Chapt.+11-+Race+and+Ethnicity


 * **Race**- a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important.
 * For the people who watch the show, you are introduced to people of different races. There is Raj, who is Indian, and Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Penny who are Caucasian.
 * **Ethnicity**- a shared cultural heritage.
 * In the show, the characters never really get into religion or ancestry, but language is one thing that their ethnicity has in common.
 * **Prejudice**- a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people.
 * In the show when Leonard started dating Penny, she was looked down upon by Sheldon because he felt Leonard was too smart for her and they treated her differently.
 * **Stereotype**- a simplified description applied to every person in some category.
 * This would apply to, for example, in that she is a blonde, therefore she is automatically perceived as dumb. Also Raj, because he is Indian, he is automatically perceived as smart.


 * ** Scapegoat- A person or category of people, typically with little power, whom other people unfairly blame for their own troubles. **
 * For Sheldon, Penny is usually his scapegoat. For example, while conducting his electron experiment with marbles she tripped over it and so he blamed her for ruining the experiment even though the experiment was already flawed. When she beats him at something(like halo) he accuses her of cheating.
 * ** Assimilation- The process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of dominant cultures. **
 * When constantly surrounded by a culture, one tends to change even if involuntary. For example, Raj slowly becomes more Americanized throughout the series.
 * ** Segregation- The physical and social separation of categories of people. **
 * There is a segregation(most nights) of men and women when it's time to sleep.
 * ** Pluralism- A state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing. **
 * For the most part, because the show takes place in america, and through observation, all characters are equal

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