Unit 7

• achieved status

  An identity that is believed to be in flux and that is dependent upon the actions and achievements of an individual.
• ascribed status

  An identity that is perceived as fixed and unchanging because a person is believed to be born with it. In Canadian society, race is often assumed to be ascribed at birth.
• caste system

  A form of social stratification and identity where individuals are assigned at birth to the ranked social and occupational groups of their parents.
• class

  A form of identity informed by perceptions of an individual’s economic worth or status. It is also a form of social hierarchy.
• gender

  Culturally constructed ideals of behaviour, dress, occupations, roles, and comportment for particular sexes.
• hegemonic masculinity

  Refers to ideals and norms of masculinity in a society, which are often privileged over others.
• meritocracy

  A social system in which individuals are rewarded and resources are distributed according to achievement, effort, and ability.
• new racism

  A form of “soft” racism that posits racial differences as cultural, rather than biological, but that still views such differences as immutable or insurmountable.
• race

  A culturally constructed form of identity and social hierarchy, race refers to the presumed hereditary, physical characteristics of a group of people. These physical, or phenotypic, differences are often erroneously correlated with behavioural attributes.
• social hierarchy

  The ordering and ranking of individuals within society, also known as social stratification. Those at the top of the hierarchy are generally afforded more power, wealth, prestige, or privileges in a society. Hierarchies can be based on race, gender, class, caste, ethnicity, national affiliation, or other factors.
• structural violence

  Refers to the systematic ways in which social structures or social institutions harm or otherwise disadvantage local individuals. Structural violence is often invisible and lacking one specific person who can (or will) be held responsible.
• third gender

  A gender role given to someone who does not fit within strictly masculine or feminine gender roles in a given society that recognizes the possibility of at least three genders.
• transgender

  Refers to an individual who feels that their assigned sex at birth does not match their accompanying gender. (p 196)