Intro to Sociology Academic Essay

Instructions

Intro to Sociology Academic Essay

The questions that comprise the second critical response paper are based on our discussion of Chapters 8, 9 and 10 of the Conley text. Your response to these questions should be your response. This means two things:

you are expected to complete this assignment independently and
you should not use quotations from the readings in answering these questions.
Please type your responses, double spaced, using a size-12 font. You should limit your response to each question to no more than one page of text, though for many questions you will find that a paragraph is sufficient. Your responses must be written in complete sentences (and edited!). Because you have several days to formulate and revise your answers to the questions you are asked to address, you will be graded on both the clarity of your response and the quality of your writing. You do not need to type out the question you are answering but should indicate the number of the question you’re addressing. Finally, you do not need to include a reference list for the assigned readings. If you decide to draw on additional material in formulating your responses – which is certainly not required to do well on this assignment – you must include a reference list for this material. I recommend using the style guide of either the American Sociological Association or the American Psychological Association, but this is not a requirement.

Please submit your response paper using the digital dropbox available through our course website.

Please answer any TEN of the following 20 questions. Each of the questions you select is worth 10 percent of your grade for this assignment.

Women represent a minority group in the military. Men are in the minority as nurses and paralegals. How are women and men treated differently in these positions, and what does this suggest about the way gender structures social relations?

How does the case of John/Joan support the view of sex as a category based on nature? How does the case of John/Joan support the view of sex as socially constructed and enforced?

How does Talcott Parsons describe the role of men and women in his “sex role theory”? Explain how conflict theories can be seen as a critique of structural functionalism and describe some limitations of each approach.

What is the difference between homosexual “acts” and a homosexual “identity”? How did the historical development of the latter, according to Michel Foucault, affect how one sees oneself?

More differences seem to exist among boys and girls than between them. Nonetheless, we tend to think of them as different. What are “deceptive distinctions” and how do they create gender differences? Use an example from RosabethKanter’s work to support your answer.

What is “essentialism”? Explain how John Gray’s book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus could be described as essentialist.

How does Gayle Rubin’s “sex/gender system” help us understand the position of women in Egyptian society as described at the beginning of Chapter 7? According to Nawal el Saadawi, how are sexism and patriarchy present in both the Arab and Western worlds?

What does real estate value have to do with school segregation? With this link in mind, how have inequalities in wealth contributed to long-term inequality between blacks and whites in the United States?

Although the validity of the term “race” is debatable, why do sociologists study race as it relates, for example, to the likelihood of going to prison? What does this mean about what is “real,” the way people understand the world, and what sociologists should study?

How has science been informed by culture (including racist beliefs) and, in turn, how has science fueled racism?

As the saying goes, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” How do eugenics and physiognomy contradict this saying (in regard to people)? Are the principles behind these pseudosciences still with us today?

What is “racialization” and how has it differed between Muslims and the Irish?

How is stating your ethnicity more similar to stating you like the Beatles than describing your race?

Thinking about the history of race, what do you predict for the future of “race” and “ethnicity” as social categories? Will they stay the same? What do demographic trends and history lessons suggest might happen in the coming decades in the United States?

The case of Ozzie and Harry at the beginning of the chapter brings to mind the variety of family arrangements. Describe the “nuclear family” and three other family forms. Does sociological research suggest that one such arrangement is necessarily the right one?

How do historical cultural ideals relate to current rates of marriage and divorce in the United States? Name one reason why the likelihood of being currently married might be lower among those with low incomes.

Sometimes what’s considered “normal” is far from what’s most prevalent currently or historically. How does this statement relate to perceptions about the “traditional” family?

Describe how a gendered division of labor arose after the Industrial Revolution. How was this change tied to kinship networks?

What is the second shift, and how does it relate to a leisure gap between husbands and wives?

What is a pecking order, and what does the term mean for children in a family? According to this concept, does your birth position in the family or number of siblings matter to your life chances for success in school and beyond?
Supplemental Information:

The following is the criteria I will use in grading each of your answers. If these criteria are not met, points will be deducted (the precise number of points deducted will depend on how far the response is from meeting this criteria). You might think of this as a quick checklist to use in editing your responses.

Grammar/Spelling:

No spelling mistakes.

No more than two grammatical errors.

Organization:

Main points of response are clear.

Critical Assessment:

Accurately address the question posed.

Thoroughly analyzes the material.

Includes a discussion of conflicting ideas or findings, where appropriate.

Evidence:

Uses appropriate sources in developing ideas.

 

Solution

Intro to Sociology Academic Essay

Intro to Sociology Academic Essay

How does the case of John/Joan support the view of sex as a category based on nature? How does the case of John/Joan support the view of sex as socially constructed and enforced?

The case of John/John supports the view of sex as a category based on nature because David was born with male genitalia and was never able to fully identify as a female after his sex change at a young age. This supports the idea that the genitalia you are born with is what fully determines your gender, and that cannot be changed. However, John/John also supports the view of sex as socially constructed and enforced because his parents were essentially forced by society to choose a gender for their child, as it would have been extremely socially deviant for David to not be either definitively male or definitively female. As in the case of most hermaphrodites, we are scientifically altering what was naturally made in favor of an outcome that adheres to our social norms.

What is the difference between homosexual “acts” and a homosexual “identity”? How did the historical development of the latter, according to Michel Foucault, affect how one sees oneself?

Previous to the identification of ‘homosexuals’ in the 1850s, homosexual acts were not considered necessarily deviant nor were the considered part of ones identity. However, during the 1800s the classification of ‘homosexual’ came about and became a distinct personality description in society’s eyes. Foucault believed that the body is ‘in grip’ of cultural practices or, in other words, there is no ‘natural’ body as the body is inevitably affected by culture. Therefore, as society progressively became aware of homosexual acts and began to discuss them in social forums, homosexuality started to be viewed as an act of deviance and therefor affected the identities of those who participated in homosexual acts.

How does Talcott Parsons describe the role of men and women in his “sex role theory”? Explain how conflict theories can be seen as a critique of structural functionalism and describe some limitations of each approach.

SEX ROLE THEORY

Talcott Parsons describe the role of men and women in his sex role theory, he quotes the different biological reasons to explain his perspective about men and women. Talcott Parsons describe the role of men and women in his “sex role theory” while considering the factual information of family based upon the role of men and women within the family and society. The simplest form of family was taken into consideration when the female of the family takes care of the family and household chores and man goes out of home in search of work to earn livelihood for his family. (Biddle, 1979)

The little girls of the family socialize in the neighborhood and approach their expressive attitudes about family life, feelings and try to emotionally attach to the thing. Boys of family portray their independence qualities like leadership and competitiveness. Parson’s theory also distinguished between the attributes which are soft and hard means which relates with sensitive issues which have made the girls to think about these attributes which describe how the female is made up. (Biddle, 1979). Generally boys are rough and dominating whereas females are soft, caring and subdued in nature.

Structural functionalism describes the paradigm of society which is men and women who are the complex system of the society and to form the basic understating between these two groups is a complicated task. To provide stability and solidarity in the societal shift between these two factions is the primary conflicted task as these two groups are like neither, they live with each other nor without each other. The Conflict theory was basically based with the conflictual system which is prevailed in society considerably with the difference in race, gender and class. The functionality in the system helps remove the differences prevailed in society. Parson promoted social change rather than social order of the society which is also the main cause of conflict between the theorists. The limitation of these approaches lies in the thought process of functionality of various theorists. Conflict theorists criticized functionalism’s concept of systems as giving far too much weight to integration and consensus, neglecting independence and conflict. Parson’s theory missed how the contradiction has been done and made. They agreed to the presence of a female in society because as it feels function and dysfunction in society is generally caused by “lack of feminist sensibility”. (Parsons, et. al.1984)

 Increasing participation of women in education and the work force has increased too many folds with the increase in independence, freedom and acceptance of women in society. Women independence has brought lots of economic stability but the societal stability prevailing has lost the charm. The inequality has still been prevalent and in certain classes of society. Many women have been studied and made their mark but due to work pressure several families are liable for separation and women are spending less time with family and children which relates to main cause of rift in families.

The acceptance of gay couples changed the traditional sex roles. With this the societal complications and the discord between the society of rape and other disgracing activities have also been declined. These reversible trends surpass the traditional attributes of new gender norms is being prevalent in the society.

                                                            References

Biddle, B. J. (1979). Role theory: Concepts and research.

Parsons, J. E., Adler, T., & Meece, J. L. (1984). Sex differences in achievement: A test of alternate theories. Journal of personality and social psychology, 46(1), 26.

5. What is “essentialism”? Explain how John Gray’s book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus could be described as essentialist.

            In chapter eight we learn in depth about gender and what it takes in order to be classified as a male or female. We learn in the chapter that essentialism is “a line of thought that explains social phenomena in terms of natural ones”. We also learn in the chapter about John Gray’s book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. What he means by the title of the book is that men and women are so different that they could be from different planets. Gray explains further that women and men differ in values, attitudes, thought processes, preferences, behavior patterns, and even believes men and women do not speak the same language.

Gray gives good examples to back up what he believes but at the same time his theory can be described as essentialist because he thinks that men and women have set characteristics that make them what they are. To a sociologist what seems natural is often anything but. I do not believe with Gray’s theory because growing up I was a complete tomboy. I was different than my sisters growing up and still am. While my sisters played with dolls, I played with hot wheels and played sports. I always hung out with the guys, while my sisters hung out with girls. Even to this day I have more guy friends than I do girl friends. I like trucks and cars while my sisters could care less about cars. In conclusion, Gray’s theory could be considered essentialist because men and women do not have set characteristics nowadays that make them what they are.