Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: Figure 12.14 Sexual practices can differ greatly among groups. Recent trends include the finding that married couples have sex more frequently than do singles and that 27 percent of…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: Figure 12.8 Traditional images of U.S. gender roles reinforce the idea that women should be subordinate to men. (Credit: Sport Suburban/flickr) Gender and Socialization The phrase “boys will be…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: Figure 12.2 While the biological differences between males and females are fairly straightforward, the social and cultural aspects of being a man or woman can be complicated. (Credit: Mapbox…
Figure 12.1 New opportunities, laws, and attitudes have opened the door for people to take on roles that are not traditionally associated with their gender. But despite this progress, many people are misunderstood or mistreated based on gender. Chapter Outline 12.1 Sex, Gender,…
Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups Race is fundamentally a social construct. Ethnicity is a term that describes shared culture and national origin. Minority groups are defined by their lack of power. Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity Functionalist views of…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: When colonists came to the New World, they found a land that did not need “discovering” since it was already inhabited. While the first wave of immigrants…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: Intergroup relations (relationships between different groups of people) range along a spectrum between tolerance and intolerance. The most tolerant form of intergroup relations is pluralism, in which…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: It is important to learn about stereotypes before discussing the terms prejudice, discrimination, and racism that are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about groups…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity We can examine race and ethnicity through three major sociological perspectives: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. As you read through…
Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you should be able to: While many students first entering a sociology classroom are accustomed to conflating the terms “race,” “ethnicity,” and “minority group,” these three terms have distinct meanings for sociologists.…