Principle of Sociology week 6 discussions
Week 8: Week Eight - Class Discussion
Only 100 words
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Instructional Objectives for this activity:
· Distinguish between mainstream and deviant cultural behaviors and their impact on microstructures and macrostructures of society.
· Apply the basic ideas and focus of the following three major theoretical perspectives: the structural-functional paradigm, the conflict paradigm, and the symbolic interaction paradigm. |
Please respond to
all
of the following prompts in the class discussion section of your online course, and use the readings from Chapter 10, "Gender and Age," pages 246-281 to obtain background information.
- How does each of the sociological perspectives approach the subject of aging? Explain.
- How does the media shape the images of older people? How does this influence your expectations for the kind of life each of you hope to have when you reach your senior years? What kind of societal changes, if any, would need to take place for each of you to achieve your goals?
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Issues of Sex and Gender:
Gender, in contrast, is a social, not a biological characteristic. Gender consists proper for its males and females. Conqusequently, gender varies from one society to another. Whereas sex refers to made of female, gender refers to masculinity or femininity. In short, you inherit your sex, but you learn your gender as you are socialized into the behaviors and attitudes your culture asserts are appreciate for your sex.
As the photo montage on the nest page illustrates, the expectations associated with gender differ around the world. Those vary so greatly that some sociologists suggest that we replace the terms masculinity and femininity with masculinities and femininities.
The Symbolic Interactionst Perspective:
At first, the audience sat quietly as the developers explained their plans to build a high-rise apartment building. After a while, people began to shift uncomfortably in their seats. Then they began to show open hostility.
You even want them to have a swimming pool? Asked an-other incredulously.
Finally, one young woman put their attitudes in a nutshell when she asked, who wants all those old people around.
When physician Robert Butler (1975, 1980) heard these complaints about plans to build apartments for senior citizens, he began to realize how deeply antagonistic feelings toward the elderly can run. He coined the term ageism to refer to prejudice, discrimination, and hostility directed against people because of the age. Lets’ see how ageism developed in U.S.society.
The Functionalist Perspective:
Funcruinalists analyze how the parts of society work together. Among the components of society are age cohorts- people who were born at roughly the same time and who pass through the life course together. Although the life course together. Although you don’t see them, age cohorts have a huge impact on your life. When you finish college, for example, if the age cohort nearing retirement is large (a baby boom” generation), more jobs will be available. In contrast, if it is a small group (a baby bust” generation), fewer jobs open up. Let’s look at theories that focus on how people adjust to retirement.
The Conflict Perspective:
As you know, the conflict perspective’s guiding principle of social life is how social groups struggle to control power and resources. How does this apply to society’s age group? Regardless of whether the young and old recognize, it, say conflict theorists, society into turmoil. Let’s look at how the threatens to throw society into turmoil. Let’s at how the passage of Social Security legislation fits the conflict view.
Reference:
Henslin, J. M. (2011).
Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach,
9th ed. Boston: Pearson.