Part 1
View:
YouTube – The danger of a single story/ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (TED 19:16)
Respond in separate paragraphs for each question:
1. Write examples of the single stories Adichie points out about African Americans. Include at least 2 quotes.
2. What single stories did Adichie hold for other groups?
3. Research and explain in your own words: What is the Dunning Kruger effect, and how does it reinforce racism?
4. What single stories are told about your culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or class? How have they affected you either positively or negatively? (you don’t have to address all of these, just whatever jumps out at you)
5. How does Adichie define power?
6. Provide a reflection and analysis of what you have learned from this assignment. How does it apply to our current state of affairs (protests, riots, etc)?
Report 2
Topic: Gender Stratification
When I ask my classes whether we are stratified by gender in the United States, the response usually centers around suggested gender stratification embedded in the economy. Firstly, students will usually speak about gender binary and secondly, propose the argument that women earn less money compared to men. I personally believe it is difficult to make that argument without knowing if truly all other variables are being held constant. In other words, one would have to collect data from subjects who worked the exact same number of hours and had the same years of experience. This would not be as easy as it sounds because we know that women, still to this day, are generally the primary caretakers of children and are not as available as men to work more than 40 hours per week. We also understand that women are more inclined to take some brief time for childbirth and hence, lose out on some months of experience. I am not justifying any inequities in the economy, I am merely suggesting that if we are discussing stratification by gender, we must make sure we’re comparing apples to apples, not apples to bananas.
I am suggesting that we are stratified by gender so much so that it is embedded in our social institutions. Embedded in our social institutions meaning stratification of gender is built into the very foundation of our social institutions so much so that we don’t even notice.
It is easier to understand stratification by gender in other countries first:
Assignment Question: Please describe in a few sentences how each of these YouTube clips illustrates how gender stratification is embedded in social institutions. Please specify which social institutions are enabling these behaviors for each of the clips.
1. It’s a Girl (Full Documentary) (1091 on Demand) (1:03:37)
**Only watch 0-3:30
2. Killed in the Womb for Being Girls: India’s Missing Daughters (CNA Insider) (8:34)
3. How I Survived Female Genital Mutilation (As/Is) (3:37)
4. Alarming Rise in Suicides among Afghan Women (VOA News) (3:25)
Now lets us investigate how stratification by gender is present in the U.S.
Assignment Question: Please view the following clips and discuss how social institutions are responsible for these acts. In other words, how do these examples illustrate stratification by gender and from a macrosociological perspective, what institutions allow these actions to continue? Please specify which social institutions for each clip.
5. Female Genital Mutilation Survivors in the US are Fighting Back (Vice News) (8:05) **Only Watch 0-5:44
6. Rapist Gets Custody, Visitation Rights (The Young Turks TYT) (6:29) **Only watch 0-1:40)
7. Rape Victim Forced to Co-parent with the Attacker (CNN) (1:15)
8. Judge Holds Order Granting Rapist Joint Custody of Victim’s Child (CBS This Morning ) **Only watch :43 – 1:55
9. Trailer Excerpts of the “Invisible War” (PBS News Hour) (8:30)
