What If Gay People Were Socially Accepted - Essay Example

1. What if gay people were socially accepted (Personal Relationships) The rise of homosexuals should be accepted by the society. We cannot deny the fact that there are homosexuals among us and we cannot impose upon them the gender-roles and gender stereotypes that we all grew up in for they also have the freedom to express themselves and to live their lives according to what they believe in. There are obvious biological differences between the sexes. Most important, women have the capacity to bear children whereas men do not. These biological differences contribute to the development of gender identity, the self-concept of a person as being male of female. Gender identity is one of the first and most far-reaching identities that a human being learns. Many societies have established social distinctions between the sexes which do not inevitably result from biological differences. This largely reflects the impact of conventional gender-role socialization. Gender-roles were defined as expectations regarding the proper behaviour, attitudes and activities of males and females. The application of traditional gender roles leads to many differentiation between men and women. Both sexes are physically capable of leaning to cook and sew, yet most western societies determine that these tasks should be performed by women. Both men and women are capable of learning to weld metal and fly airplanes but these functions are generally assigned to males. All of us can describe the traditional gender-role patterns which have been influential in the socialization of children and the United States. Male babies get blue blankets while females get pink one. Boys are expected to play with trucks, blocks and toy soldiers; girls are given dolls and kitchen goods. Boys must be masculine - active, aggressive, tough, daring and dominant - whereas girls must be feminine - soft, emotional, sweet and submissive. In any society, gender socialization and stratification requires not only individual socialization into traditional gender roles within the family, but also the promotion and support of these traditional roles by other social institutions such as religion and education. Moreover, even with all the major institutions socializing the young into conventional gender roles, every society has women and men who resist and successfully oppose these stereotypes: strong women who become leaders and professionals, gentle men who care for their children and so forth. With these realities in mind, it seems clear that differences between the sexes are not dictated by biology. Indeed, the maintenance of traditional gender roles requires constant social controls - and these controls are not always effective. 2. Is Rawls right that the obligation to obey the law rests on the duty of fair play (Political and Social Relationships) I believe that nothing in the world is fair. Social stratifications, gender and racial inequalities are very much apparent that we can say not everything is fair and square. With these differences, the law binds all of us no matter what race we have, what economic strata we belong or what our gender preference may be. In complex and rapidly changing societies, there are dislocations between ends and means that encourage individuals to commit acts that are not defined as deviant. Deviance is somewhat more of a social problem rather than a personal trouble; it is a property of the social structure, not of the individual. As a consequence, the solution to deviance lies not in reducing the mismatch between structured goals and unstructured means. In human groups that are growing and changing, class lines are not immutable. Individuals alter their class positions and the boundaries and strata may change. It is important to understand the relationship among social mobility, structural change and moral panic. A central element in our culture is the value placed on improving one's position - through increased income, a job entailing more authority, an access to prestige, ability to have knowledge about technology. The functionalist approaches to deviance explain why rule violation continues to exist in societies despite pressures to conform and obey. However, functionalists do not indicate how a given person comes to commit a deviant act. The theory of cultural transmission draws on the interactionist perspective to offer such an explanation. There is no natural, innate manner in which people interact with one another. Rather, humans learn how to behave in social situations - whether properly or improperly. These simple ideas are not disputed today, but this was not the case when sociologist Edwin Sutherland advanced the argument that an individual undergoes the same basic socialization process whether learning conforming or deviant acts. Sutherland's ideas have been the dominating force in criminology. he drew on the cultural transmission school, which emphasizes that criminal behavior is learned through interactions with others. Such learning includes not only techniques of lawbreaking but also motives, drives, and rationalizations of criminals. The cultural transmission approach can also be used to explain the behavior of people who engage in habitual - and ultimately life-threatening - use of alcohol and drugs. 3. What do you think of Rachel's view that people should be given what they deserve (Property and Poverty) The is correct that people should be given what they deserve but still there are other factors to be considered. Ever since people began to speculate about the nature of human society, their attention has been drawn to differences that can be readily observed between individuals and groups within any society. The term social inequality describes a condition in which members of the society have different amounts of wealth, prestige and power. All societies are characterized by some degree of social inequality. When a system of social inequality is based on hierarchy of groups, sociologists refer to it as stratification: a structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society. These unequal rewards are evident not only in the distribution of wealth and income but even in the distressing mortality rates of impoverished communities. Stratification involves the ways in which social inequalities are assed on from one generation to the next thereby producing groups of people arranged in rank order from low to high. i Stratification is one of the most important and complex subjects of sociological investigation because of its pervasive influence on human interactions and institutions. Social inequality is an inevitable result of stratification in that certain groups of people stand higher in social rankings, control scarce resources, wield power, and receive special treatment. The consequences of stratification are evident in the unequal distribution of wealth and income within industrial countries. While the world marketplace is gradually being unified in terms of space and tastes, the profits of business are not equally shared. There remains a substantial disparity between the world's "have" and "have not" nations. It is clear that stratification matters, that class position quietly influences one's life chances. It can be important for people to have the feeling that they can hold onto or even improve their class position. The rise of a child from a poor background to the presidency - or to some other position of great prestige, power or financial reward - is an example of social mobility. The term social mobility refers to movement of individuals or groups from one position of a society's stratification system to another. 4. What values or purposes does Mill think are served by freedom of speech (Liberty) Mill is arguing that there should be no restrictions imposed on people freely congregating in Public Parks for the purposes of listening to political speeches. He contends that ". . . it has been for centuries the pride of this country, and one of its most valued distinctions from the despotically-governed countries of the continent, that a man has a right to speak his mind, on politics or on any other subject, to those who would listen to him, when and where he will." (Arthur, 2004) Public speeches are a public manifestations of the strength of those who are of a certain opinion. 5. In what ways are racism and sexism the same (Equality) Both racism and sexism are forms of social inequality relative to a person's race and gender respectively. Racism and sexism are products of societal perception of genders and ethnicity. Racism is the belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior. When racism prevails society, members of subordinate groups generally experience prejudice, discrimination and exploitation. Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior than the other. The term is generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women. It is adults, of course, who play a critical role in guiding children into these gender roles deemed appropriate in society. Parents are normally the first and most crucial agents of socialization. But other adults, older siblings, the mass media, and the religious and educational institutions also exert an important influence on gender-role socialization. Television has often been criticized for its stereotyping of women, but it is far from being alone in doing so. The process of identification is more complex. How does a boy come to develops one that is feminine In part, they do so by identifying with females and males in their families and neighbourhoods and in the media. If a young girl regularly sees female characters on television working as defense attorneys and judges, she may believe that she herself can become a lawyer. And it will not hurt if women that she knows are lawyers. By contrast, if this young girl sees women portrayed in the media only as models, nurses and secretaries, her identification and self-image will be quite different. Females have been most severely restricted by traditional gender-roles. Read More