Part 2: Socialization, Status, Gender Norms, and Symbolic Interactionism — Comprehensive Notes

Event and Exam Logistics

• On-campus extra credit opportunity organized by the philosophy department, hosted by Arthur King.
• Topic: defensive rights in organizing, due process, free speech.
• Time and place: September 25, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM, Spray Carleton rooms (back of the student center).
• Activity: write a prompt after the event: summarize what the event is about, what you learned, and relate it to class material or a personal experience.
• Extra credit details: up to 5 points on an exam, depending on opportunities across the semester; may be applied to your lowest exam score if there are multiple extra credit opportunities; email with details and posted prompt after class or this weekend.
• Q&A: no questions from students at the moment; confirmation and setup discussed.

Course Updates on Papers and Grading

• Almost all papers graded; outstanding check-ins only for a few who submitted prompts instead of full papers.
• Positive feedback: many students gave strong personal experiences and reflections.
• Key takeaway: students demonstrated sociological imagination by linking media events to historical context and broader social linkages.
• Paper format going forward: read the material, identify what was interesting, relate it to personal experience, and discuss its relevance—this is the standard for future papers.

Exam Schedule and Study Materials

• First exam date: the 30th.
• In-class study guide: will be handed out on Tuesday (week before the exam).
• Study materials: study guide and handouts will be provided in class.

Core Concepts: Socialization, Status, and Roles (Robert Merton)

• Robert Merton: regarded as a foundational figure in sociology for his work on society, roles, and conformity.
• Status: a recognizable social position that a person occupies.
  • Common question used in social interactions: “What do you do?”—profession often serves as a primary identifier.
  • Every status has associated expectations (roles).
• Status set: all the statuses a person occupies simultaneously.
• Two kinds of status:
  • Ascribed status: involuntary, born into (examples: age, race, sex).
  • Achieved status: earned or chosen (examples: learning to play piano, becoming a poet, learning to juggle).
• Master status: a dominant or defining status in a given context; can be shaped by society or circumstances and can influence perception of other attributes.
  • Examples used: disability or celebrity; Kim Kardashian as a celebrity who also is a mother, sister, businessperson, student (law studies), etc.—but the master status often highlighted by others can obscure other roles.
  • In the US, work/occupation is a common master status once outside college, though it can change by context.
• Status set examples and discussion:
  • Teaching vs research: two archetypes of professors; the dilemma of prioritizing classroom teaching or publishing/fieldwork, depending on institution (e.g., Yale vs Central).
  • Role conflict: professor vs parent; staying up late with a child’s science project vs being prepared for class; conflict among multiple roles (e.g., friend vs professor).
  • Role strain: competing expectations within a single status, leading to tension about which expectation to meet.
• Student exercise: write down your own status set and consider potential conflicts (student vs worker, parent vs citizen, student vs partner, etc.). Optional sharing.
• Gender norms discussion prompt: What comes to mind when thinking about gender norms and behaviors? No right or wrong answers—just perspectives.

Gender Norms, Media Representations, and Social Change

• Traditional genderstereotypes discussed:
  • Men as breadwinners; women as caregivers in classic depictions; real-world shifts show more nuanced patterns.
  • Observations on labor and family: today both parents often need to work; historically, male-dominated breadwinning norms were more rigid; some cases of stay-at-home dads challenged norms.
• Media and advertising portrayals:
  • Men: associated with outdoor activities, ruggedness, leadership and invention narratives in textbooks.
  • Women: underrepresented or cast in passive or domestic roles; often depicted in beauty/domestic contexts.
  • Pink tax: women’s toiletries and personal care items priced higher than equivalent men’s products (e.g., razors, deodorants), despite similar production and supply chains.
  • Textbooks historically underplay women’s contributions (e.g., Chicago School sociology pioneers or other contributors) compared to male counterparts; modern textbooks aim for greater equity.
• Sports and visibility:
  • Men’s basketball and other men’s sports receive more media coverage and celebrity status; women’s sports receive comparatively less screen time and notoriety (e.g., Paige Bueckers as a prominent player, but less coverage relative to top male athletes).
  • Domestic chores: women more often associated with cooking, cleaning, and home maintenance; men do more “occasional” chores like mowing, oil changes, tire changes, grilling.
• Childhood socialization and media:
  • Children more rigidly enforce gender norms; early hospital color-coding (pink vs blue blankets) and media imagery influence expectations.
  • Video game history as a site of gender construction:
  • Early games like Gong were unisex; Pac-Man had a female lead in Miss Pac-Man because the audience and developers included women.
  • Pioneering women in game design (e.g., Carol Shaw, Donna Bailey, Roberta Williams) contributed significantly but were later overshadowed; the 1983 video game crash shifted marketing toward boys (Nintendo’s strategy of targeting boys in the toy aisle).
  • Myths about gaming: modern marketing and cultural expectations still link gaming primarily to male audiences, though women gamers and female esports exist and grow.
• CJ Pascoe and masculine norms:
  • Study focusing on middle school boys using the term fag as a social policing mechanism for conformity; masculinity is performed via behaviors (appearance, emotion, competence) rather than sexual orientation.
  • Boys may engage in harassment of girls or even sexual violence to prove masculinity and avoid stigma.
  • Women may bend gender norms more readily than men; examples include clothing flexibility and public figures who push traditional boundaries (e.g., Harry Styles wearing a dress).
• Complex intersections (intersectionality):
  • Masculinity varies across race, class, region, and gender identity (trans, nonbinary, etc.).
  • The Southern dandy stereotype as a historical example of regional variation in masculine presentation.

Erving Goffman: Dramaturgical Theory

• Core idea: social life resembles a play with stages, scripts, props, costumes, and sets; people perform to manage impressions.
• Front stage vs back stage:
  • Front stage: the public-facing performance where social actors curate impressions (e.g., classroom dynamics, customer service interactions).
  • Backstage: where actors can let down guards and be themselves (e.g., in the break room with coworkers).
• Scripted performances in everyday life:
  • A classroom setting: the podium, syllabus, notes, and lectures function as props and scripts; physical arrangement (professor on a stage, students in audience) reinforces power dynamics.
• Impression management: the ongoing effort to shape others’ perceptions of us across contexts (boss vs coworker vs friend).
• Illustrative anecdotes:
  • Front-stage customer service scenario: dealing with a difficult customer and what can be said or not said in professional contexts.
  • Deli job anecdote (prosciutto): long, tedious interaction with a customer; illustrates front-stage pressures and backstage relief after management intervention.
  • Backstage celebrity moments: public persona vs private behavior (e.g., Ellen, other celebrities) and how it can clash with backstage actions.
• The “queen and peasant” tale as a metaphor:
  • Queen uses social clout to shift norms for a guest; the act demonstrates how power can reframe acceptable behavior in a social setting.

Saving Face and Impression Management

• Face concept: the esteem or respect an individual holds in the eyes of others.
• Saving face: attempting to preserve one’s social image after a faux pas or misstep.
• High-stakes saving face examples:
  • Logan Paul YouTube apology: criticized for insincerity and failing to take responsibility; attempt at saving face without addressing underlying issues.
  • Colleen Ballinger’s response to sexual misconduct allegations: a musical/video response deemed inappropriate, viewed as another form of saving face rather than accountability.
• Toilet paper dilemma (practical ethics of saving face):
  • A story from a machine shop where a worker notices toilet paper stuck to a supervisor; dilemma about whether to point it out and potentially embarrass him or to let it slide and risk others’ perceptions of competence.
  • Conclusion: choosing to help save face is a context-dependent decision with potential consequences for impression management.
• Strategies for saving face:
  • Involve professional help (e.g., etiquette coach) when high-stakes situations demand refined impression management.
  • Use of “the queen’s” example to illustrate how a powerful actor can shift norms to protect guests and avoid diplomatic offense.
• The broader point: saving face is a universal social mechanism, with nuanced moral and practical implications depending on context and power dynamics.

Nonverbal Communication and Linguistic Cues

• Endings of conversations are often nonverbal cues signaling closure (civil inattention, turning away, etc.).
• Nonverbal cues (given vs given-off):
  • Given cues: explicit actions like putting on a coat as you leave a dinner, signaling you’re ready to depart.
  • Given-off cues: unconscious facial expressions or micro-reactions that reveal true feelings (e.g., grimace when tasting something you don’t enjoy but trying to be polite).
• Civil inattention: recognizing others’ presence without intruding; used to manage social space and boundaries in public.
• End-of-conversation etiquette: nonverbal signals help indicate when a conversation should end without explicit statements.

Ethnomethodology and Breaching Experiments

• Harold Garfinkel and ethnomethodology: study of everyday social interactions by breaching norms to observe responses.
• Classic breaching examples:
  • Requesting someone’s seat on a bus without explanation; reaction reveals assumed social reasons for a seat request.
  • Interacting with someone while they’re going to the bathroom; the awkwardness demonstrates expected social boundaries.
• Purpose: to reveal the implicit rules that govern ordinary social order and how people produce and maintain social reality.

The Internet, Identity, and Modern Interaction

• Digital alteration of appearance and identity:
  • People can edit photos, create avatars, and present curated identities that may differ from reality.
  • The rise of profile pictures and avatars that may not reflect the actual self.
• Emojis as a new layer of meaning:
  • Emojis help convey nuanced emotions in text-based communication, mitigating ambiguity.
• NPC streaming and online performances:
  • Pinky Doll example (NPC streamer): paying people to perform quirky or artificial behaviors akin to non-player characters in video games.
  • Ethical and social questions about authenticity and performance online.
• TikTok and real-time performances: casual, spontaneous performances captured and shared publicly; raises questions about judgment and norms.
• Black markets and online ethics:
  • The internet enables “black marketplaces” where stolen goods can be fenced (eBay, Craigslist); challenges conventional verification and trust.
• Music piracy and streaming ethics:
  • Opinions vary by artist: fans may feel compelled to support local or lesser-known artists even if big-name artists can survive without every purchase; debates about fair use and compensation.
• Takeaway: the Internet reshapes social interaction by enabling flexible identities, rapid performance, and new ethical considerations about privacy, ownership, and authenticity.

Social Construction of Reality: Money, Nations, and Childhood

• Symbolic interaction and social constructs:
  • Symbols (e.g., dollar sign) carry meaning because people collectively agree on their significance.
  • Money as a social construct: currency—whether coins, paper, or numbers in a system—exists because society agrees it has value; alternatives (e.g., Fallout world’s bottle caps) illustrate the social conformity behind money.
• Nations as social constructs:
  • Borders and countries exist through mutual recognition and agreement, not purely through physical nature; constitutions, governments, and military are external manifestations of these agreed-upon boundaries.
• Childhood as a social construct:
  • Childhood as a protected, extended phase is a relatively modern development (post-1930s to 1950s), driven by postwar economic growth, labor union strength, and less wartime destruction compared to Europe.
  • Teenagers historically moved into adulthood sooner; modern schooling (up to 18) and higher education delay traditional markers of adulthood (marriage, home ownership).
• Social construction is contingent and varies across time and cultures, illustrating that many features of social life are not natural but created and maintained through collective expectations.

Social Interaction: Openings, Nonverbal Cues, and Communication

• Opening conversations and nonverbal openings:
  • People use subtle cues to initiate conversations with new acquaintances (leaning, clearing throat, etc.).
  • Civil inattention and conversational openings are built on shared social norms.
• Civil inattention and boundary-setting:
  • People know how to act but may choose to wait for an appropriate moment or opening to speak.
• Nonverbal communication in daily life:
  • The majority of social interaction relies on body language; nonverbal cues communicate more than words in many contexts.

Ethnomethodology Revisited and Modern Implications

• Recap of Garfinkel’s project: reveal and analyze the unspoken rules that govern social interaction by intentionally breaching them and observing responses.
• Relevance to everyday life: understanding these norms helps explain why certain behaviors are interpreted as rude, awkward, or normal depending on context.

The Internet as a Social Laboratory: Ethics, Identity, and Culture

• The internet creates new social spaces, norms, and ethical questions:
  • How much can we alter our identities without compromising authenticity?
  • When do curated personas cross into deceptive or harmful behavior?
  • How do emojis, avatars, and micro-performances shape our understanding of communication and emotion?
• The emergence of new social economies: streaming, monetization, and the ethics of online labor (e.g., NPC streaming, micro-taylored interactions for pay).
• Ongoing tensions: balancing self-representation, privacy, and accountability in digital spaces.

Summary of Key Takeaways

• Social life is structured by status, roles, and the power of master statuses in different contexts.
• Gender norms are socially constructed, varied across media, culture, and time, and can be challenged or reinforced through everyday practices.
• Goffman’s dramaturgical theory helps explain how people manage impressions through front stage and backstage performances.
• Saving face and impression management are pervasive in everyday interactions, with high-stakes situations sometimes requiring external help or strategic behavior.
• Nonverbal cues and gesture types (given vs given-off) dominate much of social communication and etiquette.
• Ethnomethodology highlights the tacit rules underlying everyday interactions and what happens when they are breached.
• The Internet reshapes social interaction through identity construction, digital performance, and new ethical dilemmas around privacy, ownership, and authenticity.
• Social constructs like money, nations, and childhood demonstrate that many aspects of our world are maintained through collective agreement and cultural norms rather than natural inevitabilities.

Quick Review Prompts

• What is a master status, and how can it shape how others perceive you in different contexts?
• How might role strain arise for a professor who is also a parent? Give a concrete example.
• How do gender norms influence media representations of men and women, and what are some modern counterexamples?
• Explain Goffman’s front stage and back stage with a real-life scenario from your own experience.
• Describe a breaching experiment and what it reveals about everyday social order.
• How has the internet changed the way we present ourselves and interpret others’ behavior? Provide at least two examples.
• Discuss the concept of saving face with an example. When might saving face be more important than addressing the underlying issue directly.