Assignment 5

1. According to the slides, we define:
1. Power as the ability to force someone to do something against their will.
2. Prestige as the amount of respect and status a person has in society
3. Privilege as the special advantages or benefits an individual or group of individuals may enjoy.
2. The three variable sociologists use to define social class is: income, occupation, and education. I would probably label the social class of my family to be the "Working Class" as both of my parents have jobs, but they do not require a college degree.
3. I am 20 years old, female, and consider myself a West Indian. Still, I do not believe that it was my race or ethnicity that blocked me from any opportunities, but that it was because of where I live. Growing up in urban Jersey City, our education systems were not always the best. I always felt that as a high school student, I didn't receive as much help and information that I thought I deserved when it came time for me to start applying to colleges. I did most of it on my own, as my parents never went to college in the US, and my guidance counselors helped very little. In the end, the most important things at my school were usually "Finding ways to get the students under control" rather than helping the majority of us figure out our options for the future. But still, I tried to keep that from affecting me.

Assignment 4

1. Gender is socially constructed because as people, men and women grow up learning many if not all of our masuline and and feminine behaviors through social interactions and experiences.
2. I remember an instance in my own life that had a relation to "doing gender". When I was youngerbI would usually spend time with my (boy) cousin. We usually always ended up playing with my kitchen sets or dolls, but we thought nothing of it because we were young. After a while, my uncle heard about it and got upset and soon after started introducing my cousin to more of what he felt was "male centered" activities. I hadn't really realized why he did this until I got older.
3. Sexual identity is when a person's ideas and attitudes lead them to forming a certain identity about themselves or when a person sees what they prefer in terms of attraction to others.
4. Social constructionists argue that sexual identity and gender are socially constructed, because the expectations that people have regarding gender are difference depending on the society and it also depends on the time period and culture.
5. As a researcher, it is probably difficult to get information regarding sexuality because many people see it as something that should be kept private and personal. It is usually a topic that people may or may not want to discuss with the public, especially if it is a complete stranger. Personally, I wouldn't mind participating in a survey such as this and I wouldn't mind answering truthfully. However, I would like it if there would be a way for any of my information to be listed as anonymous, keeping true to a need for privacy.