The interaction of race and gender in the formation of political identities cannot be underestimated. In their duty to allocate resources, the wealthy and powerful (primarily white and male) individuals who create, develop and maintain social institutions construct values and norms that assign identity and subsequently access to resources based on identity. According to Rothenberg (1997), with respect to resource allocation:
Those societies that tend toward a less egalitarian distribution have adopted various ways to apportion privilege; some have used age, others have used ancestry. U.S. society, like many others, places a priority on sex and race (7).
Gender roles and race play an important part in the formation of such identities. Women are still routinely paid less than men for similar work, while few African Americans own a major league sports franchise despite a majority of players being African American.
We see many instances in U.S. society where concepts of race and gender have been used by individuals in a manner that connotes inferiority versus superiority, thereby adding political and economic value to the race and gender that is considered superior and reinforced by social values, norms and institutions. We see in HubbardÆs (1997) Rethinking WomenÆs Biology that even the concept of womenÆs biology is both a social and a political construction ôbecause it is not simply womenÆs description of our experience of our biologyö (32). Such definitions have been provided by white, privileged men and have been constructed, according to Hubbard (1997), in such a fashion that the role defined by women is more motivated by male needs than female realities, ômen with strong personal and political interests in describing women in ways that make it appear ænaturalÆ for us to fulfill roles that are important for their well-being, personally and as a groupö (32).
We also see from a review of American society t...