Defining Social Inequality
I feel social inequality covers a wide range of societal disparities defined by the uneven distribution of resources brought about by gender, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and class, among others. Social inequality portrays itself within our societies in many forms, such as income earnings, employment opportunities, freedom of speech, education, political representation, and health care access. The definition of social inequality amongst different; individuals, groups, and genders varies considerably. Hence, it is not easy to come up with a single definition that satisfies every person, group, and gender.
The most challenging part of forming my own definition of social inequality is harmonizing my parents' definition from their social inequality ideologies instilling versus my own as an adult. My parents instilled strong and different notions concerning social inequality to what I perceive now as social inequality. My parents made me believe that social inequality was mainly concerned with racial, gender, and economic inequalities, but I now perceive social inequality to cover a larger spectrum of including inequalities in sexuality, political representation, and freedom of expression and speech.
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Social inequality is a controversial subject as there are many arguments concerning the continued prevalence of social inequality, which has led to the enactment of different measures. Some of the enactments are positive and aim towards creating equality in society. However, I cannot entirely agree with some of the measures because a close analysis of these measures shows that they may end up creating more division in society rather than bridging the social inequality gap.
Social inequality differs depending on situations and occurrences. For instance, there are situations where inequality is considered low, and there are also others where it is perceived as high. In my opinion, inequality is too much when people are categorized into statuses or mistreated because they were brought up in a different social setting than others. People tend to incline their thoughts, opinions, and perceptions as conservative thesis, radical antithesis, or both. Personally, I can be both conservative and radical. On the conservative side, I am more dominant in promoting and preserving traditional social beliefs, and on the radical side, I agree equality is natural and bridging inequality should naturally begin from within us.
My Social Location
I am an African-American heterosexual female born and brought up in Virginia Beach, VA. A large part of my life has happened around this place, which I consider home. My ethnic background comprises of three ethnicities Saudi Arabian, Dutch, and American. I have four siblings born and raised by the same parents. My siblings and I, together with my parents, lived in the same house, and we were raised in the Baptist religious faith, but I am currently trying to learn Hinduism. Both my parents graduated from high school. My mother proceeded to college, where she did 1.5 years of Law School and has her MBA Degree, while my dad went to trace school and currently owns his own business. Our parents have done well for our family throughout my childhood since they were both 6-figure earners. However, during downtimes, like when my dad got very sick in 2009, we were really financially strained.
Virginia Beach is a mixed-race community, with the white race as dominant. Technically, 80 % of Virginia Beach residents are White-American leaving the other 20% to be shared by other races including African-Americans, and Asian-Americans. Hence, as I grew up, I interacted with people of different races to an extent we became comfortable with each other. Also, most Virginia Beach residents were heterosexuals with varying religious beliefs. Although my African-American racial group was among the racial minority, I can now confidently identify myself as biracial, but my African-American racial identity carries more weight because of my upbringing. Also, I can say that most people's financial positions within my locality varied, but they lived comfortable lives. Generally, I feel I grew up in a well-diverse location. I have grown up neither around the totally wealthy nor with all low class as we lived amongst people of all economic classes. My parents made sure I was brought up in a decent location, and it taught me a lot about how to socialize with different people. However, there were things that hindered my social interaction with Americans, unlike all the other racial classes with whom I got along well.
My Perspective on Social Inequality
Our physical surroundings tend to affect our beliefs and perceptions towards different matters in society. Similarly, social location can impact how we experience the world around us. Personally, I feel that most of my ideologies and opinions are greatly impacted by my social location. As I stated earlier, my parents made sure I was brought up in a decent location, and it taught me a lot about how to socialize, but the funny thing is that I had a hard time interacting with Americans more than the other racial classes. This is because my perceptions and experiences were very different from them.
Similarly, our classroom and school experiences can be a reflection of our social locations. Our experiences and encounters within our social locations compel us to seek classroom justification by gathering more insights and knowledge concerning the uncertain social inequality experiences and perspectives within our social locations. In my opinion, my social location is very similar to my social position at school, not the top and not the bottom, and this class was something I desired because it is teaching us about social inequality. People perceive the concept of social inequality differently depending on their social locations. I do not feel that everyone's views concerning different matters are the same; otherwise, this world would not be so divided.
Critically Thinking about Course Objectives
This assignment is crucial in the attainment of the course's objective, which is mainly to relate and incorporate classroom knowledge into real-life experiences. Also, the assignment aimed to give us an opportunity to share our opinions on social inequality, social location, and our perspectives on social inequality to get a better understanding of the course. Generally, I like the fact that this course focuses on social relations in terms of dominance and subordination, especially in race, class, and gender.
Therefore, this reflection assignment allows us to relate the classroom insights acquired on social inequality to our daily life experiences since it is something we encounter daily. Some may experience it more intensely than others, but the bottom line is that it is still dominant within our societies up to date. Hence, relating the classroom knowledge with these experiences gives us a better understanding of various forms of dominance and subordination within the society, which helps in bridging the social inequality gap by harmonizing diverse thoughts, opinions, and perspectives on social inequality. Personally, I feel that I have a better understanding of social inequality right now, and I can relate and apply this knowledge to various real-life situations within society concerning social inequality.
