EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY FOR SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS: Due no later than Friday, January 9, 2015!
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.
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ReplyDeleteI choose the article called @BrosBeingBasic: Instagram & Gender Performance
ReplyDeleteSummary:
This post talks about the instagram account called BrosBeingBasic. This account was made by guys who wanted to see how people would react if they posted mostly selfies and used girly hastags. This has become a big deal and the followers keep growing by the day. An example of a post they post is “A man with both tattoos and a goatee stares up at the camera sleepily from his bed, his lips slightly parted, paired with the hashtags #iwokeuplikethis and #longhairdontcare.” The author of this post is sociologist Kimberly Kiesewetter. She looked more into the instagram account and connected it to social constructionism. The rest of the post discusses how social constructionism works. An example is how we use money because we are told that it is important and that it is worth something when it is actually just a special piece of paper. This connected to the account because we are living in a society where women are taught to act feminine and men are taught to act masculine. There is nothing biologically that makes men like dirt and trucks more than girls, or that makes girls like babies and the color purple more. This then relates to gender performance because there is so much pressure for people to act their gender. When someone breaks out of this norm they are often judged and looked at as weird. The only way to get away with it is when you do it humorously like this account. So this account actually reinforces gender performance.
Dig Deeper:
1. I believe if girls posted an account like this were they acted in masculine ways that is would be funny to the girls. It would be popular and make girls laugh. Girls that were offended by what the guys were doing to them would probably find it even funner because it's kind of getting back at them. However, I don’t think that guys would find it very funny. I believe some guys would get upset about it but girls would get a kick out of it. So overall it most likely wouldn’t be as funny and as popular to everyone. This is also because girls are a lot easier to pick on especially when it comes to social media like instagram because we on average post more than guys.
2. This account can actually be looked at as a more powerful group denigrates an oppressed group very easily. Generally men are looked at as more powerful than woman. This account is making fun of girls and the pictures they post. What they do could actually be very offensive to some girls. So through a social conflict approach this would be an example in which the male group gets pleasure out of making fun of woman and the way that they act. This is also slightly connected to the first post. It is because of the irony that guys made it about girls because girls are generally looked at as the weaker of the two and the ones who are more likely to just deal because they are the less powerful.
3. The Bros account could be looked at from a functionalist approach. Through this you can see that what they are doing could actually be creating a more united community and a feeling of belonging. This is true because girls could find the humorous side of the post and not the offensive side and actually get amusement out of it. Girls might actually laugh and think “I do that”. Humor can be used to remove the tension and to bring people together and this is a good example of it. It could also show girls what guys think is “Funny” and certain girls might even stop doing it so much and be more like guys when it comes to posting less.
4. I believe that it depends on the girl for whether the conflict or functionalist approach works better. It depends on if the girl sees the humor or not in the posts. It also depends because not all girls post a lot or post selfies and to them it may seem funnier than to girls who may post a lot especially if they are pictures like what the guys are picking on. Overall I believe that the conflict approach is probably most appropriate here.
My Own Questions:
Delete1. Do you believe that overall in society it is easier for a man to pick on a woman and to get away with it than vice versa?
2. In society many people makes jokes everyday. Are these jokes generally made to bring people together or to make fun of another person?
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ReplyDeleteI chose the article “How to Get Ahead In This Economy.”
ReplyDeleteIn the article the author, Nathan Palmer, addresses what it means to “get ahead “economically. Economic mobility is the fancy term for “getting ahead” and increasing one’s worth. Palmer then introduces two different types of economic mobility, absolute and relative. Absolute economic mobility measures only an individual’s financial gains or losses, while relative economic mobility measures an individual’s gains or losses in comparison to the individual’s community. He uses the example of a woman who received a $1 an hour raise while her coworkers received a $3 an hour to illustrate these terms. In the example, the woman had absolute economic growth but had relative economic loss as her coworkers got “farther ahead” than her. These two measures can be used together to get a more accurate picture than just absolute mobility. Overall in the U.S., we are experiencing reasonable absolute mobility upward, with 84% of people earning more than their parents in 2012 (Pew 2012). However, on a whole Americans are experiencing downward relative mobility as the elite are earning more money at a much faster rate than the average person. If we look at economic brackets, people born into the top or bottom fifths are also likely to stay in that bracket. However, there is more mobility within the middle three brackets. Absolute and relative economic mobility are important to understand as they provide a more accurate picture of how one is doing financially in the big picture.
Dig Deeper:
1. The chart above makes me feel empathetic for those who are born into the bottom rung of the economic ladder as they are so likely to be stuck there. I do not think it’s fair, but do not believe we should change our economic policy to address the income inequality. I believe the solution to the problem lies in higher-quality education and more community and family support (i.e. Big Brother, Big Sister, AA, more counseling in schools) and helping others to help themselves.
2. The escalator metaphor in the video illustrates absolute and economic mobility by showing that even if a person increases their net worth, if everyone else around them is increasing theirs by more than that individual is actually going backwards (and vice-versa).
3. Another situation in which a person could experience upward absolute mobility while also experiencing downward relative mobility could be among stockholders. A stockholder could sell his shares on Tuesday and make $20 off of each share. Other stockholders could sell their shares on Thursday and make $30 off of each share. The individual who sold his shares on Tuesday would be experiencing absolute economic growth, yet relative to his peers it would be a loss.
4. The findings in the article do challenge the U.S. ideal that anyone can become successful as long as they are willing to work hard” because they show that the majority of the people born at the bottom of the economic ladder tend to stay there for their whole lives.
My Questions:
1. What would be an example of someone experiencing absolute economic loss while also experiencing relative economic gain?
2. What are some of the reasons that those born at the bottom of the economic ladder tend to stick there throughout their lives?
I am doing "What your Fridge Says about your social class?"
ReplyDeleteI chose the article “Google and The End of Wondering”
ReplyDeleteSummary:
In this article, the author discusses how Google and the internet are causing people to wonder less than they used to. In the past, when you had a question or were curious about something, you had to continue wondering or ask another person. Nowadays, before you get the chance to wonder about something, you can simply look it up on the internet. Though this makes things more efficient, the author investigates whether or not it is doing damage and is causing people to lose the ability to wonder altogether. Studies have shown that the brain may change based on the technology that individuals use. The article describes how Google could be changing human brains too, and not for the better. It explores the possibility that searching for the answers to all of your questions instead of thinking about them may be resulting in an inability to problem-solve. Another topic the article covers is the disenchantment that this type of technology is causing. It references Max Weber’s theory of rationalization and how as society becomes more efficient, it also becomes less amazing and magical. Just as Weber applied this theory to society, the author of this article stated that it could also be applied to the internet.
Dig Deeper Questions:
1. One downside of having instant access to our questions is that people can type in their homework questions on Google to get the answers without actually learning anything. Another downside is that instead of communicating with other people to get the answers, people can just Google their question, minimizing social interaction.
2. When my mom was in high school, they used to have to go to the library and look in an encyclopedia in order to find the answers to their questions.
3. I agree with Weber’s argument because instead of people being perplexed and amazed by something, there always has to be a scientific explanation behind it. There are no real mysteries because even the things that scientists aren’t sure how they work or why they happen, they still have theories about them.
4. Twitter can limit a person’s freedom of speech if they violate the site’s terms and conditions, it limits the freedoms of people who have built apps that interact with the site, and it limits people's ability to build these apps.
Questions:
1. Do you agree or disagree with the author that Google and the internet are causing people to wonder less? Why or why not?
2. What solutions would you suggest in order to stop the decline in wondering throughout the world?
I chose the article “Social Movements and State Violence.”
ReplyDeleteSummary:
In the article posted by David Mayeda, a brief description of the concept of authority is given. The post paraphrases Max Weber on his argument on the matter, that “authority is the use of power that is perceived as legitimate by the rest of society.” Out of the many ways such authority could be implemented in a society, the article focuses on the doctrine of a legal-rational authority, in which the said authority is officially institutionalized into the fabric of the society. Such an exercise of authority is largely accepted by the majority of those in the society since it is a part of the political system.
Then, the article takes a turn which displays two videos of questionable enforcement of authority on the part of the state. One of the videos is a riot gear police officer pepper spraying nonvocal sit-down protestors at the University of California - Davis in 2011, and a subsequent interview with one of the sprayed protesters. The second video is of a speech given by Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom showing his support for the police force and legalizing the police to use all force necessary to quell protests in the greater London area in 2011.
Following the two videos, the article closes by describing Weber’s concept of the “paradox of authority.” The term is used to describe when a given state has the legal right to use violence and does so to force its citizens to adhere to its authority. In response to such an exercise of violence and power, more and more citizens speak out against the authority which is responded with an even greater crackdown. The article closes by stating that an authority must provide for all of the concerns of its citizens if it has the legal baring to use violence on them.
Dig Deeper:
1. I perceive the use of the pepper spray on the protestors at UC Davis is illegitimate. Based on the limited evidence provided by the video, it appears that the police were not indeed trapped within the circle of the sitting protestors and did not have to feel threatened. This reasoning is supported purely by the fact that the officer who did the pepper spraying was originally one of those within the circle of the protestors, and then simply stepped out of the circle to use the pepper spray. If that officer easily stepped out, all of them could have without the use of pepper spray. This is an example of the paradox of authority since the police had the legality to use the pepper spray, and did so to make clear who had the authority in this particular situation.
2. In a workplace where an employer uses coercion to subjugate its employees, it is inevitable that the employer will lose all respect and the perceived power that they may of had. If the methods are continued, the employees may work to undermine the employer or may even simply quit if the issue is degrading enough.
3. There are examples of actions that a teacher could legally commit, but would result in students questioning the legitimacy of the teacher’s authority. Actions such as ignoring students, displaying annoyance, interjecting personal bias when it is not called for, and inaccurately grading assignments could all lead to students inquiring about the teacher’s authority.
4. When a state is questioned or when protesters disrupt aspects of society, I find it the obligation of the state to ensure that those voices are heard. The state should respond by listening to the dissenting voice and truly consider what is being said. The use of violence on the part of the state is justified when factions within the dissenting voice begin to disrupt the rights and well being of other people. In such a situation, the state should state measures to quell only the radical forces, and most certainly not label the entire dissenting voice as partaking in violence. That would be an example of the state using the awful violence of a single faction to brand the entire group of protesters with the violence in an attempt to silence the dissenting voice.
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DeleteMy Questions:
Delete1. To what role does the media either inflate or downplay actions by an authority which could lead to social unrest?
2. Is a capitalist economic system reflective of a legal-rational authority concept?
Aimee Fortier
ReplyDelete1-7-15
Gender Affecting Teacher Evaluations
Summary- Students often don't think about giving fair and constructive feedback on their teacher’s course and the way they teach at the end of the course. It can be as simple as not wanting to put in the time to do the evaluation, or it can be different sorts of bias. This can be caused by the student not enjoying what is best for their learning, because it is hard or confusing. Also, as a teacher you want your students to learn, where as a student just wants a decent grade while doing the least amount of work to get it. This in return leads to teachers making their courses easier to get better evaluations, because evaluations determine whether or not a teacher can get tenure. Which isn't what is best for their students. Also, female teachers are often evaluated on the way that they dress and look, which doesn’t reflect their teaching skills. To study gender bias in evaluations, a teacher taught two online classes, where they identified as a female in one and a male in the other. The male identity always got higher ratings regardless of the identical teaching. This test decreased the amount of other vaibles such as looks and voice, so it ws directly based on gender.
Answers
Men = bold, intimidating, strong, mean, selfish,
Women = sensitive, fragile, kind, materialistic, caring
Teacher = enthusiastic, motivator, challenging, kind, inspirational
All of my stereotypes are bias because I am a female and I am picking good qualities in a teacher that I would want. Kind is the only quality that a woman and a good teacher share, but it all depends on the person rather than a stereotype.
2. The stereotype of a colored person is that they didn’t get as good of an education as a white person so they aren't as smart as a white person. Also, racism is not completely gone in our society so there is more than likely a few students that have a problem with a colored teacher, which in turn would cause problems in class. In Gilbey's case, as a teacher of a tough topic to talk about, such as racism, she is stuck being the devils advocate. Upsetting the students in her class is almost inevitable, to get the point across. The fact that she is a colored, woman teacher only makes it harder on her. Having a colored woman talking about racism may make the white students feel targeted. Schools shouldn't have to focus on keeping the students happy rather than making them think.
3. Not only does the review you receive depend on your gender, the gender of the person writing your review also plays a part. Women tend to give more critical feedback. Women also receive the most critical feedback.
4. Conflict perspective best describes why we have gender bias in evaluations. SInce women and men are opposites, it is only natural that fight to be dominant. So a women in charge of evaluations is more likely to write critical feedback to show and keep her dominance, where as a man feels they already have dominance. Also, since women are still seen as less than a man they are more likely to “need” critical feedback.
Questions -
How could our society adapt away from gender bias?
what would change if we eliminated gender bias for our society?