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AGE, RACE, SEX
Biological referents for social inequality
Training Handout
What do age, race and sex have in common when used for creating social mobility barriers and/or bigotry?
What these three things
have in common is that they all interface between biological and cultural
(or social) on the cusp, as it were We all vary in our age, sex
and physical characteristics We have no choice in the circumstances
of our birth, eg a choice of parents, date and location of birth, or what
variation of x and y chromosomes are involved in the uniting of egg and
sperm ("luck of the draw"). These variations are not pure enough to make
precise biological categories, but we human beings add meanings to those
physical variations and create social categories (believing them to be
biological) See Race and Biology.
All three lie on the interface;
all three are problematical as biological categories (yes, even sex).
All three are used to socially construct barriers to social mobility.
All three are used to construct bigoted and prejudicial thinking, and thus
the unequal treatment of individuals Note that barriers to mobility
(actions) and bigotry or prejudice (thoughts) are different, although similar,
and you should distinguish between them.
When groups are formed
by people with similar physical characteristics (often because of
their closeness in birth and residence), they may interact, and may develop
similar learned traits This may reinforce the prejudices of people,
and appear (falsely) to support the wrong notion that people's physical
characteristics may determine their social attributes Thus you get
stereotypes about people according to their age, race and gender.
The treatment of individuals because they are so categorized may include
refusing them service in shops or rental housing, this is based on bigotry
(a way of thinking) The refusal of offering jobs or promotions on
such basis is a hindrance to upwards mobility (seldom downwards).
Refusing to issue driver's permits and giving permission to purchase liquor
or tobacco, is institutionalized (legal) discrimination.
The
glass
ceiling refers to barriers hindering upward mobility of women, not to race and
age Although there are different physical characteristics between
babies, children, youth, adults and seniors, there are no precise biological
boundaries The choice of a particular precise age
to issue licences or start pensions is physically arbitrary Not
hiring persons (or forcing them to retire) for being too young or too old,
regardless of their abilities, is a serious barrier to mobility, as well
as action based on bigoted thinking Differences in dressing, acting,
talking (even the variations in using tones of voice –
males tend to use three while females tend to use five tones) are all learned,
and learned differently by males and females (and changed by transgendered
individuals) What is masculine in one culture might be feminine
in another culture. Race may be based on normal
biological variations but there are no pure categories, many blends in
between (by both intermarriage and by descent), and many exceptions to
common stereotypes.
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2011.08.16
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