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Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:06.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’d like to follow up on our last lecture about the sociological imagination and talk about three questions
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.50,0:00:10.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are characteristic of the discipline of sociology.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.58,0:00:16.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the first is: How are the things that we take to be natural socially constructed?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.85,0:00:22.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How are the things that we take to be natural socially constructed?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.03,0:00:29.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s a basic flaw in common sense, and human reasoning more generally, that goes something like this:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.78,0:00:37.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The things we see before us every day are “supposed to be that way”; they come from nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.06,0:00:40.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But sociology teaches us that many of the things
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.30,0:00:45.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we think are natural are actually man- and woman-made —
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.55,0:00:50.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which does not necessarily mean this makes us freer from so-called “nature” —
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.63,0:00:56.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in fact, we may not be as free as we think, even armed with this insight.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.82,0:01:05.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that hasn’t stopped many people from using the insight to try to bring about very important social changes,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.03,0:01:10.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some of which have succeeded and some of which are slow to progress.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.91,0:01:15.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, let’s say that you go up to a baby or a small child on the street —
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.48,0:01:21.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least here in Princeton, New Jersey — perhaps in a stroller or crawling next to the parents.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.81,0:01:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What’s the first question you’re going to ask those parents?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.98,0:01:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Very likely you’re going to say, “Does your child have a penis or a vagina?”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.04,0:01:36.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You need to know the answer to that question right?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.42,0:01:43.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because without knowing the answer to that question you cannot proceed any further in the interaction —
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.76,0:01:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is, if you are a typical human being, like me.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.00,0:01:53.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is because without knowing if the child has a penis or a vagina
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.17,0:01:57.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you don’t really know how to interact with that child.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.89,0:02:05.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now in fact, it’s probably not the best thing in the world to ask that question in that way to a parent.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.11,0:02:09.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, if you were to go up and ask the question in that way,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.66,0:02:14.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least here in Princeton, and all of the other places where I have lived,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.62,0:02:19.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you would be considered very unusual, if not strange.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.35,0:02:23.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So instead, we ask the question in a more benign way:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.14,0:02:28.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We say, “Is your child a boy, or a girl?”
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.64,0:02:34.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, actually, even if you ask it like that, some parents will not be thrilled
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.35,0:02:38.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they want to believe that you can tell what their child is.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.04,0:02:44.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which highlights how significant it is that we be able to interact with a child in an appropriate way.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.86,0:02:47.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when you go up to a child on the street,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.56,0:02:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first thing you might say to a parent is; “What’s your baby’s name?”
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.01,0:02:57.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s a kind of subtle way of asking the sex of the boy or the girl
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.88,0:03:03.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without saying “I can’t really tell if your child is a boy or a girl.”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.93,0:03:09.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And once you’ve figured out whether or not you are interacting with a boy or a girl,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.94,0:03:16.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that might cause some significant difference in the way that you will interact, or what you will say next.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.59,0:03:22.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if you find out that it is a little boy named Michael — which is a popular boy’s name
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.28,0:03:29.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when people currently at Princeton were born in the early 90’s —, you might say, “Hey buddy, how are you doing?”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.22,0:03:35.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or if you find out that it’s a little girl named Ashley — which was also a popular girl’s name in the early 90’s,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.14,0:03:39.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when many of the students at Princeton who are here today were born —,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.02,0:03:41.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you might say, “Hi sweetie, how are you?”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.36,0:03:46.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That will be the beginning of a kind of interaction that is gender-based.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.81,0:03:52.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By gender, we mean The social, cultural and psychological meanings
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.23,0:03:55.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which get attributed to sex.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.48,0:04:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I’d be curious, by the way, about how this all works in the places that you live.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.38,0:04:06.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why is gender so important to social interaction?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.70,0:04:09.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s nothing else quite like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.24,0:04:14.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If we go up to a baby on the street, and we don’t know what race they are,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.33,0:04:18.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can pretty well interact with them, at least here in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.81,0:04:25.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sure, there are parents who will signal a certain racial affiliation by how they fix the child’s hair,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.47,0:04:28.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or what kind of garments they have the child wear;
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.04,0:04:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but on the whole, people don’t need to know the race of a child in order to interact with it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.94,0:04:39.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whether the child is black or white or Latino or Asian for example,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.50,0:04:45.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is not going to have a significant impact on the nature of the interaction.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.42,0:04:47.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same thing with social class, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.76,0:04:55.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We don’t really need to know what social class a child comes from in order to interact with it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.17,0:04:59.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In order for an interaction to be successful, we don’t need to know
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.62,0:05:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether a child is from the working classes or the middle classes or the upper middle classes
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.88,0:05:10.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or that group that has become popularly known as the top one percent.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.46,0:05:13.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are many of the people of the upper classes
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.51,0:05:16.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who dress their children in clothes from the Gap or Old Navy,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.55,0:05:21.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stores which sell their products very widely to people of many different classes.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.65,0:05:24.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And likewise, there are many poor people in the United States
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.62,0:05:31.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who dress their children in labels that come from elite names like Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.81,0:05:35.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can’t necessarily tell what social class a baby comes from.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.93,0:05:39.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And more importantly, you don’t feel you need to know.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:39.74,0:05:42.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But gender is completely different.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.61,0:05:47.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You expect to know the gender of a child before you can interact with it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.84,0:05:54.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now the one thing that occurs to you, or to me when you need to know the gender of a child
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.31,0:06:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that all interactions are gendered from the beginning is you come to the realization
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.00,0:06:07.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that from a very early age a child is going to be enacting the role of a boy or a girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.20,0:06:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They re going to respond to the expectations of the people around them with regard to gender.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.62,0:06:21.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And through processes of interaction, they are going to come to think about themselves as a boy or a girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.21,0:06:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And because this happens at such a young age, when they’re infants, in fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.55,0:06:33.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can see the ways that gender expectations come to be socially constructed at the earliest part of life.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.99,0:06:41.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now this is not to suggest that this thing I am saying is social, does not have some biological basis to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.32,0:06:46.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is not to suggest that brain science does not have a significant amount
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.29,0:06:53.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to contribute to our understanding by looking at the differences between male and female brains.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.06,0:06:54.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what it does suggest
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.95,0:07:01.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that there is a very strong component of male and female which is socially constructed.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.63,0:07:04.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Part of my agenda in this lecture is
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.10,0:07:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not to say that the biological is a residual category that doesn’t matter,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.04,0:07:12.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to say that we’re going to engage in an enterprise of disentangling,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.97,0:07:18.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to try to figure out which parts are biological, and which are social;
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.37,0:07:22.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because from the standpoint of common sense, it is all biological.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.39,0:07:28.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most people who are not educated in sociology see these differences as rooted in nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.28,0:07:35.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A few years ago, the president of Harvard, Larry Summers made a deliberately provocative statement —
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.14,0:07:40.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for which he later apologized — suggesting that the existence of fewer women in science
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.30,0:07:43.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,might have something to do with there being fewer women
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.87,0:07:49.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the higher end of the intelligence distribution as measured by IQ scores.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.76,0:07:54.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was trying to suggest that there was something innate or natural about this outcome.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.80,0:08:00.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, once we know that there is a strong social component to male and female,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.27,0:08:04.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we may hope that there are things that we can do to influence the environment
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.92,0:08:08.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that may actually have an impact on the long-term outcomes of men and women.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.93,0:08:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know that there is significant amount of gender inequality even in the United States today,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.14,0:08:19.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a country that has been thinking about these differences longer than some other countries.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.68,0:08:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at the same time we find that many of these differences are intractable, or very difficult to eradicate.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.00,0:08:29.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But to come back to the statement by the president of Harvard,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.95,0:08:35.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there’s actually been some progress in getting more women into fields like biological sciences.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.77,0:08:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Summers’ remarks ignored some very important data.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.48,0:08:45.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1966, less than one percent of U.S. doctoral degrees in engineering were awarded to women;
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.64,0:08:50.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while in 2001, the number had risen to about 17%.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.64,0:08:53.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Surely the IQ of women at the high end of the distribution
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.70,0:08:57.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,did not change that significantly during this period.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.58,0:09:01.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These numbers suggest that a lot of progress still needs to be made.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.48,0:09:06.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some of our institutions in American society are working very hard
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.31,0:09:10.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to ask what we can do to change gender inequality
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.20,0:09:17.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to change the sense of how it is natural for men and women to behave or act in particular ways.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.27,0:09:23.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In math and science training, a vast amount of sociological research has demonstrated
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.06,0:09:26.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that when teachers or parents have low expectations for girls,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.31,0:09:29.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then women will not develop their potential talents.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.57,0:09:34.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know that, for a very long time in universities like Princeton,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.20,0:09:37.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there were very few women who went into science and engineering.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.72,0:09:40.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there was a sense on the part of many women
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.32,0:09:44.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who went into these universities that it was a male thing to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.65,0:09:49.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This view was something encouraged at the earliest stage of life.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.25,0:09:52.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over time expectations have changed,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.76,0:09:56.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we have more and more women going into science and engineering.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.72,0:10:00.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But these are things that the university knows begin with a pipeline.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.54,0:10:03.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they can only be changed if the stereotypes
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.53,0:10:07.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the sense of what is appropriate and natural for different genders to take on
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.43,0:10:10.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,changes at the earliest parts of life,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.79,0:10:17.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coinciding, perhaps, with the very moment when we are starting to interact with children in gendered ways.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.84,0:10:25.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or let’s take an even more controversial example: racial differences in IQ.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.04,0:10:29.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, when white people find out that I’m a sociologist
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.54,0:10:34.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they’ll ask why it is that blacks are doing worse than whites in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.52,0:10:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it’s not uncommon for folks to suggest to me that it is because they’re not as smart.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.20,0:10:44.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they’ll cite evidence that blacks have lower IQ scores in general —
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.82,0:10:48.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quote, they’re not as smart so they don’t do as well, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.92,0:10:55.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now it is true that blacks have lower IQ scores, in general, than whites in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.58,0:10:59.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People who argue this argue that it’s based on genetics.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.81,0:11:05.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One explanation is that they have smaller brains than whites; but that is wrong.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.62,0:11:09.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his book « Intelligence and How to Get It », Richard Nesbitt says
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.16,0:11:14.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Albert Einstein had a smaller brain than the average black person —
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.38,0:11:17.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Brain size is not the cause of these differences.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.96,0:11:21.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s also the claim that these lower IQ’s are inherited.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.50,0:11:25.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, there are many studies that have been done that have demonstrated
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.68,0:11:32.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ways that IQ is also based on the environmental influences — the social context in which people live.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.29,0:11:37.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thus, according to Nisbett, the average child in a poor family will hear
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.11,0:11:42.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,substantially fewer words, per day, than someone in an upper middle class family.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:42.71,0:11:45.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By a time a child reaches five years old,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.33,0:11:49.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he or she will have heard many more words in a higher income family.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.54,0:11:57.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vocabulary, it turns out, is a very significant determinant of how people do on IQ tests.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.03,0:12:00.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to Nisbett, the average IQ in the United States
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.83,0:12:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the course of the past 50 years — since World War II — has gone up 15 to 20 points.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:06.98,0:12:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is just the average for Americans as a whole.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:10.36,0:12:16.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it’s impossible for the genetics of the country to have changed that much over the past 50 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.74,0:12:21.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we know that there is something about the environment of the United States
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.11,0:12:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is affecting the group as a whole.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.00,0:12:29.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And during this period, the average difference in IQ between blacks and whites decreased significantly.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:29.83,0:12:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was fifteen points in 1945 and it’s nine points today.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.04,0:12:40.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to Nisbett, that corresponds to a certain level of improvement in the black population —
Dialogue: 0,0:12:40.43,0:12:44.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,compared to the white population — in their standard of living.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:44.44,0:12:52.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The average black today has a higher IQ than the average white in 1950 — another interesting thing to explain.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:52.83,0:12:56.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So these are some examples of how it is
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.45,0:13:01.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that one of the great achievements of the social sciences and thinking about IQ
Dialogue: 0,0:13:01.40,0:13:05.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been to understand the way that many things we take to be natural
Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.56,0:13:12.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are not completely based on genetics, but are themselves a function of the social environment.