Peer Response

Responding to Person 1

Hello,

Thanks for sharing your post. James’ scenario shows that deviance is not necessarily open rebellion but much more likely that an individual need not conform to customary norms. His sense of fashion and not drinking defy rural masculine norms, but not for any other reason than practicality and health. This division reflects continuing customary gender norms that limit individual freedoms: Peer Response.

As identified by Conerly et al. (2021), gender norms are socially constructed entities well embedded in institutions like family and work. In comparing James to a Latina girl in foster care, both have systems that define deviance in terms that correspond to overall society expectations, James in terms of gendered labor roles, and the girl in terms of race- and gender-blurred assumptions in education. Both situations outline in detail how norms socially exist to privilege majority groups. In the world that we would like to have, norms would be flexible, fair, and consider individual situations.

References

Conerly, T. R., Holmes, K., & Tamang, A. L. (2021). Introduction to Sociology 3e. Houston, TX: OpenStax, Rice University.

Responding to Person 2

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your post. Your character situation is such an eloquent example of how deviance is all too often an epithet thrown at those who transgress oppressive frameworks. Survival strategies,  raising one’s voice, skipping school, or being innovative, transgressing norms that assume subservience is what’s worthwhile. Unlike James, who still enjoys privilege as a white man, your character is oppressed because she’s a girl, because she’s black, and because she’s in foster care.

The experiences of the two characters illustrate how the powerful define deviance as staying in control and supporting inequality. As Conerly et al.(2021) state, what is labeled as deviant is often determined by those in power and authority. These cases show that norms are not fixed but are instruments of power that those in power can shape. The world we hope to make would undo these unfair norms, ensuring that gender, race, or class no longer dictate one’s opportunities or define what is considered acceptable behavior.

References

Conerly, T. R., Holmes, K., & Tamang, A. L. (2021). Introduction to Sociology 3e. Houston, TX: OpenStax, Rice University.

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Instruction:  Compare and contrast your characters’ locations within the social hierarchy. What commonalities or divergences do you notice in how race, ethnicity, and class shape their stories? What insights do their reflections provide about the stratified nature of opportunity and the prospects for meaningful change?

Person1

Reconnect with your Character-

My character is a 16 year old Black girl living in a foster home in Milwaukee, WI. She has been in the foster care since since her early childhood years, never really having a steady home and jumping from foster family to foster family. Because of this it has left her with rooted to her core trust issues and a big sense of instability. Even with this big challenges she is a very passionate artist, and uses her art as an outlet for self expression, and when things feel dark and unknown she is able to turn to her art to help her cope and get through those tough times.

Her identity as a young Black women, low income, and in foster care, puts her in a jumbled crossroad of socially constructed groups shaped by power and privilege. When looking at race and class these are heavy hitters of inequality in American society, these have been built through hundreds of years of systemic racism, segregation, and financial hardship. Milwaukee is one of the most segregated places in the US, because of this it increases these social boundaries that this young girl is facing. These road blocks are not something just she is facing instead it’s a world wide issue that many minorities unfortunately face, and because these things exist they determine who is heard, helped, and harmed.

Position within the hierarchy-

Unfortunately this young woman sits near if not at the bottom of the American social hierarchy. Economically she has most likely close to no money which will cause instability. Living in foster care often means limited access to resources, a consistent education, or emotional support. As a young Black woman she is viewed through a lens of implicit bias and systemic racism, because of this it limits her potential and will often get criminalized for her behavior instead of getting help to support her growth and development.

Since she is growing up in Milwaukee this most likely deprives her of opportunities that she might get if she grew up in a different city or state. Milwaukee has one the highest Black poverty rates and has a huge segregation issue when it comes to housing, this affects everything from the quality of education to the policies that are created. Being in foster care means she is a ward of the state this limits her autonomy and puts her in a system that often cares more about compliance and control instead of being healing and allowing empowerment.

The education system might fail to see her talents or help provide trauma support or help her find resources. Don’t even get me started when it comes to healthcare… that is a very reactive thing not proactive, especially if you don’t have access to good health insurance, which this woman most likely does not. Being in foster care means her housing is uncertain and typically temporary. All of these systems are a web of things that give her lack of power, which will her her in this vicious cycle which consists of instability and hardship instead of being something that helps her grow towards opportunity.

The role of race and ethnicity-

Being Black in American continues to shape how people are perceived and the opportunities they are given or the lack there of. Because she is Black this impacts her life. Historically Black children have been overrepresented in the foster care system due to a number of things including poverty, racial bias when it comes to certain things, and systemic neglect. She has trauma of family separation and not knowing who she truly is and where she came from.

Because of this she might feel disconnected from her roots. Foster care often separates children from their racial and ethnic communities which causes cultures to not be celebrated or remembered. In many foster care placements, her identity may not be fully understood, embraced, supported, or celebrated. To help her remember who she is and where she came from she will have to do it through her art which will be her survival in getting through it.

When it comes to legal protections they will most likely fall short. A system like foster care is reactive and having someone to advocate for her is inconsistent. Since she is a young Black woman she is more likely to be disciplined more harshly in school, less likely to be adopted, and more likely to age out of foster care without a support network.

Historical Memory and Contemporary Conditions-

Her story follows those of other marginalized groups whose families and culture were disrupted by structural violence. For example Indigenous children were removed from their families through boarding schools and adoption policies. Latina/o immigrant children have faced family separation at the border, because of policies that treat them as threats rather than children in need.

It is 2025 and that is still happening only it’s happening right here in our home where children are watching and seeing their parents taken from them, this should never happen to innocent children no matter where they were born or where they came from. In all of these cases cultural contributions are often ignored, there might be a slight increase in knowledge of injustice today but poverty, racism, displacement and still very much a thing, they have just been disguised under different names, and policies. Inequality is still LARGELY intact.

Imagining a Different Future-

There needs to be a lot of change for her life to be fundamentally different, structural, cultural, and political all of these the need to change if change is going to happen.

Structural- There needs to be equitable funding for public schools, there needs to be trauma counseling or resources for children in the foster care system, affordable housing, and healthcare for all. There needs to be policies in place for systems to help heal not hurt people. For cultural change society needs to value and elevate the voices of young Black girls, not just in their art, but in leadership, policy making, and in education.

Their stories need to be listened to then be acted upon. When it comes to politics policies that are made need to address the racial disparities in child welfare, keep intact family preservation, and provide meaningful support for youth that will soon be out of the foster care system. By doing this they need to provide housing, access to good education, and have mentorship programs in place.

This character’s life helps paint a picture for us how class, race, and institutional systems are all woven together in a tight web that shapes opportunities or lack there of. The resilience of this character shows us the power of art, but it should not just be up to her to overcome these obstacles. Systems need to change not just the individual.

Person 2

At 16 years old, my character, a young Black girl living in a foster home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, embodies the intersections of race, class, and geographic location within a society structured by systemic inequality. She is not an immigrant, but her racial and economic identity is socially constructed in ways that locate her near the bottom of the U.S. social hierarchy. As a Black female youth in foster care, she navigates institutions that are often more punitive than protective. Her story is shaped by how race and class intersect to determine whose voices are heard, whose pain is validated, and whose futures are invested in.

This young girl’s most relevant identity markers include her race (Black), class (low-income/foster youth), age, and gender (female), all situated in an urban Midwestern city with a long history of segregation and disinvestment in Black communities. These elements are not innate; they are constructed and maintained through systems of power, whether through stereotypes, institutional policies, or social expectations. The narrative that fosters self-reliance while denying adequate support exemplifies how cultural values can serve to individualize failure, ignoring the structural causes.

Systemic barriers shape her position in the U.S. social hierarchy: racially biased school discipline practices, the instability of foster placements, and limited access to mental health care or economic mobility. Economically, she is disenfranchised, lacking the financial and familial capital that others may take for granted. Racially, she is subject to adultification bias, which distorts how caregivers, teachers, and even peers perceive her needs and emotions.

Those who hold power, such as school administrators, professionals, and policy-makers, can either reinforce or challenge her marginalization. Unfortunately, the institutions she’s most dependent on (education, housing, and child welfare) too often reproduce her exclusion through over-surveillance and under-support.

Her Black identity significantly impacts her access to resources and recognition. Due to historical and ongoing patterns of anti-Black racism, she may face harsher discipline in school, less compassion from caregivers, and greater suspicion from adults. She is less likely to be offered therapeutic care tailored to her trauma and more likely to be seen as “problematic” than “in pain.”

The foster system, though theoretically race-neutral, is not immune to bias. Black children are disproportionately represented, often receiving fewer placements with extended family or culturally competent foster parents. The absence of a supportive cultural or spiritual community can deepen feelings of alienation.

Her experiences echo the generational struggles of Black Americans who have been systematically denied stable housing, equitable education, and healthcare. From the legacy of Jim Crow to the racial wealth gap today, there is a continuity in how Black communities have been both culturally appropriated and structurally excluded. Like many Black artists before her, this young girl uses creativity as a tool of resistance and reclamation. Her art is not just an expression—it is a form of survival, echoing how Black art has historically served as a response to exclusion and a pathway to resilience.

For her life to change fundamentally, multiple structural reforms would be necessary: guaranteed stable housing for foster youth, equitable school funding, culturally competent mental health care, and policies that center youth voice in decision-making. Culturally, society must dismantle narratives that pathologize Black girls while romanticizing their “strength.” Politically, public systems must be redesigned with equity, rather than efficiency, as the primary goal.

Her story teaches us that race, class, and social status are not separate forces but interwoven realities that mold every opportunity and obstacle. She also reminds us that transformation is not only possible, but also necessary. The path forward requires both systemic change and the willingness to see her not as a statistic, but as a storyteller, a survivor, and a visionary.

Textbook: Conerly, TR., Holmes K, Tamang AL, et al. (2021). Introduction to Sociology 3E. Houston, TX: OpenStax, Rice University