Class In America By Gregory Mantsios
Social construction is, as defined by the dictionary, a social mechanism, phenomenon, or category created and developed by society; a perception of an individual, group, or idea that is 'constructed' through cultural or social practice. It is essentially something that we as people/society give meaning to but that doesn’t actually have a meaning. When we think about race, class or even gender, we may focus on our biology or physiology, or how we were born. However, these identities are comprised of ideas and ways of seeing the world around us. Our identity can fundamentally shape our life experience, how we’re treated, whom we meet and become friends with, what kind of education and jobs we get, where we live, what opportunities we’re afforded,
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and what kind of inequities we may face.
According to Judith Lorber, author of “Night to his Day”, the social construction of gender begins ”with the assignment to a sex category on the basis of what the genitalia look like at birth.” When a woman gets pregnant the first question that is asked is: is it a boy or a girl? Parents typically go in for sonograms to see the baby and the doctor assigns them a gender based on the body parts they can see form the sonogram. After the baby is classified as a particular gender, parents go out shopping and purchase items that society tells them that gender should have. The “normal” thing to do would be for baby girls to be dressed in pink and baby boys to be dressed in blue. It is just not normal to dress your baby boy in pink or your baby girl in blue, right? The reason for this is because society has made colors become a symbol to distinguish boys from girls. This starts as the child is developing. They then learn how they are supposed to act by observing and changing their behavior by what they are taught. This reinforces gender stereotypes. This reminds me of the Verizon Wireless Commercial entitled “Inspire Her Mind.” The commercial depicts one girl's development from toddler to teenager. She wanders curiously through nature, examines the plants and animals around her, creates an astronomy project, and builds a rocket with her older brother. But all along the way, she hears many all-too-common refrains from her parents: "Who's my pretty girl?" "Don't get your dress dirty," "You don't want to mess with that," and "Be careful with that. Why don't you hand that to your brother?" These statements are subtle, but the ad suggests that they can ultimately discourage girls from pursuing traditionally male-dominated STEM subjects in school. (Huffington Post). Ruth Hubbard, in her article The Social Construction of Sexuality, argues that "Each of us writes our sexual script out of the range of our experiences. None of this script is inborn or biologically given. We construct it out of our diverse life situations, limited by what we are taught or by what we can imagine to be permissible and correct." The statistic from the Verizon commercial, “66% of 4th grade girls say they like science and math. But only 18% of all college engineering majors are female.” to mean clearing demonstrates the social construction of gender. As children develop and are exposed to more society pressures, how they act shifts to how to they are supposed to act based on their gender and what they are taught.
Just like gender and sexuality race is also socially constructed. The authors of “Racial Formation in the United States,” Omi and Winant, define racial formation as “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed.” By saying that racial formation is a “sociohistorical process” they are saying that race was formed and given a meaning by society because of the many critical events that have happened in history over time. They also state that “race is a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi and Winant). In other words, people are characterized and identified by only their appearance more specifically, skin pigmentation. There are standards, stereotypes and expectations that follow these physical characteristics.
Class has a large effect on how successful your life will be.
In Gregory Mantsios’s article, Class in America he says, "The lower one's class standing, the more difficult it is to secure appropriate housing, the more time is spent on the routine tasks of everyday life, the greater is the percentage of income that goes to pay for food and other basic necessities, and the greater is the likelihood of crime victimization. Class can accurately predict chances for both survival and success." Mantsios also argues that while most Americans, both rich and poor, are keenly aware of class differences, "Class is not discussed or debated in public because class identity has been stripped from popular culture. The institutions that shape mass culture and define the parameters of public debate have avoided class issues. In politics, in primary and secondary education, and in the mass media, formulating issues in terms of class is unacceptable, perhaps even un-American." Social construction is segregating us depending on our physical appearance and our material possessions. We are seen differently because of where we live, where we come from and how we look. Our whole lives have been caught up in this idea of stereotypes and standards that we are supposed to follow but
why?
and what kind of inequities we may face.
According to Judith Lorber, author of “Night to his Day”, the social construction of gender begins ”with the assignment to a sex category on the basis of what the genitalia look like at birth.” When a woman gets pregnant the first question that is asked is: is it a boy or a girl? Parents typically go in for sonograms to see the baby and the doctor assigns them a gender based on the body parts they can see form the sonogram. After the baby is classified as a particular gender, parents go out shopping and purchase items that society tells them that gender should have. The “normal” thing to do would be for baby girls to be dressed in pink and baby boys to be dressed in blue. It is just not normal to dress your baby boy in pink or your baby girl in blue, right? The reason for this is because society has made colors become a symbol to distinguish boys from girls. This starts as the child is developing. They then learn how they are supposed to act by observing and changing their behavior by what they are taught. This reinforces gender stereotypes. This reminds me of the Verizon Wireless Commercial entitled “Inspire Her Mind.” The commercial depicts one girl's development from toddler to teenager. She wanders curiously through nature, examines the plants and animals around her, creates an astronomy project, and builds a rocket with her older brother. But all along the way, she hears many all-too-common refrains from her parents: "Who's my pretty girl?" "Don't get your dress dirty," "You don't want to mess with that," and "Be careful with that. Why don't you hand that to your brother?" These statements are subtle, but the ad suggests that they can ultimately discourage girls from pursuing traditionally male-dominated STEM subjects in school. (Huffington Post). Ruth Hubbard, in her article The Social Construction of Sexuality, argues that "Each of us writes our sexual script out of the range of our experiences. None of this script is inborn or biologically given. We construct it out of our diverse life situations, limited by what we are taught or by what we can imagine to be permissible and correct." The statistic from the Verizon commercial, “66% of 4th grade girls say they like science and math. But only 18% of all college engineering majors are female.” to mean clearing demonstrates the social construction of gender. As children develop and are exposed to more society pressures, how they act shifts to how to they are supposed to act based on their gender and what they are taught.
Just like gender and sexuality race is also socially constructed. The authors of “Racial Formation in the United States,” Omi and Winant, define racial formation as “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed.” By saying that racial formation is a “sociohistorical process” they are saying that race was formed and given a meaning by society because of the many critical events that have happened in history over time. They also state that “race is a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi and Winant). In other words, people are characterized and identified by only their appearance more specifically, skin pigmentation. There are standards, stereotypes and expectations that follow these physical characteristics.
Class has a large effect on how successful your life will be.
In Gregory Mantsios’s article, Class in America he says, "The lower one's class standing, the more difficult it is to secure appropriate housing, the more time is spent on the routine tasks of everyday life, the greater is the percentage of income that goes to pay for food and other basic necessities, and the greater is the likelihood of crime victimization. Class can accurately predict chances for both survival and success." Mantsios also argues that while most Americans, both rich and poor, are keenly aware of class differences, "Class is not discussed or debated in public because class identity has been stripped from popular culture. The institutions that shape mass culture and define the parameters of public debate have avoided class issues. In politics, in primary and secondary education, and in the mass media, formulating issues in terms of class is unacceptable, perhaps even un-American." Social construction is segregating us depending on our physical appearance and our material possessions. We are seen differently because of where we live, where we come from and how we look. Our whole lives have been caught up in this idea of stereotypes and standards that we are supposed to follow but
why?