Sociologists often point out that systems of stratification in the United States systematically favor white men. Sometimes people contest this, pointing to wealthy and powerful black women like Oprah Winfrey or Toni Morrison. A valid counterpoint to this argument is thata, Black women are often the exception to this tendency. b, Winfrey and Morrison have higher social status because of other markers of class that they inherited, like regional accents. c, stratification is a characteristic of a society, rather than a reflection of individual differences. d, systems of stratification have almost entirely disappeared in the last decade. e, women like these must have inherited a high social status from their parents.

C. stratification is a characteristic of a society, rather than a reflection of individual differences.

Explanation:

Sociologists often point out that systems of stratification in the United States systematically favor white men. Sometimes people contest this, pointing to wealthy and powerful black women like Oprah Winfrey or Toni Morrison. A valid counterpoint to this argument is that stratification is a characteristic of a society, rather than a reflection of individual differences.

Social stratification is a system of grouping or ranking individuals or group within the society according to caste, statue or social class etc.Social stratification is universal but varies, the system of stratification the United States perfectly shows clear that some groups have greater status, power and wealth than other group which make it very difficult for people from the other group (low class) to became part of a higher class.

as university of miami psychologists debra lieberman and adam smith pointed out in a recent article in the journal current directions in psychological science, humans have social and psychological mechanisms to deter incest. with very few exceptions, marriages between brothers and sisters and between parents and their children are verboten in every human culture. the primary psychological anti-incest mechanism is the yuck response. even the idea of sex with their mom or dad, bro or sis is upsetting to most people. the psychologist jonathan haidt has found that nearly everyone is repelled by the prospect of brother-sister sex, even in hypothetical situations in which there is no chance of pregnancy).

the biological cost of incest

this raises an interesting question: just what’s so bad about incest? sure, having sex with your dad or your sister seems gross — but why? some anthropologists have argued that incest taboos are learned social conventions. this explanation, however, doesn’t make sense to me as it does not explain the widespread existence of anti-incest mechanisms in creatures ranging from cockroaches to chimpanzees. second, the incest taboo is about as close to a universal law as human moral rules get.

why should mechanisms to avoid incest be so widespread both in nature and across human societies? the answer is simple. the problem with having sex close with relatives is that there is an astonishingly high chance that your offspring will be born with a serious birth defect.