Social Observations Essay

Alike gender, sexuality is also a social construct, especially when looking at the period before the 18th century, when one’s sexual orientation did not matter, hence there being no need for justification, just as pointed by Foucault: “Sexual practices had little need of secrecy; words were said without undue reticence, and things were done without too much concealment; one had a tolerant familiarity with the illicit.” (3). And the 19th century came and brought with it a big change, and not only did people become engulfed by social norms, whom they should abide at all costs, but they also had to keep their sexual preferences under lock and key: “But twilight soon fell upon this bright day, followed by the monotonous nights of the Victorian

As defined by Dalton Conley, sex, sexuality, and gender are three different things. Gender is constructed around femininity and masculinity, therefore society dictates the social norms for gender (Conley 283). Society has created the notion of femininity and masculinity. Society tells us how to be feminine or masculine and how to display these characteristics to the world, thus, making it a social construct. These notions are social constructs because they are human inventions that are widely agreed upon and differ throughout cultures, they also change over time within the context of society.

I tried to imagine the home life some of them came from. As I attempted to look deeper, I wondered which

understand under the social construction of reality, according to Berger and Luckman6. Also, it is directly related with the concept of sexuality as a social construction. Weeks3 emphasis,

In society, heterosexuality is a principal method of organizing institutions and regulating individual behavior. A culture based on ideas of heterosexuality values relationships that are between men and women; as a result, sexual contact occurring between same sex individuals is seen as deviant and labeled as homosexual. In her book, Ward explains how straight white men can have sex with other white men while retaining their heterosexuality in addition to gaining a masculine appeal. Ingraham and Namaste’s discussion of heteronormativity, heterogenders, and supplementarity aids in understanding why straight white men are not labeled as homosexual and how this functions to reproduce inequalities based on race, gender, and sexuality.

There are various perceptions of gay and lesbian couples that they represent a more egalitarian relationship. (Civettini 2015:1) However, when same-sex couples are observed there is still a tendency to believe that the relationship contains a masculine and feminine figure following the heterosexual model. So, it is necessary to address both how these couples deviate from society’s norms as gay individuals but might still be reproducing the same behaviors as heterosexual couples because the ideologies are so deeply rooted in social institutions. The stereotypical connotations of masculinity and femininity influence all aspects of American society and gender display relies heavily on meeting those given expectations. So, in the case of this article, the author Civettini views a connection between sex, gender, and sexual orientation when it comes to displaying

In society, women are expected to be submissive, quiet, well mannered, and poised. The term “lady like” embodies these characteristics and is only applied to women. Men are expected to be dominant, strong, tall, and athletic. If a man does not have these qualities, he does not qualify as “masculine.” According to Carol Vance, author of Social Construction Theory and Sexuality, explains that femininity was achieved through socialization. This supports the claim that social construction demands women to act submissive and feminine. The expectations posed by social construction have a negative impact as they marginalize the LGBT community or any person who does fit these standards. This has caused issues such as bullying in schools which can lead to suicide. In this way, social construction forms a mold that men and women must feel the need to fit into out of the fear of being abnormal. From the evidence shown here, one can see how social construction does not positively impact sexuality and

In her essay titled “Compulsive Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” Adrienne Rich claims that any alternative to heterosexual outcome is discouraged by society. The essay claims that Western tradition has used the heterosexual family model as the basic social

This observation is based on a family consisting of a young professional married couple and their three year old daughter. I observed them for one hour over three weeks, in the evening to fit into their schedules. They have lived in the borough of Croydon in their three bedroom house for six years. For the purpose of this assignment all the names have been changed and the family

“The social construction of gender comes out of the general school of thought entitled social constructionism. Social constructionism proposes that everything people "know" or see as "reality" is partially, if not entirely, socially situated. To say that something is socially constructed does not mitigate the power of the concept. These basic theories of social constructionism can be applied to any issue of study pertaining to human life, including gender. This is

One central and important study of sociology is the study of everyday social life. Everyday life and sociology are definitely two distinct terms and situations, but they hold a close relationship. While sociology studies human interaction, everyday life consists of everyday human interaction. Everyday life is filled by human beings interacting with one another, institutions, ideas, and emotions. Sociology studies the interactions with all of these and shows how mere interaction resulted in things like ideas and institutions.

The names used in this Adolescent Observation Report are fictitious. This is absolutely necessary to protect the privacy of the adolescent being observed.

The names in this Observation Report have been changed to protect the privacy of the parents and the child.

There are many explanations for the origins of modern social psychology. It is therefore important to consider that social psychology cannot be traced back to one single source of origin (Burr, 2003). Hence, this is the reason why there are debates of what social psychology is. Allport (1985) described social psychology as the study an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours which are influenced by the actual, imagines, or implied presence of others. As seen from this definition there is a direct link between social science and the individual psychology (Sewell, 1989). Social psychology cannot be seen as a linear phenomenon. This is because social psychology has been derived from a combination of influences. The development of

bar was not busy, as most of the staff was male except for a lone,