"The Meaning of Difference" focuses on the social construction of difference as it operates in American formulations of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexual orientation, and disability. The conceptual structure of this text-reader comes from four framework essays addressing the construction of difference, the experience of difference, the social meaning of difference, and social action that might bridge differences. Each framework essay is followed by a set of readings selected for readability, conceptual depth, and applicability to a variety of statuses. Boxed inserts throughout offer first-person accounts from real people, many of them students. This edition features an expanded focus on disability and 29 new readings, including articles on how immigration is transforming the nature of American race and ethnic categories, the changing shape of higher education, and the experience of Americans of Middle-Eastern descent.

Table of Contents

** Indicates new reading SECTION IFramework Essay: CONSTRUCTING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE What is Race? 1. "Race" and the Construction of Human Identity, Audrey Smedley (from the American Anthropologist)**2. Who Is Black? One Nation's Definition, F. James Davis3. The Evolution of Identity, Washington Post Federal Page4. Real Indians, Eva Marie Garroutte (from her book, by the same title)5. Asian American Panethnicity: Contemporary National and Transnational Possibilities, Yen Le Espiritu (from Not Just Black And White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States, edited by Nancy Foner and George Frederickson)**6. Whiteness as an 'Unmarked' Cultural Category, Ruth Frankenberg7. America's Changing Color Lines: Immigration, Race/Ethnicity, and Multiracial Identification, Jennifer Lee and Frank Bean (from The Annual Review of Sociology) **8. "We Are All Americans": The Latin Americanization of Race Relations in the United States, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Karen S. Glover **Personal Account: A Wonderful Opportunity, R.M.A Personal Account: I Thought My Race Was Invisible, Sherri H. Pereira Personal Account: My Strategies, Eric Jackson ** What Is Sex? What Is Gender? 9. The Five Sexes Revisited: Anne Fausto-Sterling10. The Gendered Society, Michael S. Kimmel (from his book by the same name)11. Who Put the "Trans" in Transgender? Gender Theory and Everyday Life, Suzanne Kessler and Wendy McKenna (from The International Journal of Transgenderism) **.Personal Account: He Hit Her, Tim Norton What Is Social Class? 12. What's Class got to do with it?, Michael Zweig (from his book by the same title)13. The Rich, the Poor, and the Growing Gap Between Them: Inequality in America, The Economist**14. Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in America, Diana Kendall (from her book by the same title) **15. Middle-Class Social Reproduction: The Activation and Negotiation of Structural Advantages, Peter Kaufman (from Sociological Forum) **16. This Hard-Earned Money Comes Stuffed in their Genes, Dusty Horwitt Personal Account: How I Learned to Appreciate Printers, Sandra Pamela Maida **Personal Account: I Am a Pakistani Woman, Hoorie I. Siddique What Is Sexual Orientation? 17. Is Homosexual a Noun?, Paul R. Abramson and Steven D. Pinkerton (from their book, With Pleasure: On the Nature of Human Sexuality)18. A New Paradigm for Understanding Women's Sexuality and Sexual Orientation, Letitia Anne Peplau and Linda Garnets (from The Journal of Social Issues) **19. The End of Gay (and the Death of Heterosexuality), Bert Archer (from his book of the same title)20. The Heterosexual Questionnaire, Martin Rochlin **Personal Account: An Opportunity to Get Even, Carol A. Mabry Personal Account:Living Invisibly, Tara S. Ellison What is Disability?21. Disability Definitions: The Politics of Meaning, Mike Oliver (from his book, The Politics of Disablement)22. What Do Disabilities Have To Do With Diversity? Patricia McCune (from About Campus) **23. A World of Their Own, Liza Mundy Personal Account: A Time I Didn't Feel Normal, Heather Callender ** SECTION II Framework Essay: EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCE Race and Ethnicity 24. Latinos in the U.S. Race Structure, Clara E. Rodriguez, (from her book, Changing Race)25. Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, Beverly Daniel Tatum (from her book by the same title)26. Middle Eastern Lives in America, Amir Marvasti and Karyn D. McKinney (from their book with the same title) **27. Everybody's Ethnic Enigma, Jelita McLeod (from the Washington Post)28. Adopted in China, Seeking Identity in America, Lynette Clemetson (New York Times) **29. Loot or Find: Fact or Frame?, Cheryl L. Harris and Devon W. Carbado (from After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina, by David Dante Troutt, Charles Ogletree, and Derrick Bell)** Personal Account: My Secret, Sarah Herschler** Personal Account: Play Some Rolling Stones, Mark Donald Stockenberg Personal Account: Going Home, Keeva Haynes Personal Account: Where Are You From? C.C Sex and Gender30. Chappals and Gym Shorts: An Indian-Muslim woman in the land of Oz, Almas Sayeed (from Colonize This! by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman)31. Proving Manhood, Timothy Beneke (from his book by the same title) **32. Proud To Wear My Hajib, Syeda Rezwana Nodi ** Personal Account: "Basketball," Andrea M. Busch Personal Account: Just Something You Did as a Man, Francisco Hernandez Sexual Orientation33. Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life, Steven Seidman (from his book of the same title) **34. Sexual Orientation and Sex in Women's lives: Conceptual and Methodological Issues, Esther D. Rothblum (Journal of Social Issues) **35. Anti-Gay Slurs Common at School: A Lesson in Cruelty, Laura Sessions SteppPersonal Account: A White Male Rescued Me, Meticia Watson Personal Account: You Can't Forget Humiliation, Amy L. Helm Social Class36. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenrich (from book of the same title)37. Cause of Death: Inequality, Alejandro Reuss (Dollars and Sense)38. Why Are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting into Our Top Colleges? Because Their Dads Are Alumni, John Larew39. The Opportunity for a College Education: Real Promise or Hollow Rhetoric? Brian Fitzgerald (from About Campus) ** Personal Account: That Moment of Visibility, Rose B. Pascarell Disability40. Public Transit, John Hockenberry (from Voices from the Edge, Ruth O'Brien)41. 'Can You See the Rainbow?' The Roots of Denial, Sally French42. Not Blind Enough: Living in the Borderland Called Legal Blindness, Beth Omansky ** Personal Account: Seeing Race, Seeing Disability, R.B. SECTION IIIFramework Essay: THE MEANING OF DIFFERENCE Intersectionality43. It's All in the Family: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Nation, Patricia Hill Collins (from Hypatia)**44. Toward a Theory of Disability and Gender, Thomas Gerschick (from Signs) **45. Oppression, Marilyn Frye46. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh **47. Ethnic Identity and Racial Formations: Race and Racism American-Style and a lo Latino, Marta Cruz Janzen48. I/Me/Mine: Intersectional Identities as Negotiated Minefields, Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Signs) ** Law, Politics, and Policy 49. Twelve Key Supreme Court Cases 50. The Minority Rights Revolution, John D. Skrentny (from his book, by the same title)51. The Bankruptcy of Virtuous Markets, Michael K. Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David B. Oppenheimer, Marjorie M. Schultz, David Wellman (from Whitewashing Race: The myth of a color-blind society, same authors)52. The Model Minority; Asian American "Success" as a Race Relations Failure, Frank Wu (from his book, Yellow)53. The Pressure to Cover, Kenji Yoshino (from his book, Covering) **54. The Other Movement that Rosa Parks Inspired, Charles Wilson (Washington Post) ** Personal Account: Memories of Summer Camp, Patricia Kelly Personal Account: Just Like My Mama Said, Anthony McNeill Language55. Gender Stereotyping in the English Language, Laurel Richardson56. Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity, Simi Linton (from her book, by the same title)**57. Colormute: Talk Dilemmas in an American School, Mica Pollock (from her book, by the same title)** Personal Account: Becoming a Minority, Elizabeth Lukos SECTION IVFramework Essay: BRIDGING DIFFERENCES 58. Influencing Public Policy, Jeanine C. Cogan (from Everyday Activism, Michael R. Stevenson and Jeanine C. Cogan)59. What can we do? Becoming Part of the Solution, Allan Johnson (from his book, Privilege, Power, and Difference)60. Racetalk: Bridging Boundaries, Kristen A. Myers (from her book, by the same title) **61. In Defense of Rich Kids, William Upski Wimsatt (from his book, No More Prisons)62. Uprooting Racism: How White People can work for racial justice, Paul Kivel (from his book of the title)** Indicates new reading

Author Biography

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.