This post is copied directly from the blog "Ways of Thinking" by Chris Salituro

 I wanted to post the link to Chris' blog here, but I was afraid no one would open it, so I am copying and pasting the entire blog entry from Chris:

 "The rules are there are no Rules"

The quote above is from the movie Grease, but it reflects the common thinking about the American class system. That is, most Americans believe that there are no rules in America and anything is possible. "Only in America" is a common myth. The reality is that there are rules to the class system, but few Americans see it (then again, few have a sociological imagination!). The rules are as follows:

Income: the highest earning Americans have continued to earn more and more over the last 50 years, while the lower earners have earned closer to about the same. The more money you have, the more you can earn. This video (though politicized) is an accurate portrayal of income inequality in America. This graph displays the inequality by occupation.
Checkout this post from Slate about income inequality. You can scroll down a bit and enter your zipcode and see where it stands by comparison.
This map shows the inequality present in countries around the world. The bluer countries are more equal and the more red are less equalNotice how many countries are more equal than the United States.

Wealth: the wealthiest Americans have an enormous amount of wealth compared to the average American. The disparity is greater than that of income. Here is a visual representation of disparate wealth is.

Education: This link shows that on average, the higher a family's income, the higher the ACT score. And this link shows the higher one's educational level, the more he or she earns. Here is a post from sociological images that has a lot of info showing the connection between your degree and your income. This graph shows that the less education that parents have, the less education their children obtain.

Location: The price of a home depends on a lot more than the physical structure of the home.

Race: There is a much larger percentage of black and hispanic minorities in poverty than whites, although the actual number of whites is higher because there are that many more whites.

Here is a link to 15 statistics about inequality in America.

Constructing Masculinity and Feminity

MASCULINITY

We have been watching a video about how males learn to think about what it means to be a man. This video is called Tough Guise. In other words, the disguise to seem tough that guys put on. After watching this video, I hope you see the larger dynamic of what is going on here. Masculinity is a mask that many men wear in America. It is a way of validating their self worth. Men in America are shaped by a culture that reinforces the idea that toughness, violence and aggression are normal ways of being male. This creates a culture where overwhelmingly males are violent compared to females. Have you experienced this mask of masculinity? How? What are some other ways our culture should be constructing masculinity to provide validation for guys who are not violent? Are there examples out there that you know about?


Here are some examples of how Disney constructs masculinity:


This next video is called everyday guy, which is a humorous rap about being a regular guy - the average guy that the media neglects.








Why is being a "regular guy" so funny? Because our notions of what is acceptable to be a "real man" is so messed up. So, what is your definition of a real man? Let me give some examples of what a male friend of mine has suggested that a real man should be:
A real man...
is able to wake up in the middle of the night to comfort a crying baby
restrains emotions of anger
allows someone else to save face even if it makes him look bad
is not concerned with who gets the credit
is able to empathize
says sorry when he is at fault
can ask for help when he needs it
forgives someone who wrongs him
is not afraid to say is hurt, vulnerable, or that he cares

FEMININITY

We also watched the video "Killing Us Softly 3" and examined the many ways advertisers contribute to the socialization of women and girls into having low self-esteem based on unreasonable standards of beauty, and limited definitions of success and power. Fortunately there are some resources out there attempting to combat these destructive messages. For example Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

Includes some short films and lots of resources for girls and their families Watch 3 of their videos : "Evolution" "Onslaught" and "Amy" at this link. (You may have to use the drop down menu)

Here are examples of offensive ads from the NOW Foundation. These ads generally portray women as nothing more than sex objects.

and

Here are some examples of positive Ads from the NOW foundation

similarly, you can see examples of positive and negative media images at this website:

About face

And a wonderfully positive place for girls on the web:
New Moon

Killing Us Softly?

Jean Kilbourne, in her video "Killing Us Softly 3",

points out that we live in an age in which we are

bombarded by thousands of advertising images every day. While most people assert that these messages don't affect them, Kilbourne notes that most of them are wearing the most popular brands of clothing at the time. These messages, Kilbourne explains, show girls and women how they are supposed to view themselves: Dismembered, Without a voice, the victims of violence, objects of others' pleasure, and powerless in every important way.

Wealso looked at advertisments featuring photoshopped celebrities, which hold up ridiculously unrealistic images of even beautiful women. If Jessica Alba needs photo-shopping how much more unrealistic can the ideal image of beauty become?

The Consequences of these messages can be devastating. Problems with self-esteem, depression,and eating disorders are rampant among women and girls. While these things are problems in and of themselves, they lead to a larger problem for both men and women; a general inability to form mutually respectful, honest and healthy relationships with significant others. Do you think it is important to resist these messages? Are there things we can do to fight the destructive impact that these images give to women?

The looking glass self online

As kids get older and begin to explore their own identities, it’s normal for the opinions, language and behavior of friends to start to carry more weight as parental influence begins to take a back seat. Messages from television, music lyrics and advertising also seep into your self-concepts, sometimes unconsciously. The self-image that you develop is referred to as the Looking Glass self.

Virtual Selves, Real Identities:

But your generation of teens is different in a major way: You are the 1st generation that was born with the Internet, and nearly all of you are online today. You  have grown up in a world where what you see on video sharing sites, social networking pages and in virtual worlds is also shaping your self-concepts. Television is passive entertainment, but the interactive entertainment of the Internet allows hundreds of acquaintances and
thousands of strangers to give instant personalized approval, disapproval or advice about any content that is
publicly posted. A majority of you do create some form of online content today, but even if you aren’t posting online, or are keeping your stuff relatively private, you are still being bombarded with others’ ratings, rankings and judging of everything in cyberspace, from people to products.

How do these changes affect adolescent identity formation and self-concept?

When you are experimenting with new ways of looking, dressing, sounding and behaving online, the
feedback you get from others in your online networks can be supportive, empowering and an accurate representation of how others will respond to you in “real life.” One benefit to practicing online is that there is less emotional risk involved in experimenting with new aspects of a budding identity when one is behind a digital curtain. Online social experiences can function as useful training wheels for social skills. On the other hand, many more eyes may view your attempt and even pass this on to others, which can be exponentially more embarrassing. Knowing others are watching can also encourage people to embrace a personality trait more deeply and with lasting effects.

   In one recent study, students were told to write as if they were extroverted or introverted. One group posted their work online for others to see and the other group wrote privately. The online group used more definitive language and was more likely to hold onto the prescribed characteristics online after the experiment was over than was the group that wrote in private.

 When young people are trying identities on for size, those traits may stick more readily if they do it online – for better or worse.

violating social norms

Social Norms are the rules that a group uses to define appropriate attitudes and behaviors for a member of that group. We respect and adhere to social norms to make sure we are accepted, and even popular, among our fellow group members. Some social norms are formal laws, but many are simply agreed to by group members. We learn these norms from interacting with other member of our society; we come to know when and where it is appropriate to say certain things, to use certain words, to discuss certain topics or wear certain clothes (and when not to!). One of the sources of humor on "The Office" derive from the fact that Michael and Dwight are continually violating the implicit and explicit norms of behavior for their situation. If you are a fan of the show, can you think of other instances where the source of the humor is in the violation of social norms?

Lost boys

Here is a website dedicated to the Lost Boys of Sudan in Chicago.
To speak about culture in a more measured way, think in terms of the way sociologists might break down culture. Culture is made up of material culture as well as the nonmaterial: gestures, language, norms, values. Did you see aspects of these cultural components in the movie? Have you ever met anyone from a different country? Did you notice or discuss any cultural differences? What component of culture (from the terms above) did those differences fall under?

I also like the theme in the movie about communal society versus individualistic society. We see the Lost Boys in the United States have food, shelter, jobs and schooling but they feel lonely. They miss their culture because they are so used to communal culture. That is being together with their friends and family, rather than living nearly alone in an apartment. This is an important revelation that our culture sometimes de-emphasizes to a fault; we need other people. Humans are social and communal beings. Do you see how this individualist way of living and thinking shapes our lives? How can we work to change that and satisfy our inherent needs for connecting with other people?

Lost Boys of Sudan

 Here is a description of the documentary we are watching in class this week ,"Lost Boys of Sudan"

(This) Emmy-nominated feature-length documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.

In what ways does Looking at our culture through the eyes of these refugees help us to see ourselves in a new light?