Social Learning Theory - Movie Review Example

Midterm Exam Define the social learning theory and “doing gender” theory. Then, apply both theories to the film, Mickey Mouse Monopoly. Social Learning Theory originated with Albert Bandura. We learn by noticing other people’s behavior and attitudes (observation), and by noticing their consequences. We form an idea about how the observed behavior should be performed (modeling), and this guides our efforts at performance in the future (imitation). Effective modeling requires us to pay attention, to retain what we observed, to reproduce what we saw, and to be motivated to perform what we remember. The environment influences us, in this process, but we also influence the environment when we perform what we learned, which in turn influences others and ourselves (reciprocal determinism). Bandura’s Social Learning Theory takes into account attention, memory and motivation, so it serves as a bridge between Behaviorist Theory and Cognitive Theory approaches (Learning-Theories.com, 2008). Doing Gender Theory was originated by West and Zimmerman. The historically usual idea about gender has been that biology determined it and that gendered behavior was socialized into the child by about five years of age. West and Zimmerman challenged that idea by arguing that gender is a “a routine, methodical, and recurring accomplishment” and that “doing gender involves a complex of socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micropolitical activities that cast particular pursuits as expressions of masculine and feminine ‘natures’”, without which the individual is not judged to be competent (West & Zimmerman, 1987). So this makes gender an interactional and institutional concern. The documentary, “Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power”, demonstrates the application of Social Learning Theory and Doing Gender Theory. Black children observe the invisibility of Black Africans in jungle scenes, and learn to be invisible and allow Whites to be dominant. Little girls watch Beauty tame The Beast and, based on their observations of behavior and consequences, they form an idea, a model of responding sweetly and generously to male abuse, which they will later perform themselves, imitating what they saw by trying to turn their husband into a Prince, by believing that the innocence of their love and forgiveness is enough. Children learn that women are supposed to be large-breasted, small-waisted, coy seductresses and men are supposed to be powerful, often violent and vengeful, moody creatures who can only be saved by the love of a sexy woman (Challenging Media, 2004). This is how children learn to obediently perform the socially expected role of their gender, demonstrating social competence. It is not biology but corporate conspiracy. 2. Describe the role of race in differentially constructing masculinity and femininity. Why is it important that we specify which men and which women we are talking about when we analyze gender? When we analyze gender and the roles gender assumes, it is important to understand how race is critical to constructing what is male and what is female. For example, Black American women have found that theories about White middle-class women, whose oppression had centered around being contained within the domestic sphere and being economically dependent on men, have never applied to their own situation and do not explain their own oppression (Glenn, 2000). Furthermore, Asian constructions of gender are quite different from African constructions of gender, which are both quite different from Western Caucasian constructions of gender. A gender competent Asian woman is more likely to have a softly modulated voice and be gentle and modest, for example, in comparison to a gender competent African American woman. A woman in India will carry loads of cement or rock on her head, on mountain trails, with babies clinging to her body, but a middle class White woman is within the range of normal gender behavior to ask a man’s assistance in opening a jar of mayonnaise or carrying out the trash. Both race and gender are social constructions and cultural representations, and they interact with each other (Glenn, 2000). Connell argues, that ideas of masculinity around the world have been influenced not only by specific cultural norms but also by patterns of trade and investment and communication national dominance, colonialism and neo-colonialism. He says that now we see a global business masculinity emerging that is transnational, institutionally based in multi-national corporations and global finance markets (Connell, 1998). With more women engaging in transnational global markets, we may see a similar transnational business femininity emerge. 3. Explain the differences between prejudice, discrimination, and racism. What does Gallagher mean by “color-blind racism”? Prejudice refers to a negative attitude toward someone or a group, based on gender, religion, race, ethnicity, social class, sexual preference, age, skin color, disability, or other characteristics of the target of one’s prejudice or thought to characterize them. Discrimination refers to actions taken against a person or group, or institutional limitations in place that disadvantage a group or a member of a group, based on prejudice. Racism is a particular type of prejudice, and is directed by a person, a group or even a country, toward members of a race, based on negative attitudes toward membership in that race. Racism implies a stronger moral condemnation than prejudice or discrimination (Quillian, 2006) Gallagher refers to “color-blind racism” to represent the claims of people in post-civil-rights America that they personally do not notice race and skin color at all. Yet racism is institutionalized all around them. Gallagher argues that White people’s color-blindness functions advantageously for Whites, maintaining White privilege. By not noticing color, allegedly, they deny the racism in society and in themselves, and therefore bear no responsibility in fixing what, for them, does not exist. Thus their privilege as Whites continues, along with an identity as being progressive and racially tolerant (Gallagher, 2003). Further research indicates that color-blind racism is supported by conversational narrative, in the form of stories communicated to others in the course of daily living. These stories have been categorized into four typical themes (Bonilla-Silva, Lewis & Embrick, 2004). An example of one such theme is the story that a person missed getting a job they wanted, and for which they were best qualified, because of affirmative action. The implication is that Black people threaten White privilege and turn society into an unfair place, but this implication is hidden, even from the storyteller, who is often an avowed non-racist, progressive, tolerant person. 4. What is assimilation? What are the major indicators of assimilation in US society? Based on these indicators, which ethnic groups have fully assimilated into US society? Which groups have more difficulty assimilating, and why? Assimilation refers to the social process of immigrants becoming comfortably entrenched in the new culture, particularly the middle class. Alba and Nee defined assimilation as “the decline, and at its endpoint the disappearance, of an ethnic/racial distinction and the cultural and social differences that express it” (1997, p. 863). Before 1920, most immigrants came primarily from Europe to the USA. Between the mid 1920s to 1965, immigration was virtually stopped. Now again there is mass immigration. Since 1985, most immigrants have come from Latin America and Asia (Greenman and Xie, 2008). Use of English language and duration of US residence are primary indicators of assimilation, along with the trappings of middle class identity (maintaining a job, academic achievement, obeying laws, gaining US citizenship, making friends, finding a church/temple home, buying a house and a car). Based on these indicators, European immigrants have been most successful at assimilation. The new immigrants, from Asia and Latin America, come from a more heterogenous socioeconomic background than previous immigrant groups, and their non-white status can leave them marginalized and not readily absorbed into the middle class. Also, the immigrants who came between 1890 and 1920 were more easily made upwardly mobile because of a manufacturing-based economic expansion, whereas we are now in a post-industrial service-based economy, which isn’t as readily flexible for new workers (Greenman and Xie, 2008). Mexican immigrants are considered to be the most vulnerable group for assimilating downward rather than across or upward to the middle class. They are usually non-white, and there is a lot of prejudice and discrimination against them as a backlash against illegal immigration, which many Mexicans do by slipping across the border and either securing false documents or working as undocumented workers. 5. Compare and contrast the Marxist theory of ethnic stratification to Bonacich’s theory of the split labor market. Which theory do you think better explains contemporary ethnic relations in US society? Both Marx’s theory and Bonacich’s theory deal with race and class, with power and manipulation, exploitation and conflict. In both theories, the capitalists cause trouble. Marx positions them as intentional troublemakers, while Bonacich positions them as troublemakers who are also manipulated by labor. In both theories, the upper classes create ethnic tension (van der Veen, n.d.). Edna Bonacich’s Split Labor Theory divides society into three classes: the Capitalists, who own the means of production; higher paid laborers; lower paid laborers. Marx sees society as divided between the “haves” (capitalists, who own the means of production) and the “have nots” (people who have to work for wages). Bonacich places an emphasis on competition for resources between ethnic groups, and on how groups mobilize and use power. Marx emphasizes economic exploitation of the higher classes by the lower classes, and how there are splits within classes along ethnic lines. Marx fears that strong ethnic identity can pose a danger to the solidarity of the working class (van der Veen, n.d.). Bonacich suggests that there is a split in labor along ethnic lines, because more powerful ethnicities try to squeeze less powerful ethnicities from labor competition. They do this in an effort to protect their power and higher wages. Capitalists are not necessarily people who dislike one ethnic group or another, but are people who want to maximize their profit by hiring cheaper labor (van der Veen, n.d.). The outcome is a split labor market in which certain ethnic groups are forced into a narrow range of jobs, at lower wages, while more powerful ethnic groups have labor monopolies. For Marx, racism is a tool by which the upper classes prevent the lower classes from recognizing their own power and interest, manipulating and dividing them (van der Veen, n.d.). References Alba Richard D, Logan John R, Stultz Brian J, Marzan Gilbert, Zhang Wenquan. 1999. “Immigrant Groups in the Suburbs: A Reexamination of Suburbanization and Spatial Assimilation.” American Sociological Review. 64, pp 446–460. Bonilla-Silva, E; Lewis, A. and Embrick, D. G. 2004. “I Did Not Get That Job Because of a Black Man…”: The Story Lines and Testimonies of Color-Blind Racism.” Sociological Forum. 19:4, pp 555-581. Challenging Media. 2004. Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from www.youtube.com/watch?v=byaMd_PNyIY Connell, R. W. 1998. “Masculinities and Globalization.” Men and Masculinities. 1:2, pp 3-23 Gallagher, C. A. 2003. “Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post-Race America.” Race, Gender & Class. 10:4, pp 1-17. Glenn, E. N. (2000). The Social Consturction and Institutionalization of Gender and Race. In M. M. Feree, J. Lorver, & B. .. Hess, Revisioning Gender (pp. 3-42). Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press. Globalization. Men and Masculinities , 1:3-23. Greenman, E., Xie, Y. 2008. “Is Assimilation Theory Dead? The Effect of Assimilation on Adolescent Well-Being.” Social Science Research. 37:1, pp 109-137. Learning-Theories.com. (2008). Social Learning Theory (Bandura). Retrieved December 1, 2011, from http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html Quillian, L. 2006. “New Approaches to Understanding Racial Prejudice and Discrimination." Annual Review of Sociology. 32, pp 299-328. Van der Veen, E. (n.d.). Theories of Ethnic Relations. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from St. Marys University: http://stmarys.ca/~evanderveen/wvdv/race_relations/theories_of_ethnic_relations.htm West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender & Society , 1:125-51. . Read More