The Functionalist Perspective of Bars, Clubs, and Drinking Alcohol Going to bars, clubs, and drinking alcohol is apart of various cultures and societies, especially in America. It is a common theme to go drinking on the weekends, such as on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. It may seem like going out to drink, may be a waste of time and/or money to buy expensive alcohol, to party in dirty clubs and to listen to bad music. However, it is an important part of the social life of adults. Going out to clubs and bars and drinking is a way to get together with groups of friends in your life through communication, making memories, for stress relief, and sharing values and norms through a common guide. These common values and social norms allow us to help through what is considered appropriate behaviors in the subculture we are participating in. A subculture is known as a group within a larger culture, that has value, beliefs, and interests that vary apart from the larger culture. This subculture can be identified and known as the “alcohol drinking culture.” Occasionally, my boyfriend, six close friends (including, one designated sober driver) and I go downtown to go to bars, and clubs to drink, party, and dance to badly mixed music. We went downtown for my boyfriend’s birthday on November 24th, all set to drink, to have fun, tell stories, and to party the night away. It had been some time, since our last get together and wanted to make memories and drink the night away. We arrived
Participants in nightlife go out searching for a good time. This is no different, possibly even more pronounced, in downtown Iowa City. Club owners and bouncers control the environment and climate in which club-goers accept norms and social boundaries of the night. The Summit Bar is an infamous freshman and fraternity bar in Iowa City. Anyone who is looking to drink underage usually turns to “Summit” because it is “eighteen to get in, twenty-one to drink”.
Alcohol-Related Windows on Simmel’s Social World by William J. Staudenmeier Jr. from the text, Illuminating Social Life, dives into the topic of alcohol and how its role in society can be directly reflected back to Simmel’s work. The text was introduced by explaining how alcohol has been a major influence throughout American history and how it has shaped the interactions of difference cultures, races and ethnicities by characterizing drinking as “conflict between coexisting value structures” (98). Simmel’s ideas about the core differences between dyads and triads was applied in the context of how group interaction significantly changed when the role of alcohol becomes a factor to socializing. Three different group stratifications can be seen
Gratefully, my life has not been impacted negatively by alcohol. But after reflecting on my past experiences, alcohol has been involved greatly in my life, although it may not have been negatively. Since I was young, I have remembered observing family members drinking alcohol and pondering if whether their decisions were just. I was raised in an atmosphere, where alcohol was demonstrated as not a harmful thing, but shown as a privileged activity that adults did. Most of my family’s gatherings always had alcohol included, it became a natural occurrence and it seemed abnormal if it was absent. My family doesn’t need alcohol as an item in order to have fun, but we use alcohol as a special luxury to celebrate joyful events. We also don’t indulge
As freshmen step foot on Boston College during move-in, the newest Eagles have many expectations for their upcoming college years which involves tailgates, parties, clubbing, and other activities. Boston College is a Jesuit Catholic university. Although Boston College is a religious institution, students still consume alcohol in dangerous amounts. Freshmen come to Boston College with various drinking experiences: familiar, somewhat familiar, or unfamiliar with alcohol. Many drinking habits are established during a student’s freshman year. Freshmen are excited to experience their first ounce of freedom and this definitive moment in their life often leads to dangerous drinking habits and poor decision making. Freshman year is the time where one forms their identity in college without the physical presence of their guardians. Aristotle claims that humans are “social animals” and our interactions with others shape how we live and who we are. (Mattison 139). Humans naturally take cues on how to act from those who we surround ourselves with. From Senior Tuesdays, to Thirsty Thursdays, to weekends and Marathon Monday, drinking has become a habit for many students at Boston College. It is hard to picture a weekend at Boston College where beer cans are not scattered in a Mod backyard or vague cheers echoing from a crowded common room where a drinking game is being played on a Saturday. We often hear ambulances during weekends rushing through campus to transport students to the hospital who drank too much, but students rarely see drinking copious amounts of alcohol as a real problem. According to Mattison, temperance is the virtue of well-ordered desires for pleasures. (Mattison 68). Drinking and temperance have an interesting relationship here at Boston College. Many students who drink often see alcohol as full of pleasure, but their actions are not well-ordered according to Mattison. The media
The Detroit News even had an editorial called “TO THE HIGH SCHOOL INTELLECT,” encouraging kids that it is hip and cool if one drinks and it helps with getting girls, “It is chic and charming to have an intrigue with a bootlegger, to carry a flask on the hip, to produce it where its possession may enhance a reputation for derring-do, and to imbibe from it in the presence of lovely and impressionable femininity” (Okrent 213). The editorial influenced many young people to drink in Detroit, and was the reason why a high school dance at the Hotel Statler was shut down because of excessive drinking (Okrent 213). America’s youth was changing due to false and immature motifs and ideals of drinking. Because of Prohibition there no limits or restrictions that regulated drinking, this led to many teenagers to
Based on a research finding, some individuals indicate that when they are sober and others drink around them, it was considered boring (Seaman& Ikegwuonu , 2010, p.21). It is clear that beverages have become an activity as well as apart of socialisation. Its been described as a social facilitator during interaction and when establishing a connection with others. Data explores that peer group activity has lead to a strong connection of peer experience aligned with intoxication Seaman& Ikegwuonu (2010,p.22). This elaborates the effect of drunkenness. (Borsari & Carey 2001, p.392) stated alcohol played a vital role whether its in college , social functions or peer interactions. Alcohol being referred to as an act of rebellion has today been acknowledged as something ‘normal’ in society. (Pettigrew & Donovan, 2003). Alcohol has now been considered as a social fabric that changes ones game. Gender is a general issue where men are known to drink more than females. Why does this occur?. To begin with, the term hegemonic masculinity outlines the dominant form of a heterosexual in the western world (Germov & Poole,2011, p.241). Men are seemed to be
Binge drinking is one of the third most preventable causing deaths in the United States (McGinnis & Foege, 1993). At the micro level most teens do it to seek acceptance from within their group of peers and we also undergo peer pressure and think they need to drink to be able to be accepted and then at the mid-range level most college males students drink to seek their masculinity from within a friend group. Then once at the macro level different countries with different culture values may drink alcohol more than others even though they may drink more there still is a chance that someone may develop alcoholism.Such things as symbolic interactionism, conflict, and functionalist perspective are all associated with binge drinking
On a wet, dark, and snowy Sunday night an outsider wouldn't expect a Northeastern University campus bar to be crowded. In fact, most students can't even leave their dorms because there is too much snow. Yet a tiny pub, located barely off campus on Gainesboro Street, is packed wall to wall with students. A small community is drinking away their problems while discussing the probability of school being canceled. Many experts would describe this act as binge drinking, but any student would prefer to describe it as just a regular Sunday night.
Those that participate in binge drinking do it for many different reasons, a bad test grade, roommate arguments, celebration for a job well done, peer pressure, or simply because it is the weekend. No one is saying that it is wrong to go out and have a few drinks but when students go out and just drink to get drunk, actions must be taken to stop such activity. According to the graph on the next page done by the Harvard Public School of Health it is clear that a majority of students drink to simply get wasted. [Colorado State University 1] The number of binge drinkers may not have gone up in 1999 compared to 1997, for every five students two are binge drinkers, or 44%. [Wechsler #2, 1] However, the intensity of drinking has increased, when students are going out they are having more to drink. [Wechsler #2, 2]
In the United States alone the drinking patterns throughout history have changed dramatically to reflect the times. Starting out in colonial times the usage of alcohol use was seen as a blessing, and harmless to society. It was acceptable to drink while at work, and during social events, however drinking alone was highly frowned upon. Many early religions believed that alcohol was a gift from God, “man should partake of God’s gift with out wasting or abusing it”#. To enhance and encourage the social
The cultural norms in which one has been brought up also play a major role in how one develops and one’s behavior towards alcohol abuse.
The way that media has portrayed environmental issues has changed radically in the past few years. Environmental issues often aren`t considered newsworthy unless something large scale occurs with a notable impact on everyday life. The BP oil spill in 2010 made front pages world wide, there was a sudden push for the rescue of marine life and a general disgust for the condition of the Gulf Coast. An outpouring of awareness came of this tragedy and mass media diligently informed audiences of every detail as the following cleanup events unfolded. Most environmental news is not front-page material. The media gets the ultimate say in what is deemed as important.
Jerry’s relationship with his mother is complicated. She does her best to raise him how she wants, but then finds herself worrying over what amusements he might secretly be longing for (Lines 10-12). His mother was the one to open up the door to Jerry’s tunnel encounter. She asked him if he was tired of the usual beach, and gave him permission to go somewhere else (Lines 16-18).
Question: How can dancers of color prove their place in the “white world” of ballet?
In American culture especially, drinking is seen as a rite of passage or assimilation into adulthood. Young people in many cultures are introduced to drinking early in life, as a normal part of daily living. Whereas in America, drinking at a young age is looked down upon, the reverse is true in societies that maintain the best moderate drinking practices. The idea of a minimum as before someone should be protected from alcohol is alien in China and France. Children learn to drink early in Zambia by taking small quantities when they are sent to buy beer; children in France, Italy, and Spain are routinely given wine as part of a meal or celebration. In the United States, the legal age to drink varies dramatically form others around the world but is still look upon as a step into adulthood. Though attitudes and behaviors vary in different places, drinking can be seen as a routine way of assimilating a youth into their respective culture’s social customs.