Week 12: Gender, Race

C&S: Thorne 343-350, Tibbals 384-395; C&S: Weitz 351-365; C&S: Duran 297-310 BB:  Perry

Race and Gender are socially constructed and can contribute to the roles and identities of people. Both seem to be rooted biologically, but there is a lot more to both of them than genes and DNA.  The categories of Male, Female, Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, etc.  are constructed. In some other cultures, seven different genders are recognized instead of just the two we tend to recognize in the United States. Historically, who is considered Black has been constructed as well; there has been the rule that “one-drop” of African American blood can cause a person to be considered Black instead of White (or a different race). Why is President Barak Obama considered Black when he is just as much White as he is Black?

Through interaction and personal displays, we reproduce and challenge societal norms of gender. Kids on the playground engage in borderwork (as discussed by Thorne) to define who they are and their differences based on whether they are boys or girls. They interact and establish those differences, thereby recreating gender stereotypes. When interacting with one another, their group identities (boys or girls) seem to take precedence over their own identities as individuals with particular names.

 Women in the workplace also do things to resist and establish gender norms. They present themselves in certain ways, embracing what is feminine as they style their hair and dress themselves even as they try to resist gender expectations. Tibbals discusses how waitresses and servers wear trendy belts and modify their uniforms and take on traditional feminine behavior to resist degendered norms placed on them by their employers. Women also use their hair to show power and position in public. Weitz argues that they use it to resist the idea that they are subordinate, but that they are also limited in their displays and resistance because they use traditionally feminine styles.

            The idea that hair and bodily displays have meanings and reflect personal identities and status is reflected in pop culture. I found this online quiz (one of many) that tells what your hair says about you and what your ideal hairstyle is. It is interesting as it shows both power and limits, as Weitz describes in her article. The quiz can be found at http://www.allthetests.com/quiz06/dasquiztd.php3?testid=1058749295.