For Friday 16 October

Your syllabus tells you that there is a handout to read for Friday’s class.   But there is NO reading: we will do it all in class.

Here’s what I do want you to do in preparation:

Look back through the textbook, especially the last 3 chapters, where we have learned about some of the ways that families differ from each other.   People carry their family of origin with them when they come into a relationship – they are not a blank slate.

Bring to class two specific things that, if you found someone romantically attractive, it might be important to know about that person’s family background (i.e., not the person’s own likes and dislikes, but characteristics that might come from his or her family).  Write them down on a piece of paper, along with a page number from the text showing where they came from.

P2 Question from Student: Stereotype vs Social Construction

Image via Wikipedia

A student sent me an excellent question:

I am doing my power point on masculinity and discovered that our book doesn’t give a clear definition of masculinity.  Our book does give society’s opinions about it, which is what I have been basing my explanation of the photos on.

I don’t however want to be stereotypical.  So, I guess I am having trouble explaining why a certain picture is masculine without stereotyping the man or boy in it.
Example: I show a picture of a boy playing with a toy that looks like a piece of construction equipment.  I point out that the boy is wearing blue, and that the toy is geared to a boy because it is also blue and that the majority of construction workers today are men.
Example: I also show a man teaching his grandson how to throw a football.  I explain that by teaching him football, (a male sport) he is demonstrating masculinity.  I also say that because he is fathering the boy he is demonstrating masculine traits as well.

My answer:

There’s a very fine line between a stereotype and a social construction.

A stereotype is based on an assumption about the nature of that group (men/women, working class, etc).

Examples would be: Men are physical; working class people are lazy (like the teenager in the video on Monday who called his mother “lazy” when she walks 10 miles to get to work!), etc.

A social construction is an image that is promoted by society, and might be based on some observable situation (social fact).  It does not claim that the thing observed is due to the nature of the group.

The agents of socialization are the people who pass along the social construction. The old fashioned picture on this page, taken from an old magazine, shows that men should be confident and strong, while women will be timid and in need of coaxing to try something as adventurous as swimming. The magazine is part of the media, one of the agents of socialization.

(Image of man teaching grandson to play football):
Stereotype: Men are strong and physical, so they play sports.
Sociological: Sports are traditionally associated with men and their greater musculature, so family members are more likely to make sure a young boy knows how to play sports than they are a young girl.

(Image of boy playing with construction equipment):
Stereotype: Boys have a natural fascination with equipment, especially big earth moving equipment. Therefore this is a boy’s toy.
Sociological: Construction work is a predominantly male field, and it is associated with men because of their greater height and physical strength. Young boys are given toys that prepare them for the kind of role society expects them to play, as seen by this young boy playing with a model earth-mover.

P2.2, P2.3 and P2.4 – Instructions now available

Image via Wikipedia

See the following page for instructions for P2.2, P2.3 and P2.4.

Click on P2Info in the menu in the banner to see the assignment.

(click through to Wikipedia for an explanation of the image. It includes a list of types of  “kids gone bad” in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.)

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Short Assignments P1.1 and P1.2

Image by robyn00 via Flickr

If you look in the header, you will see that there’s now a label “Short Assignments.”

You  have two choices for the first assignment:

• P1.1, an analysis of observing families for an hour in a public place,
  due on Friday September 18
• P1.2, an analysis of observing photos and interviews with families from two nations,
  due on Friday Sept. 25.

The assignments have many similarities:

1. You create a Data Log of observations – either your notes from watching families as they interact or your notes from carefully viewing and reading about families in Peter Menzel’s book The Material World.
2. You write a 1-page report (separate from the Log) in which you identify patterns or commonalities in the families, as well as differences. Your report describes the pattern, referring to data from the Log.
3. You hand in both the Log and the Report.

Grading: The papers will be graded with the same rubric, which follows below.

Questions? If you have questions, please use the Comments below, so that other students can see the answers and get help too.