Social Inequality

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Much like many of the other terms that we discussed in this class, I knew what inequality meant but I never took the time to actually look it up in the dictionary. This is how the dictionary defined inequality:

in\cdot e\cdot qual\cdot i\cdot ty

noun 

1 : the quality of being unequal or uneven: as

                                     a : lack of unevenness

                                     b : social disparity  

                                     c : disparity of distribution or opportunity

                                     d : the condition of being variable

                             2 : an instance of being unequal

                       3 : mathematics: a formal statement of inequality between 

                two qualities usually separated by a sign of inequality

                       (as <, >, or ≠ signifying respectively is less than, is greater 

than, or is not equal to)

       synonyms: imbalance, inequity, inconsistency, variation

I think the third definition is the one that allows for a visual understanding of inequality. In math, the less than and greater than signs help us identify which of the two values has the most value. For example, take 9 > 2; 9 is greater than 2. Now, take the same numbers and add an object to it: 9 apples > 2 apples. Having 9 apples is better than having 2 apples. Additionally, If you add an object of more value: 9 dollars > 2 dollars. Having $9 in your pocket is better than only having $2 in your pocket. You get the picture. 

So these signs ( <, >) mean that there an imbalance occurring. This will help us see the inequality between two different sets of groups in our world. For instance, first world countries > third world countries. First world countries have better health care, education, produce, sanitation, upward mobility, and more wealth compared to third world countries so there is a clear inequality between the two. 

<  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠

Throughout the course we learned that inequality is a core area in sociology. We examined how concepts (stigma, cumulative advantage, reference groups, etc.) and different key axes (gender, race, immigration, age, etc.) intersect to create inequalities. I learned a great amount this quarter about the ways in which social inequality works, starting at the beginning. 

After viewing others neighborhood videos, I was able to see how different each one of our experiences have been due to the neighborhoods we grew up in. What I found the most interesting was that even though each one of us came from difference backgrounds (some advantaged and others disadvantaged), we all ended up at UCI enrolling in this class, getting the same education. During the week of cumulative advantage, I started to fully piece together how great of an advantage (or disadvantage) a person has based on how they look, who their parents are, where they are from, when they were born, and what sex they are. 

 

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Coming from a 95% Latino, working-class neighborhood, I thought my neighborhood was very disadvantaged. From seeing many of my friends drop out of middle school and high school, to seeing other very intelligent friends not be able to go to college because of expenses or undocumented status; I saw how much of a disadvantage we had. But then I read Dasani's story. Dasani, a 12 year old girl, lives in a homeless shelter in a 520-square foot room with her parents and seven siblings. The pictures of their living arrangements and the day to day experiences she faced clearly showed cumulative disadvantage. How where she born, who her parents were, her race, and her sex all compiled into a great disadvantage for her. This is just one individual story of one girl who was born into an unfortunate situation. The living situation that one is born into has a lot to do with their life outcomes. Whether one has stigmatized characteristics, token status, social capital, and human capital- this all affects how they are received in our society. This is ultimately what I learned in class: these aspects will either help you in life or create barriers. 

<  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠  <  >  ≠

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Life as a Latina Immigrant in the US

Due to this class, I started reflecting on my parents and my life. My parents immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. when I was one year old. They came here to provide my siblings and I a better life, just as many immigrants do according to Massey's new economic theory of migration. However in search for a better life, a great amount of barriers arose because of the various stigmas that my parents held. Now being a male immigrant is hard, but being a female immigrant is harder. Seeing as my life would be similar to my mom's if we had not become U.S. citizens, I became very interested in examining the inequality that Latina undocumented immigrants face in the U.S.

First, I will list all the inequalities that my mom has to face. 

1. Being a Woman:             Male > Female 
2. Being a Latina: White > Color
3. Being an Immigrant: Citizen > Immigrant
4. Being Working-Class: Upper Class > Working Class

 

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Now, I will examine them all together in relation to my mom's experiences.

My mom was a Latina undocumented working-class immigrant. This is four disadvantages that cumulatively create a huge inequality. 

Because of the barriers put in her way my mom was stuck. She had to get work in order to help my dad with the finances but because of her undocumented status she was unable to get a legal job. My mom was forced to go into domestic work, as many other women in her situation go into. Cecilia Menjivar characterized this as a racialized and gendered occupation. Women in this field work as one of these three: live-in nanny, live-out nanny, or housecleaner. So my mom became a housecleaner. Fortunately, being a housecleaner is the highest ranked job in this category. For 15 years, my mom has worked as a housecleaner. She has a bi-weekly route with all her clients that she has accumulated over the years. However, this job causes a great toll on her body. Today, my mom has early stages of arthritis in her hands, inflamed arm muscles which she needed to have surgery for, and back problems. Limited to this work, my mom has encountered many negative side effects. 

 As well, she is apart of a traditional Hispanic family. This means that familismo and machismo are two important concepts that women in Hispanic families face. Familismo refers to the loyalty, reciprocity, and solidarity within ones immediate and extended family. Machismo refers to men as working hard to protect the family, provide financially, and be the decision maker. However, the negative side of machismo is that the men subjugate the female's role in the family.

So a female's role in a Hispanic family is to cook, clean, and care for the children. As well, she must be submissive to her husband. As well as working during the day to relieve some of the financial burden on my dad, my mom has to get home everyday to clean and cook so that the house is clean and the food is on the table by the time my dad gets home from work. So with the added stress of working, she has to deal with the stresses of being a Hispanic wife. That's double the inequality she has to face. 

Added on to the stress of working and being a mother and wife, my mom had to deal with the stresses of being undocumented. My mom did not know the language, the culture, and she was here illegally. As we read in the article See No Spanish: Language, Local Context, and Attitudes Toward Immigration,” native born residents feel threatened by the Spanish language. They feel as though the language threatened the American culture, and this creates any-immigration attitudes. So my mom had to deal with the stress of not being able to communicate with English-speakers when she first got here. Communicating with her employers was difficult at first. Not being able to communicate also creates tension within their relationship. To this date my mom still struggles with English, but she is able to hold a conversation now. More than the language barrier, she had to live with the fear of being deported at any moment. She had her route of houses to clean, which meant that she had to drive the route herself. Not having a license, she was risking getting stopped by the cops every single day that she worked. Not having an option, however, she risked it every day in order to help provide for her children. That's triple, quadruple, or even quintuple the inequality that my mom had to face. 

Fortunately, after many years of living in the U.S. my parents were able to get themselves and us (their children) U.S. citizenship in December of 2013. After overcoming several barriers, my mom can now be classified as a Latina, middle-class U.S. citizen. This does not mean that all the inequalities against her have gone away, she still has some stigmas that she is associated with. However, she now has the option of changing her career and she no longer has to stress about being undocumented. 

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