The Meaning of Difference
Textbook: Rosenblum and Travis
Pages 331-350
Part 1 Slides
Section #3-The Meaning of Difference
– Section #1: How are categories of difference named,
dichotomized, aggregated
– Section #2: Experience of privilege and stigma that
accompanies statuses
• Section #3: What difference does difference
make?
– How do social institutions and ideology have an effect
on people?
• Social institution?
• The “birdcage” metaphor-Marilyn Frye (1983)
Ideology
• Marx and Engels (1846) “The ideas of the ruling class are in
every epoch the ruling ideas”
• -An ideology is a widely shared belief or idea that has been
constructed and disseminated by the powerful that
primarily reflects their experiences and functions in their
benefit
– Offers only a partial view of the world, but is presented as
universally valid
– Whose ideas prevail? Who controls the means of disseminating
ideas, beliefs, and viewpoints?
• I.e.: The belief in meritocracy
Hegemonic Ideology
• Antonio Gramsci
– Hegemonic/ruling Ideology-An ideology that so
dominates the culture that it becomes the prevailing
and unquestioned belief
– Social control of a large population of people is
primarily accomplished through the control of ideas
and whatever is considered “common sense”
• How do you keep people in line even when there are great
amounts of poverty and economic inequality
Conveying Ideology
• Natural Law Language
– Use of the term natural/human nature/human
instinct=inevitable, predetermined, outside of human
control
– Use of such language has 3 main consequences
• 1. Ends discussion of topic
• 2. Ignores social and historical variability in behavior
• 3. Treats human as passive, uninterested
– Cumulative effect don’t question behavior/social world; don’t
challenge injustice and discrimination
» “It’s only natural to…want to have children; discriminate;
want to get married”
» “Inequality is natural; Poverty is inevitable”; “Aggression and
war are human nature” “Greed is natural”.
Conveying ideology: Natural Law Language“People just want to be with their own
kind”
• Describing something as natural helps us to
ignore how social forces create conditions that
are attributed to nature.
– Is residential segregation natural?
– Do most people want to only date, have sex with,
and marry people of their own race?
Conveying Ideology: Stereotypes
• A prediction that all members of a group will behave in
certain ways…
– All individuals possess same characteristics
– Broad based predictions about behavior that attempt to
characterize a whole population
• Cannot be verified
• Deny reality of historical and cultural variation
• Attempt to essentialize behavior
• Despite great evidence that, of course, most stereotypes are
completely unreliable, studies show that many people hold strong
stereotypical views about groups of people
Model Minority Stereotypes
Whites’ Racial Stereotypes
• The persistence and disavowal of bias
• Color blind racism