacks.php

This article discusses President Obama’s decision to choose only African American as his racial category on the census:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/02/obama-census-choice-afric_n_524012.html

This article addresses the patterns of who chooses more than one racial category on the census:

http://www.racematters.org/censusracecategories.htm