Assignment For Week 10

No Homework this week!  Just do the reading and start studying for finals.

Also - remember to check out the Extra Credit Opportunities if you haven't already!
http://thelearningsociologist.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Unconscious Bias - activity

Want to better understand unconscious bias?  Check out "Project implicit" from Harvard.

You can take a test and participate in their study here.

From their "About Us" page:

Project Implicit was founded as a multi-university research collaboration in 1998 by three scientists - Tony Greenwald (University of Washington), Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard University), and Brian Nosek (University of Virginia), and was incorporated as a non-profit in 2001 to foster dissemination and application of implicit social cognition. Project Implicit supports a collaborative network of researchers interested in basic and applied research concerning thoughts and feelings that occur outside of conscious awareness or control. Project Implicit expanded into a substantial web-based infrastructure for supporting behavioral research and education that is available to other laboratories. Finally, Project Implicit provides consulting, education and training services on implicit bias, diversity and inclusion, leadership, applying science to practice, and innovation. (https://www.projectimplicit.net/about.html)

HOMEWORK: Due December 3

Given that Black Friday is just around the corner for this week I am tasking you with an assignment that looks at marketing and advertising.

1) Find a product that is unnecessarily gendered.  (That is, it is either specifically "designed" for a particular gender or advertised to a particular gender.  Think of products that include a "for him" or "for her" label, but you could also look for more subtle indications that a product is "gendered")

2) Bring into class (in a form you can turn in) an advertisement for, or listing on website (Amazon, Target etc) for this product.

3) Write a small summary of how this product is gendered, and argue why the gendering of this product is unnecessary.


Example:

1) Bic Pens For Her
2) (see below) and also see reviews at (http://www.amazon.com/forum//ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B004F9QBE6&cdSort=best)
3) This product is gendered as it is specifically labeled as being "for her" rather than for him, or for everyone - or more importantly as not having a gender.  We can further see the way gender is deployed in marketing and designing this product in the colors chosen and the description of the product.  The colors for the product are pastel/light colors and multiple colors.  The use of bright, multiple and pastel colors is associated with femininity in the American Culture.  The description also includes claims such as "Thin barrel to fit a woman's hand" and "Elegant design - just for her!"  These statements evoke the cultural structures that expect women to be elegant, small and delicate.  They presume a biological difference between men and women that extends from purely biological traits (a small amount of sexual dimorphism that could lead to slightly higher rate of small hands among women) to non-biological differences like a preference for color and "elegance" in pens.  Last, this product is unnecessarily gendered in that both men and women could benefit from a smaller pen, and pens work irrespective of color and sizing. The differences in this pen do not need to be associated with the gender of the user. 

For more ideas check out this video by Sara Haskins:

 

Reminder: Default assignment due

Reminder - default assignment due Nov. 19th.  Readings: Padavik & Reskin, IWPR, Aguilar, and Parker Pope

Using Humor to Understand Race

Race is a complicated and touchy subject, particularly in the United States.  Below you will find a series of videos that all deal with the issue of race through the lens of humor.  I encourage you to watch through them and ask yourself:
          Why is this funny?
          Or potentially why do I NOT find this funny?
         Would this humor be different if the identity of the comedian were different?
         What is the point the comedian or show is trying to make?
         Does the use of humor make the point easier or more difficult for you to "hear" as the listener?

         Do these commentaries on race resonate with you? 

Humor and comedy play with existing cultural structures - they highlight or twist values and ideas we share in suprising ways. 

Video 1: Key and Peele, Obama's Anger Translator 

Video 2: Trevor Noah, Live at the Apollo London

Video 3: Aamer Rahman (Fear of A Brown Planet) on "Reverse Racism"

  This is a YouTube "Comedy Week" video Titled "What kind of Asian Are You?" Highlighting the microagressions that people of Asian decent often face in the United States.

Margaret Cho talks about her experiences as an Asian American.

In this Key and Peele skit President Obama teaches Malia to drive and requests that the police officer treat him like anyone else...

Another Key and Peele sketch, this one commenting upon the shooting of Trayvon Martin.




Other videos that I could not embed: 

Gabriel Iglesias Talks about being a "Latino Comedian"
  http://www.cc.com/video-clips/18005l/stand-up-gabriel-iglesias--latino-comedian

Assignment for week 5 (November 5)

Your assignment this week is the "default" assignment.

Complete the following three prompts for each of the readings assigned for November 4th (Cornell-Hartman; Corrise; Kim)

1. One concept or idea from the reading you understand well and could explain to the class.
2. One concept, idea or portion of the reading that you do not understand and would like to have further explained.
3. One discussion question about the reading to prompt discussion among your classmates.
   
   
   
   

Assignment for Week 4, Due October 29th

Part 1: PlaySpent

Go to the Play Spent website and play through the simulation at least once.

Part 2: Develop a Budget and Living Wage estimation

 Using the resources handed out in class and sent out via email (and/or any others you might find on your own, but cite these sources) complete your budget making worksheet (available here).  While you work through your budget keep in mind the following:

Your budget must be realistic and legal.  For instance it is neither realistic nor legal for a couple with a baby to live in a studio apartment (this would exceed maximum occupancy laws).  The further away from San Diego proper that you chose to locate your home, the more your commute budget will be.  Today it is neither legal nor advisable for someone to be uninsured.  Keep these sorts of realities in mind while constructing your budget, and remember this is a living wage, not a subsistence wage nor a preferred wage.

If you want assistance decided about "savings" you can check out this link:

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/retirement/ira-savings-calculator.aspx

 Additional rental rates here :

http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/CA-San-Diego-Pricing.html

Additional information on Childcare:

http://blog.thebump.com/2012/09/04/average-child-care-costs-in-each-state-wheres-yours-on-this-list/
   

 Some facts to think about…

• In 2012, 49.0 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 33.1 million adults and 15.9 million children. Reference here
• The National Poverty Level threshold in 2011 for a Family of 4 was $22,350 
• The Average cost of having your appendix removed without insurance is $9,931 – does not include emergency room visit 
• Average cost of emergency room visit with no test or scans for a minor problem is $769 - $1423  
• Average cost of emergency room visit if life threatening (not counting surgery or overnight stay in hospital), includes imaging tests $9,931 

 Part 3: Compare your estimated living wage to the one developed by the folks over at MIT 

Bring your Budget and Estimated Living Wage worksheet to class with you on Wednesday (10/29) 

Additional Resources for Budget Creation: 

Healthcare cost - you may use this calculator to find out how much it might cost your imaginary family to have insurance through the Affordable Care act:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/30/226456791/how-much-will-obamacare-cost-me-try-our-calculator

Class ,Status, Party

Weber's essay "Class, Status, Party" is a response to Marx's (and other theorists like him) approach to economic class.





Status:

Weber writes,

"For example, only the resident of a certain street ('the street') is considered as belonging to 'society,' is qualified for social intercourse, and is visited and invited. Above all, this differentation evolves in such a way as to make for strict submission to the fashion that is dominant at a given time in society...[Such submission to fashion] is considered to be an indication of the fact that a given man pretends to qualify as a gentleman. This submission decides, at least prima facie, that he will be treated as such. And this recognition becomes just as important for his employment chances in 'swank' establishments, and above all, for social intercourse and marriage with 'esteemed' families" (Weber, p. 59).

The appearance of status honor, and the attainment of status honor via marriage can be instrumental in providing power for an individual.  In the example that Weber

Warner: My family expects a lot from me.
Elle: - Right. 

Warner: - I expect a lot from me. 

       I plan on running for office someday.
Elle: I fully support that. You know that.
Warner: Absolutely. But the thing is...Elle,

        if I'm gonna be a senator by the time I'm 30

        I need to stop dicking around.
Elle: Warner, I completely agree.
Warner: That's why I think it's time for us...
        Elle, pooh bear...
Elle: - I do. 

Warner: - I think we should break up.
Elle: What?

Warner:I've been thinking, and it's the right

        thing to do.
Elle: You're breaking up with me?
      I thought you were proposing.
Warner: Proposing?  Elle, if I'm going to be a senator...

        I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn. 

Elle: So, you're breaking up with me because I'm too... blonde?!

Warner: No, that's not entirely true— 

Elle: Then what? My boobs are too big? 

[Everyone in the resturant hears this and turns to their table] 

Warner: [whispers] Your boobs are fine.

Elle: So when you said that you would always love me...you were just dicking around?
Warner: Elle, I do love you. I just can't marry you. You have no idea of the pressure that I am under.
       My family has five generations of senators.  My brother's in the top three at Yale Law.

       He just got engaged to a Vanderbilt,for Christ's sake. 

...

Warner: Elle, believe me. I never expected to do this...
        but I think it's the right thing.
Elle: How can it be the right thing when we're not together?
Warner: I have to think of my future...
        and what my family expects of me.
Elle: So you're breaking up with me...

      because you're afraid your family won't like me?
      Everybody likes me.
Warner: East Coast people are different.
Elle: Because I'm not a Vanderbilt, suddenly I'm white trash?
      I grew up in Bel Air! Across the street from Aaron Spelling!
      Most people would agree that's a lot better...than some stinky old Vanderbilt!

In this exchange we can see an example of status being different from class.

Economically speaking, Elle and Warner are from the same class, however they come from 

sufficiently different backgrounds that the status of their families differ.  Elle is less

aware of this status difference, but Warner is aware. He finds their status difference of 

particular importance as he plans to run for office, this means that he wishes to join a pary

and to parlay his class and status into power for that party and for himself. In order to do

so he must wed a woman who has status comparable,or preferably superior, to his own. 

Discussion Questions:  Does Elle have status?  How is it different than the status offered by

a Vanderbilt?  What might a Vanderbilt have to offer (beyond status or as part of her status) 

that Elle does not? 

False Conscious (Marxism) and The Hunger Games

An important concept that Marx introduces to explain the failure of the proletariat to recognize their position as a unified class and their need to band together in order to overthrow capitalism.  One way to think about false consciousness is the sense of hope that individual people have that they might rise to a position within the ranks of the Bourgeoisie.

This scene from the Movie "The Hunger Games" is analogous to the concept of false consciousness.  In this scene President Snow explains why The Hunger Games has a victor, rather than having all participants die, or simply rounding up the sacrifices and executing them.

President Snow: Seneca... why do you think we have a winner?
Seneca Crane: [frowns] What do you mean?
President Snow: I mean, why do we have a winner? I mean, if we just wanted to intimidate the districts, why not round up twenty-four of them at random and execute them all at once? Be a lot faster.
[Seneca just stares, confused]
President Snow: Hope.
Seneca Crane: Hope?
President Snow: Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it's contained.
Seneca Crane: So...?
President Snow: So, CONTAIN it.

As has been noted by numerous literary and internet commentators The Hunger Games is more than a dystopian thriller, it also contains commentary and critique about our current political and economic systems.  In the fictional world of the Hunger Games an oppressive government of a fictional country named Panem has lead to vast wealth inequality: both in terms of intradistrict wealth and in comparing the capital city to the districts.   In part this wealth disparity has resulted from a failed rebellion, though it seems the disparity may also have been the initial cause of the rebellion.  In this fictional account, the capital city is filled with wealthy elites (Bourgeoisie) who own the means of production and live in a state of decadence and ease.  The proletariat are separated into 12 districts and their lives are filled with suffering and work. The separation into districts can be interpreted as an attempt to prevent further rebellion by making class identification more difficult for these workers.  The Hunger Games are an annual event where two youths (1 boy and 1 girl) are chosen from each district to compete in a battle to the death - until only one competitor remains.  In additional to providing the hope that President Snow mentions in the above clip, these games foster resentment and competition between the districts and reinforce the cultural structure within Panem that the districts deserve to be punished for their crime of rebellion.  This is particularly true as districts 1 & 2 have more resources than the other 10, allowing them to train tributes and more often win the games than other districts - this can be thought of as analogous to the Petite Bourgeoisie. 








 

Assignment for Week 3 (October 22)

Weber, Marx and Bourdieu all argue that various cultural structures (values, ideology, beliefs) uphold and support the social structure of capitalism. Though Marx and Weber disagree about the order of causation between capitalism and the cultural beliefs which support it, and which cultural beliefs those are.

Your assignment for next week is to identify something in United States culture that represents a cultural structure that upholds capitalism.  This can be an artifact of material culture (an object or image), a saying, or a popular individual.

For class on Wednesday:

1) Identify the example you have chosen.  You may bring in a picture, an object or simply right out a description.

2) Identify which cultural structure this example represents, and which theorist you would associate this example with.

3) Write a brief statement explaining how the example you have chosen represents the cultural structure you have chosen.

Be prepared to share you example with your peers.


Example Answer 1:

1) The popular saying attributed to Ben Franklin "A penny saved is a penny earned"

2) This saying represents the cultural structure of protestant asceticism as described by Weber.

3) Protestant asceticism was the value held by Protestants that one should live a life that is simple with few material comforts, this lent itself to Capitalism as it encouraged reinvestment of funds rather than spending funds on material possessions.  A penny saved is a penny earned encourages the saving of money rather than the spending of money on material comforts.

Theory: Durkheim and Functionalism

 Émile Durkheim was interested in the social causes of suicide.  Why, he wondered, were some groups more prone to suicide than others? Rather than focus upon the individual reasons for suicide (private troubles) he wanted to understand the social structures influenced the choice for suicide (public problems).  Remember, C. Wright Mills told us that private troubles are "about an individual’s character and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware"(Mills 1967: 395-6).  The trick of the sociological imagination is in understanding the ways that private troubles are sometimes ‘matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the limited range of his life’ (Mills 1967: 396; Mills 1959: 8) and extend to the level of cultural and social structures.

Before we delve into the types of suicide that Durkheim's study revealed it might help to first think about the way that Durkheim understood society. Durkheim's Sociology is what we would today term Structural Functionalism.  He saw the base state of society as a peaceful state - society (and those within it) are inclined toward homeostasis (internal stability) and functionality.  Durkheim likened society to a machine (mechanical solidarity) or to a body (biological solidarity).  Both concepts point to the ways that individuals within a society interconnect, depend upon, and relate to one and other.  The clip below is from the movie Hugo - in it you will hear a very good description of a structural functional approach to society.


Functionalism - society as a great machine.

"Hugo Cabret: I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."

"Hugo Cabret: Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do... Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose... it's like you're broken."




Hugo's observations reflect the worldview of functionalism, society is meant to function and we all have a part in that society.  If there is conflict or unrest then there is something wrong with society structurally.  Similarly, if an individual cannot find their place within society they will have negative life chances.

Durkheim's Ideas About Suicide

Your assigned reading is about Egoistic suicide, but this is only one of four kinds of suicide that Durkheim described.  Durkheim delineated four types of suicide: Egoistic, Fatalistic, Anomic, and Altruistic.  Durkheim theorized that these different types of suicide resulted from different ways that individuals related (or failed to relate) to society.  These relations can be conceived along two axis: The level of Social Integration and The level of Moral Regulation/Individuation.

Welcome Fall 2014 Sociology 1 Students!

Welcome to your class blog!  As I have been a TA for this course before you will find lots of resources and past assignment.

I invite you to take a look around the blog:  Check out the tags, the tabs, and past entries!

See you all on Wednesday!

~Julia

Bourdieu - Cultural Capital

According to Bourdieu there are 3 kinds of Capital: Economic Capital, Social Capital and Cultural Capital.

You may recall that when we discussed Marx we talked about "capital" as not just money but money that can make money. Bourdieu's ideas of capital are similar in that they are traits which can be built upon to gain more "capital."  Similarly, one kind of capital can often be exchanged or parlayed into other kinds of capital.  As you move forward you should as yourself,  "what makes a trait 'capital'?"  and "Who gets to decide which traits are valuable?"


This blog post will focus upon Cultural Capital.  Cultural capital includes symbolic elements of capital such as forms of knowledge, skills, posture, accents, mannerisms, material objects and  education.

 "Cultural capital can be acquired, to a varying extent, depending on the period, the society, and the social class, in the absence of any deliberate inculcation, and therefore quite unconsciously. It always remains marked by its earliest conditions of acquisition which, through the more or less visible marks they leave (such as the pronunciations characteristic of a class or region), help to determine its distinctive value."(Bourdieu, 1986)

 Having the "right" kinds of capital can create advantages for that person, giving them a higher status in society.  There are three categories of cultural capital:

In the scene below we see Frasier and his father struggle with having very different tastes in material objects. Though Frasier is Marty's son, he has cultivated a very different kind of cultural capital creating conflict between these two.

1. Embodied Cultural Capital: This is capital that is related to our bodies. This can include attributes like language (accent, euphemisms, vocabulary, colloquialisms), [preferred] bodily composition (highly muscled, fake tans, body weight, manicures) and posture.  In the film stills from above we can see how actors learn to adjust their embodied cultural capital to portray characters from a variety of economic backgrounds.  A combination of acting (embodied), hair/makeup (embodied), and costuming (objectified) allows these actors to send cues that the audience can pick up on to understand the character's socioeconomic background before (or without) being told what that background is.
2. Objectified Cultural Capital: This is material capital. These are the things we own like furniture, clothes, jewelry, and cars.  However, objectified cultural capital is more than just what we own, but what we want to own and what we decide to own.  Our tastes combined with our economic capital can combine to dictate what sorts of objects we collect. Do we prefer antique furniture or new? Do we want to spend our money on technological gadgets or a box at the opera? (see Frasier Episode Above)  
3.   Institutional Cultural Capital:  Degrees and credentials that are acquired can be a form of cultural capital.  

We all have cultural capital and we all have a lot of cultural capital, but some kinds of capital are more valued than others. These kinds of cultural capital are seen as demonstrating cultural competence within a given field. Depending upon the field different kinds of capital are going to be valued. The cultural capital that will gain you access and acceptance at a country club is going to be quite different than the kinds of cultural capital that produce "Street Cred"

Generally,  those kinds of cultural capital associated with the upper class are more highly valued and easily parlayed into other kinds of capital.   These kinds of cultural capital can contribute social mobility, or lack there of.

Many of our readings have focused upon the way that certain kinds of cultural capital are favored within educational institutions, thus making it easier and more likely that students who already have that capital are more likely to acquire Institutional Cultural Capital.   Educational settings often favor middle-class ways of being. This is what is often called the "hidden curriculum" which pertains to attitudes and behaviors expected of students.

Habitus in Popular Culture

To begin with, and in short, Habitus is your way of being.  It is the collected aspects of culture that are anchored in the body or daily practices of individuals and groups. It includes the totality of learned habits, bodily skills, styles, tastes, and other non-discursive knowledges that might be said to "go without saying" for a specific group (Bourdieu 1990:66-67).  You might think of it as a persons...groove. It is also the basis for a person's cultural capital.

Old Man: "His groove! The rhythm in which he lives his life. His pattern of behavior. I threw it off. And the Emperor had me thrown out the window!" (The Emperor's New Groove).

Bourdieu tells us that our habitus, our ways of being, are at least partly instilled through the social structures around us.  Though the process of internalizing these social and cultural structures - into our tastes, habits, bodies - we are also being interpolated into an existing social hierarchy.  One that privileges certain ways of being over others, as being more legitimate and of more value.  Remember, Bourdieu is a conflict theorist, so it makes sense to see   taste (and the legitimation of certain tastes over others) as part of the class conflict.  "The main way this happens is through what he calls ‘habitus’ or socialised norms or tendencies that guide behaviour and thinking. Habitus is ‘the way society becomes deposited in persons in the form of lasting dispositions, or trained capacities and structured propensities to think, feel and act in determinant ways, which then guide them’" (Wacquant 2005: 316, cited in Navarro 2006: 16, cited on bourdieu-and-habitus).

Now our habitus is neither something we can control nor is it purely determined by structures. It is created by a kind of interplay between the two over time.  A mutually constitutive relationship between the individual and society that creates the amalgam of practices and preferences we call habitus.  In this sense habitus is created and reproduced unconsciously, ‘without any deliberate pursuit of coherence… without any conscious concentration’ (Bourdieu 1984: 170).



"embodied capital, external wealth converted into an integral part of the person, into a habitus, cannot be transmitted instantaneously (unlike money, property rights, or even titles of nobility) by gift or bequest, purchase or exchange."(Bourdieu, 1986)  But it can be changed over time.




The theme of changing an individual's cultural capital as a means to change or conceal habitus is a repeated often within popular culture.

A classic example is the movie My Fair Lady (which is a musical production of the earlier work Pygmalion).  A woman of low class standing (Eliza Doolittle) is "transformed" - coached in deportment and language by Henry Higgins - into a lady of high class standing.  In the end she is able to pass as a Duchess among the upper class at a ball.

In this first video (above) you will see Eliza early in her transformation.  If you would like to see her prior to any intervention use this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9E8KDx2cwk).  Her Cockney accent is thick and pronounced, giving away her social standing.


 Even after Eliza is coached to speak as an upper class woman, she is still not able to pass.  Her habitus and life experiences give her away.  In the scene to the left we see Eliza socializing with the upper class at a horse race.

What is it about Eliza that gives her away?  Why does her topic of conversation reveal her class background?

This particular scene was reused in Pretty Woman a modern update of the Pygmalion story that follows the My Fair Lady plot (withe some important changes).

The narrative of transformation and "rags to riches" in these movies makes them similar to Cinderella Stories. However,Cinderella, in the original fairy tale, comes from an upper class background and has simply been oppressed by her stepmother.  She does not require a change to her habitus.  The Pygmalion narrative incorporates instilling different habits, tastes, mannerisms, gestures and language use.  In essence, the transformation of habitus.

In the end, whether it is Eliza in My Fair Lady, Vivian from Pretty Woman, Lany Boggs from She's All That the transformation is complete, but not flawless.  Contemporary versions often include a "beautiful all along" element to the plot that softens the classism inherent in these stories. For more examples go to http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PygmalionPlot



Another example where we can see habitus in Popular Culture is the 2003 reality TV Show "Joe Millionaire."  In a gender reversal of the tropes described above in this case the individual undergoing transformation is Evan Marriott a construction worker. You can see the trailer for this show below.  Interestingly, it is Evan's habitus that gives him away.  At least one contestant, Allison, begins to suspect that Evan is not who he says he is when he fails to appreciate (or eat) the goat cheese served on one of their dates.  In her words "who doesn't like goat cheese?"

Welcome Summer Session I Students!

Welcome to your Sociology Class Blog.  This space will be yours to hold course discussions, access resources, and find assignments from class.

Feel free to browse through the previous posts, these are from earlier offerings of Sociology 1.  You may find these posts helpful.

Take some time to get to know the blog, and remember - the comments section is a great place to get talking about sociology with your class mates!

Assignment for Tuesday (July 8th):

1 - Prior to your attendance at section on July 3rd please go to the website "http://playspent.org/" and play the "spent" game at least once.

2 - Then go over to "http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22000973" and take the British Class Calculator Quiz.

3 - Last, go to "http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/games/index.html" and take either "Identify This" or "Chintz or Shag?"