Who’s Privileged? SB 4

             This week in class we discussed the ideas behind the matrix of domination.  The old model of the matrix suggests that oppressed people and privileged people can be rated based where they fit in the hierarchy of society.  Later, a newer model emerged and declared that oppressed people had some traits while the privileged people had some other social traits.  Today, the matrix of domination looks at understanding how the traits are connected. 

                For example, a person whose race is Latino may feel the effects of oppression.   The Latino person won’t have as many opportunities at receiving a job because of the stereotype that Latinos are illegal aliens and drug traffickers.  They can be considered oppressed because they have different social traits than a white person who is perceived as good and normal.  The white person can be considered privileged because they are higher up on the hierarchal ladder.  Because of their ranking, they are better able to compete for a job against a Latino person. 

                Some strengths of the matrix of domination are that it talks about the hierarchy of people and that oppressed and privileged people posses different traits.  By assuming that there is a hierarchy in society makes it easier to rank and judge people.  There will be people who have more power than others and those people can be thought of as the privileged people.  The privileged people will be able to do more things to keep the power in their court.  The oppressed people however face challenges if they want things done their way.  For instance, normally privileged people are in charge of governments so it’s hard for the oppressed people to vote on key issues occurring in their community because they don’t have the power to be on a government.

                A weakness of the matrix is the harshness of the label “oppressed” that is placed on people.  Just because people are oppressed doesn’t mean they are that way their entire life.  There are numerous opportunities that like privileged people, oppressed people can take advantage of those opportunities and become a privileged person.  The same goes for a privileged person, be losing all their money, those people can become poor and turn into an oppressed person.   

 

http://www.sidewalkbubblegum.com/category/comics-about-capitalism-corporate-culture/

                I chose this comic because it represents the privileged and oppressed classes.  As you can see, the much larger person (privileged) is telling everybody else (oppressed) what to do; however, there is one oppressed person who is standing up and asking why he has to listen to the privilege person.  There is also a clear hierarchical order in this comic as we can see the privileged person is leading the group while the oppressed people are waiting for orders.

Strong Beliefs SB-3

               This week in class we talked about the diversity of religion especially in the United States.  In the documentary we watched in class about the Westboro Baptist Church we had the opportunity to learn more about the social identity theory and how it plays out in a real situation.  The social identity theory is about how we form our own identity based on the different social groups in which we identify with. Shirley, the head lady of day to day operations for the church, is looked down upon by the rest of society because of her extreme religious beliefs.  Shirley and her family identify themselves as part of the church and believe that homosexuals will go to hell, including those who don’t disagree with homosexuality.  It seems as if Shirley creates a deeper identify for herself as a church member as she sees the opposition for the Church intensify.  She believes she is on a mission to spread this message while gaining more of a desire to do this as non-church members tell her no.  Shirley feels a strong connection to the community of church members and has a strong identity with the church.  She feels as if it’s all right to go against the social norm because everyone else in the church is against the norm.  It takes a strong identity to stand up to a social norm especially going against many American’s religious beliefs.

                The Westboro Baptist Church can be classified as a religious organization. The members of the church feel a sense of belonging in the church as they live near each other, attend services and go out to picket with each other.  Shirley’s daughters feel that they need to stay together as the rest of society has the wrong beliefs.  The church also believes deeply about their mission of informing society that homosexuality is wrong.  The behavior of the group is to have services on Sundays and picket public events and places to share their message of the evil doings of homosexuality.  These are the 3 B’s which makes the Westboro Baptist Church as a religious organization.  

                   You can see at 1:50 in this video the resentment the general public has against the Westboro Baptist Church and how it goes against the social norms of society.  At 5:30 you can listen to the Church member’s interviews about their belief in their religion.  Each member keeps their social identity as a member of the church by reaffirming their beliefs as part of the interviews. 

Which Gender is Which? Sum Blog 2

                 “I’m definitely a Barbie girl and I live in my Barbie world,” exclaims Bob to his seventh grade teacher, “I’m a girl and I don’t give a dang what you think of me!” In this example, little Bob whose sex is male wants his/her gender to be considered a female.  Bob also considers his/her sexuality to be straight but he has strong romantic interests toward males.  Who is Bob?

                “Gender identity is assumed by many to be “”natural””; that is someone can fell “”like a man,”” or “”like a woman”” (Ore 2014, 160).”  So what do we consider natural in everyday life.  When a person is born we identify them right away with both a sex and gender.  Bob here was born with a sex of male and was given a male gender role.  His parents tried raising him like a male however Bob kept wearing girl’s clothes and doing girl things.  So can Bob generally be considered a girl?  It can go both ways.  Legally Bob has to be considered a male because that is what he biologically is.  When it comes to gender however, that can be adjusted.  If Bob is dressed as a girl and walks around on the street, people passing by him may consider him as a female due to how he is dressed and behaves.  Gender is based on sex but you can hide you sex using cultural objects.  Bob may wear a dress and rings so from a distance, based on those cultural objects you may take Bob as a female.  After a person meets Bob and knows his differences against social norms, they will be able to decide for themselves whether Bob’s gender is a male or a female. 

                The tricky part comes when distinguishing Bob’s sexuality.  Bob considers himself straight even though his sex is male and his gender is generally taken as a female.  Bob however has romantic feelings about males. What is Bob’s sexuality?  I believe after learning about this that sexuality is based on your own personal opinion about yourself.  If social labels need to be addressed to everybody, Bob could consider himself straight because his gender is generally taken as a female.  Bob could also consider himself gay because his sex is male and he has romantic interests lean toward other males.  It’s really up to Bob as to what to consider himself.

                       In this video Riley explains that she is frustrated with the gender roles that stores give to toys.  All the girl’s toys are pink while the boy’s toys are blue.  Here society decides that girls need princess toys while boys need superhero toys.  Riley is upset about her gender role of having to get a princess toy and wants boys and girls to decide for themselves which toy to get.  Society shouldn't decide which toy you receive based on your gender.

Reference:

Ore, Tracey E. 2014. The Social Construction of Difference & Inequality. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Where's the Poor? Blog 1

                Most of us think the poor are people out sitting in line of a soup kitchen because they ran out of money.  But what we must have is a definition of the poor before we can understand them more.  For most people, the definition of a poor person is someone in the lower class making very few dollars.  According to Tracey Ore, the media will cover the poor based on a middle class viewpoint.  The poor are depicted as drug addicts, people who cheat the welfare system, and who evade taxes (2014).  The media has a lot of power in today’s society in what is discussed at the supper table.

                

               When you flip on the news at home, you expect to see lower class citizens sleeping on the street and selling drugs on the side to make cash for themselves.  Our thoughts at home are that it’s the poor’s fault they got into that situation and we need to be careful to not end up poor. 

              

               In fact there is much more to the story than just what the 5 o’ clock news reports.  Lower class citizens live all around us, in rural areas and cities.  They may be hard working but due to job loss and a depriving economy, they are finding it hard to make a living.  Middle class citizens are now turning into lower class citizens based on the income they are making.  People have the ability to control how much income they make so this is a social class type of stratification because a lower class citizen can find a new job and make enough money to be considered middle class.

              

             Higher class citizens will have more control over what is put out on the media.  That can be considered a weakness because the media is not getting equal representation from all the social classes in the reporting of stories.   The public needs to reconsider everything that is reported through the media.  What viewpoint is the story coming from?  What is not being reported?  Those are a couple of things that a person watching the media needs to ask themselves.  A positive of the media is that information about the lower class citizens can reach a wide range of people and awareness can be spread.  An example of this is drug overdoses in the lower class community causing various agencies to work together and come up with a plan to help the poor.  Another positive of the media is the amount of information that can get out to the public describing the poor in general.  The public watching the media however must not think of media reports of the poor as the only correct answer.

This news clip from MSNBC discusses that there is not enough coverage of the rural poor and more of an emphasis is placed on the urban poor.  This is another example of a weakness of the media about how not everything is covered from all angles and some key angles may be left out.  The reporters discuss that the public needs to be more aware of citizens close to the poverty line.  This also shows that the public needs to have knowledge on issues and not get all of their information just from a single news report.

Here's a MSNBC clip explaining that more can be done with the coverage on the poor:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSAE3CsQTsE

References:

Ore, Tracey E. 2014. The Social Construction of Difference & Inequality. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.