Chapter 9 & 10

Chapter 9 & 10

A racial group is defined by peoples distinguished physical features and characteristics. As humans we have defined ourselves by our physical features and Carolus Linneaus has helped with that. A botanist, Linneaus classified plants and animals later doing the same to human species. In the mid 1600's the Caucasian mans fear brought about laws against Caucasian marrying a minority. 

Susan Guillory Phipps was affected by the one-drop rule, when she went to get her birth certificate she noticed her race was checked off "Black" instead of "White". Phipps went to Supreme Court only to find out 11 generations before there was found to be a Black slave included in her family tree.  So no matter Phipps' social identity, she was identified as "Black". Phipps social identity remained "White" because of how society saw her. Social definition overrules biological definition, society sees physician traits of a "White" person then they associate that individual as a "White" person. A good example of this would be when we see a "wangsta,"a white person acting like a "Black" gangster. Society sees this individual as "White" even though that individual socially sees himself as a "Black" gangster.

I believe that racial identity is based on all three factors: biological, legal and social. They all play some sort of role in defining ones racial identity.  When defining different species biologically, you are defining by physical characteristics.  Defining by characteristics has lead to legal factors coming from the fear of the "White" man. When a new race came into town they were threatened and so they created a divide and an unfairness to the minority group. Slavery, the one-drop rule, and Caucasians cannot marry a "Black"person are a few legal factors. I believe this assisted segregation between races and racism. 

When defining ourselves in society as either masculine or feminine it starts off in our sex, our anatomy, chromosomes and hormones. I was born with female parts and my husband was born with male parts; X and Y chromosomes.  What society expects from a man or a woman, gender roles, is how we act gender wise, social status. An example for this is how my gender role as a wife is to make food for my husband and as a wife take care of he children's needs  and making sure they are cared for and nurtured. And how society expects us to be is how we generally act, feminine as a wife and mother versus masculine. We also associate a stay at home dad who takes care of the kids as a mother would or household chores like wife would as maybe being feminine in comparison to a man who works outside the home, seeing him as more masculine being the breadwinner. And our sex, being born as a man or woman, identifying ourselves into these roles that our society expects us to be.

A consequence caused by gender inequality is marital problems or even divorce and depression for women.  A lot of women feel, and speaking from experience, that the work load in the household isn't equal.When my husband and I first got married I was pregnant right away and eventually had early leave due to my pregnancy. So my in-laws would come over and bring dinner for us and when I had our son they would come more frequently. One night my mother-in-law told me, why don't you have dinner for your husband when he comes home? How come it's not already made and ready for him? I looked at her and thought boy are you nuts?! For one, I will not treat my husband as the prince/king like you did when he lived with you, taking care of a newborn as a first time mom was crazy enough for me doing other household chores and what I was physically limited to. And second, in my household that I grew up in, my dad always cooked unless it was a certain dish that my mom then made, a specialty. So we grew up so very differently and my husband agrees that it's supposed to be shared equally, and for the most part it is. Sometimes he forgets himself and complains and we have a talk and he mentions that I'm not pulling my share and he brings up cooking, bathing the children, helping with homework, laundry, cleaning the house and etc. I have to remind him that I too have a full time job now and we both are the same kind of busy after when we get home. Whoever the kids ask for is whoever is on kiddy duty.  I suffer from depression and it used to come from the home and my marriage and how not only my husband but how my mother-in-law insisted how I had to be for her son. I've heard from friends that get divorced over this sort of thing, and depending what speaks to a person it could put such a heavy enough strain on ones marriage and it will just snap and break apart.