Family and Society

Soc 2433 at the College of Saint Scholastica

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    • Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right—Dude, Where’s My Stimulus?
      Years ago, I once had a conversation with an economist who freely admitted that there was no unified macroeconomic theory.  What works versus what doesn’t work in a particular sociopolitical context is really just so much spitballing.  This never surprised me given the complex realities of global capitalism. I’ve been genuinely perplexed by Barac […]
    • Weekends Are for Porn (Not News)
      Just in case you’ve ever wanted evidence that people do more online searches for porn on weekends (especially Friday nights!): Thanks to Larry. UPDATE: Reader Dangger sent us a comparison of searches for porn and news: (Via.) (View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)
    • Weber’s Monopoly on Violence
      Perry H. sent in this cartoon: The cartoon, of course, reminds us of the power of words.  Calling something “terrorism” is a way to make it seem illegitimate.   And, often, what makes violence illegitimate is not something inherent in the violence itself, but your perspective on it. The cartoon also reminds us of Max Weber’s insight that th […]
    • Finally A Women’s Movement Men Can Get Behind
      Last week Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a scorching critique of the uproar over pushing regular mammography back till 50-years-old, in light of the muted response to the Stupak amendment excluding abortion from both state and public health insurance programs. “So welcome to the Women’s Movement 2.0,” she writes “pink-ribbon culture has replaced […]
    • Homo-hatred in Uganda: a gift from US conservative evangelicals
      In yesterday’s news, CNN reporter Saeed Ahmed asks “Why is Uganda attacking homosexuality?” As Ahmed reports, the Anti-Homosexuality Bil in this Eastern African nation (introduced in October, and expected to pass by the end of December) “features several provisions that human rights groups say would spur a witch hunt of homosexuals in […]
    • US literacy rates (2003)
      The key Number of Adults in Each Prose Literacy Level Prose Literacy * Below Basic: o no more than the most simple and concrete literacy skills * Basic: o can perform simple and [...]
    • The Discovery Channel: “Not for Women’s Eyes”
      Benno K. sent in a link to some ads he saw in the Netherlands for the Discovery Channel, which Benno describes as “the channel that used to be for science, but is now mostly explosions and motor bikes.” In both posters the men have “women’s” eyes–that is, they appear wide-eyed and long-lashed, with mascara: The caption say […]
    • Public bathroom of the future – revised
      Work in progress Regular readers will recognize this as a slightly modified version of a bathroom design I posted a couple weeks ago. I took some time to incorporate readers’ comments and hope you’ll continue to make recommendations. Here are the major changes: + all the plumbing is routed through exterior walls + sight lines are [...]
    • Class and the Framing of a Work-Free Year
      This cartoon illustrates how a work-free year is interpreted as lazy and irresponsible if you’re a working class person and a well-deserved treat if you’re middle class or better. Found at The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Genuis, via Missives from Marx. (View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)
    • The Relativity of Feminist Liberation
      I spent a day in Salzburg this September with a man from Dubai.  We had a wonderful time comparing perspectives. Dubai, he explained, was a wildly modern, multicultural city.  The default language in public was English due to the international population.  He was a stockbroker who had gone to college in London and gone part way through an MBA. He interacted […]

Archive for November, 2008

Demographic Transition

Posted by Sr. Edith Bogue on 16 November, 2008

Slides that will be analyzed in class on Monday, 17 November.

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“Nurse” or “Male Nurse”

Posted by Sr. Edith Bogue on 11 November, 2008

After we talked about professions that are associated with one or another gender, the blog Sociological Images posted this picture that is aimed to de-gender the name of one such profession – I thought you’d be interested.

De-Gendering Nurse

"De-Gendering Nurse"

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USA Today: Is there an ideal age for first marriage?

Posted by Sr. Edith Bogue on 10 November, 2008

Thanks to RaeAnn Nordwall for noticing this article in today’s USA Today.  I’ve posted the start; click the link in this sentence to the whole article.  John VanEpp comments towards the end.

By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
Emily Becker wanted to be married by age 30.
In June, at age 28, she and Joe Becker, 29, were married. They were the
last of their group to tie the knot.

Even though they began dating in 2003 — around
the same time as most of their friends — “it took us almost twice as
long to get married,” she says. “We both knew we wanted to marry each
other. We just kept having to put it off.”

The reason? Careers. Both are doctors. They spent four years in medical
school. Three years of residency were in different cities. They got
engaged in October of last year and now live in San Francisco.

Like many young adults today, the Beckers waited to marry until they
felt the time was right. Others are also holding off while maintaining
a single-but-together status that can last years. That may be one
reason the age at first marriage has been climbing steadily for all
racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. The median age is now the
oldest since the U.S. Census started keeping track in the 1890s: almost
26 for women and almost 28 for men.

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