Examples Of Social Constructs
Social Constructs are products of discrimination; race did not exist until racism existed, class did not exist until classism existed, and gender did not exist until sexism existed. These constructs occupy prominent positions in artwork, politics, as well as in social hierarchies.
A social construct describes a mechanism developed by society, oftentimes with the intention of segregating and degrading people in order to establish power. When ideas are ‘social constructs’, it is not to say that said idea does not exist, but exists to castigate those for whom social constructs do not favor. Throughout history, countries have oppressed--and continue to oppress--individuals for various, arbitrary rationales--e.g, the demeaning expectations of women
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Race and gender provided the foundation for the colonization and enslavement of Native American and Africans, and class worked in consequence of these constructs. Through American colonization, our understanding and adoption of these social constructs altered completely. Before, neither Native American, Africans, or Europeans truly identified with ‘race’; emphasis was mainly put on gender and class. After colonization, the intersection of race, class, and wealth becomes truly apparent through the enslavement and maltreatment of African women. The subordination of African women supplied the British with the “legal foundation for slavery and the future definitions of racial difference.” This is seen in the Virginia Slave Codes, in which black femininity was harshly policed through laws that outlined racial differences and stripped black women of privileges, effectively blocking them from power. The Virginia Slave Codes explicitly denied black women of basic human rights, rights that white people enjoyed on an everyday basis. In every colony, European women and men lived a range of lives, from poor indentured servants to wealthy aristocrats, whereas black women were subjugated to the lowest of ranks. Because they were born in a black, female body, their status was disregarded and they were sentenced to generations of discrimination. The brutal and, oftentimes, fatal exploitation of black women during colonial America cannot be overstated as this exploitation has remained present in the politics and social life of black
Summary Of Columbus The Indians And Human Progress
1274 Words | 6 PagesArpita Ray Mr. Lifland AP US History 15 August 2015 Chapter 1: Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress Bias and point of view often impact one’s perspective on history, as it results in the emphasis on some topics, and the avoidance of others to portray one side in better light. The description of Columbus’s treatment of the Indian tribes, his nature, and his wishes support the idea of emphasis on different aspects of history. To prove this thesis, Zinn describes the reality of Columbus’s goals and motivation. In return for his work, he would receive a portion of the profits made in addition to power over the new area and the fame that he would acquire from his expedition. His true motivations, often avoided when discussing this topic,
Early Colonial Virginia Research Paper
506 Words | 3 PagesThe legal status of blacks in early colonial Virginia is a hard issue to grasp and make sense of. It was not easy to determine the legal status of an individual of African descent in colonial Virginia because there were hardly any laws and regulations that were developed upon the arrival of the first group of blacks in 1619,through developing rules and regulation relating to slavery was how the legal status of people of African descent in colonial Virginia began to take place and into effect. It was when these rules and laws were already established was when Virginian colonists began to take notice of the blacks and how they were different, distinguishing them from the rest of the Virginians. In this paper the following issues will be discussed, how the first Africans came to Virginia, the legal status of blacks, how those laws came to be created, and the different type of methods that were used to distinguish blacks from the Virginians.
Race Gender And Punishment Summary
609 Words | 3 PagesAfter reading the book, “Race, Gender, and Punishment: From Colonialism to the War on Terror” by Mary Bosworth and Jeanne Flavin, they discuss what they feel are the four “sociohistorical processes (Bosworth, Flavin: 2)” of social control, these being colonialism, slavery, immigration, and globalization. The authors separate each of these into their own chapter for a certain reason, to show the treatment of colonized people. The book focuses on how “colonialism, like each of the factors that underpin this collection, operates both structurally…and ideologically through culture, and the construction of the imaginary. (Bosworth, Flavin: 3).” Stepping back to the days of slavery, race has been the worldwide pyramid of power, in which white/Caucasian
Sally Hemings: A Slave On The Monticello Plantation
616 Words | 3 PagesSally Hemings was a slave on the Monticello plantation in the late 18th century, and her experience helps us to understand that her gender aided the way she was treated versus if they went by the color of her skin (Dilkes Mullins). {Woman during this era were thought of as property, they were objectified, they were treated poorly and had no choice. Their husbands were liable for anything that they did} [Being a female during this era outweighed what one 's social status was. It did not matter what race you were, but if you were a woman, you were treated as such] (Dilkes Mullins). Ms. Hemings was a beautiful sixteen-year-old enslaved girl (Gordon-Reed, 102) who was more than just a slave on the Monticello plantation.
White Women In Early America Essay
1647 Words | 7 PagesEarly American social hierarchies differed markedly for women of color—whether free or enslaved—whose relationships to the white regimes of early America were manifold and complex. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, women in the colonies of the English West Indies and Carolinas, particularly women of color, were seen as subordinate by white male slave owners because of race and shared oppression of the female gender. However, these women were a means of economic gain for white slave owners. Taken from Africa to the New World as slave laborers, white slave owners valued these women for their ability in domestic work and fieldwork where they performed primarily unskilled agricultural tasks, as well as their potential to bear children. White slave owners of the Early Americas, driven by greed and opportunism, used political laws, physical characteristics of women, and social constructs of gender roles to appropriate
American Revolution: Republican Motherhood
1149 Words | 5 Pages(doc 7) Men were never punished for their dreadful acts on female slaves. Most wives knew of their husband’s actions, but did little to stop them. The infidelity of their husbands made them jealous of the slave woman, so they did nothing to protect them against their husbands. Black and lower class females were instructed to imitate the practices of the Cult of Domesticity and Republican motherhood, but often could not due to their low social and economic
Summary Of Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl
2053 Words | 9 PagesThe beginning of the 17th Century marked the practice of slavery which continued till next 250 years by the colonies and states in America. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco and cotton crops. Later , they were employed or ‘enslaved’ by the whites as for the job of care takers of their houses. The practice of slavery also led the beginning of racism among the people of America. The blacks were restricted for all the basic and legally privileged rights.
Analysis Of Mapping The Margins By Kimberle Crenshaw
314 Words | 2 PagesBeing part of the different subgroups prevents them from getting everything they need and want. They are burdened by lack of income and jobs. Without these essential things many of them will not be able to take care of themselves nor their family. Crenshaw presents us with many examples of why colored women are more apt to being the victim of a violent
Analysis Of Alvin Ailey's Cry
2321 Words | 10 PagesCradling. Dignified. Get rid of scarf.” Unlike other American women, black women were sexually exploited by their employers and had to scrub floors in their homes and in white homes as
Social Constructs: The Unreality In Reality
896 Words | 4 PagesThe core concept of social constructs is that these systems or concepts only exist because
Dorothy Sterling We Are Your Sisters Analysis
878 Words | 4 PagesI find that this example highlights the fact that while women had far less political power in society during the nineteenth century, the least the law could do was to protect the sexual integrity of women; However, African American women suffered from racial, gender and class discrimination that makes it difficult for them to prosecute those that sexually assault them. Furthermore, anger of white men were usually taken out on the wives of freed African American men and usually in the form of sexual assaults and this made the situation for African American women
Gender Roles In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon
1288 Words | 6 PagesHer tragedy reflects not only the sexism in the African American families in early 20th century, but also the uselessness
Social Construction In The Forest And The Trees
312 Words | 2 PagesSocial construction is a theory that knowledge and many aspects around us are not exactly real. They only exist because the society itself give them reality through social agreement. Social construction relates to racial inequality in a sense where the people decide how certain type of people with different color of skin and features are treated in a society. In The Forest and the Trees, the author states “People participate in systems without being parts of the system themselves” (Johnson, 15). Individuals conform to the rules implemented and stigma that society creates.
Social Construction: An Example Of A Social Construct
465 Words | 2 Pages“An idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society” is how Merriam Webster's dictionary defines a social construct (Social Construct). One example of a social construct is language (both verbal and nonverbal), since they are types of symbolic interactions. Since a group of people or population agree that certain sounds create a word and the group of people all agree on the meaning of that word. A more simple and a visual (or nonverbal) example of these symbolic interactions could be a smile meaning a person's happy, crosswalk signs, stop lights where red means stop and green means go, etc. When it boils down to it basically a social construction is anything a group of people agree on to be true.
Persuasive Essay On Inequality Today
1207 Words | 5 Pages140 years ago, imagine being in bondage, oppressed, maybe even tortured; to have to go about your life constantly under the watch of someone else; to be bruised and beaten and broken—all because of the color of your skin. Imagine being someone who was free, but oppressed in other ways; to be unable to work the same way that a man was no matter how smart you were, to be forced into doing what “ladies” do; to be stepped over and disregarded—all because of the gender you were born as. These qualities are just some of the degrading aspects of inequality. These aspects have not completely disappeared in the modern day; they are just not as blunt as before. Equality comes with progress and progress takes time.
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