Identity Flashcards
Views: Functionalists
- identity developed by needs of society
- affected by value consensus - bonds us
- internalise what society says is important -> make it part of us
Views: Feminists
- gender -> primary aspect
- identity shaped through socialisation process
- women shaped to see themselves as second class citizens (patriarchal society)
Views: Interactionists
- interaction between people/meanings shared -> incorporated into self-image
- according to labelling -> shapes identity through SFP
Views: Marxists
- little control over how identity’s shaped - totally tied to economy
- born WC -> low esteem
- shaped to become workers - see themselves as workers
- media is the new opium - keeps docile, fuels consumer society, constant feeling of inadequacy
Views: Postmodernists
- key features of identity can change if you want, not fixed
- pick/mix -> create own narrative
- lang/symbols important eg care about looks more than substance, so designer shoes more important than its actual function
Views: Marxist Feminists
- capitalist state breeds gross inequalities
- consumer society -> -ve self image for women
- imposes images damaging to self esteem
Disability: Stigma
GOFFMAN
- stigmatised identities -> seen as -ve
- assume not self-sufficient -> reliant
- society are problem -> label them, awkward to have normal interactions
- may lead to being master status -> main way in which people are seen
- stigma dominates the way they’re treated
- other characteristics seen as less important
Disability: Origins
Marxists -> FINKELSTEIN
- -ve perception due to capitalism -> emphasis on work as source of identity
- before - no segregation/diff treatment
- industrialisation -> need healthy workforce -> profit for RC
- disabled -> burden -> social problem
But….
- now med support available - live longer/survive
- and pre-ind society was segregated -> Elizabethan Poor Laws meant people pretended to be disabled -> begged
Disability: Social Model
BEST
- society generates discrimination/exclusion
- developed by disabled as med model doesn’t explain personal experiences/develop inclusive ways of living
- caused by organisations in society
- need to remove barriers that restrict life choices -> then can be independent/equal in society
OLIVER
- excluded from full participation by stereotypical attitudes
But..
- can’t ignore phys factors eg pain which impact social life - make social experiences unpleasant/difficult
Disability: Media representations
SHOWN INFREQUENTLY
- 2002 -> 11% programmes accounted for 0.8% that spoke
- AGEYMAN - range of disabilities limited, only wheelchairs
LANG, IMAGE, TERMINOLOGY
- 2001 - Scope Article Newspapers use -ve lang eg sufferers –> reinforces discrim/creates -ve self image
- +ve lang can improve public/self image
Disability: Media representations - Med Model
- Mid 1970s - need to recognise as equals
- media slow to take on changes
HUNT - 10 stereotypes. Content analysis of electronic/printed media -> burden, unable to P in everyday life, laughable
BARNES - portrayed as dependent on others, can’t contribute to society, non-sexual, can’t speak for themselves, to be pitied/made fun of
Disability: Learned helplessness
SFP –> disabled people respond to constant assumptions
WATSON - low self-esteem
SCOTT - blind people USA, interactions with med professionals. Developed blind personality -> internalised view that they should experience psych problems
Gender: Hegemonic gender identities
CONNELL
- hegemonic masc/fem -> stereotype of ideal man/woman
- fail to conform -> wimp or butch
- problematic -> reinforces patriarchy, hard to construct alternative gender identities eg Chaz Bono’s sex change
Gender: Primary socialisation
OAKLEY
Canalisation and Verbal Appelations -> directed towards gender appropriate toys, exposed to diff lang/nicknames
STRATHAM
Gender codes
- Age of 5 - clear gender identity
- know which gender belong to, what’s appropriate behaviour
- allows for social conformity
- colour codes, toy, play, appearance, dress
Gender: Changing identities
New man - not following hegemonic masculinity
Metrosexual - take interest in appearance
Ladette - take on male attributes
Crisis of masculinity -> losing masculinity in jobs eg hard manual - now in call centres/offices taking on fem roles
MAC AN GHAILL - they don’t know role in society, don’t know what masculinity is, no stereotyped role to fill -> don’t know position
Gender: Education
SPENDER - women invisible, lives/achievements not represented as signif/reflected in mainstream curric
SHARPE - girls had lower aspirations. Later found far more girls staying on in school for high quals
Gender: Peers
- ridiculed if don’t conform to norms/stereotyped identities
- need to gain acceptance
- sexual promiscuity encouraged in teen boys, but girls labelled ‘slags’
WILLIS - WC boys chase girls for sex, then drop them, label them as ‘loose’ - Double standards -> encourages conformity to separate gender identities
Gender: Media
TUCHMAN
- content analysis of news media
- found symbolic annihilation of women -> absence, condemnation and trivialisation eg pg3 of The Sun
Ethnicity: Studies (own identity)
SEWELL
- black identities reinforced as young black students cope with teacher racism, stereotypes of black machismo –> antischool subculture
- identity derived from mass media -> able to draw on culture from country of origin eg TV
JACOBSON
- religion is a socialising agent in EM communities
- Islam - growing source of identity in British Pakistanis
- due to social exclusion, racism, lack of opp in society
Ethnicity: Studies (adopting identity)
FANNON
- white mask identity
- black immigrants adopt culture of dom white society -> social acceptance
JOHAL
- Asians deny own ethnic origin as survival strategy
But..
CRITICISM:
Cultural Defence Thesis -> move country, adopt heritage culture more than before to maintain sense of identity, get in touch with other members of community –> sense of stability/friendships
Ethnicity: Ethnic identities in Britain
PHILLIPS
- some groups have distinctive cultures - clear customs/values
- others, more personalised identities
- for some, ethnicity as identity -> resist racism
- young people -> response to ethnocentric education, inst. racism -> resist denial of status/devaluing of culture
- seek to reclaim identity through embracing aspects derived from country of origin
Ethnicity: White identities in Britain
- Brit societies favour white people/culture
- don’t need to assert identity - have power that EMs lack don’t face devaluing of culture
- RW parties eg BNP promote white identity
- white EM face discrim eg Irish, Romanians, Bulgarians
Ethnicity: African Caribbean identities in Britain
GILROY
- no single black identity
- historical experience of slavery affects perceptions of black people
- identity has roots in Black Atlantic - cultural network, source of support
- 2nd gen born in Britain - certain styles eg dreadlocks -> sense of pride to resist racism
- reinforced by distinctive black subcultures
FULLER - black girls -> antischool subcultures -> resist -ve stereotypes
Ethnicity: Asian identities in Britain
MODOOD
- Indian Asians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis -> largest groups
- extended families, arranged marriages
- impression management -> assert as main source of identity
MIRZA ET AL - growing popularity of hijab -> mark identity
GIDDENS - feminists say it liberates from male gaze, others say it oppresses women
Ethnicity: What is a British identity?
CAMERON - freedom is the defining feature (law, speech). But vague -> all western democratic countries
BROWN - shared values, not ethnicity
BHO - Life in the UK Test - would those born/bred in UK pass?
HALL - increase in globalisation -> decline of national cultures and more cultures of hybridity due to foreign travel
ORR - moving to -ve identities, people construct identity based on what they are not, rather than what they are
Ethnicity: Nationality
HALL - every nation has a collection of stories/symbols of shared experiences - people draw on to construct national identity eg national anthem
BELLAH - national identity reinforced through civil religion, ceremonies worship state eg coronation
- declining number of those who identify as British - more English, Welsh etc…
- 2011 survey - 39% preferred to say they were English than British
Ethnicity: Hybrid identities
HALL
- ethnic identities becoming harder to identify - creates new ethnicities
- Tiger Woods - Calabrinasian
- diff ethnic groups borrow styles/lang, range of cultural symbols -> create hybrid ethnic identity
- increasing social acceptability of interethnic relationships
- adds to fusion of identities
Ethnicity: Stigmatised identities
GOFFMAN
- fail to conform to societal norms eg homosexuals seen as deviant - so conceal aspect using impression management
- media stereotypes of Muslims since 9/11
- increase in Islamophobia -> Muslim identity has become stigmatised
Age: Disappearance of childhood
POSTMAN
- dividing line between childhood/adulthood is rapidly eroding in contemp society
- printing press -> childhood ends at 7 when master speech
- TV - no skill, access for all ages
Age: Pre-industrial societies
- often no precise age, births not registered
- 3 stages - child, adult, elder
Age: Modern industrial societies
- all births registered by law
- BRADLEY - 5 generational stages of age identity in UK
eg.
Childhood -> protected by parents/others eg legislation, children acts
Adulthood -> until 1960s, this was 21. After, it became 18 - vote, sit jury.
Is this the disappearance of childhood
Age: Adulthood
- leaving home to middle age
JONES AND WALLACE - private markers (first sexual encounter) and public markers (right to vote)
Age: Midlife
Physical indicators - grey hair, wrinkles
Social indicators - financial security, new hobbies
Age: Old age
- 65 in UK - retire, receive state pensions
PITCHER - young old (65-74), old old (85+)
But what about 75-84?
Age: Active Ageing
LASLETT - Third Age - higher life expectancy, growing economic security, young age of retired people has meant a prolonged third age
MARHANKOVIA - active ageing -> choose to stay in work, take up new hobbies, contribute to economy
Age: Mods and Rockers
COHEN
- newspapers sensationalise and exaggerate youth behaviour -> newsworthy stories
- demonise youth -> moral panic
- youth -> folk devils -> social problem
- easy target -> can’t defend themselves in media as lack power
Age: Youth culture
- distinct from parents’ culture
- seek to be visibly different
- HEBIDGE - involves bricolage -> use of everyday objects for diff purposes eg safety pin earrings -> express contempt for values/active hostility for dom culture
Age: Functionalists on youth culture
PARSONS AND BALES
- youth sub -> status frustration from transition to adulthood
- can’t establish clear adult identity -> economic dependence on parents, so use subculture to assert independence, create separate identity
- move towards independent adult identity
- pleasure seeking activities in company of peers
- interest withers when frustration over - clear adult identity established
CRITICISM
- doesn’t explain variety of subcultures eg CGE diffs, and occasional dysfunction aspects eg antisocial behaviour, racism, sexism
Age: Marxists on youth culture
- skinheads/teddy boys -> subc of resistance to dom class/ideology
BRAKE - bricolage of punk subculture late 70s -> resist dom cultural norms. Seen as offensive/ugly, so deliberately try to be offensive to represent society
CRITICISM
COHEN AND THORNTON - subculture created by media, not differences. Media links unconnected events eg style -> make exciting headlines, label groups. Members see common interests -> form subc
Age: Feminists on youth culture
MCROBBIE
- male dom groups eg Punks
- girls less involved -> gender role socialisation - stricter control of leisure time by parents, traditionally confined to home not public
- male dom, more visible forms of youth culture expressed
- bedroom culture
CRITICISM
LINCOLN - contemp young women more involved, less patriarchal, growing equality/success in ed/employment
HOLLANDS - role in youth culture similar to men - drug/dance subcultures
Age: Postmodernists on youth culture
- reject idea of subculture
- theories of youth subculture are metanarratives - try to fit in with structural categories of CGE
- factors are less signif, as identity source or forming groups in PM society
THORNTON - replaced by dance club music subc, globalised media images to create multiple identities
BENNETT - it is neotribalism - don’t form cohesive groups around CGE, it’s a range of groups, fluid boundaries, only come together for rituals eg clubbing
Age: Discrimination
JOHNSON AND BYTHEWAY
- agesim is the offensive exercise of power through reference to age
- involves assumption that old are vulnerable
BRADLEY
- old seen as less suitable for employment, assumed to be slow, lack dynamism, not adaptable to change
- Employment Equal Age Regulations Act 2006 -> protection against age discrimination in employment/education
VINCENT
- variety of ways of being old –> not biologically fixed concept, but socially constructed
Class: Defining social class
REGISTRAR GENERAL’S SCALE
- old fashioned, 100s of occupations
- based mainly on general standing in community
Covers 100s of occupations, but doesn’t cover students/unemployed/retired
NATIONAL STATISTICS SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION
- urban industrial societies
- based on economic inequality - share similar position relative to wealth, status, power
- produces stats on diff types of occupations/changing socioeconomic status of workforce using scale eg higher managerial, long term unemployed
Covers unemployed, up to date
But complex. What about those who inherit wealth?
Class: How does occupation affect self-identity / how others see you?
UNDERCLASS
Homeless, benefits, drug users
WORKING CLASS
Uneducated, failed school, criminals, terraced houses
MIDDLE CLASS
Hardworking, strive to better children, music lessons
UPPER CLASS
private school, personal staff, well-spoken
Class: Life Chances
- higher class = better housing/income
- 2010-12 - 10% households owned 44% Britain’s wealth
- smoking/drug use increases in lower classes -> increases sickness
Class: Habitus
- cultural framework of class/set of ideas operated according to class habitus learnt in socialisation
- influences knowledge, lang, attitudes, values
Class: Cultural capital
BOURDIEU
- access to dom class habitus -> cultural capital
- dom class -> impose views of good taste in society
- high culture reflects this
- WC = mass culture
Class: Underclass
- high levels of illegitimacy
- lone parenthood
- drugs abuse
- school exclusion
Chav stereotype
JONES - demonises WC, demeaning, hostile
TYLER - form of MC abuse to WC
SHILDRICK - reinforces poor are undeserving, neutralises sympathy, encourages public to laugh not understand, reinforces cultural hegemony of dom class
Class: Middle class
- education/importance of career success
- individual effort, ambition
- future orientation, deferred gratification
- respect for high culture, concern for fitness/wellbeing
LAWLER - taste becomes symbol of identity, basis for judging/differentiating - use to secure identity, sense of superiority and opposition to white WC culture, MC view WC as having bad taste
JONES - WC ridiculed by MC, demonise WC as chavs
Class: Working class
TRADITIONAL WC
- close-knit community
- WILLIS - manual work is central to masculinity (breadwinner)
- skills/job more important than ed
- immediate gratif, present orient, fatalism (HOGGART)
NEW WC
- privatised, home centred lifestyle
- instrumental approach - make money not friends
- more emphasis on consumer goods and leisure
Class: Upper class
SCOTT
Socialisation - family life, marry into similar families, private boarding, sense of superiority
Taste for high culture - opera, ballet
Sense of leadership, superiority - nouveau riche acquire wealth over lifetime, seen as culturally inferior to traditional UC, lack CC, poor taste and splash out on expensive cars/houses
Sexuality: Heterosexual identity
Men -> sports, loud, short hair
Women -> makeup, jewellery
- stereotypes linked to hegemonic gender identity
- reinforced through socialisation (media, family)
Sexuality: Homosexual identity
Men -> emotional, dramatic
Women -> sporty, short hair
Sexuality: Foucault
- the way sexuality is expressed is dependent on societal circumstances - the discourse
- 50yrs ago - homosexuality was a sin/illness
- Ancient Greece - normal everyday life
- Today - one of many sexual orientations
- idea of sexual identity invented by psychiatrists/docs
- all modern sexualities go through period of normalisation
Sexuality: Normal sex and identity
- sexuality has been central part of hegemonic female identity in Britain/the west
- defined by attractiveness/sexual appeal to men
MULVEY - women are subject to male gaze in the media
- treated as sex objects
- pg3 of the Sun, advertising
- double standard treatment of men/women
- promiscuous males +ve, but females -ve
BUT - men’s bodies sexualised now too (changing sexual identities*)
Sexuality: Stigmatised/spoiled identities
- hostility in pubs/clubs towards gay men/lesbians, bullying at school, discrim in workplace
- use impression management to conceal aspect of identity, to prevent being part of public identity - avoid stigmatisation
Sexuality: Gay and lesbian identities
GOFFMAN
- looked at social stigma
- homosexuality carries less social stigma than it used to
- less psych pain then before
- Saudi Arabia, Russia -> still deviant so hidden
- still large stigma attached to polygamists, transexual and non-religious celibates
Sexuality: Changing sexual identities
- rise of alternative masculine identity and gay movement -> sex appeal is part of masculinity too
- men’s body increasingly sexualised in adverts, importance of image
- 2005 Hall of Shame - male celeb bodies
- so men and women now face same scrutiny
MCROBBIE - the beauty stakes have gone up for men. Women have taken a more active viewers’ position
