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Introduction to Sociology Final Exam

Terms in this set (32)

Gender roles
attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex.
men: defined as ambitious and competitive, encouraged towards positions of leadership.
Women: defined as deferential and emotional, expected to be supportive helpers and quick in showing their feelings.
Intersection Theory
analysis of the interplay of race, class, and gender which often results in multiple dimensions of disadvantage.
ex. disproportionate Income- African American women earned only 63 percent as much as non- Hispanic white men.
Gender Stratification
the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. (typically placing men in higher positions of power, wealth, and other resources)
Gender
personal traits and social positions that members of society attach to being female or male. Shapes how we interact with others and think about ourselves.
Sex
the biological distinction between females and males.
Book statistics on women globally
Margaret Mead's Research: studied three societies in New Guineas.
1)Arapesh- Mountainous home, men +women= similar attitudes/behavior- both sexes=cooperative+ sensitive
2)Mundugumor: South, both sexes=masculine traits-selfish and aggressive
3)Tchambuli- West, Females- dominate and rational/Males-submissive, emotional, and nurturing
Conclusion- gender key to gender distinctions
George Murdock's Research: 200 preindustrial societies, 1937
Men=Hunting and Warefare, greater size+strength to protect the group
Women=home-centered tasks (cooking, childcare), cause- women bear children
Beauty Myth
the idea that striving to be physically attractive is the key to women's happiness.

Factors adding to it:
1)women should measure their worth in terms of physical appearance, or more specifically, how physically attractive they are to men (taught at an early age).
2)Society teaches women to prize relationships with men, whom they presumably attract with their beauty- please men and avoid challenging male power.

Effect on Men:
Men are told to possess beautiful women. Reduces women to objects and motivates thinking about women as dolls rather than humans.
Pluralism
a state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing.
access to same resources-U.S pluralistic in equal standing of law.
U.S. not truly pluralistic-
1)few people want to exclusively live with others exactly like themselves
2) tolerance of social diversity goes so far-increase in minorities-movement to making English official language
3) do not have equal social standing
Xenophobia
Dislike or prejudice against people from other countries.
Bigotry
extreme intolerance of the beliefs and opinions of an individual or group, particularly racial or religious.
Ethnocentrism
the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture.
Authoritarian theory
A normative theory that places all forms of communication under the control of a governing elite or authorities.
Scapegoat Theory
holds that prejudice springs from frustration among people who are themselves disadvantaged.
Example- White woman frustrated by low pay from her assembly-line job in a textile factory directs her hostility at minority co-works due to comforting feeling superior. Unable to direct aggression at factory owners at risk of being fired.
Race
socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important. Consist of physical characterisitics like skin color, facial features, hair texture, and body shape.
Ethnicity
shared cultural heritage- based on common ancestry, language, or religion that gives them a distinctive social identity.
Cultural Relativism
the practice of judging a culture by its own standards.
Assimilation
the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture. Involving the changing modes of dress, values, religion, language, and friends.
Religiosity
the importance of religion in a person's life.
Liberation Theory
the combining of Christian principles with political activism, often Marxist in character. Social movement started In the late 1960s. Message-social oppression runs counter to Christian morality, so as a matter of faith and justice, Christians must promote greater equality.
Civil religion
a quasi-religious loyalty binding individuals in a basically secular society. Citizenship has its own religious qualities. Involves range of rituals-standing to sing the national anthem and waving the flag at public parades.
Church
a religious organization that is well integrated into the larger society.
Denomination
a church, independent of the state, that recognizes religious pluralism. Examples- Christian denominations=Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans.
Sect
a religious organization that stands apart from the larger society. Hold rigid religious convictions and deny the beliefs of others- exclusive group, religion= formal plan for living-- extreme case= Amish Community
Cult
religious organization that is largely outside a society's cultural traditions. Spin off from conventional religious organization and form around a highly charismatic leaders who offers a compelling message of a new and very different way of life.
Homogamy
marriage between people with the same social characteristics.
Social epidemiology
the study of how health and disease are distributed throughout a society's population.
Conflict theory
a theory that emphasizes the role of coercion, conflict, and power in a society and that social inequality will inevitably occur because of differing interests and values between groups, particularly the competition for scarce resources.
Functionalism theory
a theory that views society as a complex but orderly and stable system with interconnected structures and functions or social patterns that operate to meet the needs of individuals in a society.
Symbolic- Interactionism theory
the theory that society is possible because of the shared meanings and social patterns created during social interactions.
Socialized medicine
a medical care system in which the government own and operates most medical facilities and employs most physicians.
Mercy Killing
the killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease, typically by the administration of large doses of painkilling drugs.
Sick role
patterns of behavior defined as appropriate for people who are ill.
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