The Social Construction of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender

Socialization is the unequal distribution of power, wealth, income and social status between individuals and groups. This distribution is not random, it is patterned and structured. Three important axes of global inequality are gender, race and ethnicity, and class. These inequalities are on a global scale and are found in virtually all societies. It wasnt until relatively recently, however, that a caste system developed to include race and ethnicity among class and gender. Since imperialism and the conquest of the Americas, a number of social changes have occurred, and, as a result, the dominant groups today are not only higher in the social order, in terms of rank, but they are considered better as well. According to Winant, there†¦show more content†¦There are social beliefs which are present today that place social stigmas on people who are affiliated with certain ethnicitys. Yen Le Espiritu puts forth the argument that The exercise of political-economic domination by ra cial elites always involves attempts to objectify the subordinate group by branding subordinate groups as alternatively inferior, threatening, or praiseworthy. An example that is taking place today is that cosmetic surgery being performed on Asian-American women, as Eugena Kaw points out in her article. In particular they are making changes to their eyes and noses to look more ideal. Is that okay though? Should one groups sense of ideal be forced upon another group? Many of the Asian-American women surveyed said their reason for undergoing cosmetic surgery was to form their own personal form of beauty. But why then did these women all undergo similar surgeries to ‘correct how they look? Class is the one social construction that has existed since the beginning of history. There have always been those who oppress and those who are oppressed, from the serfs and lords of the middle ages to the bourgeois and proletariat of today (According to Marx). The distinction of class today is different than its been in the past though. It used to be based on your heritage, but today it is based on capital, the more you have the higher and better you are. Many people feel that cultures that veil women, such asShow MoreRelatedEssay about Educational Achievement and Development1338 Words   |  6 Pagesperson’s class, their gender and/or their race and ethnicity; which no child has the ability to change at such a young and impressionable age. The issue of race, ethnicity and gender are essentially a part of a person’s genetic design, which is biologically determined and cannot be changed easily. 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