User:Liamhagarty/sandbox

Liam Hagarty Sociology of Gender Kylan DeVries

Hegemonic Masculinity & Femininity
These two concepts can best be described an ideal design for male and females that becomes widely accepted and reinforced in that culture (Kylan Notes). Society determines which sexual preferences, actions, and biological differences are acceptable and police eachother during interactions in order to recreate the "best" versions of males and females. This is the process of socializaition and it ocurs at every level of social structures (Connell, pp20). Ideal masculine males in today's society are heterosexual, 'do gender' in a masculine way, and strive for gendered values. Ideal feminine females are also held to heteronormative, specified standard and the dichotomized social view is inforced through obvious and subtle ways. The first images show sections for 'boys' and 'girls,' this implies that there are only two socially recognized genders and they need different types of clothing. The second image, 'Natural Born Baller' is a shirt found in the boys section and sends the message that males are naturally athletes. Compared this to the female equivelant, a shirt that reads 'Believe in Yourself' which suggests that females can only try to achieve instead of achieving things 'naturally.' These images help young males and females understand what will be expected of them as an adult. They send messages of 'be aggressive' for males and 'be peaceful' for females (Connell, pp53). Boys will embody the meaning of this shirt and compare himself to other males until he fits the athletic requirements of a male and girls will find something else that is more valued by females and excel in that category rather than athletics.

Heteronormativity
Similar to this binary, there is another key term that defines the two sexual preferences that dominate society and it is, heteronormativity. This term is used to desribe that male/female attraction is 'normal' and any same-sex attraction is abnormal (Connell, pp82). Society also reinforces this idea through clothing products, the first images were found near a jewelry store and send the message that marriages are between one man and one woman only. The next image has multiple examples of a narrow sexual view, the him/her relationship is the only one advertised which suggests that same sex relationships are not recognized. These shirts are also a good example for understandings the heterosexual matrix. this term is used to describe genders acting in accordance with their gender and their relationship (Butler). They also display that heterosexual behavior can be overt but homsexeual behavior must not be publicly displayed (Connell, pp66).

Sexual Agency/Objects/Subjects
Society defines male and female sexuality differently. Females are more often viewed as sexual objects rather than subjects that have no agency. This means females cannot be something by themselves but instead are attached to something or someone else. The first image is directed at single moms and suggests that men support them for being a sexual pleasure to view. The next image correlates women to food. Women are presented as a part of the burger by either licking themselves, replacing their breasts with burgers, or sexually appraoching the food. The next image shows a revealed female body with dotted lines representing meats cuts, similar to a cow. The last image shows a full dressed man strateling a half naked women while holding a bottle of alcohol. This image also makes the female more of an object of the male rather than a subject.

Doing Gender
Doing gender refers to individuals acting in accordance with the social norms of that gender. One example is the female vacumming on the box containing the vaccum. This image suggests that house cleaning is a female task and that the vaccum is a female tool. The image of Spongebob is a male doing gender. Spongebob is male and in this episode is trying to be masculine, his ways of doing this is having big muscles, a tattoo, and by drinking alcohol at a bar. The next image uses a trigger word, 'attack' to correlate males with aggressive behavior (Komisar, 1980)(Messner, 1990). Also, males playing sports and attacking any activity is socialized into a gendered activity. The next image is of a mother and baby interacting, this image reasserts the motherly nature norm of females. This is another socialized gendered norm. Both the male and female targeted images relate to the eesntialism concept. Individuals embody the messages within these images and attribute them to their biological differences (Connell, 51).

Media
Much of what an individual learns about their gender in realtion to society comes from the media's representation (Connell, pp53). The images I have presented on this page have primarily been forms of influential media. However, I give some more concrete examples. The first photo is of a TV show titled Parks and Recreation and it demostrates media literacy. In the show, Lesley is criticzed for looking similar to a painting of a female centar and the painting is taken down for revealing breasts. The other image in the TV is the same centar but with a male head. The male image was not deamed inappropriate. This form of media is relaying the message that artwork of female bodies is rejected and male bodies are accepted. The next image comes from the TV show Family Guy and shows a male, Peter, and his wife (standing) Lois, and her soon to be boxing opponent Ms. T. This media humors the idea of a masculine women that dominates males. The first example is Lois being the boxer, a male dominated occupation with a supporting husband that imitates the stereotypical female role. The second example is Ms. T milking Peter like a cow. This action objectified Peter, how women often are in media, and it showed a female dominating a male, rather than the expected opposite. Again, individuals can embody these messages and treat their real life situations the same way they viewed them treated in media. The final image is a description of whey protein. The description includes the ingredients and doctors guarantees. The image used is a white male in a lab coat, it represents white male domianance by appealing to what buyers will trust. Indivals are socialized into believing the upper class consists of white, educated males, therefore, this media correlated their product to the upper class' promise so that indivudals will trust and buy the product.

Culture
Just as most of this project pertains to media, it also pertains to our social and cultural values. Each culture has developed their own set of unwritten norms to live by (Connell, pp95). This project has evaluated media is relation to the U.S. culture values. A few images that best display our cultural norms include the sandwich shop photo. Both the white female worker and the hispanic male worker view the white male owner that comes in a closing to do the till. Through means of divison of labor, it is assumed that young females in U.S. culture will have low income paying jobs that require some physical labor (Rubin, 1975). Similarly, the hispanic male is assumed to stay working as a buser becasue society has told him that is an acceptable career. Finally, the white male is also expected to be in the position he is in, as owner of the shop. This setting displays the glass ceiling concept, where individuals can see where upward mobility would take them but are unable to achieve the means to reach those upper occupations (Connell, pp103). Another way cultural norms are imposed onto us on a daily basis is through social strutures. The second photo is of a Lady Foot Locker, and several other places like this exist that all define which stores are for women. The second photo is of my friends and I playing hackysack while Brandon's girlfriend sat in the car to watch us. This photo shows how it is more culturally expected for males to be physically active and females to watch their male counterparts perform the sport.

Emotional Work
Emotions have become gendered like many other fasets of U.S. culture and this specific emotional section best relates to 'doing gender.' Males and females are expected to bahve differently in emotional situations, females are expected to be more overt and expressive of their feelings while males are expected to hide or hold back their emotional reponses (Connell, pp81). Females are expected to intensify situations with their emotional repsonses and men are expected to handle emoitons more calmly. The fitst image is a silohuette of a man and woman arguing and in the photo the woman is using more hand gestures to fight her case. This shows how society helps reassert the emotional sensitibity stereotype of women.