Synopses & Reviews
The Meaning of Difference is a text-reader about the social construction of difference as it operates in American formulations of race, sex and gender, social class, and sexual orientation. The book is based on the conviction that similar processes are at work in the construction of differences of color, sex and gender, class, and sexuality and that these processes likely also apply to other master statuses such as disability. Four framework essays provide the conceptual structure for the book. Following each framework essay is a set of readings that illustrate the concepts and processes described in the essays. The readings have been selected for readability, conceptual depth, and applicability to a variety of statuses.
About the Author
Karen E. Rosenblum is Associate Professor of Sociology and Vice President for University Life at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is a former Director of Womens Studies and the Womens Studies Research and Resource Center and a faculty member in Cultural Studies. Professor Rosenblum received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her areas of research and teaching include sex and gender, language, and deviance. Toni-Michelle C. Travis is Associate Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is also a faculty member in the Womens Studies and African American Studies Programs. Professor Travis received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Her areas of research and teaching include race and gender in political participation, and urban politics. She has served as the President of the National Capital Area Political Science Association and the Womens Caucus of the American Political Science Association. She hosts Capital Regional Roundtable, a cable television show, and is a frequent commentator on Virginia politics.
Table of Contents
SECTION IFramework Essay: CONSTRUCTING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE What is Race? 1. Who Is Black? One Nation's Definition, F. James Davis 2. The Evolution of Identity, Washington Post Federal Page3. Census 2000: Seventeen questions from the long form4. Real Indians, Eva Marie Garroutte (from her book, by the same title)*5. Latinos in the U.S. Race Structure, Clara E. Rodriguez (from her book, Changing Race: Latinos, the Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States)*6. Tripping on the Color Line: Black-White multiracial families in a racially divided world, Heather M. Dalmage (from book of same title, same author)7. Asian American Panethnicity, Yen Le Espiritu 8. Whiteness as an 'Unmarked' Cultural Category, Ruth FrankenbergPersonal Account: A Wonderful Opportunity, R.M.A Personal Account: I Thought My Race Was Invisible, Sherri H. PereiraWhat Is Sex? What Is Gender? 9. The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough, Anne Fausto-Sterling 10. The Berdache Tradition, Walter L. Williams 11. The Gendered Society, Michael S. Kimmel (from book by same name, same author)12. Its Your Gender, Stupid!, Riki Wilchins (from GenderQueer, by Joan Nestle, Clare Howell, and Riki Wilchins)Personal Account: He Hit Her, Tim NortonWhat Is Social Class? 13. Whats Class got to do with it?, Michael Zweig (from his book by the same title)*14. Getting Ahead: Economic and Social Mobility in America, Daniel McMurrer and Isabel Sawhill15. Americas Economic Transformation, Nancy Weifek (from her book, The Impact of Economic Anxiety in Postindustrial America)*16. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (from her book by the same title)*17. This Hard-Earned Money Comes Stuffed in their Genes, Dusty Horwitt (his article, this title, Washington Post)*Personal Account: I Am a Pakistani Woman, Hoorie I. SiddiqueWhat Is Sexual Orientation? 18. The Hazards of Naming Sexual Attraction, Michael R. Kauth (from his book, True Nature: A Theory of Sexual Attraction)*19, Is Homosexual a Noun?, Paul R. Abramson and Steven D. Pinkerton (from their book, With Pleasure: on the nature of human sexuality)*20. The End of Gay (and the Death of Heterosexuality), Bert Archer (from book of same title)*Personal Account: An Opportunity to Get Even, Carol A. Mabry Personal Account:Living Invisibly, Tara S. EllisonSECTION IIFramework Essay: EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCE 21. Oppression, Marilyn Frye Race and Ethnicity22. What Are You? Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto 23. Everybodys Ethnic Enigma, Jelita McLeod (from the Washington Post)*24. The Day of Remembrance Ceremony, Lydia Minatoya 25. Ethnic Identity and Racial Formations: Race and racism American-style and a lo latino, Marta Cruz-Janzen (from Transnational Latina/o Communities, by Carlos Velez-Ibanez and Anna Sampaio*26. The Cost of Whiteness, Thandeka27. Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, Beverly Daniel Tatum (from the book by the same name)*28. The Minority Quarterback, Ira Berkow (from How Race is Lived in America, by the correspondents of the New York Times)*29. A Day in the Life of Two Americas, Leonard Steinhorn and Barbara Diggs-Brown 30. At A Slaughterhouse: Some Things Never Die, Charlie LeDuff31. Diversity and Its Discontents, Arturo Madrid 32. The Model Minority, Asian American “success” as a race relations failure, Frank Wu (from Yellow, by same author)*Personal Account: Play Some Rolling Stones, Mark Donald StockenbergPersonal Account: Going Home, Keeva HaynesPersonal Account: Where Are You From? C.CSex and Gender33. Fast Girls: Teenage tribes and the myth of the slut, Emily White (from book by author, same name)*34. How do We Know What Manhood Really Is?, John Stoltenberg (from The End of Manhood by Stoltenberg)*35. Chappals and Gym Shorts: An Indian-Muslim woman in the land of Oz, Almas Sayeed (from Colonize This! By Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman)*Sexual Orientation36. Anti-Gay Slurs Common at School: A Lesson in Cruelty, Laura Sessions Stepp37. For Children of Gays, Marriage Brings Joy, Patricia Leigh Brown (Washington Post)Personal Account: A White Male Rescued Me, Meticia WatsonSocial Class38. All Souls, Michael Patrick MacDonald39. Stupid Rich Bastards, Laurel Johnson Black (from Richard Delgado and Jean STefanicic, Critical White Studies)*40. Why Are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting into Our Top Colleges? Because Their Dads Are Alumni, John LarewPersonal Account: That Moment of Visibility, Rose B. PascarellDis/Ability41. Public Transit, John Hockenberry (from Voices from the Edge, Ruth OBrien)*42. ‘Can You See the Rainbow?' The Roots of Denial, Sally French Personal Account: I Am Legally Blind, Beth Omansky GordonSECTION IIIFramework Essay: THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE Law, Politics, and Policy 43. Twelve Key Supreme Court Cases 44. Social Movements and the Politics of Difference, Cheryl Zarlenga Kerchis and Iris Marion Young 45. After Brown: The rise and retreat of school desegregation, Charles T. Clotfelter (from his book by the same title)*46. The Minority Rights Revolution, John D. Skrentny (from his book, by the same title)*3. The Possessive 47. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics, George Lipsitz48. Whats Good Enough?, Peter Schrag (his article from the Nation)*Personal Account: Memories of Summer Camp, Patricia KellyEconomy 49. Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration Is Transforming America, Robert Suro Gender 50. Discrimination in the Workplace, Jeanette N. Cleveland, Margaret Stockdale, Kevin R. Murphy (from their book, Women and Men in Organizations)*51. The Bankruptcy of Virtuous Markets, Michael K. Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David B. Oppenheimer, Marjorie M. Schultz, David Wellman (from Whitewashing Race: The myth of a color-blind society, same authors)* Personal Account: Just Like My Mama Said, Anthony McNeillScience 52. A World of Their Own, Liza Mundy (from The Washington Post Magazine)*53. Disability Definitions: The Politics of Meaning, Michael Oliver 54. Cause of Death: Inequality, Alejandro Reuss (from his article, Dollars and Sense)*Personal Account: You Can't Forget Humiliation, Amy L. HelmPersonal Account: Seeing Race, Seeing Disability, R.B.Popular Culture 55. Generation E.A.: Ethnically Ambiguous, Ruth La Ferla (from the New York Times)*56. Patriarchy Gets Funky: The triumph of identity marketing, Naomi Klein (from No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, No Logo, same author)*57. Is Race Over?, David R. Roediger (from Colored White, same author)*Black Men: How to perpetuate prejudice without really trying, Barry Glassner (from The Culture of Fear, same author)*58. Fantasies of the Master Race: The cinematic colonization of American Indians, Ward Churchill (from Acts of Rebellion, same author)*Personal Account: "Basketball," Andrea M. BuschPersonal Account: Just Something You Did as a Man, Francisco HernandezLanguage 59. Racism in the English Language, Robert B. Moore 60. Gender Stereotyping in the English Language, Laurel Richardson 61. Language Policy and Identity Politics, Ronald Schmidt Sr. 62. Lets Spread the Fun Around, Ward Churchill (from Acts of Rebellion, same author)*63. To Be and Be Seen: The Politics of Reality, Marilyn Fry Personal Account: Becoming a Minority, Elizabeth LukosSECTION IVFramework Essay: BRIDGING DIFFERENCES 64. Influencing Public Policy, Jeanine c. Cogan (from Everyday Activism, Michael R. Stevenson and Jeanine C. Cogan)*65. What can we do? Becoming part of the solution, Allan Johnson (from his book, Privilege, Power, and Difference)*66. In Defense of Rich Kids, William Upski Wimsatt (from his book, No More Prisons)*67. Uprooting Racism: How White People can work for racial justice, Paul Kivel (from book of same title, same author)** Indicates new reading