In the wake of Sandy Doyle’s Twitter hashtag #mencallmethings in 2011, the disproportionate amount of abuse suffered by women online has gone from an issue of feminist discourse to an increasingly visible, public issue. There has simultaneously been a popular insurgence of mens’ groups online, often purporting to be advocating gender equality, while supporting rhetoric that reinforces gendered abuse toward women. Criticisms of abuse and rationalisation of behaviour both from within and without MRA groups commonly blame the absolute agency of individuals acting out on the one hand, and various kinds of deterministic structural domination on the other. I would argue for a different explanation. The individual’s choices are structured, enabled and restricted by their particular social environment. An analysis of deviant behaviour can only make sense within its structural context. Understanding the social dynamics defining deviance in online subcultures is difficult- they foster their own distinct values and dispositions, but mirror attitudes and behaviours of the real world. Nonetheless, participants’ choices shape- and are shaped by- the structures of these spaces. To this end, the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu will be used to identify two …show more content…
In the interest of clarity, I will begin with a brief outline of some key concepts, and their relevance.
Habitus is the ongoing collection of experiences informing future action in a person. It is both the internal principle informing their practices, as well as the lens through which they ‘make sense’ of external social structure. Most importantly, it is enduring, but not static or permanent (Wacquant 2005). Habitus bridges static notions such as ‘class’, as individuals exposed to like stimuli and conditioning will share a like habitus, but may be dissimilar in terms of socio-economic status, to give one
Realistically, when someone is more powerful, they have the ability to set the rules. Men have historically held power in society, which means that women did not have as much stance or freedoms as men have had in the past. For example, Canadian women did not have the right to vote until the year 1916. This factor has continued to trail into the present day, creating the ‘weak’ image towards women, overall forcing and pushing men to become the opposite of this factor. Thus, cultural ideals of masculinity rely on the ideas of femininity through patriarchy and gender binaries. The emphasis on characteristics of men are being exaggerated, as society is pressuring men with unattainable standards of masculinity such as being tough, muscular and buff. Men continue to conform to these characteristics, in the fear of being oppressed through exclusion, which only strengthens society’s standards even more. This leads to more societal pressures on men, thus leading men to experience more societal pressures in the fear of feeling excluded. These “systems of inclusion and exclusion are divisions or barriers that prevent people from joining and belonging.” (50). For example, if a man wears nail polish, they may be oppressed and excluded through facing ridicule and bullying, because wearing nail polish is considered “girly”, therefore this boy is rebelling against society’s socially
In the study of Sociology of Deviance, sociologists develop theories and perspective in explaining the account for deviant and studying of how the society reacts. It is an interesting field to study because the difference and changes of deviance and social norms have a significant impact on individuals and groups. In this essay, I will examine varies definitions and perspective of Erikson and Heckerts respectively in respect to the following concepts: deviance serves certain functions for society, the typology of positive and negative deviance and the "middle class norms", and the labelling perspective on deviance.
becoming a part of many other’s way of living; where dependence of it has become a habit in
Thus, our social existence is shaped by classificatory actions and desires managed by specific distinctions in our case social classes. These assumptions are central to Pierre Bourdieu’s social theory of practice. Bourdieu composed the term ‘habitus’ to encompass how the constitutions of principles subjectively shape dispositions, demeanors, perceptions, and evaluations. So the habitus is prejudiced to social practices and lifestyles.
Based on the reading from your textbook, what makes these ideas and/or issues so important to understand?
Part one, “The Framework of Violence against Women,” sets the blueprint for what drives individuals, particularly men, to act on their impulses of violence triggered by an underlying fear or loathing, especially those instances of sexual depravity. Sex is comparable to power, creating power over others and thus creating a sense of power within. Violence is introduced at an early age, found in children’s cartoons, television shows, and popular video games. Society has become numb to the objectification of women to the point that violence has become accepted, and the behaviors are not only justified by the oppressor, but also believed by
Unlike things happened in the past time, in a world where there is information overwhelmed, we are supposed to live in a more equal situation between men and women. However, in fact, gender inequity has just developed a new form to exist online. Women still continue to suffer from oppression towards themselves. It’s like the shadow of violence along the way with women. What is more, since the Internet shapes the world more united, it is not a case of a particular culture or society, but the whole world that we can see holding against women. One of the most common form is judging women’s bodies on social media through the comments of fling abuses or sarcastic remarks.
Moving forward, we realize that we must be able to understand the basis of each of these to even begin discussing their similarities and differences. In its simplest
In the world we live in today, deviance happens to play an integral role in within the societies that scatter our globe, whether we like it or not. Deviance describes actions or behaviors that violate the social norms of our society. These behaviors can violate formally enacted rules, such as laws that are put into place by government, as well as the informal type of “guidelines” that various cultures have informally established and shaped for themselves. As one may come to understand, norms are essentially expectations that are standard to a certain culture. These norms gently guide people in a society in “what to do,” and “what not to do,” in compliance with their societies' norms. With this said, it is important to keep in mind that social norms differ from culture to culture. One act that may be considered deviant in a particular society, may be generally accepted in another. Three main sociological theories of deviance include the cultural transmission theory (also known as the differential association theory), the labeling theory, and the control theory.
Hutchison, E. D. (2017). Essentials of human behavior: integrating person, environment, and the life course. Los Angeles:
Male’s naturally become responsible in keeping their peers in check with the strict expectations of masculinity. This is achieved when using such terms like “mama’s boy”, “bitch”, or “faggot”, against a male who acts in a way that is seen to be “un-masculine”. Therefore, it becomes clear that a brutal cycle does exist. Men are consumed with what a “real” man is. They truly believe this criteria is correct and feel that they have to live by it in order to be manly. This type of masculinity, which violence has a prominent role in, becomes expected of them by their peers. When a male fails to produce this behaviour it often results in him being seen as someone who is missing the necessary traits in order to be masculine. Male’s will be harassed and abused by their peers for this presumed deficiency. Thus, male’s act as though they are a regulatory authority or a gender police towards their peers to be able to keep them in check with what society demands of the male gender. Masculinity in society is structured in a way which advocates violence as a way of coping with certain situations and individuals, which ultimately leads to violence against women. The peer’s of a male makes sure that he will contribute to his masculinity by confirming the accuracy of it, and administering not another socially sanctioned way of presenting the male
A theory that has taken the world of promiscuous thinkers by storm is one that is loosely called the “Drag Theory” (dubbed by Judith Butler). This basically states that a person performs their gender rather than simply is their gender. Raphaël Lellouche clarifies how this is done in his blog, “’Gender Trouble’ by Judith Butler and the question of ‘performing gender’ decoded by Raphaël Lellouche”. Judith’s writing generally emphasizes on having a more open mindset about sexuality and how this concept is grasped; but this paper is going to pinpoint how social media influences the way a person changes their so called “drag” due to the content on another’s account.
First and foremost, a few key terms to keep in mind while reading this paper.
... such as furniture and clothes. Therefore there is no longer any individuality in the choices, behaviour and morals a person has due to the major influences. Peer pressure, negative and positive influences from other people that the individual knows is different to what they would choose to do also means that the habitus is no longer a useful or reliable indicator of the self. Thus, no longer a strong indicator of the social class a person is from. Therefore it is to be concluded that the concept of habitus does still play an important role in understanding the relationship between social classes and the self but as technology and society progresses the choices we make, which is down to habitus, are not necessarily due to the social class that an individual is in. We are all becoming more and more similar as the years progress and individualism is becoming clouded.
I will begin this paper by reciting some of the definitions that I did find.