Study guide 4

Kaitlyn Jones Into to Sociology September 21, 2023 Key Terms Match the following terms with the appropriate definition listed below. Definitions 1. A functionalist theory of aging which holds that busy, engaged people are more likely to lead fulfilling and productive lives. 2. A group of people in a minority in a given society who, because of their distinct physical or cultural characteristics, find themselves in situations of inequality within that society. # Term # Term 1 activity theory 16 immigration 7 ageism 8 institutional racism 12 aging 19 life course 4 conflict theory of aging 2 minority group 5 ethnicity 13 prejudice 9 gender 6 race 14 gender inequality 10 racism 15 gender socialization 11 sex 17 generational equity 18 social gerontology 3 glass ceiling 20 stereotyping ESSAY TITLE 1

3. A promotion barrier that prevents a woman's upward mobility within an organization. 4. Arguments that emphasize the ways in which the larger social structure helps to shape the opportunities available to the elderly. 5. Cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from others. 6. Differences in human physical characteristics used to categorize large numbers of individuals. 7. Discrimination or prejudice against a person on the grounds of age. 8. Patterns of discrimination based on ethnicity that have become structured into existing social institutions. 9. Social expectations about behavior regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex. 10. The attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics. 11. The biological and anatomical differences distinguishing females from males. 12. The combination of biological, psychological, and social processes that affect people as they grow older. 13. The holding of preconceived ideas about an individual or group, ideas that are resistant to change even in the face of new information. 14. The inequality between men and women in terms of wealth, income, and status. 15. The learning of gender roles through socialization and interaction with others. ESSAY TITLE 2

16. The movement of people into one country from another for the purpose of settlement. 17. The striking of a balance between the needs and interests of members of different generations. 18. The study of aging and the elderly. 19. The various transitions and stages people experience during their lives. 20. Thinking in terms of fixed and inflexible categories. Review Questions Select five questions from the list below and provide thorough answers in your own words using college-level writing (i.e. complete sentences and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation). 1. What is the functionalist perspective on gender socialization? What are the criticisms of this perspective? 2. What does it mean when sociologists say that we "do gender"? Describe some of the ways that you do gender in your daily life. 3. According to the authors of your textbook, what explains the gender gap in pay? Compare and contrast economic and sociological explanations of the gender gap. 4. How do the concepts of "symbolic ethnicity," "situational ethnicity," and "multiraciality" demonstrate the social constructed nature of race and ethnicity? 5. Discuss the types of racism identified in the text. What are some examples and implications of each? ESSAY TITLE 3

6. Describe three theories that sociologists use to explain racial inequality. What explanation do you find the most convincing and why? 7. What does the phrase graying of society mean? What is it caused by? 8. Discuss theories of the life course. Give an example of this theoretical perspective. 9. How diverse is the older population in the United States? What are the effects of race, gender, and class on the standards of living among older people? 10. How has globalization affected the treatment of older adults around the world? 1) 2. What does it mean when sociologists say that we "do gender"? Describe some of the ways that you do gender in your daily life. To "do a gender", basically means that we abide by the gender roles in society. Meaning that females do the housework, make dinner, clean, and take care of the children. They also wear make up and feminine clothing. While the men do the outdoors work, work in the office, drink beer, grow a beard. They wear manly clothing and can be dirty. In my life, as a single mom I take care of the children, Cook, clean, go to work and on top of that go to school. I wear make up, and wear more feminine clothing. ESSAY TITLE 4

2) 7. What does the phrase graying of society mean? What is it caused by? "Graying of society" means that our society is becoming more populated and dominated by older people. People are starting to live longer, so now we have a population that are growing older, whereas we have a younger generation that isn't having babies. So, now we have lots of older people and not as much younger people. It's caused by the baby boomers, they had many kids and now those "kids" are becoming elders. 3) 1. What is the functionalist perspective on gender socialization? What are the criticisms of this perspective? A functionalist perspective is that genders are in place to maintain social orders. This faces criticism because it says that they're making these gender norms concrete rather than flexible like they should be. 4) 9. How diverse is the older population in the United States? What are the effects of race, gender, and class on the standards of living among older people? The older population is diverse, nearly 24% of the elder population is considered members of a racial or ethnic minority. Race, gender and social class still affect the let population, we still see inequalities when it comes to healthcare, housing and jobs. People don't hire old people, there's a housing shortage for everyone, but finding a housing unit that fits just senior living is difficult, and healthcare isn't always accessible and affordable for older people. ESSAY TITLE 5

5) 10. How has globalization affected the treatment of older adults around the world? The globalization affects the older population negatively, and brings lots of disadvantages to them. Many of times society will not accommodate older people. We see a lot of globalization in healthcare, elders do have more access to healthcare but not in every country. ESSAY TITLE 6