Delta
State University
Sociology 101
Spring Semester 2004
Study
Questions
Week
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(1) Explain the relationship between industrialization and inequality. How have values changed in society as industrialization has progressed, and how have these encouraged greater inequality?
(2) Explain what McIntyre means when she says “a dollar is not always a dollar.”
(3) What is meant by prejudice? How does prejudice differ from prejudgment? How do stereotypes support or reinforce prejudices?
(4) What is meant by discrimination? How does prejudice differ from discrimination? Do prejudice and discrimination always go together? Explain.
(5) What does McIntyre mean when she talks of isms? Identify some isms common in U.S. society. What is the relationship between these, and dominant and minority groups? Explain the role of power in institutionalizing these isms, and why McIntyre claims not all discriminatory acts are isms.
(6) Do people of different classes experience isms differently? Do isms go away as one moves up the class ladder? Cite evidence to support your response.
(7) What is meant by the term race? By ethnicity? Explain some of the difficulties in defining these terms.
(8) McIntyre makes the point that race, ethnicity and gender are socially constructed. Cite evidence presented by McIntyre and by Taub & McLorg (“The Role of Gender Socialization in Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa”) that makes the case that gender, seemingly a biological characteristic, also has strong social dimensions.
(9) What factors lead to a female’s perception of ideal body shape? What are some of the outcomes of our socially produced ideals of body type?
(10) What factors distinguish “decent” from “street” families? To what extent do these perceptions represent reality? How do these labels shape people’s lives?