Media and Gender Stereotyping
Media and Gender Stereotyping Research conducted by Kim Teasdale Contents 1 ABSTRACT 03 2 INTRODUCTION 03 3 FORMULATION 04 4 AIM 04 5 HYPOTHESIS 04 6 METHODS 05 6.1 DESIGN 05 6.2 PARTICIPANTS 05 6.3 MATERIALS 05 6.4 STANDARDISED PROCEDURES 05 6.5 CONTROLS AND ETHICS 05 7 RESULTS 06 7.1 RAW DATA 06 7.2 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS 07 8 DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 08 8.1 EXPLANATION OF FINDINGS 08 8.2 BACKGROUND RESEARCH 08 8.3 LIMITATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS 09 8.4 IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 09 9 CONCLUSION 09 REFERENCES 10 APPENDIX 1: TALLY CHARTS AND CALCULATIONS APPENDIX 2: SAMPLE ADVERTISEMENTS FROM MARIE CLAIRE AND GQ 2004 APPENDIX 3: SAMPLES OF PAST ADVERTISEMENTS ABSTRACT Past research found that media culture, particularly magazines, present stereotypical notions of gender. Gender stereotypes are not inflexible, like a barometer stereotypes change to reflect both societal and cultural values. This research set out to study current gender stereotypes types in four popular magazines (Marie Claire, GQ, Shape and Men's Health). The advertisements were categorised into gender specific and gender neutral adverts. The results found that the mode for gender specific adverts
Sociological Perspectives
Ocean L Blue 30145454 There have been numerous sociological perspectives put forward over the years in attempts to both explain and understand the ways in which society is structured and ordered. Likewise, a number of perspectives aim to explain and analyse in detail the behaviour of social actors, both individually and collectively and the impact they have on the shaping of society. What is more, a large number of sociological perspectives appear on the surface to be strikingly different. However, upon further investigation there are surprising similarities. This essay will explore two such perspectives, Ethnomethodology and the Conflict Theory, by identifying their key concepts, their structure and function in society and discussing their differences and similarities. Ethnomethodology is relatively modern sociological perspective that offers explanation in how social actors make sense of their social world. It is thought that they do this through displaying understanding to others, thus producing a shared social order and structure. The term Ethnomethodology was coined by Harold Garfinkel (1917 - ) in 1954, being sparked primarily by Talcott Parsons (1902 - 1979) and his interest with the problem of order. Talcott's interest was illustrated in his works The Structure of Social Action (1937). Garfinkel developed his ideas further through his writings Studies in
Sociological Theories
Sociological Theory - An Introduction. Sociological Theories. Functionalism was founded by Emile Durkheim. Functionalism is a theory of society, it is a structural theory and it is a consensus theory. The functionalist perspective was one of the first to develop a theoretical explanation of how societies work. It has produced a structural approach to the study of society where consensus is seen as essential, as without it society would collapse into chaos. It looks at how social order is created. It believes that value consensus results in social solidarity and this value consensus is created through socialization. Functionalism also looks at society as a whole and works on the idea that society determines the individual. Functionalists believe that in modern society individuals are integrated into groups. The individual is born into a family where they have their basic needs met, some individuals will be born into a religious family and will therefore become apart of a group who have shared interests, this integration continues throughout an individuals life. It is believed that groups in society regulate the behaviour of the individual through formal and informal sanctions. In the workplace if a person is not performing to a satisfactory level they may be warned or fired but if they are doing a really good job they may get a promotion or be praised verbally.
Sociology of education
The Cereal packet family is the embodiment of the nuclear family, a happy couple sharing a bowl of cereal with their children as typically seen on a cereal packet, is the cereal packet family an accurate picture of the 'typical' modern family? For different reasons both Functionalists and Marxists have been accused of adding to the assumption has a more instrumental role, while his wife stays at home and has a more expressive role. Statistical evidence accumulated of the past 30 years begs to differ. The nuclear family has been in decline since its peak during the 70s. In 1971 52% of children lived in a nuclear family; in 2004 38% did. In 1971 only 8% of children lived in a lone-parent household; 27% in 2002. (Data extracted from Office for National Statistics, 2006a) An historical view of the family shows dramatic changes to the structure of the family and the different roles of marital spouses that have occurred through the ages. Young and Willmotts study on the 4 stages of the family showed the family has undergone three significant changes and how the division of labour within the family had changed. The first stage was the Pre-Industrial Family in which the husband was the head of the household and had economic control over family, and the latest stage was a symmetrical family where conjugal roles which had been separated, (husbands had played no part in the
Assess the extent to which Marxist and Feminist theories help our understanding of religion in society today.
(3) Assess the extent to which Marxist and Feminist theories help our understanding of religion in society today (33 marks) Marxist theories of religion mainly relate to how religion helps the domination of society by the Bourgeoisie. They believe that society is always based on conflict between two classes, the Proletariat and the Bourgeoisie. Feminist theories of religion explain overall how religion identifies gender differences and inequalities, and in particular how religion helps men to maintain their dominance over women in society. One Marxist view on religion is that religion is an ideological apparatus. Ideological apparatus is a form of social control, and the primary function of religion is to reproduce, maintain and justify class inequality - the controlling of the Proletariat by the Bourgeoisie. This helps our understanding of religion in society as it is relevant to today's society. Evidence to support this view is from Leach, where he found that 80% of higher Church of England positions were still recruited from Bourgeoisie (Oxbridge and private schools). However, this view of religion maintaining class inequality and controlling the Proletariat can be criticised. Religion doesn't always control the Proletariat. There are some examples of religious movements that have brought about radical social change and have helped remove ruling elites. This is called
Assess the functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and its individual members
Assess the functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and its individual members (18 marks) Functionalists believe that religion is beneficial for both society as a whole and it’s individual members, this is because it unifies society and creates consensus, which in turn gives each individual member a source of support when they need it. However some theorists disagree with the functionalist ideology. Firstly, functionalist claim religion benefits society in a number of ways, it creates a sense of social solidarity, meaning a shared sense of identity, history, norms and values (a collective conscience). This is supported by item A, ‘religions contribution to value consensus and social integration’. Functionalist explain that if all of a societies members are part of the same religion then they all share the same belief system, resulting in consensus between all of its members. The religious institution will teach it’s members the norms and values of the society they are in and the collective worship will bind societies members closer together, for example, people in Muslim countries who are part of the faith of Islam, understand it is normal to stop and pray 5 times a day and also that no-one should work on Friday however people in Christian countries understand the day of rest to be Sunday. Functionalist therefore claim members of a society
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist approach to society
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist approach to society. Functionalism is a macro, structuralist theory. This means they see human behaviour being shaped as an influence of social forces. It is also seen consensus theory, as functionalists’ argue that, individuals are socialised into a shared value to ensure conformity and social order. However, this functionalists approach is criticised by action theorists, as they argue that individuals create society through their interactions. Unlike other functionalists, Parsons argues that individuals are integrated through socialisation and social order. He sees some similarities between society and a biological organism i.e. body parts are inter-related, so is society, as different institutions assist in socialisation. However, over socialization, as Durkheim argues, could be a motive to suicide as individual tends to put others before themselves. One of the main objectives of functionalism is to find out, how social order is possible. Parsons identifies that social order is possible only if its members adhere to society’s norms and values. He argues that for this to happen, individuals have to be integrated into the social system. Primarily, the social system has its needs and to ensure that they are met, it requires the different agencies of socialisation i.e. media and family, to teach its individuals the
Assess the usefulness of feminist contributions to our understanding of society today
Catherine Du ToitSociology Assess the usefulness of feminist contributions to our understanding of society today Feminism sees society as mal dominated and it seeks to describe, explain and change the position of women in society. There are different types of feminism, Liberal, Radical, Marxist, Difference and Poststructuralist feminist. Feminists criticise mainstream sociology for being 'male stream'. By contrast, feminists examine society from the viewpoint of women; they see their work as part of the struggle against women's subordination. However, although all feminists oppose women's subordination, there are disagreements among feminist's theories about its causes and how to overcome them. Liberal feminist are concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual, they believe that all human beings should have equal rights. In liberal feminism, the concept of society changing itself to adapt to women does not occur. Liberal feminists insist that all that is needed to change the status of women is to change existing laws that are unfavourable for women and that will open up more opportunities for women to prove themselves as equal to the opposite sex. Oakley (1972) distinguishes between sex and gender. She claims sex differences are seen as fixed and gender differences vary between cultures and over time. Therefore what is considered a proper role for
Assess the view that gender differences in achievement are largely the result of changes in the education system
Assess the view that gender differences in achievement are largely the result of changes in the education system (20 marks). For many decades it has been seen that girls have begun to significantly outperform boys at most levels of the education system. Many believe that the coursework courses and assessment throughout the year found in education today has been seen to benefit the organised way most girls learn and study, compared to the previous O level examinations which typically benefitted boys. Changes within the education system are seen as the main cause of gender differences in achievement, although external factors such as the increased impact of feminism and changes in the family may also have influenced the increase in girl’s results. A key change within education is the way in which teachers are seen to interact with pupils. Sociologist Jane and Peter French (1993) argue that interaction within the classroom between the teachers and boys was not that different to that of girls. However, it was seen that boys tend to get more attention from teachers in terms of punishments, and Spender (1983) found that teachers spend more time interacting with boys than with girls. Francis (2001) argues that while boys get more attention, they are disciplined more harshly by teachers and felt more picked on as teachers had lower expectations of them. Many such as Gorard
Assess the view that religious beliefs and practices are changing to reflect a new era of diversity and choice
Assess the view that religious beliefs and practices are changing to reflect a new era of diversity and choice There is a view held by some that religion is in fact changing to reflect changes taking place in society, as opposed to declining. There have been numerous examples noted by sociologists to highlight the way in which religion may be changing in today's society. Some believe that changes in religion occur due to changes in wider society, such as greater individualism and consumerism and a shift from modern to late modern or postmodern society. One idea that sociologists use to back up the theory that religion is not declining is the "Believing without belonging" theory. This theory states that religion is not declining, where as it is taking different, more private form. An example being, people no longer feel that they have to go to church because it is "respectable" to do so. Thus although church going is declining has declined this is simply because attendance to church is now a personal choice and not something which is an expected practice. Believing without belonging is essentially people holding religious views but don't go to church. This highlights a change from traditional church going religion to a more privatized form of modern religion. The idea of believing without belonging and personal choice regarding religious practice is carried on by Danielle
