Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race and Ethnicity, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexuality, and Disability

Karen E. Rosenblum is Associate Professor of Sociology and Vice President for University Life at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is a former Director of Women’s Studies and the Women’s Studies Research and Resource Center and a faculty member in Cultural Studies. Professor Rosenblum received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her areas of research and teaching include sex and gender, language, and deviance. Toni-Michelle C. Travis is Associate Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is also a faculty member in the Women’s Studies and African American Studies Programs. Professor Travis received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Her areas of research and teaching include race and gender in political participation, and urban politics. She has served as the President of the National Capital Area Political Science Association and the Women’s Caucus of the American Political Science Association. She hosts Capital Regional Roundtable, a cable television show, and is a frequent commentator on Virginia politics.

• PrefaceSECTION I—CONSTRUCTING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE Framework EssayWHAT IS RACE? WHAT IS ETHNICITY?1. “Race” and the Construction of Human Identity, Audrey Smedley 2. Who Is Black? One Nation's Definition, F. James Davis3. The Evolution of Identity, The Washington PostPersonal Account: A Loaded Vacation, Niah Grimes4. Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America, Eva Marie Garroutte 5. An Interlocking Panethnicity: The Negotiation of Multiple Identities among Asian American Social Movement Leaders, Dana Y. NakanoPersonal Account: I Thought My Race Was Invisible, Sherri H. Pereira 6. Latino Racial Choices: The Effects of Skin Colour and Discrimination on Latinos’ and Latinas’ Racial Self-Identifications, Tanya Golash-Boza and William Darity, Jr.7. Whiteness as an 'Unmarked' Cultural Category, Ruth Frankenberg8. Plus Ça Change . . . ? Multiraciality and the Dynamics of Race Relations in the United States, Frank D. Bean and Jennifer LeePersonal Account: The Price of Nonconformity, Julia Morgenstern Personal Account: Basketball, Andrea M. BuschWHAT IS SEX? WHAT IS GENDER? 9. The Olympic Struggle over Sex, Alice Dreger 10.All Together Now: Intersex Infants and IGM, Riki Wilchins 11.Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference, Cordelia FineWHAT IS SOCIAL CLASS? 12. What’s Class Got to Do with It?, Michael Zweig13.The Silver Spoon: Inheritance and the Staggered Start, Stephen J. McNamee and Robert K. Miller Jr.Personal Account: I Am a Pakistani Woman, Hoorie I. Siddique14.The Great Divergence: America’s Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do about It, Timothy Noah WHAT IS SEXUALITY? 15.Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire, Lisa M. Diamond16.The Biology of the Homosexual, Roger N. Lancaster 17.The Heterosexual Questionnaire, Martin Rochlin WHAT IS DISABILITY?18. Disability Definitions: The Politics of Meaning, Michael OliverPersonal Account: Invisibly Disabled, Heather L. Shaw 19.What Wounds Enable: The Politics of Disability and Violence in Chicago, Laurence Ralph20.Ethnicity, Ethics, and the Deaf-World, Harlan LaneSECTION II—EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCE Framework EssayRACE AND ETHNICITY21. Formulating Identity in a Globalized World, Carola Suárez-OrozcoPersonal Account: Hair, Sarah FaragallaPersonal Account: The Americanization of a Reluctant Vietnamese-American, Hoai Huong Tran 22. Latinos in the U.S. Race Structure, Clara E. Rodríguez23. Everybody’s Ethnic Enigma, Jelita McLeodPersonal Account: My Strategies, Eric Jackson24. From Friendly Foreigner to Enemy Race, John TehranianPersonal Account: Master Status: Pride and Danger, Sumaya Al-Hajebi SEX AND GENDER25.The Privilege of Teaching about Privilege, Michael A. Messner 26.Proving Manhood, Timothy BenekePersonal Account: Just Something You Did as a Man, Francisco Hernandez27.“I’m Not a Feminist, But . . .”: Popular Myths about Feminism, Penny A. Weiss SEXUALITY28. "Dude, You’re a Fag": Adolescent Male Homophobia, C. J. Pascoe29. Gendered Sexuality in Young Adulthood: Double Binds and Flawed Options, Laura Hamilton and Elizabeth Armstrong Personal Account: Living Invisibly, Tara S. Ellison30. Sexual Orientation and Sex in Women’s Lives: Conceptual and Methodological Issues, Esther D. Rothblum SOCIAL CLASS31. Cause of Death: Inequality, Alejandro Reuss32. Why Are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting into Our Top Colleges? Because Their Dads Are Alumni, John Larew Personal Account: That Moment of Visibility, Rose B. Pascarell33. The Myth of the “Culture of Poverty”, Paul Gorski DISABILITY34. Public Transit, John Hockenberry 35. "Can You See the Rainbow?"' The Roots of Denial, Sally French 36. Not Blind Enough: Living in the Borderland Called Legal Blindness, Beth Omansky Personal Account: A Time I Didn't Feel Normal, Heather CallenderSECTION III—THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE Framework EssayRACE AND ETHNICITY37. Fourteen Key Supreme Court Cases and the Civil War Amendments38.Blink in Black and White, Malcolm GladwellPersonal Account: Just Like My Mama Said, Anthony McNeill 39.Safe Haven in America? Thirty Years after the Refugee Act of 1980, David W. Haines 40.Hispanics Are Forgotten in Civil Rights History, Nicholas Dauphine 41.Balancing Identities: Undocumented Immigrant Asian American Students and the Model Minority Myth, Tracy Poon Tambascia, Jonathan Wang, Breanne Tcheng, and Viet T. BuiPersonal Account: Let Me Work for It!, Isabelle Nguyen42.Segregated Housing, Segregated Schools, Richard Rothstein SEX AND GENDER43.Many Faces of Gender Inequality, Amartya SenPersonal Account: He Hit Her, Tim Norton 44.The Not-So-Pink Ivory Tower, Ann Mullen45.The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled, Paula England SEXUALITY46.Sex Education and the Promotion of Heteronormativity, Tanya McNeill Personal Account: Learning My Own Privilege, Mireille M. Cecil 47.Gaga Relations: The End of Marriage, J. Jack Halberstam 48.Queers without Money: They Are Everywhere. But We Refuse to See Them, Amber Hollibaugh SOCIAL CLASS49.Rethinking American Poverty, Mark R. Rank 50.Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education, Peter Sacks 51.Wealth Stripping: Why It Costs So Much to Be Poor, James H. CarrDISABILITY52.Disability Trouble, Bradley A. Areheart 53.Learning Disabilities: The Social Construction of a Special Education Category, Christine E. Sleeter 54.(Re)Creating a World in Seven Days: Place, Disability, and Salvation in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Emily AskewSECTION IV—BRIDGING DIFFERENCES Framework Essay 55.Adolescent Masculinity in an Age of Decreased Homohysteria, Eric Anderson 56.What Can We Do? Becoming Part of the Solution, Allan G. Johnson Personal Account: Parents' Underestimated Love, Octavio N. Espinal57.In Defense of Rich Kids, William Upski WimsattPersonal Account: Where Are You From?, C.C. 58.Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel CreditsIndex