The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality

Book excerpt: "The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality, Eighth Edition, surveys how and why the categories of race, class, gender, and sexuality are constructed, maintained, experienced, and transformed. This popular anthology moves beyond simply discussing various forms of stratification and the impact on members of marginalized groups by providing a thorough discussion of how such systems of stratification are formed, perpetuated, and interconnected. Each reading ends with critical-thinking questions to help students relate content to their own lives and understand how their attitudes, actions, and perspectives may serve to perpetuate a stratified system"--