From my friend, Chris Salituro's sociology blog:

We have been examining the components of culture. The non-material aspects of culture are often the most important but we are often unaware of them. One type of non-material culture is symbolic culture, or gestures and language. Here is a link to a list of some single hand gestures from around the world.

Language is important too as it affects how we think. When we think about something, we are using language inside of our heads so if we use certain words or do not have certain words, it may affect how think about things especially how we categorize something. This was first studied by Saphir and Whorf. Sapir-Whorf has been critically contested in recent years, but the NY Times ran a story about how there is still some merit to the idea of language affecting our thoughts. See that article here. Here is a book that highlights untranslatable words from around the world.
Here is a study explaining that with out language, numbers do not make sense.

Nurtured by Love or Matured by Nature?

As we begin to look at the topic of "socialization", It is amazing to me that so much of what we take for granted as being human (part of our nature) is actually learned from our environment (nurture). The "Wild Child" video about children raised without human love and support demonstrates the power of social experiences on individuals. The following website: Feralchildren.com is a fascinating source of more information on the topic. Please read the article on this site entitled, "Nurtured by love or Matured by Nature"you and comment on your impressions from the video and the website, and about how you feel that your life has been shaped by both your inborn qualities as well as by the experiences of your life.

Gang Leader for a Day

One of the ways that sociologists do research is by participating in the societies that they are interested in learning about. What follows is an excerpt of the book 'Gang Leader for a Day'
by University of Chicago graduate student Sudhir Venkatesh.


After nearly three years of hanging out with J.T., I began talking to several of my professors about my dissertation topic. As it turned out, they weren't as enthusiastic as I was about an in-depth study of the Black Kings crack gang and their compelling leader. They were more interested in the standard sociological issues in the community: entrenched poverty, domestic violence, the prevalence of guns, residents' charged relations with the government — and, to a lesser extent, how the community dealt with the gang.
If I explored these subjects well, my professors said, I could explain how the Robert Taylor tenants really behaved, rather than simply arguing that they didn't act like middle-class people.
Bill Wilson in particular was adamant that I adopt a wider lens on the gang and its role in Robert Taylor. Because sociology had such a strong tradition of "community studies," he wanted me to write the definitive report on everyday life in high-rise housing projects.
He also said he's started worrying about my safety in the projects. By this point, I had taken up golf as a way to spend more time with Wilson, an avid golfer. "I'm having nightmares, Sudhir," he said once in the middle of the fairway, staring out blankly. "You're worrying me, and I really want you to think about spending some time with others." He drifted off, never instructing me about which "others" I should be observing, but I knew this was code for anyone besides the gang.
I knew he had my best interests in mind, but it still came as a shock to me that I would have to widen my focus if I still planned to base my dissertation on this community. This meant that J.T. wouldn't be the sole target of my attention, and perhaps not even the primary target. A few of my professors were seasoned ethnographers, experts in the methodology of first-hand observation. They were insistent that I avoid getting so close to any one source that I would be beholden to him.
Easier said than done. I hadn't forgotten how agitated J.T. became when he saw me branching out into the community. I really didn't feel I could tell J.T. that my project was moving away from a focus on his leadership. By now, J.T. wasn't my only access to the community, but he was certainly my best access. He was the one who had brought me in, and he was the one who could open — or shut — any door. But beyond all that lay one simple fact: J.T. was a charismatic man who led a fascinating life that I wanted to keep learning about.
***
J.T. seemed to appreciate having the ear of an outsider who would listen for hours to his tales of bravado and managerial prowess. He often expressed how hard it was to manage the gang, to keep the drug economy running smoothly, and to deal with the law-abiding tenants who saw him as an adversary. Sometimes he spoke of his job with the same dispassion as if he were the C.E.O. of some widget manufacturer — an attitude that I found not only jarring but, given the violence and destruction his enterprise caused, irresponsible.
He fancied himself a philanthropist as much as a leader. He spoke proudly of quitting his mainstream sales job in downtown Chicago to return to the projects and use his drug profits "to help others." How did he help? He mandated that all his gang members get a high-school diploma and stay off drugs. He gave money to some local youth centers for sports equipment and computers. He willingly loaned out his gang members to Robert Taylor tenant leaders, who deployed them on such tasks as escorting the elderly on errands or beating up a domestic abuser. J.T. could even put a positive spin on the fact that he made money by selling drugs. A drug economy, he told me, was "useful for the community," since it redistributed the drug addicts' money back into the community via the gang's philanthropy.
I have to admit that J.T.'s rhetoric could be persuasive, even when I tried to play the skeptic. The fact was, I didn't yet have a good grip on how his gang really affected the broader community. On an even more basic level, I didn't even really know what J.T. did on a day-to-day basis.
One cold February morning, I stood with him on a street corner as he met with one of his drug-selling crews. I was shivering, still unaccustomed to the chilling lake winds, and trying hard to focus on what J.T. was saying. He spoke to his men about the need to take pride in their work. He was also trying to motivate the younger members to brave the cold and sell as much crack as they could. In weather like this, the youngest members had to stand outside and sell while the ones with more seniority hung out in a building lobby.
After addressing his troops, J.T. said he was going off to play basketball. He climbed into his car, a bright yellow Mitsubishi 3000GT, and I climbed in with him. We were parked near a busy intersection at State Street, within view of a Robert Taylor high-rise, some low-rise stores, Pastor Wilkins's church, and the Boys & Girls Club. Before he even turned the key, I mentioned, half-joking, that I thought he was seriously overpaid.
"I don't see what's so difficult about your job," I said. "I mean, you say how hard it is to do what you do, but I just can't see it being that difficult." All I ever saw him do, I said, was walk around and shake hands with people, spend money, drive nice cars — he owned at least three that I knew of — and party with his friends.
J.T. just sat for a moment, making no move to drive off. "Okay, well, you want to give it a try? If you think it's so easy, you try it."
"I don't think that would be possible. I don't think graduate school is really training me to lead a gang."
"Yeah, but you don't think I need any skills at all to do this. So you should have no problem doing it, right?"
It was true that sometimes his job looked hard. When his gang was warring with another gang, for instance, J.T. had to coordinate his troops and motivate 15-year-old kids to stand out in the open and sell drugs despite the heightened risk of being shot, beat up, or arrested. And it wasn't as though these kids were getting rich for their trouble. The B.K.'s, like most other street gangs, had a small leadership class. J.T. kept only a few officers on his payroll: a treasurer, a couple of "enforcers," a security coordinator, and then a set of lesser-paid "directors" who managed the six-person teams that did the actual street-level selling of crack.
But for the most part, it seemed that J.T.'s gang members spent their time hanging around on street corners, selling drugs, shooting dice, playing sports, and talking about women. Did it really take a self-styled C.E.O. to manage that?
I expressed this sentiment to J.T. "I could do it," I said. "Probably. I mean, I don't think I could handle a war and I've never shot a gun, so it depends what you mean when you say 'try it.'"
"Just that — try it. There's no war on right now, no fighting. So you don't even have to touch a gun. But I can't promise that you won't have to do something you may not like."
"Like what?"
"I'm not telling you. You said you think it's easy, so you do it, and you'll see what I mean."
"Is this an offer?"
"N——-, this is the offer of a lifetime. Guaranteed that if you do this, you'll have a story for all your college friends."
He suggested that I try it for a day. This made me laugh: how could I possibly learn anything worthwhile in a single day?
From inside the car, I watched as parents gingerly stepped out of the high-rise lobby, kids in tow, trying to get to school and out of the unforgiving lake wind. A crossing guard motioned them to hurry up and cross the street, for there were a couple of 18-wheelers idling impatiently at a green light. As they passed his car, J.T. waved. Our breath was fogging up the windshield. He turned on the defroster, jacked the music a bit louder. "One day," he said. "Take it or leave it. That's all I'm saying. One day."
Excerpted from Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Reprinted by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copyright Sudhir Venkatesh, 2008.

10 things you can do

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10 THINGS MEN CAN DO

1. Approach gender violence as a MEN'S issue involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. View men not only as perpetrators or possible offenders, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers
2. If a brother, friend, classmate, or teammate is abusing his female partner -- or is disrespectful or abusive to girls and women in general -- don't look the other way. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to talk to him about it. Urge him to seek help. Or if you don't know what to do, consult a friend, a parent, a professor, or a counselor. DON'T REMAIN SILENT.
3. Have the courage to look inward. Question your own attitudes. Don't be defensive when something you do or say ends up hurting someone else. Try hard to understand how your own attitudes and actions might inadvertently perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them.
4. If you suspect that a woman close to you is being abused or has been sexually assaulted, gently ask if you can help.
5. If you are emotionally, psychologically, physically, or sexually abusive to women, or have been in the past, seek professional help NOW.
6. Be an ally to women who are working to end all forms of gender violence. Support the work of campus-based women's centers. Attend "Take Back the Night" rallies and other public events. Raise money for community-based rape crisis centers and battered women's shelters. If you belong to a team or fraternity, or another student group, organize a fundraiser.
7. Recognize and speak out against homophobia and gay-bashing. Discrimination and violence against lesbians and gays are wrong in and of themselves. This abuse also has direct links to sexism (eg. the sexual orientation of men who speak out against sexism is often questioned, a conscious or unconscious strategy intended to silence them. This is a key reason few men do so).
8. Attend programs, take courses, watch films, and read articles and books about multicultural masculinities, gender inequality, and the root causes of gender violence. Educate yourself and others about how larger social forces affect the conflicts between individual men and women.
9. Don't fund sexism. Refuse to purchase any magazine, rent any video, subscribe to any Web site, or buy any music that portrays girls or women in a sexually degrading or abusive manner. Protest sexism in the media.
10. Mentor and teach young boys about how to be men in ways that don't involve degrading or abusing girls and women. Volunteer to work with gender violence prevention programs, including anti-sexist men's programs. Lead by example

Copyright 1999, Jackson Katz. www.jacksonkatz.com

10 THINGS WOMEN CAN DO

1. Stop Talking About Your Weight (especially in front of young girls)
Young girls listen to the way women talk about themselves and each other and learn the language of womanhood. Young women can only learn to love or even accept their bodies if they see women who love and accept their own. Every discussion we have about weight, or fat, or being too this or that, leaves an impression on the people around us. We are encouraging an unattainable quest for perfection.

2. Make a List of Women You Admire
How often is the woman's appearance a reason that you admire her? What do you think are the most important attributes a woman can have? What would you like a young woman to most admire in you? In herself? Does our culture seem to admire the same things in women that you do?

3. Question the Motives of the Fashion Industry
Always remember that the main objective of the fashion, cosmetic, diet, fitness and plastic surgery industries is to make money, not to make you the best person you can possibly be. The ultra thin ideal is working for them. But is it working for you? If every season your parent or partner told you to change who you are or how you dress wouldn't you question their motives?

4. Stop Weighing Yourself
Remember that the emphasis to be thin and beautiful is ever present in our society. Cut yourself some slack. Imagine spending a day, or a week, without the scale measuring your self esteem. Does the scale tell you that you aren't disciplined enough? That you aren't working hard enough? Get rid of it. The emphasis on thin is new and arbitrary. And it can be reversed.

5. Concentrate on Things You Do Well
Do you look in the mirror one day and think you look great and the next day and think you look awful? Your body isn't changing, your perception of it is. It is true that if you're feeling good about other things in your life, you'll be less critical of how you look. Do things you do well. And if you've had a bad day, stay away from the mirror. When a woman is happy and confident, she may not have a "perfect" body, but she doesn't give a damn!

6. Get Physical For Fun
Your body needs EXCERCISE and REAL FOODS. Take walks, dance in your living room, garden, golf...try to get moving for your heart, not to decrease the size of your bottom. You may lose weight and you may not, but your body will be stronger, your stress will be lower and you'll feel better.

7. Value Your Dollars
With more women working today than ever before, our dollars are much in demand. You are being courted! How much of your money goes into the fashion and cosmetics industries? What do you spend on eating regimens? What are you getting back? Look at your budget and be sure the money you spend reflects the person you are, not the person society wants you to be. If look's didn't matter at all, what would you spend your money on?

8. Voice Your Opinion
Both large and small businesses are interested in your input. Your letters and phone calls really make a difference. The following organizations can help you find the addresses of companies. Contact Media Action Alliance in Circle Pines, MN (612) 434-4343 or Media Watch in Santa Cruz, CA (408) 423-6355. Subscribe to Media Watch's terrific quarterly Action Agenda.

9. Be a Role Model
Every culture and every generation has its own rules and expectations for women. It is never easy to go against the grain, but there have always been women who took risks to grow and learn and succeed. And, there always will be. Many inspirational women have broken molds, set new standards, and blazed trails. Wouldn't you like to break a mold or two?

10. Break the Barriers
Author Sara Tisdale wrote, "We must all choose between battles: One battle is against the cultural ideal, and the other is against ourselves." Must we always define ourselves by what popular culture dictates? Develop your own style. Have fun-- Wear lipstick. Or don't. You're the boss of you. By speaking out and accepting yourself (dimples and all), you help break the barriers.

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How to Write a Complaint Letter About an Ad

May 13th, 2008

On the About-Face web site (that is, on this blog and elsewhere on our site), we talk about a lot of ads and other media that require action from consumers. But when we say “write a letter or e-mail,” what does that really mean? I used to think about what I would say for so long that I’d never write the letters. Those days are over for me, but a lot of people don’t know what to say to these companies. Here are some tips. For an example, check out the comments in the Dairy Queen post.

(If you’ve written a particularly good complaint letter that follows these suggestions, please post it in the comments below!)

How to Write an Effective Complaint Letter about an Ad or Other Media
Opening paragraph

• Say why you’re writing. Specify the ad or other media (use the name of the ad if you know it)
• Write one VERY SHORT sentence about your problem with the ad
• Briefly say what your action is going to be (see below)

Following paragraphs

• Go into more detail about why the ad is problematic for you, for society, for women, for men, for people of color, or whatever. Be productive and descriptive. Do not say “I think” or “I believe” or “I feel” — be strong! Do not go off on a rant, even if you are angry. You will be dismissed as a crazy person if you do rant, and the company will not read your letter or take it seriously.
• Tell them again what your action will be. Always say you will not buy their product until the ad is “pulled” (no longer published, on TV, etc.). Even if you were not a customer before, tell them you were a formerly loyal customer. If you’re planning to stage a protest, say that, but don’t state the date.

"Over the counter at McDonald's"

Over the Counter at McDonald's
by Robin Leidner

Norms and Values

Conflicting Values in America

We are discussing Norms and values in class this week. While it is possible to ennumerate a number of values that our culture shares (individuality, achievement, materialism, freedom, for example). We also learned that large societies have many members with conflicting views and ideas on how these values should be translated into policies.

We chose a topic that reflects conflicting values and learned a technique for deliberating controversial issues. We deliberated the question "should our democracy permit same sex couples to marry?" The following article appeared in Newsweek a few weeks ago:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/229957 . It is titled "The conservative Case for Gay Marriage" and it is about the current case that has come to the Supreme court to defeat Proposition 8, which is a ruling that California passed to make it illegal for gay couples to marry. Do you have a strong opinion? Was your opinion influenced by deliberation?