Week Five Blog Prompts

This week we continued our survey of topics that sociologists study by examining the sociology of health and the sociology of family.

Option 1:
In this article, the author tells a story about the life and death of a poor white woman. Read and analyze this article using the sociological concepts we discussed in class. Specifically, identify and use the elements of social determinants theory, psycho- social, materialist, and the fundamental causes theories, to explain Crystal Wilson's life and death? Finally, be sure to consider the author's analysis - what might you add or argue with (if this is difficult, identify some further questions we should ask).
http://prospect.org/article/whats-killing-poor-white-women


Option 2:
In this audio and written article, the author queries the phenomena of stay-at-home dads with breadwinner moms. Read and listen and then discuss. First, why is this a "hot topic?" What gender roles and ideas about the family are being challenged by families such as those profiled (include some specific evidence from the article/audio)? In your answer, be sure to discuss the myth of the traditional family and the division of labor. Given what you've learned in class, what questions might you ask these families if you had the opportunity?
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/15/180300236/stay-at-home-dads-breadwinner-moms-and-making-it-all-work

Week 4 Blog Prompts

This week we discussed gender and race as socially constructed categories that serve as the basis for differential distribution of power, prestige, and privilege. Our systems of gender and racial stratification shape individuals' life chances and lived experiences in a variety of ways.

This week:

Option 1: We discussed gender as "achieved," that is, we "do" gender and we are held "accountable" for how well we achieve (or don't) gender. Use these concepts to discuss a time when you failed to achieve your gender, and how you were held accountable. Did you purposefully fail to "achieve?" Why? You may find it useful to discuss this in terms of hegemonic masculinity, ideal femininity, and other course concepts.

Option 2: We also discussed racialization: how boundaries are drawn around a group, how people are mapped into those groups, the meanings assigned to the category, and the everyday consequences of being marked as part of that racial category. Use these concepts to discuss a time when you experienced being racialized (for example, the first time you became aware of your racial category) and connect that to our discussion of structural racism. It may be relevant to you to discuss the invisibility of whiteness as per Peggy McIntosh.

Finally it is important to note that we do not experience one identity separately from the rest; that is, we are all raced and all gendered. Our lived experiences are situated at "the intersections" of race and gender (and class, etc.). Where we may have privilege and access to resources (the good stuff of life) based on our belonging to one category, we may simultaneously be at a disadvantage based on belonging to another category. For example, as a White woman, my white skin affords me access to privilege (not being assumed to be a criminal and being assumed to "belong" in the U.S) at the same time that I may make less money than my male counterpart. Thus, if it makes sense to you to discuss your experiences at the intersection of race and gender (e.g. as a Latina woman or a Asian man), rather than discussing them separately, please feel free to do so.