Social Inequality and Inequality

¶ … Wake Up; Take a Shower; Take Breakfast With Other Family Members Arrive at the bank; pick a waiting ticket; interaction with service staff; a member of staff in the next counter is having a difficult time with a customer 9:00 am: Arrive at my girlfriend's house; help her with laundry and other household chores; watch a movie together 12:30 pm: Having lunch with my girlfriend in a restaurant; in an adjacent table three women are talking about their dating experiences with men in different cultures 2:00 pm: At the parking lot a beggar stops me; he tells me he has no home or family 7:00 pm: Watching evening news -- robbery at a local store and unnecessary shooting of an innocent Black man by a White police officer Application Sociology demonstrates that people's daily lives are shaped and constrained by the society (Dillon, 2010).

By interacting with and/or watching other individuals at home, work or school, individuals are influenced in one way or another. Six sociological concepts that can be applied to my field log observations include role theory, emotional labor, social deviance, inequality, poverty, and ethnocentrism. According to role theory, the society expects individuals to behave in a certain manner or undertake certain obligations given their status or position. For instance, men and women do not generally have equal roles at home, with household chores conventionally being a domain of the woman.

Therefore, my decision to assist my girlfriend with household chores somewhat contradicts commonly held perceptions of gender roles. Nonetheless, I do not really consider my behavior unusual as I have observed more and more men get more involved in housework. The notion of emotional labor was also evident in my field observations. When at the bank, I witnessed a member of staff at one of the service desks handling a seemingly stubborn customer. However, the member of staff remained calm and collected.

In a non-work setting, the encounter may have perhaps led to an exchange of words or even a fight. Despite the difficulty of the circumstances they are experiencing, employees are expected to portray themselves in a positive manner while at work. Another relevant sociological concept is ethnocentrism. This was evident in the three women's discussion of dating men in different cultures. This is perhaps something most people are guilty of. We have a tendency of viewing our culture as more superior to others.

Also, we often have preconceived perceptions about other cultures. A scene of social deviance was also evident in my observations. When watching the evening news, there was an item relating to a robbery at a local store. Robbery is certainly a behavior that contravenes societal norms as well as the law. Members of a society are expected not to commit an action that inflicts pain and suffering on others. There was also an item about a police officer shooting an innocent African-American man.

Such incidents have become common in the recent past. This somewhat points to inequality between the majority and minority populations. Finally, the issue of poverty was also evident in my field observations. This was apparent in the homeless beggar. The beggar serves as an indication of unequal distribution of opportunities and resources in the society. It is quite unfortunate when some members of the society are extremely wealthy, while others in the same society cannot even meet their basic needs.

Though the five concepts mentioned above have been the subject of immense scholarly attention, this paper will further focus on emotional labor and inequality. Emotional labor, a concept introduced by Arlie R. Hochschild in her renowned 1983 book The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, essentially refers to the expression of positive facial and bodily gestures by an employee while at work (Williams, 2003). Such gestures are important for creating an emotional status desirable by the organization and the customers it serves.

Emotional labor is quite common in workplaces where employees interact frequently with customers (one-on-one or verbally) in the fulfillment of their everyday roles and responsibilities (Williams, 2003). Front-line employees at an airline company, for instance, interact with travelers during general enquiries, ticket purchase, check in and checkout, food and beverage service, and so forth. Similarly, health care workers interact with patients on a day-to-day basis in processes such as conducting diagnoses, providing medical information, as well as explaining drug prescriptions.

The fundamental idea of emotional labor is that employees are generally expected to display positive emotions such as empathy and tranquility when engaging customers (Williams, 2003). The projection of such positive emotions is, however, not dependent on the character of emotions an individual is experiencing. For instance, irrespective of how stubborn a customer is, an employee is often expected to handle the custom with calmness. In addition, regardless of how exhausted one is, an employee is expected to show a happy face.

Essentially, one is expected to act normal even when they are experiencing negative emotions. Whereas emotional labor is crucial, it may have negative psychological consequences on the individual (Williams, 2003). Suppressing negative emotions in an effort to comply with preset organizational norms may in the long run result in emotional dissonance, which may consequently contribute to psychological discomfort (Williams, 2003). Inequality denotes differences between groups within a society, especially with respect to access to opportunities and resources (Hurst, Gibbon & Nurse, 2016).

The differences may manifest along the lines of race, gender, social class, religious inclination, and justice. In the U.S., for instance, Whites have historically been wealthier and more educated compared to minorities, especially African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Latin Americas (Dillon, 2010). Additionally, minorities, particularly African-Americans, have ordinarily experienced more racial discrimination compared to the majority.

Scholars in the area of social inequality are generally interested in three issues: structural conditions (factors that contribute to social inequality such as poverty, wealth and educational attainment); ideology (ideas that support inequality such as laws and policies); and social reforms (efforts aimed at ending inequality such as social movements and organized resistance) (Hurst, Gibbon & Nurse, 2016). Irrespective of how it may be viewed, social inequality is generally inevitable. It is quite difficult for all members of a society to have equal access to resources and opportunities.

Even so, the fact that inequality is detrimental to societal development cannot be overemphasized. Inequality is often the root cause of.