De-briefing the panel and research on femininity

Today I would like to accomplish two tasks:

De-brief the panel from yesterday and analyze the research from thursday.

1.  The panel

Please write individually about this:

1a. What are 3 things you took away/concluded from yesterday's panel?

1b. What are 2 questions you still have?

1c.What is 1 way this connects to the social construction of gender?


2.  Research on effects of feminization on girls.


3.  Looking ahead:
Remember to read Kimmel and Mahler's article on School Shootings

The Un-TV Assignment

The Un-TV.  Using your Un-TV experiments, please discuss;

1.  How many technical events did each of you count?  What is the median for the group?  What do you think the purpose of the technical events are?

2.  How did the person you observed in step 4 react?  Is this similar to others in the group?

3.  How do you think the technical events from step 1 affect the viewer you observed in step 4?

4.   What were your reflections/insights/questions raised by watching the TV. (step5)?

 

The Un-Tv Assignment is another great exercise in sociology from Bernard McGrane and his book, The Un-Tv and the 10mph car.  McGrane has also published a more recent book that is completely focused on the media called Watching TV is not Required; Toward Media Mindfulness and Enlightenment TV. 

Here are some of the reflections on this experiment from Mcgrane's book.

Consuming kids (not cannabalism)

The last agent of socialization from the other day is the media.  The media has a profound impact on U.S. citizens.

One video highlighting this impact is from the movie Consuming Kids from the Media Education Foundation.  The movie exposes all the ways that marketers have tried to make kids into consumers.   Watch it here on mediacast.

As you watch the video, think about your own experiences growing up and how they compare to what the video says.  What are your own examples of becoming a consumer and being branded by the media?

Also, think about your experiences in the UN-TV experiment.   What did this reveal that might relate to the power of TV?

Thai Commercial inspires us to make the world a better place

Here is a Thai commercial called Unsung Hero that reminds us to be mindful that our actions can make the world a better place, a happier place.

Prince Ea raps about being sociologically mindful in this critical video called Why I Think this World Should End :


Be sure to watch until the end to see the mindfulness of the post.

Sociological Imagination v. Mindfulness

Volunteer Opportunity: Pull a Plane for Special Olympics

The Plane Pull features the ultimate tug-of-war competition, as teams of up to 20 battle a UPS Airbus A300, weighing more than 190,000 lbs.  That’s right, the plane weighs more than 90 tons!  Each team raises a minimum of $1,000 to participate (only $50 per person for a team of 20). Special Olympics Illinois and the Law Enforcement Torch Run will host the 6^th Annual Plane Pull at O’Hare International Airport on Sept. 27.  The 2013 event was a record-breaking success, as 64 teams participated and more than $135,000 was raised for the athletes of Special Olympics Illinois! Click here for more info.
A special thanks to UPS, the Chicago Department of Aviation, City of Chicago, HMS Host and Durham School Services for their continued support of this event.
Teams compete in one of three divisions:

• Open Division (ideal for companies, school teams, gyms, crossfits, clubs, friends and families)
• Public Safety Division (law enforcement officers, fire fighters, paramedics, DNR, DOC and military personnel; teams need at least 10 public safety competitors to qualify)
• Hotel Division (new in 2014, and by popular demand, we have created a division solely for groups in the hotel industry!)

For  questions on how you can get involved in the Plane Pull, please contact Matt Johnson.

2013 Event Results

• Open Division: Maine South Hawks (HS Football Team), 9.81 seconds
• Public Safety Division: Chicago Police Department - O'Hare, 9.34 seconds
• Grand Champion: Chicago Police Department - O'Hare
• Top Individual Fundraiser: Bob Pomeroy, ComEd
• Top Fundraising Team: Niles Police Department
• Team Spirit Award: Park Ridge Fraternal Order of Police #16

Gratitude

In another post, we thought about how American values shape our everyday lives.  And a couple of those values are individualism and  personal control.  These values make it difficult for us to acknowledge the significant role that others have played inour lives.  They make it difficult for us to be dependent on them and to be grateful to them.  So we conducted this exercise:

Close your eyes.  Think of someone influential in your life.  Now write down who you thought about and why you thought about that person.

When you are finished, follow these instructions:

CALL THEM AND READ IT TO THEM!

Afterwards, think about:
Were you able to do this? Was it difficult?  Why or Why not?  How did you feel before and afterward?

 Check out this video from Upworthy on how this creates happiness: 



 

 After the video, click here to return to the previous post that prompted this activity.

Classifying in other languages

This post is an explanation of the Sapir Whorf and how we categorize.  Here is the original lesson.

Set 1. Auto, turtle, basket, bird
Students generally select auto or basket using the culturally familiar categorizing device of machines vs. non-machines or and movement vs. non-movement. At least some non-western cultural groups, however, would see birds as most different because their culture emphasizes shape and birds are relatively angular rather than rounded in shape. Our culture tends to emphasize use or functionality. Thus correctness would be culture-dependent.

Set 2. Laundry, beer, clothing
Students generally, with great assurance, select beer as most different. Functionality places clothing and washing machines together. Yet, at least one culture views clothing as different because laundry and beer are both “foamy”. Visual appearance is most salient. US slang for beer (“suds”) also recognizes the attribute of foaminess.

Set 3. A chair, a spear, a couch 

Students again select the “wrong” answer—at least from the perspective of traditional West African cultures. US Americans tend to emphasize use, thus placing couch and chair together as types of sitting devices (i.e. “furniture”). Ashanti apparently would see the “couch” as the most different because both a chair and a spear can symbolize authority.

Real Estate and Prestige

Checkout these houses for sale in 2014.  Which do you think are the most expensive?

A.

 B.

C.

D.

 E.

 F.

 G.

H.














Click here to see the answers.