SOCIALISATION, CULTURE AND IDENTITY - IDENTITY

Question 1

What is identity?

Answer 1

a sense of self, how someone sees themself, and how others see them

Question 2

What did Jeffrey Weeks say?

Answer 2

‘identity is about belonging, about what you have in common with some people and what differentiates you from others’

Question 3

What did Erving Goffman say?

Answer 3

we are ‘social actors’ with a front stage (who you think I am) and a backstage (who I really am)

Question 4

What factors affect identity?

Answer 4

Class, Hybridity, Age, Nationality, Gender, Ethnicity, Disability and Sexuality

Question 5

What are ONS classes?

Answer 5

Class 1 - higher managerial and professional
Class 2 - lower managerial and professional
Class 3 - intermediate
Class 4 - small employers and self employed
Class 5 - supervisors, craft and related
Class 6 - semi-routine
Class 7 - routine
Class 8 - never worked/unemployed

Question 6

What did Pierre Bourdieu argue?

Answer 6

‘Class fractions’ are determined by varying the degrees of social, economic and cultural capital
The dominant ruling class has power to shape society’s norms and values
Social classes have their own cultural values, tastes and preferences which creates a ‘class culture’
High culture is simply the culture of the high economic class and the media is responsible for popular culture
The distinction between high culture and popular culture lies in the power of the group who supports and access them

Question 7

What are key points of the upper class, and who supports it?

Answer 7

Defined by their enormous wealth rather than their occupation
Share strong identity because it is ‘closed’
Make a web of contacts and networks
Mackintosh and Mooney - a key feature is their ‘invisibility’ and separate social life
Scott - the family operates social closure and immerses children into a culture of privilege (eg oxbridge and private schools)
Traditional upper class avoids the media and creates an ‘old boys network’ which helps secure business deals and gain promotions

Question 8

What does Savage argue?

Answer 8

there are four distinct types of middle class:
1. Professionals
2. Managers
3. Self employed
4. White collar/clerical workers
Their professions affect their lifestyles, and the workplace is a key source of identity which can lead to conspicuous consumption and social comparability

Question 9

What does Chapman argue?

Answer 9

the middle class has five characteristics
1. Social aspiration - need to communicate social position
2. Social anxiety - concern about what other people think
3. Domesticity - home and garden symbolise one
4. Conservatism
5. Social comparability - fear of social groups above and below them

Question 10

What does King and Raynor argue?

Answer 10

child centredness is a distinctive feature of middle class families where they pass on middle class attributes (eg importance of educational success)

Question 11

What does Roberts argue?

Answer 11

the middle class place a high value on the idea of ‘career’ which means they try to achieve a secure job by achieving qualifications (hence they’re motivated and encouraged at school)

Question 12

What does Fox argue?

Answer 12

unlikely that everyone in the middle class share an identity now its so diverse

Question 13

Who are the key names for the middle class identity?

Answer 13

Savage, Chapman, King and Raynor, Roberts, Fox

Question 14

What are the key points of the working class?

Answer 14

Contains a range of occupations which differ in pay, status and power
Traditional working class: men are breadwinners, women are housewives, the house is crowded, close-knit communities and strong class identities
New working class: more private and home centred life, segregation of gender roles less pronounced, more opportunities weakens class consciousness and define themselves by their hobbies

Question 15

What does Young and Willmott argue?

Answer 15

found that extended kinship networks were important as a range of relatives offer support financially and mothers were particularly close to their married daughters in the working class

Question 16

What does Hutton argue?

Answer 16

the decline in trade union memberships and manufacturing sectors, and the dispersal of working class communities, has eroded the working class identity

Question 17

Who are the key names for the working class identity?

Answer 17

Young and Willmott, Hutton

Question 18

Who argues that class is still important as a form of identity?

Answer 18

Westergaard - class is about the place in society not the items consumed
Mackintosh and Mooney - class is the prime source of identity

Question 19

Who argues that class is declining in importance as a form of identity?

Answer 19

Goldthorpe and Lockwood - there’s a move from collective to individual identities due to conspicuous consumption
Pakulski and Waters - gender/age/ethnicity is now more important due to the shift from production to consumption in society
Saunders - the decline of manual work means less solidarity and more individualism

Question 20

What is hybridity, and who talks about it?

Answer 20

When someone’s sense of who they are is a mixture of two or more influences (eg ‘Brasian’)
Nayak ‘white wannabes’ - describes white British males who adopt the norms and values of the black, hip hop culture, openly expressing their desire to be black
They use ‘multicultural London english’

Question 21

How is childhood viewed, and who talks about it?

Answer 21

Seen as a period of innocence, dependence and vulnerability
Aries and Postman

Question 22

What does Aries argue?

Answer 22

The ‘innocent’ child was created when the spread of literacy enabled adults to better shield children from various aspects of life
It became easier for parents to protect children resulting in a trouble free childhood which is a time of learning

Question 23

What does Postman argue?

Answer 23

Childhood is disappearing as children have more access to new technologies and the internet, which blurs the line between childhood and adulthood
Jenks argues that this has led to parents being more protective (Furedi’s paranoid parents)

Question 24

What does Mead argue about youth?

Answer 24

the ‘storm and stress’ associated with youth is culturally specific and not found in all cultures

Question 25

How is middle age viewed, and who is the key name?

Answer 25

Normally characterised by career and family, as they become independent
Sometimes associated with negative ideas - ‘midlife crisis’ and ‘empty nest syndrome’
Bradley - middle age has a higher status shown by the fact they run the country and hold the power in the workplace

Question 26

How is old age viewed and who are the key names?

Answer 26

UK culture admires the beauty of youthful bodies, in contrast ageing can represent degeneration and ugliness, which creates a negative stigma around old age
Corner’s study, Hockey and James

Question 27

What was Corner’s study?

Answer 27

found the language used by older participants about their own age identify was negative reflecting the view of the media and popular culture (eg burden and dependent)

Question 28

What did Hockey and James argue?

Answer 28

Linked old age and childhood as they are socially constructed in the same way
They are both characterised as dependent, innocent, vulnerable and are refined to school/care homes
Clients in care homes were infantilised which would have resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 29

How is age meaningless as a form of identity?

Answer 29

Youth - youth culture is just a media creation and it isn’t an easily identifiable group as they differ according to age, gender and class
Most youths are conformist and conservative, as they share their parents’ values and have a good relationship
Middle age - Hunt argues there is much more choice about middle aged identity, with opportunities to stay youthful in a consumer culture
Bradley argues there are class and gender differences in the way people identify with middle age
Old age - the concept of old age is challenged by those who feel it have become a negative label
Many elders continue to drive, lead active social lives and use their later years to do stuff they couldn’t when they were younger

Question 30

How is age not meaningless as a form of identity?

Answer 30

Youth - Abrams argues young people are all part of the same youth culture, at the same traditional stage of life
Middle age - Neugarten argues that the majority of ‘middle aged’ people interviewed accept the significance of signs of bodily ageing, alterations in the family structure and changes in career is indications of middle age
Old age - Victor argues old age is a homogenous category that is associated with cultural shared characteristics, such as loneliness and dependency

Question 31

What are the key names for age identity?

Answer 31

Childhood - Aries, Postman
Youth - Mead
Middle age - Bradley
Old age - Corner’s study, Hockey and James
Age is meaningless - Hunt, Bradley
Age isn’t meaningless - Abrams, Neugarten, Victor

Question 32

What does Anderson argue?

Answer 32

argues a nation is an ‘imagined’ country, it’s socially constructed using flags, festivals and languages

Question 33

What would Marxists argue about nationalism?

Answer 33

would argue that the bourgeoisie created nations for their benefit, to give the proletariat a false class consciousness and stop them revolting against the capitalist system

Question 34

What are the positives and negatives of nationalism?

Answer 34

Positives:
Gives people a sense of belonging and identity
Inspires powerful emotions
Gives society a consensus
Negatives:
Can be the cause of war due to national pride
As it is a diverse force which pitches nations against each other

Question 35

Who are the key names for nationalism and what do they argue?

Answer 35

Kumar argued that Englishness has been tainted with racism and colonialism (EDL), the quest to expand ‘Britishness’ has diluted ‘englishness’
Hall argued that countries may display three reactions to globalisation: cultural homogenisation, cultural hybridity or cultural resistance

Question 36

What does Connell argue?

Answer 36

defines different masculinities:
Complicity masculinity - shared family tole, interested in fashion
Marginalised masculinity - unemployed, not fully accepted as masculine
Subordinate masculinity - gay men
Hegemonic masculinity - dominant traditional men

Question 37

What does Oakley argue?

Answer 37

argued that gender roles are socialised in the family in four ways:
Manipulation: parents encourage behaviour seen as appropriate for the child’s sex
Canalisation: parents channel children’s interests into activities seen as normal for that sex
Verbal appellations: use of language appropriate for that sex
Differentiated activities: children are encouraged to do appropriate activities

Question 38

What does Laura Mulvey argue?

Answer 38

argues that the media overly sexualised women in the media which reinforces a patriarchal society
Presents women using three perspectives: the producer (camera angle), male audience (desire/sexual pleasure) and characters (power over women/rescued)

Question 39

What does Gauntlette argue?

Answer 39

argues the socialisation by magazines of the importance of being attractive in a ‘feminine way’ which gives girls unreal beauty standards

Question 40

What does Mac an Ghaill argue?

Answer 40

argue boys learn to be men in their peer groups at school, policing their sexualities
Gender power is the main source of identity for ‘macho lads’ who focus on the 3Fs (football, fighting and f**king)
defined ‘crisis in masculinity’ where men feel as though they can’t be emotional and a restricted to hegemonic masculinity

Question 41

What does Sue Lees argue?

Answer 41

argues there is labelling of girls as ‘slags’ and ‘sluts’ yet boys are ‘studs’
The fear of being negatively labelled leads to conformity and pressure on teenage girls

Question 42

What does McRobbie and Garber argue?

Answer 42

define ‘bedroom culture’ where girls are more likely to stay in their bedrooms and socialise, therefore don’t engage in crime and deviance

Question 43

What does Willis argue?

Answer 43

argues there is an anti-school subculture of working class boys (‘lads’) which links masculinity to manual labour, and regard school work as ‘feminine’

Question 44

What does Becker argue?

Answer 44

argues that schools ‘label’ students with gender stereotypes leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 45

What does Bowles and Gintis argue?

Answer 45

argues that the hidden curriculum reinforces gender roles, as it subtly socialises children into their appropriate roles within capitalist society

Question 46

What does Butler argue?

Answer 46

argues that parents expect their children to conform the traditional gender roles of marriage and children due to religious expectations

Question 47

What are the key names for each agent of socialisation and gender identity?

Answer 47

Family - Oakley
Mass media - Laura Mulvey, Gauntlette
Peer group - Mac an Ghaill, McRobbie and Garber, Sue Lees
Education - Willis, Becker, Bowles and Gintis
Workplace - Mac an Ghaill, glass ceiling
Religion - Butler

Question 48

Who argues that traditional femininity is needed?

Answer 48

Wilson argues that the need to reproduce requires men to be more promiscuous and women need to nurture the child and stay faithful to the father to ensure his help in the upbringing
Parsons argues that women should have the ‘expressive’ role and men have the ‘instrumental role’
Benston

Question 49

Who argues that femininity has changed?

Answer 49

Mead found in her case study that the male and female roles weren’t what was expected in the Tchambuli Tribe as women were dominant and aggressive, whereas men were timid and emotionally dependent
Mac an Ghaill defined ‘crisis in masculinity’ where men feel as though they can’t be emotional and a restricted to hegemonic masculinity
Sharpe found in her study that girls from the 1970s had priorities of marriage, children and having a family, whereas in 1990s their priorities were having a successful career and financial independence
Wilkinson argues there has been a ‘genderquake’ in attitudes of females towards work, marriage and family as their priorities have changed

Question 50

Who argues that traditional feminists is oppressive?

Answer 50

Jackson highlights ‘ladettes’ who are females acting in a ‘masculine’ fashion of drinking, smoking, swearing, rejecting education, being dominant, loud and aggressive
Oakley argues that the family socialises traditional gender roles and restricts children to following the stereotypical expectations due to their gender
Duncombe and Marsden argue it is worse for women now, as they have to do the triple shift of domestic labour, paid work and emotional support in the family
Laura Mulvey the media portrays women as an object for men, as they are often portrayed to be the one rescued, or inferior to the male character
Sue Lees argues there is labelling of girls as ‘slags’ and ‘sluts’ yet boys are ‘studs’ which are double standards
The fear of being negatively labelled leads to conformity and pressure on teenage girls
McRobbie and Garber defines ‘bedroom culture’ where girls are more likely to stay in bedroom and socialise, therefore don’t engage in crime and deviance

Question 51

What is ethnicity and who defines it?

Answer 51

An ethnic group/ethnicity is a social led defined category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural and national experience
Song argues than an ethnic group within a larger society has a common ancestry and memories of a shared past based around history and oral testimonies

Question 52

What are the key names for disability identity?

Answer 52

Shakespeare, Carol Gill, Murugami, Olney and Brockelman, Keating and Santuzzi, Hunt

Question 53

What does Shakespeare argue?

Answer 53

that disabled people are often socialised into this way of seeing themselves as victims
The person with the impairment may have an investment in their own incapacity, because it becomes the rationale for their own failure (‘victim mentality’)
There are major obstacles to forming a positive disabled identity as they’re socialised to see themselves as inferior
The stereotypical representations are a lazy shortcut on the part of media producers, showing ignorance about disabled people’s lives

Question 54

What does Carol Gill argue?

Answer 54

reconciling your identity as a disabled person with previously held notions about what being disabled means is a common hurdle

Question 55

What does Murugami argue?

Answer 55

argues a disabled person has the ability to construct a self-identity that accepts their impairment but is independent of it
The individual should become before their disability (person first)

Question 56

What are the key facts for sexuality?

Answer 56

69 countries have criminalised homosexuality (eg Afghanistan and Egypt)
2002: Same sex couples were given equal rights when it comes to adoption
2013: Same sex marriages were legalised

Question 57

What are the key names for sexuality identity?

Answer 57

Quinn, Kinsey’s reports, Weeks, Reiss’ study, Plummer, McIntosh, Rich

Question 58

What does Quinn argue?

Answer 58

Many native African tribes celebrated same sex marriage between two males, with the ‘wife’ being a feminine acting ‘berdache’ and the ‘husband’ was a dominant amazon who participated in male activities?
Also notes that some sub-Saharan African peoples have man-boy marriage ceremonies, the ‘boy-wives’ were between 12 and 20 and treated like a female wife

Question 59

What does Kinsey’s reports say?

Answer 59

37% of men had a homosexual experience to the point of an orgasm, but less than 4% were exclusively homosexual
Shows that many people don’t identify with their sexuality, or experiment with it

Question 60

What does Weeks argue?

Answer 60

Not many people would say ‘heterosexual’ in relation to their identity, however ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ makes a statement about belonging and your relationship to dominant sexual codes
There are people who identify as ‘gay’ and participant in the gay community but don’t take part in same sex sexual activity and the other way round
Reiss’ study found that young male prostitutes regarded themselves as heterosexual despite having sex with men for money

Question 61

What does Plummer argue?

Answer 61

‘A homosexual career’ is where a male who has accepted the label of homosexual will seek out others and join a subculture where stereotypical homosexual characteristics become the norm

Question 62

What does McIntosh argue?

Answer 62

In Western cultures, the role of homosexual men involved certain expectations/cultural characteristics
Once a male has accepted the label of ‘homosexual’ he will start to fulfil these expectations
Some ‘straight’ married men still admit attraction to males but don’t have any other signs of homosexuality

Question 63

What does Rich argue?

Answer 63

Through institutions such as marriage, sexual violence/rape, and the sexual objectification of women, women’s sexual identity is controlled
Defined ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ which is the male dominated societal view that the only normal relationship is the heterosexual one
Lesbians have been reduced to a turn on and are sexualised, as well as seen as deviant and looked down upon

Question 64

How does the media show disability?

Answer 64

Hunt identified stereotypes that the media uses to portray people with a disability - for example, an object of curiosity or violence, and as a burden
Shakespeare argues that these stereotypical representations are a lazy shortcut on the part of media producers, showing ignorance about disabled people’s lives

Question 65

What is the medical model for disability?

Answer 65

disability is a medical problem and a person can become defined by their impairment
There is a ‘victim-blaming’ mentality where the problem is sees as lying with the disabled person and not with society which has not met their needs

Question 66

What is the social model for disability?

Answer 66

focuses on the social and physical barriers to inclusion that may exist, and argues society is the disabling factor

Question 67

What did Olney an Brockelman find?

Answer 67

studied two groups of university students, one with visible disabilities and the other with hidden ones
They found that when the group with hidden disabilities needed to access support, people were sceptical of their needs and began to treat them differently, which meant they generally hid it

Question 68

How does the workplace deal with disabilities?

Answer 68

The Equality Act 2010 made it unlawful for employers to discriminate on the grounds of disability, and they had to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to avoid disadvantages
However, the Department of Education’s 2012 consultation on special educational needs found that less than 1/20 people with disabilities are in paid employment
Keating and Santuzzi argue that some people may choose to hide or downplay their disabilities at work because of fear of discrimination