Traditionally, racial and ethnic groups have been defined using the biology and sociology of a people, respectively.
The physical characteristics of a person are what define his racial affiliation. Such characteristics include skin, eye color or even bone structure. On the other hand, ethnicity is defined by cultural factors such as language, nationality and ancestry. Brown, black and white skins are all example of races while Italian or English ancestry can be regarded as ethnic groups. One can only have a single racial group but can belong to many ethnic groups.
Both ethnicity and race can be argued as social construction. Frankenberg (1993) points out that a persons’ race determines his daily live, whether conscious of it or not. Various domains in people’s lives are determined by how they see others, how they see themselves and how others see them.
...Race, one way or the other, determines the friends one makes, the jobs, the food eaten and the places of residence; it affects and may even define people’s lives.
The public have a racial group assigned to a certain person, notwithstanding whether that person has identified him/herself otherwise. That is an example of racialization. Tiger woods, for instance is classified as racially black; yet he classified himself as Cablinasian. Ethnicity, on the other hand is self-defined and whichever ethnicity one brands him/herself, it is socially accepted. Then ethnicity is seen as a more relevant feature of identity.
This is down to its notion as a self-defined and socially constructed identity. Gender is also considered a social construct. Gender, unlike sex, is a social construct rather than a biological concept. It is more fluid that is not defined by biologica
traits.
Gender comprises social norms and attitudes that are deemed by the society to be more appropriate for a certain sex rather than the other. Gender is an idea that explains how the public/society handle the sexes. Gender positions, according to the society, include gender queer, woman, transgender, male and intersex. Gender unlike race, does not depend on the color of the skin or the bone structure. It is a social construct that is different from ethnicity. It is not defined by nationality or area of origin.
References
- Frankenberg, R. (1993). White women, race matters. University of Minnesota Press.
- Rex, J. (1986). Race and ethnicity. Open University Press.
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