Social and Gender Inequality

 

Alexis Anderson

Professor Marie Drews

19 September 2014

Women Studies

 

            I do see a lot of social and gender inequality in where I live. The social inequality I see is that the local government is taking money from elderly black men and women which they lives on. I also see where I live the government is neglecting to fix up housing complexes in where I live. In the area where I live I see that there are a lot of more white people getting jobs in the stores that I shop in, instead of the jobs being evenly distributed out amount every one and not just the white people in our society. In the project housing complexes where a majority of black people lives the local government does not bother to cut the grass around the complexes. The police officers are not as helpful when there is a problem around the housing complexes. There is also gender inequality that I see. I see that in banks and places men hold the higher job positions than women. Women are treated lesser than men are in my community. The men holds more power where I live and they make more decisions about what goes on in our community. I think in order to fix these problems we need to start pressing the issues on the matters at hand. We as a whole in my community needs to make sure that everyone is being treated fairly.  My community need to make sure that the elderly black men and women are their fair share of to survive off of. The local government need to make sure that housing complexes are being fix and maintain around the houses because those humans and the community should care about their safety. Also the police should take approach of being willing to help someone of color. These are issues that need to be fix in order to better our society.



Intersectionality

This is a picture of a young African American women. I took this at my house. this picture show a black women that is not only go through life being a women but she will have to go through life be black as well.

Intersectionality is an analysis claiming that systems of race, social class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation and age forms mutually constructing features of social organization, which shapes a black woman's experiences and in turn are shaped by black women(Patricia Hill Collins, 2000,P.299). In 2008 on Larry King show First Lady Michelle Obama was asked who do she want to see as president, was it a white women or a black man(Collins). Michelle Obama could not pick because it was like choosing be a women or being black over another. In my picture which a picture of a young black women she will have to experience everything as being a young women and also as being black. Jobs might not be easy to find as it would maybe for a white women because she have to things against her one being a women and the other being black which may hinder her through life.



Heteronormativity

In this picture  their is a white princess kissing a white prince. I took this picture while my nieces were watching Cinderella. This picture shows heteronormativity where a man and woman is betrayed a romantic couple.

Marin and Kazyaz say heteronormativity is always assumed, expected and ordinary(316). It is also privilege and accountable for procreation(317). In this picture Cinderella and a prince is kissing showing kids that this is the normal way of life and this is what is expected from the kids when they become older, that a women should marry a man and a man should marry a women. Martin and Kazyaz says heterosexuality is not just the norm it is cultivated as "exceptional, ,magical and trans formative(323). This picture of the movie is saying this is the only way of life and if anyone differs from this they cast out.



Refusing to take the path of least resistance

In the first picture there are two frogs. In the second picture there  is a black princess and a frog. I took this picture at my house while my nieces was watching this movie. This picture shows a movie that it is refusing to take the path of least resistance by having a black princess as its lead character.

Refusing to take the path of least resistance is to stand up and resist the status quo(Johnson 79). It is to refuse to take the path that everyone is taking. In this firs picture where there are two frogs Disney decided instead of having the frog turn into a hansom prince they instead turned the princess into a  frog as well. In the second picture Disney also took the path of least resistance they created the first black princess for Disney. Disney showed that they was not going with the norm of from turn into a hansom prince or using a white princess as the lead character. Witterick and Stocker refused to take the path of least resistance.In storm the parents took the path least resistant by not telling the sexes of their children letting the children choose for themselves what they will be.



Sexism

In this picture this women is fixing a truck. I took this picture was taken at home. This picture shows that women can also fix trucks as well as a man.

Johnson says sexism is oppressive practices (institutional, social, or individual, conscious or unconscious) that maintains gender asymmetry or gender inequality, meaning women are lesser than men. In this picture the women is fixing a truck. In  society people thinks that fixing a truck is a man job and women should not be working on a truck. Society think that a women should be inside the house cooking instead of what the woman in this picture is doing.Johnson says ssexism maintain a binary system  which is pink and blue.

Privilege

In this picture there are  two white girls at school. They are studying for their classes. I took this picture at school. This shows that these girls are experiencing white privilege because they don't even that they are privilege.

Privilege is power confirmed to someone based on their position within the social system/institution(Johnson, Gender knot 91). Privilege is not something someone can accept or reject. Privilege is granted endowed and given (91). These girls are experiencing white privilege which is an individual package of unearned assets, whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average also the ideal way of life(91). Johnson says you don't have to feel privilege to be privileged(91). In McIntosh Knapsack simile they quote " privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on casting in each day, but about which i was meant to remain oblivious". In this picture the white girls are sitting at college doing their class work. When they graduate the probably will have an easier time finding a job. The do not know they are privilege for being white.



Patriarchy



Patriarchy is a system that perpetuates gender inequality(84).  Patriarchy is set of symbols, ideas about the nature of things, including, men, women and humanity where men lives are held at the center and women are seen lesser person(84). Johnson gives an example of when he was child his father would sit at the center of their dinner table which showed that his father was at the center of their household and therefore was a dominant force in the household. In this picture the boy is holding up the tennis ball from the girls and the girls are centered around the boy where the girls are trying to reach and get ball, but the boy holds it up so that they can't reach the ball. This picture shows that this boy is the dominant force and will be in the center of society because he will be a man.

The picture is showing two girls and a boy. The boy is holding a tennis ball in his hands, as the girls is reaching for the ball. The boy is holding the ball higher in his hands so that the girls will not be able to reach it. I took this picture at my home. This picture shows that  this boy is a more dominant than the two girls.

Social construcction of gender

In this image there is a boy and a girl playing with their toys. The boy is playing with the boy action figure toys and the girl is playing with the doll. I took this picture at my home. The image shows a girl and boy playing with their gendered assign toys.

Judith Lorber say, " one is not born but rather becomes a woman; it is civilization as  a whole that produces this creature which described as feminine". Social construction of gender is learned rather than felt. In this picture these two children have learned that they should play with their expected gender toys. The girl is expected to play with the doll. The boy is expected to play with the action figure toys. In the story Storm Jazz and Kio are not presented with what they should play with boy's toys because they are boys, but their parents let them choose what they will play with.