Synopses & Reviews
This anthology examines the social construction of race, class, gender, and sexuality and the institutional bases for these relations. While other texts discuss various forms of stratification and the impact of these on members of marginalized groups, Ore provides a thorough discussion of how such systems of stratification are formed and perpetuated and how forms of stratification are interconnected. The anthology supplies sufficient pedagogical tools to aid the student in understanding how the material relates to her/his own life and how her/his own attitudes, actions, and perspectives may serve to perpetuate a stratified system.
About the Author
Tracy E. Ore is currently an Assistant professor of Sociology and the Director of the Applied Sociology Program at Saint Cloud State University. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Michigan. She serves as a consultant for multicultural education and curriculum to a variety of universities, organizations, and agencies and conducts workshops and trainings across the country related to issues of inequality. Her research areas include social inequality, race and ethnicity, and the development of effective teaching pedagogy.
Table of Contents
* An asterisk indicates a new reading. Preface Part I: Constructing Differences Examining what categories are constructed, how this is done, and why such categories of difference are constructed. Race and Ethnicity 1. Racial Formations- Michael Omi and Howard Winant 2. Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?- Mary C. Waters 3. "They Are Absolutely Obsessed with Us": Anti-Arab Bias in American Discourse and Policy- Hussein Ibish *4. How Jews Became White Folks and What that Says about Race in America- Karen Brodkin Social Class 5. Race, Wealth, and Equality- Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro 6. Media Magic: Making Class Invisible- Gregory Mantsios *7. Doubly Divided: The Racial Wealth Gap- Meizhu Lui *8. Getting Corporations off the Public Dole- Janice Shields Sex and Gender 9. The Social Construction of Gender- Judith Lorber *10. The Five Sexes, Revisited- Anne Fausto-Sterling 11. The Transgender Paradigm Shift toward Free Expression- Holly Boswell 12. Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity- Michael S. Kimmel Sexuality 13. The Invention of Heterosexuality- Jonathan Ned Katz *14. The Social Construction of Sexuality- Ruth Hubbard 15. Sexual Identity and Bisexual Identities: The Struggle for Self-Description in a Changing Sexual Landscape- Paula C. Rust 16. Naming All the Parts- Kate Bornstein
Part II: Maintaining Inequalities: Systems of Oppression and Privilege Examining what elements of social structure work to maintain systems of stratification based on constructions of difference. Social Institutions Family 17. Our Mothers Grief: Racial Ethnic Women and the Maintenance of Families- Bonnie Thornton Dill 18. Families on the Fault Line: Americas Working Class Speaks About the Family, the Economy, Race, and Ethnicity- Lillian B. Rubin 19. Stability and Change in Chicano Mens Family Lives- Scott Coltrane *20. Gay and Lesbian Families Are Here- Judith Stacey Education 21. Savage Inequalities: Children in Americas Schools- Jonathan Kozol 22. Preparing for Power: Cultural Capital and Curricula in Americas Elite Boarding Schools- Peter W. Cookson, Jr and Caroline Hodges Persell 23. Civilize Them with a Stick- Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes 24. Missing in Interaction- Myra Sadker and David Sadker Work and the Economy 25. Jobless Ghettos: The Social Implications of the Disappearance of Work in Segregated Neighborhoods- William J. Wilson 26. "Wed Love to Hire Them But?": The Meaning of Race for Employers- Joleen Kirschenman and Kathryn M. Neckerman 27. The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the ‘Female Professions- Christine L. Williams 28. Cause of Death: Inequality- Alejandro Reuss The State and Public Policy *29. Violating Women: Rights Abuses in the Welfare Police State- Gwendolyn Mink 30. A Half Century of Class and Gender in American Television Domestic Sitcoms- Richard Butsch 31. The Effects of Affirmative Action on Other Stakeholders- Barbara Reskin 32. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the “White” Problem in American Studies- George Lipsitz Media 33. A Half Century of Class and Gender in American TV Domestic Sitcoms- Richard Butsch 34. Distorted Reality: Hispanic Characters in TV Entertainment- Robert 35. Changing Gay and Lesbian Images in the Media- Peter Nardi 36. The “F” Word: How the Media Frame Feminism- Debra Baker Beck Language and Culture 37. Racism in the English Language- Robert B. Moore 38. Self, Identity and the Naming Question: Reflections on the Language of Disability- Irving Kenneth Zola 39. How to Tame a Wild Tongue- Gloria Anzaldúa 40. The Dark Side of Sports Symbols- Stanley D. Eitzen and Maxine Baca Zinn Violence and Social Control 41. Where Race and Gender Meet: Racism, Hate Crimes, and Pornography- Helen Zia 42. Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?- A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade 43. The Construction of Masculinity and the Triad of Mens Violence- Michael Kaufman 44. Homophobia as a Weapon of Sexism- Suzanne Pharr
Part III: Experiencing Difference and Inequality in Everyday Life Examining the impact of constructions of difference and maintaining inequalities on members of society. *45. Making Systems of Privilege Visible- Stephanie M. Wildman with Adrienne D. Davis. *46. “Yes, I Follow Islam, But Im Not a Terrorist”- Nada El Sawy 47. A Dozen Demons- Ellis Cose 48. The Story of My Body- Judith Ortiz Cofer 49. "Gee, You Dont Seem Like An Indian From the Reservation"- Barbara Cameron 50. On Being Blackanese- Mitzi Uehara-Carter 51. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America- Barbara Ehrenreich 52. I Am Your Welfare Reform- Annie Downey 53. Learning to Fight- Geoffrey Canada *54. “Why People Think Im a Boy”- Naomi 55. Bisexuality, Feminism, Men, and Me- Robyn Ochs Part IV: Resistance and Social Change Examining how people working within individual and institutional contexts transform difference from a system of inequality to a system of liberation. 56. Toward a New Vision: Race, Class, and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection- Patricia Hill Collins 57. Cultural Resistance: Reconstructing Our Own Images- Yen Le Espritu *58. Borders and Bridges: Building New Directions for the Womens Movement- Janet L. Finn 59. Seeing More Than Black and White: Latinos, Racism, and the Cultural Divides- Elizabeth Martinez 60. Dismantling Noahs Ark: Gender and Equality- Judith Lorber *61. Fighting Frankenfoods: Activists Sow Seeds of Discontent- Heather Ryan Index * An asterisk indicates a new reading.