Master Status In Mean Girls

Clicks in high school are what label’s a person’s self-identity. Being in a specific click is how students and their peers view the individual. For example if a person plays football during the fall time and is on the swim team during the winter, that person would be considered a jock. In Mean Girls, Cady quickly learned people in clicks only talked and hung-out within their groups. On Cady’s first day of school, when she went into the cafeteria and tried to talk the black kids because she thought they were from Africa, the black kids looked at her like she was insane. At first Cady didn’t know what click she belonged too, but then when she stated hanging out with the “Plastics” she knew she was in an elite click that everybody wanted to be in. The Plastics were a group of materialistic girls that only talked to certain types of people and didn’t allow anyone into their group. Cady achieved high social statues when she became apart of the Plastics. Cady went from being an outcast to high school

In the film “Mean Girls” there were many types of peer relationships expressed. Friendships are described as a reciprocal liking, trust, and loyalty between all participating dyadic parties. An example in the film is the relationship that Damian and Janis hold because they are loyal to each other and the liking is mutual. Peer acceptance is to the degree one is liked by their peers. In the film Aaron Samuels is very much liked by his peers. Perceived popular is a child that is considered popular based on their peers’ perceptions. Regina George is a prime example of teenage girl perceived as popular. When students described Regina George in the film these type of comments were made, “Regina George is flawless”, “One time she punched me in the faced. It was awesome.”, and “she always looks fierce.” Cliques are polyadic social groups that are voluntary. A main clique in the movie is “The Plastics” which consists of Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. These forms of peer relationships are a lot more complex than just a group of friends, these relationships of dynamic in early adolescence.

Sociological imagination is the way in which individuals realize the connection between their own experience of reality and the experiences of society as a whole. This realization allows people to make sense of the world around them. When one applies sociological imagination, they are stripping their own personal experiences from their thoughts to analyze the social world around them. It allows one to understand different perspectives of the world without the narrow lens of personal experience and bias. This is extremely important in modern society. For instance, in politics, it is very important to hold back personal beliefs when it comes to law-making. A politician who refrains from applying her own moral beliefs to her political agenda in attempt to create a better society is practicing the use of sociological imagination. She removes her own personal views of the world in order to see society’s views as a whole, and acts accordingly. In other words, sociological imagination is “taking the role of the other” to gain a wider understanding of a perspective other than one’s own.

Sociological imagination is a concept that was defined in 1959 by American sociologist C. Wright Mills. He described it as an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choice and perceptions. It helps us relate our own experiences to others. Sociological imagination can help us understand the difference between personal troubles and public issues by determining if it is a problem in someone’s own history or if it is an issue in the society or culture’s history.

In that sense, the individual exercising sociological imagination might realize that the choices of norms and behaviors of the members of that subculture provide an impetus for every

As Cady gets to know the plastics they begin to introduce her to The Burn Book. This book is a perfect example of prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice is hostile or negative feelings about people based on their membership in a certain group. Discrimination is behavior directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group. The Burn Book was a book that singled out anyone in their school whether it was fellow students or even faculty members, and would basically list things that were wrong with that person. For example, they stated in the book that one of their newly divorced female teachers was selling drugs on the side and that certain girls were fat and ugly. Some examples would also stereotype because of a part of sports team or group those students were part of. For example, the students that were part of a more man like sports team such as lacrosse or field hockey was considered “lesbians” or “dykes”.

An individual’s biographical surroundings hold power over their behaviour and awareness of society, this can be otherwise called the “sociocultural perspective” which was developed from Lev Vygotsky, a Russian Psychologist who believed culture alongside family and peers had an enormous effect on the individual. It is argued that society not only controls our movements, but “shapes our identity out though and our emotions” (Punch et al,22). Throughout history individuals have shaped and moulded their involvement in society, be it premediated or otherwise. However, C. Wright Mills stated that we are “seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history” (Mills,

The sociological imagination as described by C. Wright Mills is “the ability to understand the intersection between biography and history or interplay of self and the world.” (13) Mills also describes the sociological imagination by saying, “we have come to know every individual lives, from one generation to the next, in some society; that he lives out a biography, and that he lives out within some historical sequence. By the fact of his living he contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of this society and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and by its historical push and shove.” (1) In saying this statement, Mills leads us into what he calls the history and the biography of sociological imagination. Mills describes history has being part of the individual and biography being part of society. In an excerpt from his book, The Sociological Imagination, he talks about how troubles are our history. Mills states, “troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with other; they have to do with self ad with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware.” Mills says this about biography, “Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of his inner life.” (2)

The concept of sociological imagination was developed by C. Wright Mills who defined it as "an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past" (Schaefer 5). Sociological imagination allows us to look at cultural activities and events from a larger perspective, placing them in a proper context. For example, it is considered normal in the United States to eat food while walking. Many people do so in busy streets of American cities. In Japan, however, it is considered disrespectful to food. Therefore, the Japanese people stop and eat their food while standing or sitting somewhere. A person employing sociological imagination would understand both practices within a national cultural context.

The concept of “sociological imagination” is one that can be explained many different ways. A simple way to think of the sociological imagination is to see it as a way a person thinks, where they know that what they do from day to day in their private lives (like the choices they make), are sometimes influenced by the larger environment in which they live (Mills 1959, 1). What C.W. Mills meant by this concept is that it is the ability to “understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals” (1959, 3). In other words, the concept of sociological imagination is the ability to realize that the choices people make and their personal environments are often

The sociological Taboo (or imagination) is defined as a way of thinking that help us use external information and experience to form theories about the social pattern around us. We collect data and from that information, we make judgments and predictions. These require going beyond one’s point of view. People 's life and experiences are different. Therefore, it is important to take into consideration their reasoning and thoughts to be able to understand why they act the way they do. Hearing others stories and theories help us distant our self and creating a broader perspective. The saying “never criticizes someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes" is the best way to interpret sociological imagination. Its components include jobs, income, education, gender, race-ethnicity, and age.

The film that I chose to do was the movie Mean Girls. This movie is filled with many funny characters and an amusing plot, but even though this movie has earned the crown of being the official “chick flick” it has a lot of psychological concepts that people really do not realize. However, when you really think about it, the movie has a lot to relate with when it comes to teenagers going into a new school because every teen that enters high school goes though the emotional and social stages of development. In this paper we will be looking at parts of the movie that focus on Cady and her stages of development as she goes through high school and deals with the Plastics, and then the Plastics themselves as well as certain aspects and things that revolve around them throughout the movie.

Sociological imagination is merely the connection between a person and the society. Every person is connected to and influenced by society to a different extent. Some people are completely absorbed in society and feel obligated to keep up with the trends, or else they feel like an outlier. On the other hand, some people do not keep up with the trends of society because they could care less about others opinions. Sociological imagination can be used to show the relationship between both those types of people and the society, and it can be used to explain how people view society from their point of view. When people look at societies from an outsider’s point of view, “rather than only from the perspective of personal experiences and cultural biases” (Schaefer 4), they are able to notice the things that shape and mold their character. The outsider perspective also provides them with a better understanding of themselves by understanding the relationship between them and society.

The term “Sociological Imagination” can be defined in various contexts and in different ways depending on the situation and surroundings. According to most researchers, the definition of the term varies from case to case. Due to different scenarios and observations, most researchers have failed to apply a single definition of the term. However, after studying a number of cases, there is a general definition that we can associate to this term, i.e. the interaction of one’s mind and its experiences.

The sociological imagination is the “quality of mind” (Mills, 1959: 4) that enables individuals to look outside their private sphere of consciousness and identify the structures and institutions in society that influence or cause their personal experiences. In this way, by looking at the bigger picture, they can understand their place in society and explain their circumstance in terms of societal influence.