This is an optional, extra credit opportunity for the first marking period. A successfully completed post will be worth 50 points toward your 1st marking period grade (like earning a 100% on a quiz). You have a choice of which article you want to use for your post so choose one that interests you (and there are some really cool posts on this site!). You will find detailed instructions on how to complete your post below:
- Go to the website www.SociologyInFocus.com and choose a post that interests you.
- Read the post and listen to/watch any audio/video files that are embedded.
- In your own words, write a brief summary (200 words minimum) of the post.
- Answer the "Dig Deeper" questions at the end of the post
- Make 2 questions of your own that are related to the reading or the main topic of the post (avoid level 1 questions that simply ask for recall of information in the article). Here is a helpful link to help you develop higher order questions.
- Post your summary and questions as a comment under this post on the homework blog (PLEASE check your post for spelling, grammatical, and formatting errors before posting it to the blog!)
- I want you to do something that interests you but I don't want duplicate posts. I want there to be variety. There are numerous categories on the left hand side of the page and an archive by date. You are not just limited to what appears on the main page (these are only the most recent posts).
- When you find one you want, post a comment under this post to claim it before someone else does!
- If your questions are particularly good, I may use them in class or on a quiz or test. If I do, you will receive bonus points on your participation grade for that week.
I claim: I’ll Give You a Cookie if You Change the World :o)
ReplyDeleteIt's all yours! :)
DeleteIn the article titled "I’ll Give You a Cookie if You Change the World," its author Bridget Welch describes that by performing a random act of kindness, this easily allows positivity to be pronounced in human response. She begins her article by reminiscing about her husband returning from McDonald’s with what psychologists call a “happy glow.” Welch’s husband explained that the woman at the drive-through window informed him that the previous customer paid for his meal, and asked if he would like to perform the same act of kindness for those next in line; by agreeing, the man came home to his family with an extremely optimistic outlook. Welch then compared this act of “paying it forward” to a study from the 1970’s that gave half of the individuals in the experiment cookies, and the other half none at all; the study concluded that those who received a cookie were more delighted to help with basic tasks rather than those who did not. By taking this idea a step further, Welch then compares in her article a six-step method that connects items from different spectrums (such as connecting actors and actresses through movies, her personal companions to the Clintons, and an email with an unfamiliar recipient to finding its correct address.) To wrap up her thoughts, Welch describes in her article that this happiness could be spread worldwide as a positive epidemic; by “paying it forward," a person’s optimism is easily expandable and contagious.
DeleteDig Deeper:
1. When I’m in a great mood, I can’t help but smile. By seeing me smile and be polite to others, I find that this (most of the time) leaves them with a slightly more positive outlook or response.
2. One could look at this process in a negative way if compared to bullying, for example. If an adolescent wants to be noticed and have a reputation with their peers, and they see a bully getting away with hurting its victim, they might decide to become a bully as well. I personally believe, however, that it is much easier to spread optimistic feelings in society rather than negative ones simply because it leaves a positive reaction with an individual.
3. Social networking cites like Facebook and Twitter mostly support positive reactions. There’s the occasional fights and venting session on these websites, but what most users want is for their posts or tweets to be liked, shared, commented, retweeted, or favorited by others. This also encourages more connections by following or friending people worldwide, which further supports Milgram’s study.
4. You could also use this “small world problem” in order to find missing people or run-away criminals. The human behavior in result can be seen as comforting or edgy; the fact that all this information is now at our fingertips through social links only further shows that nothing is unreachable anymore.
*** Can you think of an example where you have "paid it forward"? If yes, please describe it and explain why you personally chose to do so.
*** Why do you think the easy six-step aproach mentioned in the article has not taken a possitive affect in society/why is it not "contagioius?"
Dirty Women: The Gendering of Mud Runs
ReplyDeleteYou've got it!
DeleteThanks!(:
DeleteIn the article Dirty Women: The Gendering of Mud Runs, Ami Stearns tells of her experiences with female only mud runs. She talks about her sister and her many races, and how she runs to be a role model for her children. She then goes in to detail of the history of breaking gender norms, and how these mud runs contribute to this. I got the feeling from reading this that the author was not very keen on the objectives of female only races. She questions why gendering of these races are at all necessary, with good reason. She says that some sites even hint that female races support the feeling that males are superior in physicality to women, and that this way women wouldn’t be intimidated by the men. She makes sure to point out that she is in no way saying that women should not wear pink, purple, tiaras or tutus while participating in the race. She is only saying that people should take a more critical look into the stereotypical aspects of mud runs. One good example of this is the names of female only races, such as “Dirty Girl” which hints to degrading sexual references to women.
Dig Deeper:
1.) Women only races are empowering for women and girls because it shows how you can be feminine, strong and competitive at the same time.
2.) In the article about Kathrine Switzer, I learned how it came to be that women were every allowed to participate in races. She found a loophole in the rules; it was never stated that women could not run, people just assumed they were too inferior to try. When she was nearly mauled in one marathon, her boyfriend came to her side and defended her. Later, he story became famous and she then decided to create more running opportunities for women.
3.) The first thing that comes to mind is baseball and softball. I understand that they have male softball leagues, but these are meant for adults and not offered in high schools. These sports have the same rules for the most part, but the game of softball has a less compact ball and more safety precautions.
4.) The Pretty Muddy website is mostly purple, pink, and white and shows images of parts of the obstacle course that include bubbles. The warrior dash website and black and red and has a video stream on the front page of rough looking people running and jumping over fire. Both pages show all of these people smiling and having fun.
Questions
1.) What are some examples of what makes the female only, male only, and gender mixed races different and similar?
2.) What do you think would cause one to choose a male or female only race instead of a gender mixed race?
Shark Week and the Thrill of Deviant Behavior
ReplyDeleteI should have known . . . that you'd be the deviant one! jk ;-)
ReplyDeleteSummary
ReplyDeleteShark Week and the Thrill of Deviant Behavior by Ami Stearns is about social media contributing to “shark week”. Shark week is a week filled with shark stories, facts, pictures, and videos. Shark week debuted in 1988 and is still shown every year. It is a widely known phenomenon and is talked about to great extents. Many people will tweet or write on Facebook about shark week and promote it. Shark week is very dangerous and also gives views a “thrill seeking” side when watching shark week. Society always wants a way to seek thrill. Whether it is illegal, like robbery and mugging; or legal, like riding roller coasters and bungee jumping. Either way people love the adrenaline rush and shark week is so viewed world wide because it gives the rush. People enjoy being deviant because it is a thrill. You never know the outcome and it can really being exciting. During shark week anything can happen, its unexpected and that’s what it’s viewers love. People engage in risky behavior because it is the “seduction of crime.” Thrill seeking, especially with sharks, makes people watch more because they are so unpredictable and large. Stearns explains how sharks are so dangerous and that makes people watch to study them.
Dig Deeper
1.) Shark week is so compelling because social media has pushed forward how interesting and dangerous sharks are and people want to try the stunts they see on TV and in the movies for fame. Also, many people like to get “high” on adrenaline rushes and what better way to do that then with a 5,000-pound shark next to you.
2.) I have played sports my whole life because society approves it and it is promoted all around the world. Doing sports is a great way to seek thrill because you are playing so hard and never can know the outcome. Sports get the adrenaline pumping in you.
3.) I most certainly do participate in shark week. As soon as I know it is airing on TV I make sure I watch it and I am constantly reposting videos of seals getting eaten; Like “Snuffy,” because I think it is interesting and fun. I also learn a lot of new information about sharks.
4.) Small sharks wouldn’t be much of an event to watch for shark week because people always want the bigger and better things in life. Same goes for adventure. The bigger the better. The bigger the shark, the bigger the thrill and the more people enjoy watching. A bigger shark is more dangerous than a little shark and that’s what the media likes to show because it’s what the viewers admire.
Quiz/Test Questions
1.) How is Shark Week related to “Thrill Seeking” and why?
2.) Do you agree or disagree with Katz’s theory about our own thrill-seeking behavior?
Rugby,s Magnificent (or Manipulative) Marketing
ReplyDeleteO.K. Lex; it's all yours!
DeleteSome students are having difficulty logging in to leave a comment, so I am going to claim their articles for them!
ReplyDeleteBeth claims: "Correlation, Causation, & Teen Moms"
Jenna claims: "What New Year's Resolutions Teach Us About American Values"
Ashley claims: "Cruise Ship Tragedy a 'Normal Accident'?"
Brittany claims: "Psst. Your Culture is Showing: Breastfeeding Edition"
test run!
ReplyDeleteThe article “Psst: Your culture is showing: Breastfeeding Edition” was written by anthropologist Bridget Welch. It’s not necessarily a popular article topic to discuss, and I bet it is for the very statement Bridget Welch discusses in her article. The article starts out with her reaction to the new “breastfeeding doll” for little girls. At first, she thinks audibly “EWW”. But instantly afterword she questions her reaction. She herself knows that breastfeeding is a natural and healthy practice in our culture and other cultures as well. She realizes that it isn’t the child’s age playing with the doll, or the idea of breastfeeding. It is the sexualization of breasts in our culture that make people uncomfortable with the topic. All over the place- on commercials, in movies, on the computer, in magazines- women are portrayed as sexual and girls throughout America see these images every day. Men and women alike now see breasts as sexual rather than functional. When a mother prepares to breastfeed her baby (right in public!), don’t you feel uncomfortable? You know that the mother’s breasts are strictly being used to feed and comfort her baby, but you can’t help feel uncomfortable that you are seeing such a private part of a stranger’s body! This is because –especially in America, I believe- we have sexualized breasts and women in general. Bridget Welch concludes the article by stating that it is not “eww” but rather healthy to shows little girls the breast’s function and to show them how to care for babies and develop a motherly nature. She says, “Breastfeeding baby may be one step in the right direction.” Welch fully believes –as do I- that we should be supporting and encouraging our children in this healthy biological act, and furthermore “separate the biological act from the sexual fixation.”
ReplyDeleteThink Deeper:
1. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to view other groups or cultures from the perspective of one's own. America, specifically, has the overall view of breasts as a "sexual fixation" rather than an important and functional tool. When the breastfeeding doll was publicized, Bridget Welch's views as well as my own both viewed the doll as sick and disgusting. We were using our culture's view and beliefs on breastfeeding, or breasts. Other cultures, however, may recognize breasts ONLY as functional and not as sexual.
2. I think it would only benefit our children if children's beauty contests were banned. It is a little twisted, once you think about it, that we dress our small children like prostitutes, teaching them to dance in a way that young women might dance in a club, or wearing way too much make-up for their own good. If we teach our small children these things now, how much worse can they get when they are of the appropriate age to do these things, I wonder?
3. I don't know how to answer this question......I'll come back to it..
4. Being a "cultural relativist" means that you are looking at something with the opinions, beliefs, or values of other cultures as well rather than just your own. The article did state the author's opinion, but she took a step outward and asked herself why she had the reaction she did. She looked at the breastfeeding doll and breastfeeding, in general, from her perspective and then used the function of breastfeeding and the possible beliefs of other cultures to understand/justify her reaction.
My Own Questions:
1. What else in our society, like breastfeeding, is looked upon as "disgusting" or "sick" but is actually healthy or good based on America's values, media, or how we were raised?
2. How could one practice ethnocentrism?
I am going to claim Jason Collins & The Ever Present Gender Policy
ReplyDeleteokay that was really weird... it didn't show my name? maybe it will work this time? if it doesn't... it's rachael camara! (:
DeleteIn the article "Jason Collins & The Ever Present Claim" it discusses how Jason Collins is the first male on a "big four sports" team (baseball, basketball, hockey and football) to come out of the closet. The same day that Jason came out of the closet to the public MTV released the date of a new show they made called Guy Court. Guy Court is basically a show where they display men breaking "guy code". It exclaims that the reason it took Jason so long to come out is because it is not masculine of him to be gay while on a national sports team. Jason coming out of the closet is a big step for America because it means that people are becoming more accepting of being gay. But, the announcement of "Guy Court" is taking a step back because it is almost encouraging homophobia. It also discussed that "gender policing" is when someone is punished for not acting the way they are supposed to base on their gender. For example if you're a boy and you wear the color pink, you are going to be judged because pink is not manly and it's not normal for men to wear pink.
DeleteDig Deeper:
1) I have experienced "gender policing", I am a tom boy and due to the fact that I am not girly like most girls I get called names, and people pick on me because I don't wear skirts or make up.
2) Yes I do think that males and females experience gender policing in different ways, I think that men are called out more than women. I say this because women are mostly more sensitive than men, and when you point out of flaw of theirs they are more likely to cry and make a big deal out of it, I also think it's more socially acceptable for women to wear men's clothing for some reason. For example, if you see a girl wearing a man's sweatshirt you assume that it is her boyfriend's and you wouldn't make a big deal over it. Compared to a man, if you were to see him wearing a girl's sweatshirt, most people would make a rude remark or a joke and then continue to laugh at them.
3) Males and females get the messages and ideas of what masculinity and the definition of what a real man is from media. People are constantly being labeled in media, Asians are assumed to martial artists, blacks are supposed to be in gangs, latinos are boxer and cage fighters.
4) The negative consequences are that people can't be who they are or who they want to be, because they are afraid of what others think. For example not many people come out of the closet because they are afraid that they are going to be picked on by their peers and family members.
My Own Questions:
1) How could we make it in the future so that there is no such thing as "Gender Policing"? How could the media change their imaging on the ideal "real man"?
2) Do you agree or disagree with MTV for creating the show Guy Court in the day in age with so much judging and it being such a difficult task for people to come out of the closet?
Morgan is claiming the article, "Sociology at a Basketball Game, Part 3: In-Groups and Out-Groups".
ReplyDeleteSummary
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Cruise Ship Tragedy a "Normal Accident"?" Sociologist Charles Perrow shows how technology failure is linked to human error, not in-human error. He explains how technology is a set of social systems, not math and science like most people think it is. Perrow goes in depth to how culture effects the making of technology. Humans use assumptions, values, and beliefs to make the technology needed to fit those ideas. Since technology is so closely related to culture there are bound to be errors. Perrow theorized that all components of technology are coupled and that they interact with one another. He claimed that there are two types of technological systems, linear and complex. When one component of a linear system fails it can be easily replaced, but when one component of a complex system fails the whole system fails because the components are dependent on each other. This creates disasters.
Dig Deeper
1) Another technological system that is highly complex is an airplane. If the wing is damaged or the plane runs out of fuel the whole system would fail. A linear system of technology would be a radio. When the battery runs out you can replace it without the whole system failing. You could also replace smaller parts within the system.
2) A hair straightener is definitely a technological system that can be seen as a social system. Humans value looks and the hair straightener was a way for them to gain a way to beauty based on what they value.
3)I believe that reliance on technology will increase our vulnerability to catastrophe, not reduce it. If we become too reliable on technology we wouldn't know what to do without it. We must know what to do with less technology so we can prevent catastrophes on our own and not rely on technology to never fail.
4) I think individuals should be trained on what to do when technology fails. I think that so many disasters happen because people forget that technology fails and don't know what to do when it does fail.
Questions
1) What is an example of a major technological disaster that could have been prevented if people had known what to do when the system had failed?
2)Do you agree with Perrow that technology is not based on math and science?
Summary
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Men & Clothes age, but Women Stay Young Forever,” A specific issue of a Vogue catalogue is addressed. This particular issue is from August 2013, called “The Age Issue.” In the article, the author Stephanie Medley-Rath explains what she read in the Vogue catalogue and what was portrayed by this issue. The first thing Stephanie noticed was that there were famous people with no wrinkles at all. Being a younger woman than the models in the pictures, she had strong feelings saying that she “had never been accurately reflected in the fashion magazine.” While going through the rest of the magazine Stephanie realized that Vogue’s goal was not to teach women how to grow old or how to look good while doing it. The issue is more about advertising how you can help yourself keep from aging. Most of the advertisements in the magazine were for how to keep your skin from wrinkling or for other products that would make you look younger. In the midst of all of these ads were a few ads for cigarettes. It was not mentioned a single time that the smoking of cigarettes can cause wrinkles in your skin which makes you look older. Another thing that the issue of the magazine did was aim a specific outfit-appropriateness for different ages by putting in pictures of an outfit for each using the same model. The oldest age portrayed is the “60-something” year old. This picture shows the model with clothing from head to toe, whereas the picture representing the outfit of a “20-something” year old has a significantly less amount of clothing. The last thing focused on in the article is the “American value” of youth over age. Older people in the issue are made invisible by using a young model for them or are talked about and not photographed. “Women are not supposed to age beyond the clothes they wear. Men, on the other hand, are free to gray and wrinkle.”
Dig Deeper Questions
1. My opinion of the slideshow is that the first, third, and fourth photos are representing the age group of “twenty-something.” I think that the second photo represents “thirty-something,” the fifth, seventh, and tenth represent “forty-something,” the sixth and eighth represent “fifty-something,” and the the eighth represents sixty. The “twenty-something” and “sixty-something” groups were the easiest to me. I looked for the least amount of coverage for the twenties and the most for the sixties. In between the two was more difficult. Thirties and forties were still elegant and flashy but covered more of the body. Fifties showed less dresses and more pants and jumpsuits. This is because as a person ages they look to show less of their body. Coverage is a main focus in clothing as someone ages.
2. By using the same model for each age category, Vogue communicates that being/looking young is more strived for than any other look in the United States. I agree with the author that youthfulness is valued over aging because younger people seem to be looked at as more “beautiful” for some reason. I don’t agree with this idea because I think that age is just as beautiful as youth.
3. While watching television, I realized that the author of this article’s opinion seems to be very true. On the show that I was watching most of the things that the author, Stephanie Medley-Rath, said about age and focus on being young was very well. The portrayal of age on the tv show was more focused on young people wearing “skimpy” clothing which was briefly touched on by the author.
4. Gerontologists study people as they age. They study physical, mental, and social changes in older people as they age. They investigate the changes in society resulting from our aging population. They also apply the knowledge that they have to policies and programs.
Questions
1. How do fashion, age, and the way people look, affect who people date? How does this differ between men and women?
2. How much more expensive is it for aging women to look younger than is is for a young woman to look presentable?