Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and the Racialization of Attitudes Toward Descriptive Representation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1532673X2110226
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Lucas ◽  
Heather Silber Mohamed

Who is most likely to consider diverse representation desirable? Previous literature typically emphasizes the importance of partisanship and group identity congruence (i.e., women representing women) in influencing attitudes about descriptive representation. Alternatively, we test whether the racialized politics that emerged in 2016 might now shape views about representation by members of underrepresented groups. Using data from the 2016 ANES, we examine attitudes toward increasing the number of women and Hispanic representatives. Rather than partisanship or identity congruence, our results point to the primacy of racial attitudes, linked fate, and feminism in shaping views about diverse representation. Indeed, even when examining attitudes about increased representation by women, we find strong evidence that opinions are now racialized. We argue for a more expansive understanding of support for descriptive representation, which may reflect an individual’s opinions of marginalized groups and structural inequities more broadly.

2020 ◽  
pp. 106591292095164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Bejarano ◽  
Nadia E. Brown ◽  
Sarah Allen Gershon ◽  
Celeste Montoya

Scholars of gender and race have long acknowledged the importance that descriptive representation plays for marginalized groups, if not substantively than symbolically. Yet, as candidate pools diversify to better reflect the population, it becomes less clear which among intersecting and overlapping identities will matter and how. Employing data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we explore the association between minority voters’ sense of linked fate and their beliefs about candidates who share (or do not share) their gender and racial identities. Using this timely and unique data, collected immediately after the 2016 election when race and gender were of particular salience, we examine whether shared racial and gender identity is associated with Black and Latina/o voters’ beliefs about how well different candidates will represent their interests. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research for the changing face of American political candidates and voters.


Author(s):  
Jay J. Xu ◽  
Jarvis T. Chen ◽  
Thomas R. Belin ◽  
Ronald S. Brookmeyer ◽  
Marc A. Suchard ◽  
...  

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in the United States has disproportionately impacted communities of color across the country. Focusing on COVID-19-attributable mortality, we expand upon a national comparative analysis of years of potential life lost (YPLL) attributable to COVID-19 by race/ethnicity (Bassett et al., 2020), estimating percentages of total YPLL for non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, non-Hispanic Asians, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives, contrasting them with their respective percent population shares, as well as age-adjusted YPLL rate ratios—anchoring comparisons to non-Hispanic Whites—in each of 45 states and the District of Columbia using data from the National Center for Health Statistics as of 30 December 2020. Using a novel Monte Carlo simulation procedure to perform estimation, our results reveal substantial racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19-attributable YPLL across states, with a prevailing pattern of non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics experiencing disproportionately high and non-Hispanic Whites experiencing disproportionately low COVID-19-attributable YPLL. Furthermore, estimated disparities are generally more pronounced when measuring mortality in terms of YPLL compared to death counts, reflecting the greater intensity of the disparities at younger ages. We also find substantial state-to-state variability in the magnitudes of the estimated racial/ethnic disparities, suggesting that they are driven in large part by social determinants of health whose degree of association with race/ethnicity varies by state.


Author(s):  
Theresa Carilli

Marginalization, a fluid concept, challenges status quo understandings and representations of individuals throughout the world. Considered to reference individuals who have been excluded from the mainstream dialogue, marginalization has developed into a term that evokes an examination of the master narrative, also known as the metanarrative. In a world where the master narrative predominates, individuals are systematically excluded based on a characteristic or characteristics they possess that disrupt a specified system of cultural norms. In relation to the global media, marginalized voices represent groups that have self-contained cultural norms and rules that differ from mainstream norms and rules. While marginalized groups may share some norms, rules, and values with the mainstream culture, they possess differences that can be viewed as transgressive, existing outside the mainstream norms, rules, and values. Media representations of groups that are globally marginalized, and sometimes stigmatized, include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, class, ableism, and religion. A study of these marginalized groups reveals an implied system of privilege that reifies the status quo and supports the master narrative. Media invisibility results from marginalization, and when marginalized groups are represented, often those representations are through a marketable, stereotypical lens. As a result of the dearth of images, and a system of privilege, few studies examine marginalized groups in countries throughout the world. By creating a global dialogue about marginalized voices, images, and self-representations, advocacy for difference and understanding allows these voices, images, and self-representations to become expressive renderings of specific transgressive cultural norms.


2019 ◽  
pp. 133-166
Author(s):  
Mary Wills

This chapter examines cultural encounters between British naval officers and West African peoples, and the role of racial attitudes and identity therein. It looks at the persistence or mutability of value sets taken out to Africa, and the resulting dialogues on race, ethnicity, identity and benevolence within the naval community. To an extent, naval officers perceived West Africans through the lens of metropolitan attitudes and many observations subscribed to common racial prejudices; yet others were more considered, born of experience, interaction and affiliation. This chapter examines officers’ encounters with the ‘exotic’ African women they met on their travels and their engagement with African cultures. As the century progressed, increasing contact with African peoples contributed to a shift in racial attitudes, fuelled by new scientific theories and the proliferation of printed material about race.


2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrance J. Taylor ◽  
Finn-Aage Esbensen ◽  
Bradley T. Brick ◽  
Adrienne Freng

Elijah Anderson’s ‘‘code of the streets’’ has received considerable attention as a promising approach to understanding youths violence. One area which has received scant attention, however, is the measurement quality of the street code concept. Using data collected from more than 3,300 middle school youths residing in seven geographically and demographically diverse U.S. cities between 2007 and 2009, the authors seek to answer the following questions: (a) What are the psychometric properties of the attitudes toward street code-related violence scale (in terms of dimensionality and internal consistency) across demographic subgroups (i.e., race/ethnicity, sex, and age groups) and social contexts (i.e., cities)? and (b) To what extent does the level of acceptance of the attitudes associated with street code-related violence vary across demographic subgroups and social contexts? Results illustrate that the scale performs similarly across groups and contexts, but the actual level of acceptance of street code-related violence varies considerably.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Stout

AbstractWhile a number of studies demonstrate that black candidates have the ability to increase black political participation, a growing literature is investigatingwhydescriptive representation matters. This paper contributes to this discussion by exploring whether perceptions of candidate traits play a mediating role between the presence of an African American candidate on the ballot and increases in black political activity. I test this trait hypothesis using data from the 1992–2012 American National Election Study, a survey experiment, and statistical mediation analysis. The results indicate that perceptions of black candidates as being better leaders, more empathetic, knowledgeable, intelligent, honest, and moral explain a substantial amount of why descriptive representation increases black political participation across a range of different political activities. In the conclusion, I discuss the importance of the psychological link between blacks and their co-racial representatives in inspiring higher levels of political participation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Bears Augustyn ◽  
Dylan B. Jackson

Research suggests a link between precocious transitions to adulthood (e.g., high school dropout) and maladaptation, and this association is typically assumed to be uniform. We propose that this monolithic portrayal of precocious transitions as problematic for adult functioning is unwarranted, particularly across identities defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we use propensity score methodology to demonstrate that the effects of precocious transitions on adult antisocial behavior vary. Results indicate a general null effect of experiencing any precocious transition among low SES subgroups regardless of gender and race/ethnicity and criminogenic effects among more economically privileged subgroups, with the exception of Hispanic females. Additional analyses reveal that the effect of individual transitions further vary in significance across social identities, displaying a criminogenic effect among some subgroups and a null/protective effect among others. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 851-881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura D. Pittman ◽  
Michelle K. Boswell

This article compares characteristics of families, mothers, and children on the basis of whether their household is multigenerational, using data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, which samples low-income culturally diverse families. Few differences were found between multigenerational and nonmultigenerational households, although mothers in multigenerational households reported more internalizing behaviors and fewer positive behaviors in their children. However, interactions between household type, mothers' age, and race/ethnicity reveal that all multigenerational households are not alike. Multigenerational households with younger mothers tend to use less effective parenting and have children who are experiencing more problem behaviors. Race/ethnicity further moderates these associations in models predicting mothers' mental health and children's academic achievement. Possible reasons for these differences by mothers' age and race/ethnicity are discussed.


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