M8A1 Assignment: Sexual Distinction & Attraction by Gilman
Answer any 5 questions; be sure to give examples wherever applicable. The Final Exam consists of 5 essay questions taken from Modules 5 – 8. Each essay should be between 250-500 words. The Final Examination will be completed during Module 8 and is worth 15% of your overall course grade.
Define Gilman's terms “sex-distinction” and “sex-attraction.” Discuss how you feel (if you do) society today still overemphasizes both terms. Draw on your own experiences or a friend's experience to give support for your argument.
Discuss Du Bois's concepts of the color line, the veil, and double consciousness using concrete examples. What theoretical issue/s do these concepts raise?
Explain how Du Bois's notion of a color line can be found in different quadrants within the authors' analytical framework for order and action.
Discuss the three central themes found in Mead's work: mind, symbols, and language. Define the role each plays for an individual in a society. Also discuss how the essence of meaning plays into these three central themes.
Explain what the difference is between the play and game stages. How does the concept of the generalized other play into this distinction?
Discuss how Merton's conceptions of manifest and latent functions, deviance, and dysfunction enhanced Parsons's conception of society and structural functionalism in general.
Discuss why the authors feel critical theorists' primary theoretical orientation is collectivist and rationalist.
Working within the critical theorists' understanding of the culture industry, discuss what changes have occurred in the industry since the time of Marcuse and what effects [if any] they have on the validity of the theorist's original claims.
Connect Blau's concepts of power, imbalanced exchange, extrinsic, and intrinsic rewards. Be sure to define each term and discuss the how the term illuminates Blau's theoretical orientations.
Define globalization and explain the debates between scholars on when, what, and where.
Explain Appadurai's five dimensions of global cultural flows and explain their significance on globalization as a whole.
This examination will be available for you to take beginning at 12:01 AM EST on the Monday morning of Module 8 and will close promptly the following Sunday evening at 11:59 PM EST. It is suggested that you write or print out the essay questions for handy reference as you develop your responses.
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This exam will be graded using the SLA Multi Essay Rubric [226.6 KB PDF file]
M8A1: Final Exam
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Sexual Distinction and Attraction by Gilman
Gilman coined the terms sex distinction to emphasize the attention the society has given to gender differences which seem to favor males and overlook women. Sex distinction has been the engine of a patriarchal society that overlooks the contribution of women. The woman becomes full depended on man even on basic needs like food CITATION Sco081 \l 1033 (Appelrouth & Edles, 2008). Sex distinction according to Gilman is the culmination of many processes that the society has developed to maintain the status quo of patriarchy. Girls and boys are dressed and brought up differently at a very young age even before they become sexual and understand their biological difference. Sex distinction is instilled in children even before they become sexual. The society restraints women to live in a certain manner that reflect feminism according to its standards and any woman who falls outside the definition of their roles is labeled deviant. Gilman points out the oppression women go through yet they are dependent on men to live is because of over-emphasis on sex distinction that defines roles and individual contribution to the society.
Sex attraction is the excessive degree of beauty that has been imposed on one gender because of its independence on the other. The society has tasked women to appeal sexually and prompted them to over-emphasize their looks to attract men. It is a derivate factor of sex distinction that offers women the only chance of economic empowerment, and happiness is through being sexually attractive. Even today the society has meant women to believe that their worth is in their bodies and on how much they can attractCITATION Dev14 \l 1033 (Bryant, 2014). To many women today, beauty to them has become their difference between success and failure and the media has ingrained that believe in young girls. One of my friends, aged six, became anorexic for he thought he was fat and unattractive which has affected her self-esteem since then.
Over the years, feminism has made great strides from the societal description by Gilman, but a lot need to be done. For example, equal pay at workplaces and equal representation in government and corporates needs to be pushed a notch higher. The over-emphasis of sexual differences and presentation of women as weak and dependable ought to stop. Media portrayal of women body as a ticket to success through movies, commercials, music, etc. Should be downplayed and the existence of a ‘perfect’ body shape and appearance to be rooted out. The societal perception of gender differences should be shifted for patriarchy to equity.
The Theoretical Issues Raised by Dubois Concepts of Color Line, a Veil, and Double Consciousness.
Dubois concepts of color line, the veil, and double consciousness are descriptors of racism in America. The veil is a symbolic reference to perception of racism in America CITATION Bla01 \l 1033 (Blau & Brown, 2001). He coined the words to describe the conditions of racism in America and how the Whites and Blacks perceive them. The color line describes the major economic, social and cultural differences that have been defined by the color of the skin. The color line refers to civil rights issues that have hovered around blacks for not who they are but for the color of their skin. The concept of color line has been used to liberate Black Americans from racial exploitation and bring down racial superiority of the whites. Color line raises issues pertaining racism that subject Blacks to exploitation while judging them by the color of their skin, not for personality.
According to DuBois, the veil is a concept referring to three things. First, the veil literally refers to a darker skin tone of the Blacks which is distinguishable from whiteness, secondly, the clouded perception of the Whites that inhibit them from seeing the Blacks as true Americans. Thirdly, it refers to the myopic perception of the blacks that they are inferior beings compared to the whites. The veil concept has been framed to prompt the Blacks and Whites to change their mindset and biased stereotypes about other races CITATION Sco081 \l 1033 (Appelrouth & Edles, 2008). In the contemporary society, racism is still a great social issue and an impediment to societal growth and development and therefore, there is a need to drop the veil and see beyond the myopic differences that fuel racism.
Double consciousness is a concept describing how Blacks have adapted and known how to operate in Whites’ society and their own. The ‘two-ness’ has been an adaptive mode for the Blacks to survive racial segregation to thrive economically and sustain their culture. For example, some Blacks opted to work for the Whites in dilapidated conditions while shunning White supremacy. The Blacks fight racism while behind the scenes they allow themselves to be used to promote dominance of their race for economic gain. Concisely, Dubois’ concepts raise the pertinent issues about racism in America and describe in detail the societal perception of the social evil of racism.
How Merton enhanced Parsons’s conception of society and structural functionalism
Merton conceptions of manifest and latent functions build on Parsons conception of society and structural functionalism CITATION Ing13 \l 1033 (Inglis, 2013). Manifest functions in the so...