Saliva in a spoon?
The first theory that will develop your sociological perspective involves spitting into a spoon. Yes, spitting. into. a. spoon. This is a lesson first published in Teaching Sociology (2003) by Brouillette and Turner and updated in ASA's Trails. Simply put, the average American will be repulsed by the idea of spitting into a spoon and then swallowing it back again. However, we are constantly swallowing our own saliva all day long. But we have defined a difference between saliva and spit. Saliva is in our mouth and is not gross. Spit has left our mouths and is gross.
Sociological Literacy: What is the social construction of reality? What is the Thomas Theorum?
There is no difference between spit or saliva except for how we think about each. But how we think about each matters greatly to how we feel about the experience. In other words, our reality is how we experience the world. The social construction is that our society or the people around us influences how we experience the world. Hence our experiences(reality) are created (constructed) by others (society). This is called the social construction of reality. Spitting in different cultures or different situations (baseball) can be experienced differently, i.e. more or less acceptable. For example, many of us have been to baseball games and watched players spit all throughout the game. We didn't get repulsed by that.
During one World Series, Reggie Jackson averaged 19 spits per at-bat! Another example is when parents or siblings use their saliva to wipe off a baby's face. We don't find that repulsive, but if a teacher drops saliva onto a desk it becomes gross. This can be true for nearly all of our experiences; feelings of happiness, sorrow, stress, worry. Nearly all of these are created within us by the society we are in.
"Food" as a social construction
Another example is how your society makes you feel about food. For example, how do you feel about these recipes from Time Magazine or these from AtThirstForFirst. How would you feel about eating mountain chicken or closer to home is this recipe for Rocky Mountain oysters.
Here is an example that you might not realize. The Japanese would be grossed out by the typical American bathroom. In Japan, toilets are located in a different room than the shower and bath. And the Japanese shower is always separate from the bath. They see the shower for cleaning and the bath for soaking after you have cleaned. Another way social construction can be illustrated is in our symbols and how they shape our reaction. For example, there is a feeling that you should not walk on the Patriot.
There is no real reason why, but it is a social construct. Finally, another example is the faculty restrooms. Some of the restrooms are for individual use, which is one person at a time. These restrooms are exactly the same: one toilet and one sink. However, the rooms are labeled with "Men's" and "Women's" signs. That makes men feel weird if we use the "women's" room, even though the men's room is exactly the same. (and vice versa). The sign is a social construct that elicits that feeling. There is a restaurant like this at Voodoo Donuts in Austin, TX. The donuts themselves challenge our feelings about what a donut should be, but the bathroom goes even further.
Applying social construction of reality to teen-parent conflicts:
How is the idea of "teenager" an example of a social construction?
How does the article say that the
idea of "teenager" gets constructed?
What is the reality of "teenager"
to adults? To the teens themselves?
What are some moments in your own life where you experience these feelings, but when you stop and think about it, you realize that the feelings have been created for you by society?
Think about something from your own life; your religion, sports, fashion, or something. How can social construction of reality apply to your life?
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ReplyDeleteWhen you have saliva in your mouth it is ok, it helps you and is good but as soon as it leaves your mouth,its gross. The spoon full of spit was nasty. I would never eat it off a spoon even if it was my spit because its gross. Maybe I would for a million dollars but I am not planning on it.And I still don't know if I would do it. It kinda grosses me out to think about it.
ReplyDeleterandom but when i went to china... ahh the squater toilets ahhh! i avoided it in all 17 days there and i held it in like no other haha!
ReplyDeleteI can see the point that your trying to make but its all about context. When you spit on the spoon and tell someone to eat it they are grossed because they think about the spit. But when you exchange saliva through kissing you think about the feelings you have for the person, thus forgetting the exchanging of saliva. When we shower/bath we dont think about soaking in our own filth because we have never been told that thats gross, so maybe thats why its so different here than japan, it must be oour different culture.
ReplyDeleteSal, if you read my latest post it is just like yours.. I totally agree and think that the way we see spit/saliva is just because we were brought up to see things like that. Its gross when its in a spoon and you are asked to drink it, but if you use it as water (to clean something off, ect), it is all of a sudden a totally normal thing to do! Anything could be gross if we were brought up to think it..its just how our minds work!!
ReplyDeleteI was not really surprised when you mentioned how the japanese have a sperate bathroom and toilet area. In Poland that's what most people do too. I was fascinated by how the japanese take baths. It's pretty cool and I would probably try it if I ever did go to Japan.
ReplyDeleteWhen you were explaining how the Japanese bathe I was really surprised. I never knew they bathed like that. It's very interesting and unique, but if you think about how we take baths it's actually kind of gross. It's also kind of humorous how we get grossed out by the whole spitting in a cup thing, when we have spit in our mouth. Society has totally affected how we view things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything said! When I was in China this summer, it was definitely a culture shock when almost everyone freely spit everywhere they pleased. At first I was disgusted by it, but then as I stayed there longer and longer it just became something I accepted and it's still something that I think back upon whenever I hear someone spit now.
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in Hong Kong and there was spitting EVERYWHERE. Yet from what I remember, it was always men that was spitting, and women would either find it gross or not care but they would never spit themselves ( at least I havn't seen it).
ReplyDeleteI think social construction of reality is almost everywhere in our lives. It's the expectations and norms of our culture, environment, community, and religion. When I moved to the US I was a little confused by the social dynamics between the teachers and students. Back in Israel, we call our teachers by their first names, and to me using Mr or Mrs "last name" felt a little weird. While in Israel everyone has a closer relationship with their teachers, I came to realize that the respect and distance created by titles is necessary and very appropriate, and today, I think of the Israeli way as very disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI came across your site while searching for materials/ideas for teaching Sociology (first year). You reference an article but I do not see it linked in your post. Any way you could share it with me? Thanks!
The article about teens is from Stephanie Coontz called Parent-Teen Conflicts. If you go back on my blog to the beginning of this unit (Jan 8), the article is there. We use that as a touchstone piece. Since the students are teens we use an examination of teens (and the problems that come with that) to apply the concepts of the first unit. I hope that makes sense. Feel free to email me for more. But also see the menu on the right side and click on the link "for Teachers" theres lots of resources there.
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