Wealth inequality was not something that occurred overnight. It established itself over several decades of mistreatment of immigrants by people from the west, and people of power from the west supporting and “okaying” this mistreatment. This is how inequality is produced. Immigrants, however, were not the only ones being mistreated, women of every social class and race were also regarded in this way. People of power in the west have always been men. In this type of atmosphere where masculinity thrives, immigrants are seen as naive and women are inferior and weak compared to men. They made these perceptions of specific groups as acceptable in society, and used these perceptions to manipulate these groups into cheap labor that they can profit …show more content…
By reading their conclusions, as a sociologist, I was able to formulate my own conclusions of how economic inequality is connected to social structures. When Barbara Ehrenreich immersed herself into the life of a low-wage worker she discovered how undoubtedly difficult it was to live a life wholly from paycheck to paycheck. She wrote about her experiences from her experiment in an article she named Nickel and Dimed. She starts from the beginning, she takes “a red pen to the want ads, which are suspiciously numerous. Everyone in Key West’s booming, “hospitality industry” seems to be looking for someone like me-- trainable, flexible, and with suitably humble expectations as to pay” (Ehrenreich 1999: 138). She decides she will not put down any advantageous skills she contains to make her experiment more accurate to the everyday low-wage worker. Before she begins her journey, she wonders “if 30 percent of the workforce toils for less than $8 an hour,” which analytically speaking is not enough to actually live off of especially if you take child care into consideration, “according to the EPI,they may have found some …show more content…
We have strong affiliations with globalization and have accepted fascism thinkings such as “America first,” which is humorous because we are the United States of America, we completely just do not take South America into recognition. This type of dominance in known as hegemony. There has been decreasing power in the nation considering the flow of money, people (labourers), and information. No one is at the wheel. Colonized nations, women in general, and anyone working in bad conditions have started to rebel and stand up for their rights. A certain amount of poverty is built into the wage structure so people in power have most of the money in America. Using my sociological imagination I am able to locate my family as lower middle class. When people discover my family's occupation (dad-truck driver; mom-stay at home mom) they immediately place me at a lower status, especially people at Syracuse University who mainly come from wealthier households. I did not attend a private or boarding school, just your typical public school with a low budget. I struggled a lot with my parents losing jobs and budgeting every aspect of life, such as short showers, gifts, gas, using water, etc. But, I was fortunate for my grandparents who are quite wealthy and would buy clothes for my brother and I and gift us with tvs, makeup, and other expensive amenities. I am a white privileged woman who does not have to deal with racism but I do have to deal with sexism. I