1 Soc Perspective 5: "Sal i'va had enough!" The Social Construction of Reality

We have learned about three paradigms that influenced the beginnings of sociology as a discipline.  They were the foundations of sociology as a discipline and most of what sociologists study can be viewed through one or more of these three paradigms.  These three paradigms are also three ways of having a sociological perspective.  Other sociologists have tried to explain the sociological perspective in their own ways.  I want to emphasize 2 other sociological concepts that help to illustrate the sociological perspective.  The first of these will be today's lesson.

Please wait for the lesson to begin before reading further.

Spit vial or vile spit?  

Note:  (This is a lesson first published in Teaching Sociology (2003) by Brouillette and Turner and updated in ASA's Trails.)  

Think about the population testing program for Covid at our school.  Imagine that you spit into the vial and brought that vial to SHS.   

Then read about all the ways all of the ways that saliva is beneficial:

Saliva continuously moistens the linings of the mouth, throat, and general bronchial area. Saliva aids in the prevention of infection in these areas. Some cold remedies, for example, so dry out the linings that the microscopic cracks in the linings often bleed and are very susceptible to infection. Also, the admonitions of parents to their children to eat slowly and chew well is not just to prevent choking on large pieces of food. The leisurely eating of food mixes saliva with the food, which shortly thereafter is blended with the gastric acids in the stomach. This compound now sets the stage for a catalytic combination of saliva, food, and gastric juices, which produces optimal digestion. The addition of an adequate amount of saliva allows the body to extract needed nutrients throughout the digestive tract. Finally, saliva offsets the possibility of too much acid in the stomach, and therefore lessens the possibility of heartburn or ulcers.

Now, after reading about all the ways that saliva is useful, if you arrived at school and the admin told you that your vial is not needed, would you open the vial and take your saliva back?

Here is the Google form for this lesson.  

1.  After reading all of the beneficial uses of saliva, would you take it back from the spoon?

Is that gross?  Why?

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 and there is no biological difference between the saliva in your mouth and the saliva on the spoon.  However, we have learned from our society (parents, friends, media) that there is a difference between "saliva" and "spit";  Saliva is in our mouth and is not gross, whereas spit has left our mouths and is gross even if it has not changed at all biologically.  This makes us feel gross and repulsed by "spit".

In his 1966 book with Thomas Luckman, Peter Berger called this idea the "Social Construction of Reality".  To break the idea down:

Social - society/other people

Construction - create

Reality - feelings/experiences

 

In other words, our experiences or how we feel (our reality) is created (constructed) by others (society).  This is called the social construction of reality. 

2. Can you explain the theory of the social construction of reality?  

Social Construction of Spitting Across Cultures

In the US most of us would consider spitting gross.  However, we have learned that in some cases spitting is 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.

In fact, during one World Series, Reggie Jackson averaged 19 spits per at-bat!  (see this 1985 article from LA Times about baseball spitters)

 

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 even accidentally drops saliva onto a desk it becomes gross. Can you imagine a teacher who spits like a baseball player?  We have been conditioned to accept spitting on the baseball field but not in a classroom.  Watching a teacher spit in a classroom would feel gross and disgusting because we have learned to think that this is unacceptable/gross behavior.  This can be true for many of our experiences; feelings of happiness, sorrow, stress, worry can often be created for us by our of the society.

Because our reaction to spitting is a creation of our society, the reaction to spitting in other countries is different - because it is a different society.  

In other countries, different types of spitting are so common that a British sociology professor, Ross Coomber and his team spent time studying the various types of spitting and he published this paper (2013).  From the BBC,

Ross Coomber, who is a professor of sociology at Plymouth University, will spend about a month visiting six Asian countries.
He said people should take historical and cultural influences into account before forming opinions about those who spit.
He added, in many nations it was an accepted part of their lifestyle.

In Africa, a study in the British Journal of Cancer identified many different spitting practices especially the ways that spit/saliva is used for healing!  From the journal, there are examples of:

(1) the use of saliva in healing and medical practices, 

(2) the use of saliva in initiation or ritual practices and 

(3) the use of saliva in feeding practices. 

Among some ethnic groups...it has been observed that part of the healing and treatment process involves using saliva to treat different ailments: 

Among the Somali, saliva is used in the treatment of all forms of disease (Helander, 1988, p 111)... 

In Tanzania, among the Bena, for the treatment of a boil, the traditional healer chews traditional herbs (mhefefa and munepa) and subsequently uses the chewed and softened herbs to treat wounds (Culwick, 1935, p. 395)... 

Among the Masai of East Africa, the juice of the plant ol giloriti (Acacia abyssinica) is chewed and spit onto the wound by a healer as an astringent (Merker, 1910, p. 247)... 

Among the Azande of Sudan the patient's body is sucked vigorously by the traditional healer (Rattray, 1923, pp 248–250)... 

Also among the Igbo of Nigeria, it is observed that a traditional healer (dibia) will suck the arms, head or abdomen of a new-born baby...

Among the Wolof of West Africa, when a baby is born, it is reported that an elderly woman will visit the mother and infant and subsequently give the infant a blessing by spitting on its face and kissing it....

Among the Nuer of Southern Sudan, it is noted that men spit on the heads of their children on returning from trips and young girls who have not seen each other for some time spit on each other as a form of greeting (Huffman, 1931, p 87)....

In Peru, shamen may use spitting to purify a person with a spiritual bath like the way this shaman did to Anthony Bordain.

The point is that people have learned what to expect from their social groups and those expectations shape how individuals react to situations.  Related to this is the Thomas Theorum which was published by the University of Chicago Professors William Thomas and Dorothy Swaine Thomas.  The Thomas Theorum says, 

"If people define situations as real, then they are real in their consequences."

Although it was originally most connected to the symbolic interaction paradigm, the Social Construction of Reality can easily be applied to all 3 paradigms so I place it in the center of the pyramid on the graphic organizer called A Framework for Sociological Perspective.

"Bath Rooms" as a Social Construction

Please do not let the example of spit/saliva make you think that the rest of the world is gross while our culture is normal.  Instead, there is no objective normal, there is only the way that each society has affected it's people to feel.   For example, here is an example that you might not realize about how another culture would be grossed out by American culture.  

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. Instead, the Japanese "bathroom" is literally a room for bathing.  And not only is the toilet separate from the bathroom, but within the bathroom the shower is always separate from the bath. They see the shower for cleaning and the bath for soaking after you have cleaned.  Instead, Americans freely bath their children in bathtubs and it is seen as a pleasant and cute experience. But many Japanese would feel repulsed by the idea of bathing in one's own filth.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier bathrooms in the US typically include a toilet but even within the US bathroom we socially construct a gendered bathroom.  For example, there is a faculty lounge that contain two individual restrooms. These restrooms are exactly the same: one toilet and one sink. For the first decade that I was at SHS these bathrooms were simply labelled "restroom".  However, at some point around 2010, the rooms were labeled with a "Men's" and a "Women's" sign on each. Even though I had used both of those rooms interchangeably for a decade, it suddenly felt weird for me to use the room labelled as "women's".  The sign socially constructs that feeling.

Similarly, Voodoo Donuts, a restaurant in Austin, TX has an all-gender bathroom.  When I found myself using the toilet next to my wife, it was a weird feeling because I am not used to going to the bathroom with her.  

"Food" as a social construction

At Voodoo Doughnuts, the bathroom was not the only social construct being challenged.  The restaurant also challenges our conception of what a doughnut is.

Other examples of the social construction of food are:

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.

The Patriot

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.

3. Can you explain, in your own words, how one of the examples above is a social construction?  Just choose one:  spitting, bathing, bathrooms, food.  

4. Think about something from your own life; your religion, sports, fashion, or something else.  How are your feelings/experiences shaped by what you have learned from people?