Midterm

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Peace sign originally meant...

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hopelessness

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Barbershop poles originally meant

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barbers/surgeons

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how do meanings change over time?

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symbolic meaning is created through the interactions we have with each other, through interactive process

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The book little women did what?

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book about twins parents distinguish them by color changed pink blue gender association

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1980's was the emergence of what?

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Gendered marketing

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why is colored people offensive but people of color is acceptable?

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Jim crow era white supremacists adopt colored people and thus it become stigmatized. People of color defines anyone who is not white, its inclusive. Can unite people of widely varying backgrounds

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minority becomes popular but implies

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less than

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What is qualitative research?

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Research that is aimed at uncovering emotional meaning, symbolic meaning, and cultural construction of ideas about a particular social phenomenon

interpretive by researcher

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Top and bottom of ideologies

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top is what people say they believe is true, bottom is what people actually do

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Phenomenology

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Describe the experiences of people in relation to a particular social phenomena

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Ethnography

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Describe the cultural characteristics of a particular group

conducted in a natural setting

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Case Study

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Describe one or more “cases” of a social phenomena in-depth for the purposes of a deeper understanding

3 types

1. intrinsic

2. instrumental

3. collective

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Grounded Theory

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generate a theory from data to describe and explain a social phenomena

• Attempts to develop a social theory from the bottom-up

• How or Why does something happen?

Pros: participants behave normally, takes the viewpoint of the participants, gets beyond what people say to what people do, can dig deep

Cons: time consuming, little no generalizing

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Phenomenology

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• Attempts to uncover how people understand a social phenomenon

• Lived experiences/Life-Worlds

• Looks for commonalities among groups

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Participant Observation

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• Pros • Participants behave normally (covert research)

• Takes the viewpoint of the participants

• Gets beyond what people say to what people do

• Reveals the “hidden” social world of daily life • Can “dig deep”

• Cons • Time Consuming • Little/no generalizability • Cannot be checked for reliability • Researcher presence changes behaviors (overt research) • Potential ethical issues • Research may not be able to verify data/ask questions

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challenging the etic with the emic

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Etic - external

Emic - insider perspective

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Why ethnorophy?

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Observation of changes over time

Humarization

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George Herbert Mead

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Stage of self, man lives in a world of meaning

Three Stages of SelfStage 1: Preparatory Phase Human beings develop their socialunderstanding of the world in three stages Preparatory Stage Imitation Learning done through reinforcement… Positive Negative Basic Understanding of Symbols Language Non-verbal communication Objects Socialization given through Nuclear family Extended family (grandparents)

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George Herbert Mead Stage 2:

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Play Stage  Development of skills in communicating through symbols  Role-taking  Basic development of notions of the “other” begin here  Social mimicry  Taking on roles  doctor/lawyer/athelete  No longer just imitating, but…  Creating social interactions  Limited: one person, one role

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George Herbert Mead stage 3:

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Stage 3: Game Stage Consideration of several tasks andrelationships at once… Many people, many roles Generalized other Empathy No longer center of the universe Understands role in relation to society Part of a greater whole Rules and norms become central(teams, extra-curricular activities,etc.) The “me” has developed

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The “Me” and the “I”

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Mead’s “Three Stages of Self” theory shows development of a core understanding of self  The self starts as a central, privileged figure in a person’s mind  Through maturity, the self begins to change and recognize the concerns and reactions of others  Leads to the creation the “Me” and the “I”

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The “Me”

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Me = the social interpretation of “self”  How we think society sees and interprets actions, behaviors and interactions  Is an object  can be constructed and understood  The “me” is the generalized other  Freud’s “censor” or “superego”

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The “I”

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Individual identity (socially constructed)  House’s interpretations of  The “me”  Society’s rules and constraints  It’s often not in line with society’s wishes  It acts creatively on the “me”  Spontaneous  Unpredictable  The “I” is only “known” ex post facto  The “I’s” actions serve to reconstruct the me  Implications for social change  Positive  Negative

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The Dance of the “Me” and the “I”

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Who we are is found in the balance of the “me” and the “I”  Freud’s “Ego”  Social interpretations of the symbolic meaning of behaviors are powerful   But they aren’t all powerful  if the “I” never won out, social change would never occur  The “I” is the actor, but the “me” is the mediator

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Charles CooleyLooking-Glass Self

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Views of self develop from

Direct contemplation of self

 Perceptions of how we are perceived of by others  Perceptions of how we appear to others 

1. How do I appear to others?  2. How do people evaluate us based on these observations?  3. Revise our understanding of self based on our perceptions of how others perceive us  Interpretations are based on both correct and incorrect interpretations

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Looking-Glass SelfExample

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“Harsh” Grading  Teacher’s perceptions  Student is intelligent  Grade intended to help student reach goals  Student’s perception  Teacher thinks I am unintelligent  Techer thinks I am unqualified to be a U.C. Davis student  Student’s self-perception change  I am not a very good student/I am unqualified to be at Davis  Self-fulfilling prophecy

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For both theorists Individual self =

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social construct that isrooted in… There are a variety of “selves” Our perceptions “Their” perceptions The combined perception

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Break between Mead andCooley

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There is no “I” in Cooley’sequation

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Cooley The symbolic self is constructed

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externally

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Misinterpretation =

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somethingthat needs correction

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Erving Goffman:Core Concepts

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Impression Management – verbal and non-verbalpractices we employ in a attempt to presentourselves in a particular way to others Definition of the Situation – the idea thatindividuals respond to stimuli presented to them,thus individuals are active participants Cooley – human response is automatic, based onthe social construction of self (which can be corrector incorrect) Mead – We only identify the “I” ex post facto allows that human response is not solely social, butdoes not provide individual complete autonomousagency in the process

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Dramaturgy (Goffman)

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People and ImpressionManagement Are active and knowledgeable Controlling behavior Developing society Devise their own conduct External influences matter, but… More power the individual Guide and Control how otherssee them Styles Presentation of self ARE DIFFERENT IN SOCIALSETTINGS THAN THEY AREALONE… Act differently alone thenaround other people Elements of self that we don’texpose to the “audience” Social Con Artists Impression management Why doesn’t it always work? Stigma Labelling Personal experience Category construction

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The Front as “Stage”:

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The Setting As performances are repeated in the same/similar settings in thesame/similar ways, the performance becomes “institutionalized.” Role expectations Stereotypes An established role always has an established “front” Break from the Thomas Theorem

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Front Stage and Back StageFront Stage

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 Best foot forward Not Improvisation Carefully-craftedrepresentation of self Manipulation of the audience(Con-Artists) The Thomas TheoremRevisited: We do not definethe “stage” during each“performance,” but rather the“stage” defines usBack Stage Closed and hidden to others Place to practice being social Place to display behaviorsthat we are comfortable with,but that no one else is allowedto see

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Audience” dictates performance...

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performance determines the audience

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Dramaturgy (Cont.)

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 No fixed self We are but a series of roles There is no core when you peel back the onion layers Can anyone know the true you? Intimate relationships come close… But are you ever the true you? The “anonymous” internet?

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Human sexuality provides insights into

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 Power

 Patriarchy

 Privilege

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Ancient Greece

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 Homosexuality acceptable, but had social expectations  Expectation of pleasure  The active-passive distinction  Flipping roles = norms violation  Shameful for a master or noble to be penetrated

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U.S. Prisons

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 Sexual violation in male prison  Display of power  deployed to define who is  Normal (active)  Deviant (passive)  Deviant to be penetrated  Is NOT about sexual gratification  In this context the homosexual act is DISTINCT from the homosexual identity

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In both cases, ancient greece and us prisons...

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male-male homosexual act is about the ACTIVE expression of power in a social relationship

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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUALITY

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 Sexual activity (type/style, frequency, partnerpreference) is presented as beingnatural/deviant Yet there is significant cultural variation inhow, when, where, and why the sexual act isparticipated in And also why we consider some sex Boring and everyday wild and woolly And what is “natural” shifts in society But what is “normal” is also policed by society

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SEXUALITY AND POWER: THE MARXIST FEMINIST TAKE

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Marxist Feminist argue that Sexuality is an expression of unequal powerbetween men and women in the United States Binary (literally and figuratively) Men on top Women on bottom Sexuality is about male dominance/control MacKinnon (1983): “Man has sex with the woman; subject verbobject” Reinforces “compulsory heterosexuality” Women don’t chose sex, but it is imposed uponthem by social structures and expectations Critiques? Essentialist Reductionist Assumes Women are sex objects Women are tricked/forced into sexual acts Oppressiveness of all male partners

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SEXUALITY AND POWER: THE MIDDLE-RANGE APPROACH

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Socio-historical context for understanding sexuality is important “Colonizer” and “colonized” were blurry boundaries at the start ofcolonialization Sexuality as insight into how categories of “colonizer” and “colonized” weresocially constructed At the start European men could couple with “native” women Prostitutes Concubines Under threat of rebellion Concubinage ends Racial boundaries harden Sexual relations been “colonizer” and “colonized” forbidden WHY?? Sexuality as a marker of “otherness”

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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF HOMOSEXUALITY:HOW SEX AND POWER COLLIDE

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 Past century = biological determinism Straight/Normal Gay/Queer Sexual orientation = core identityfeature However, given the… history examples and the cultural examples we have discussedtoday …how/when/why does sexualorientation/behavior become aessentialized identity feature? Michele Foucault - TheHistory of Sexuality Argues that the body is “in thegrip” of cultural practices There is no presocial body Culture is inscribed into our body The way we know andunderstand out bodies is linked topower and knowledge The body is social

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THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY: THE EMERGENCE OF THEHOMOSEXUAL IDENTITY

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 Homosexual identity is born in 1850  Acts were pre-existent  But the cultural and social label was not  Population expands in 19TH century Europe  population management concerns  Discourse over sexuality emerges  Studied  Normal  heterosexual  Deviant  homosexual  Policing of normal and deviant to  regulate population growth  Done through regulating “perversion”  Bio-Power  Nation or Nation-State control over population issues, and thus  Procreation activities of citizens/serfs emerge  “Homosexuality appeared as one of the forms of sexuality when it was transposed from the practice of sodomy onto a kind of interior androgyny, a hermaphrodism of the soul.”  Homosexuality as a personality type/identity construct is the result of government bureaucrats asserting power over society  The act of sodomy becomes synonymous with the person that performs it… Selfhood is defined sexually  Embedded in essentialism of language  Sexual acts are not considered single events  But permanent, self-defining acts

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HOW WAS AND IS (HOMO)SEXUALITY REGULATED?

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Traditionally (small pop.) Coercion Confessions of sexuality “Scientific” surveillance Laws and regulations –homosexuality considered amental illness by the APAuntil 1973. Force Imprisonment execution

Today (large pop.) Self-surveillance But, how? The Panopticon and normalization External surveillance is internalized,and, more importantly Assumed to reflect personal desires,wants and intent Once internalized there requireslittle/no external enforcement However, the personal is public…

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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF HOMOSEXUAL AS AN IDENTITY:THEN AND NOW

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The socio-historic trajectory of the intersection between sex, population management, and identity create the identity of homosexual  The identity has been contested and co-opted starting in the late 20th century  Political, cultural and economic struggles over cultural understandings of the term “homosexual” have persisted since its construction  Today  9 million people self-identify as homosexual in the U.S. today  Remarkable considering homosexuality as an identity didn’t even exist 200 years ago.  Sociologist today argue that homosexuality as an identity is seen as  Decentered  Fluid  Intersecting with other core identities  Race  Class  Gender (remember, previously it was an act, not identity and gender was considered binary)

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GROUP DISCUSSION(TRYING TO) APPLY WHAT YOU LEARNED

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Three Groups Three theories Marxist feminist (structural) Middle-Range (structural-signification) Bio-Power (signification-identity) Two articles The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity as Collective Activity “Good Girls”: Gender, Social Class, and Slut Discourse on Campus

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH LIMITATIONS: OUTSIDER BIAS

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 Outsider Bias Lack of Lived-experience of the socialphenomena or group you are seeking tounderstand No frame of reference Dangers of misinterpretation Ethnocentrism Trust and Intimacy Language barriers – misunderstanding andmisinterpretation

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INSIDER BENEFITS

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Deeper understanding of social phenomenaand groups in ways that outsiders can neverunderstand via their lived experiences Access Geographic access Cultural/social access Native language Understanding context and nuance Trust and intimac

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OUTSIDER BENEFITS

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Fresh eyes, fresh perspective – may see things that insiders takefor granted because of social distance from the group orphenomena being examined May have nuanced understandings of sources of social schismsbetween belief and action– that is the story doesn’t match thebehavior The ability to ask “dumb” questions – freely able to ask questionsthat an insider would be expected to know Challenge of insider perspective Prevents point one, above Ambiguity – if someone can’t be identified as an insider oroutsider they may be treated as both… unique insight Social distance = more neutrality Negation via time in the field

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INSIDER BIASESTHE CHALLENGES OF BEING “ONE OF US”

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Being too close to a group or phenomena can hide important information or revelations because they are “normal” – the dangers of the “mundane”  Biases in presentation and revelation  Avoiding Hard-hitting questions  hiding information that can be perceived in a negative light  Only focusing on the “positives”  Selectivity bias – the danger of finding what you WANT to find  Social closeness – assumption of already knowing the answers  Being talked to as an insider – lack of detail in answers that might reveal deeper meaning/difference in social interpretation

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PROTECTING OF HUMAN SUBJECTS:MORALITY IN RESEARCH

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Tearoom Trade – Laud Humphreys  Studied men that have sex with men in public places  Covert research  Posed as a “watch queen”  Only a small subset knew his real intent  Recorded sex acts of 100 men  Interested in the relationship between public acts and private lives  Gathered license plate numbers  Used those to get addresses  Changed appearance a year later  Went to homes and portrayed himself as a social worker

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THE EMERGENCE OF SEXUALITY:“SEXUALITY AND GENDER IN CHILDREN’S DAILYWORLDS” THORNE AND LURIA (1986)

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Childhood  Perceived as asexual  “Fully Sexual” reserved for adolescence  Explicit sexual activity before childhood = “deviant”

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Gendered relations in childhood lay the groundwork for overt heterosexual sexualscripts in adolescence

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GENDER SEGREGATION: THE BOYS Boys Activities  Interact in larger, more visible groups  Take larger spaces  More physically aggressive  Form hierarchical and competitive relationships Organized sports as a central activity and a major metaphor  Use of sports language in daily life Rules Transgression  Sexualized Language Usage  Mad-libs  The __________ was ratified in ___________ in 1788  Sharing of pornography  Breaking rules causes excitement - acts as a source of arousal Gendered Boundary Maintenance  Talking to girls  stigmatization  Slurs/sexualized language as boundary maintenance (Fag, sissy, bitch)  As this language uses increases, touching amongst boys decreases Gender boundaries create arousal in boys

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GENDER SEGREGATION:THE GIRLS

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Dyads and Triads Shifting alliances Conversations presuppose adolescent conversations of popularity Most and least liked Who talks to who moreTurn-taking activities Jump rope HopscotchSynchronized body rituals (cheerleading; double dutch)Physical and emotional intimacy Touching/hugging/combing hair Mutual self disclosureLanguage stresses cooperation/connection “be nice,” “you’re mean” Romantic themes Giggling sessionsEmphasis on appearance Worked into the more overt sexual script in adolescenceGender boundaries create romantic notions in girls

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GENDERSEGREGATION:THE START OFSEXUALTENSION

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The with-then-apart structure Playground: Boys vs. Girls Lunchrooms Classroom seatingRitualizes boundaries between boys and girls “The overtly sexual is mostly a matter of words, labels, and charged ritualsof play.” Heterosexual idioms Implies interactions between boys and girls has sexual overtones Reinforces prescriptive heterosexuality and is blatantly homophobic Boundaries reinforced via surveillance Adults Friends Self Creates same-gender performance groups Launching pads Retreats By the time a “couple” gets together a stage has been set for them

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In ALL casesassignedgenderidentityoverrides...

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individual identities

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SEXUALITY AND GENDER IN CHILDREN’S DAILYWORLDS

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Sexual knowledge is fragmentary…but pieced together via the rules laid out in gendersegregation in childhoodGender rules serve to maintain heterosexuality insociety The rules create sexual tension between boys and girls tobe employed later in life Purposely maintained and policed by adultsChildhood games are constructed as asexual on thesurface, but serve to maintain sexual rules ofsociety.Relationship knowledge acquisition reversed forboys and girls

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“DOING GENDER”WEST AND ZIMMERMAN (1987)

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Argue that gender is not a biological trait, but a social role andsocial representation that reify masculinity and femininity. Socialstructures serve to set these distinctions, and the correctperformance of gender reinforces them and is rewarded by society.Refute the dichotomous sex/gender distinction Sex is not purely biological, but a socially agreed uponclassification based on visible biological criteria Sex categories is classification between males and females usingidentification displays (clothing, hairstyles, accessories). Assumedproxy for sex, but claims to sex categories can be made withouthaving proper sex characteristics.Gender impression management activities aimed at meetingnormative expectations for one’s sex category. It both emergesfrom and bolsters claims to a sex category

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HOW IS “BIOLOGICAL” SEX A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT?

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The Chromosome myth:Girls are XX; Boys XY While, generally, the main genetic pairing is determinate of sex… Almost all people have some of both This genetic mosaic provides a continuum of biological variation and hormonal variationMen and Women’s sex organs are interchangeable until the fetal stage Clitoris/Glans Scrotum/labia Ovaries/testiclesVariations in size and shape of sex organs based in part on hormonalvariationParents and medical experts debate on sex categorization Intersex (derisive slang: hermaphrodite): Boy or girl? Doctors, Parents and politicians How small is too small? The micro-penis How large is too large? Intersex is not always visible at birth (puberty; infertility)

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WHEN “DOING GENDER” FAILS: THE “STRUGGLE”WITH SEX CATEGORIES…

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Defining your sex via your presentation is a socialmoralistic expectation Two sexes that are culturally understood as Natural Normal Essential to social interaction Knowing “how to act” with a stranger Defining/maintaining cultural and social boundaries Importance in defining moral social boundaries betweenindividuals is seen when its visible portrayal is absent orambiguous

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“DOING GENDER

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1. We “Do” gender constantly, knowing ourperformance is being judged2. We are directly accountable for ourperformance; we risk being judged for failure Gendered language as boundary markers of gender That’s for boys/That’s for girls Monitoring through stigmatizing labels bitch/slut Fag/gay pussy3. Doing gender is not natural, its taught “Be a good boy” and “Be a good girl” mean entirelydifferent things But they prescribe social expectations based on yourassigned sex4. Legitimizes gendered-stratification bynaturalizing it through sex and sex categories.5. “Doing Gender” is a routine “accomplishment” inlife with rewards Rewards for “normative” performance Stigmas/discrimination for “deviant” performance