I kind of want to do an actual social scientific study of Tumblr. I don’t know HOW yet, but, really…
Like,
it’s really interesting to watch how the cultures that are usually quieter cultures in our society suddenly become the dominant cultures on this website.
And then how it kind of transfers into “The Real World.”
Does anyone else notice and think about this shit?
I know people are going to think I’m thinking too much into this, but, as I was attempting to put on make-up today, I got to thinking about how I feel about the make-up industry.
Not based on animal well-being, although that’s important.
But, today, my thoughts were based on people.
Let me…
Well stated. The makeup industry is definitely maintained by exploitation of the human animal, and specifically - in most cases - that of the female variety. Which is sad, and I completely agree with all this.
As a heterosexual male who doesn’t wear makeup and is therefore utterly without credibility to comment, I very definitely am more attracted to a lack of makeup than someone with lots of makeup - the idea is a bit disconcerting that I may not actually know what said person looks like. So, maybe one day our society will stop maintaining its operations by shattering individual self-worth? Maybe that’s idealistic, but either way I wish a lot more females felt a lot more comfortable in their own skin, and I hope this is (even just) slightly reassuring toward that - which isn’t, by the way, to say that you need a male’s opinion to affirm your self-worth.
(“Leave your face at home, madre!”)
Although you are a heterosexual male who does not wear make-up, hearing something from the side that so many are putting this face on to attract is appreciated.
And, you know, it’s weird, because I hear a lot of heterosexual males say that they prefer less to no make-up on the females they are attracted to. (Or at least the ones I talk to.) Like, even my stepdad will roll his eyes when my mom says her face isn’t presentable enough (and they’ve been married for ten or so years, I think).
But then the industries say that’s where our worth is.
It’s confusing, but the media holds the power, so that’s who gets listened to.
I was reading this book again and I came across this passage from Dr. Jan Cameron, a sociologist.
People who choose not to have children are often cloaked in mystery, described in stereotypes. They are expected to explain why they do not have children—parents are very rarely expected to explain why they do have children. Stereotypically, non-parents are seen as selfish, neurotic, immature or abnormal. They flout conventional wisdom. They have actively chosen not to do what most people take for granted as normal.
- The Childless Revolution: What it Means to be Childless Today by Madelyn Cain, page 128
I had never really thought about the fact that people don’t question why someone would have kids.
I do, ocassionally, as a joke, but never seriously.
People always ask me why I don’t want kids.
I’m going to start asking them why they do, and be completely serious.
My Social Psychology professor told us an interesting story the other day that I kind of want to share.
A little while ago, she was at a conference in a city, and, because she’s a Visual Sociologist, she was walking around, taking pictures of people and things. During her wander, she came across this woman in front of a convenience store who was holding a sign that said, “Will Fuck For A Buck.” Instantly, my Sociology professor was intrigued by this woman, so she went up to her and asked, “Why are you only doing this for a dollar? Do you not have enough self-worth?” The woman replied, “Oh, no, I think I’m very worthy, but I do it more for the look on the man’s face. The look when he realizes that he was willing to do this to me for only a dollar. The look when he realizes he just used another human being like a thing. It’s all for the look.”
It just kind of amazed me.
And then she started discussing porn and its negative impact on us personally.
This class, you guys.
You might be on your way to becoming a social scientist if you like having shifts at the cash register at Jimmy John’s, simply because you get to spend a few hours watching people and trying to figure out their social status in their particular group.
People Watching: The Next Level
Olympic broadcasting inequality: Olympics commentary differs based on gender, race and nationality
She won a gold medal because she’s pretty.
The gender-based study published in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media found:
- When female athletes succeed, commentators tend to focus on luck and less on physical ability.
- When female athletes fail, physical ability and commitment are noted.
- When male athletes succeed, commentators applaud their skill and commitment to the sport.
- When male athletes fail, it is not necessarily about their failure, but about how their competitors succeeded.
In 2010, 75 percent of the most-mentioned athletes were male. That guy only won because the American’s luck ran out.
The nationality study published in the International Journal of Sport Communication found:
- When American athletes succeed, commentators were more likely to focus on their intellect, commitment and luck (both good and bad).
- When non-American athletes failed, commentators were more likely to say they failed because they lacked the strength and skill of other athletes.
- American athletes received enhanced comments about their outgoing/extroverted nature.
Non-American athletes received more comments about the size and parts of their bodies.
Overall, commentary about American athletes often focused more on the intangible aspects of their performances, rather than strength and skill. Angelini’s findings also included marked differences in commentators’ treatment of race:
- When discussing African-American athletes, commentators focused more on physical ability and strength.
- Asian athletes garnered a disproportionate number of comments about intelligence.
- When discussing white athletes, commentators were more likely to mention commitment and composure.
Really, really interesting.
You know, my book goes on and on about the division of housework labor between men and women and how that has changed over time.
It says women do less housework now, but men barely picked up the slack.
The give the credit to things like technology, hiring outside help, having the definition of a “clean house” change, and eating out at restaurants/eating frozen dinners more.
What I want to know is how much of the slack has also been taken up by the children doing chores.
Or if that’s changed.
‘Cause I know I did the dishes and my own laundry more than my mom ever did.
So.
Let’s say you have to write a research paper for your Methods of Sociological Research class.
What would you do it on?
(I’m already doing one on same-sex parents in my Family class, so I need it to be different or I’ll get all confused and end up plagiarizing myself.)
“I worked at a putt-putt place over the summer and observed multiple times how gender ‘rules’ and roles played into choices people made regarding a small thing : golf ball color. For example, many times, not just once, a parent told their son they could not play with a pink golf ball, because that’s ‘not right.’ I also saw many times that adult males would joke about using a pink ball before throwing it back into the container, laughing. To contrast that, it was always fine for a female, young or old, to use either pink or blue for their ball. It wasn’t just with golf balls, though. I also had a few young boys who did not want to use red batting helmets (I also worked batting cages) because the blue was the “right” color, and red was too “girly.” It’s a seemingly little thing, the color of an object, but these things happened so frequently that it turned into a bigger and bigger thing, because they kept associating ‘pink’ with both ‘weak/lose’ and ‘girl,’ which says something about the society and gender ‘rules’ and roles we have.”
(Little doo-dad from something I’m throwing together for Sociology. I just wanted to share this observation with Tumblr, because I think it goes unnoticed by many. Since I was bored at work, I did a lot of Sociological observations and “experiments,” especially regarding gender.)
