Category: Sociology of Culture

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Organizations & Work

NFL “Ref Crisis 2012”: The Entertainment of Sports Over Fair Wages?

Bad calls leads NFL league and NFLRA to reach an agreement: On Thursday September 27, 2012 the National Football League (NFL) and fans welcomed official referees back to the field with cheers and chants.  If for some reason you didn’t hear that NFL referees were on strike,  you arer either not a football fan, or missed sports fans complaining about “bad calls” this past week. I for one am not a die-hard football fan, but it has been impossible to escape the...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Yes, You Are a Statistic

I can no longer stomach certain clichés.  Last night at the Democratic National Convention, I heard one of these.  A university student, who introduced Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice-President, noted that she “shouldn’t be here” and was “almost a statistic.”  My immediate response, to my computer screen, was “You still are a statistic and you don’t understand what statistics are.”  I know that she was just rehashing a cliché, but it is a cliché that privileges “self-help culture”...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture

Vote. Seriously, go vote.

Four years ago, President Obama was elected, at least in part, because he was able to generate excitement among young voters. In fact, in 2008, some 84% of young people who were registered to vote actually did vote. But recently, I’ve noticed growing apathy among some in my social media circle. While I can’t be certain that my facebook “friends” are representative of today’s young people, this trend on my newsfeed has caused me some concern. Gallup polls also indicate...

Books and arts / Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

Book Review: Latina Activists across Borders Women’s Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas by Milagros Pena

The start of a new academic year is upon us and we are back to hectic days and endless nights. This year will be more busy than usual for me as I plan to defend my M.A. thesis in Sociology.  Anyone who has ever written a thesis knows how much work goes into it. As part of my venture through this exciting (yet very difficult) time I will be using some of my bi-weekly posts to highlight some of the sociological studies that proved...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Research Brief / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

Recent Trends in Latino Immigration: A Look at Current Research on Contemporary Latino Immigrants and “Mixed Status” Families.

A lot has changed since the U.S. government signed the IRCA Act of 1986, a policy that changed the face of immigration reform and affected many immigrants. In many ways, this policy coincides with my own personal history of immigration, subsequently influencing the research trajectory I have taken as a sociologist. Among other provisions, the IRCA Act of 1986 gave undocumented individuals who resided in the U.S. since 1982 the opportunity to become legalized. Due to the IRCA Act of 1986,...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

A Look at Domestic Violence Related Asylum Cases

  Last month,  a Guatemalan woman, N-S-, won her domestic violence based asylum case after seven years in the United States immigration court system.  Her case is similar to the story of many other women who flee their countries in order to receive protection from their abusive husbands. Until recently, courts rejected these types of claims, arguing that their issues were personal, not cultural issues (see Sinha 2001). Now, with the help of organizations like the Center for Gender and...

Class & Stratification / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Culture, Nationalism and "Inferior" Peoples

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s recent overseas tour didn’t go well according to most in the press.  The British press, in particular, blasted Romney for his comments regarding Britain’s preparedness for the Olympics.  Then, Romney went to Israel.  There he avoided offending his hosts but managed to offend Palestinians and some other nations while he was at it. Romney said that, “Culture makes all the difference,” as he compared the GDP per capita of Israel to “areas managed by the Palestinian...

Sociology of Culture

Thinking About Domestic Partnerships

I left my home state of Florida for some very personal reasons: racism and nativism, extremist right wing politicians, fiscal conservatism (and the failing school and social systems it produces) – not to mention vigilante justice (thanks to the stand your ground laws) and face-eating druggies. When people ask about where I grew up, I’m not proud to answer. But this summer, it got just a tiny bit better. Florida, ever a bastion of political, religious, and moral conservatism, a...

Sociology of Culture

Summer TV and Critical Disability Studies

Characters with “disabilities” are being more regularly depicted in entertainment media: The lead character of House suffers from chronic pain and walks with a limp; Glee has characters with Down’s syndrome, severe OCD, and mobility restrictions requiring wheelchairs; Perception has a schizophrenic crime-solving professor. And, this coming October, Turner Classic Movies will be showcasing some 20 movies featuring disabilities and disabled characters in a series the channel is calling “The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film.” While not...

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture

Woody Guthrie Turns 100: The Folk Icon, His Music, and Social Movements

Two days ago marked what would have been the centennial birthday of iconic folk artist Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), perhaps best known today for his classic “This Land is Your Land.” His biography is a fascinating (and short) read and provides some context for the scathing social commentary in many of his 100+ songs. Much of his music is raw, simple, and emotionally charged – just a man and his guitar. But it was also forged in his own contentious politics...

Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Gender and Race Politics in the Discourse of Mothering

Mothering has been in the news lately. TIME Magazine’s cover story on breastfeeding in May caused quite a stir; so did Anne-Marie Slaughter’s piece for the Atlantic, which discussed the difficulty women face when trying to balance work and family. TIME’s piece points to the increasing pressure on women to do everything right when it comes to being a mom: The rise in attachment parenting (even in a watered-down form) places great responsibility on women to do all they can,...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture

Embodied Pregnancy and Weight Loss Fads

It often seems like we are bombarded with the words “diet,”  “new weight loss regimen,” or “loose ten pounds instantly” when channel surfing or catching up with current events. As record high temperatures continue to be registered across the country, the media is not reluctant to remind us that fewer clothes and “summer bodies” require that extra twenty minutes on the treadmill, or even a whole new diet regimen. I am a big advocate for a healthy lifestyle and live...

Class & Stratification / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture

Battle Hymn of the Steriotype Mother

I’ve been meaning to do a blog on Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (BHTM) by Amy Chua for the past year, but to be honest I was hoping to stay above the fray.  Alas, time has come to add my two cents into the blogosphere….                       BHTM is “a satirical memoir” (p. 234) by Yale law professor Amy Chua, which chronicles her adventures in raising her half-Jewish, half-Chinese daughters...

Feminist Theory / Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The Attack on Anita Sarkeesian: From Media Analysis to Anti-Feminism and Online Harassment

AUTHOR’S WARNING: This post, and especially the links leading from it, contains images and language that some readers may find offensive or unsettling. Anita Sarkeesian is clever, eloquent, and seemingly fearless, but the recent fame she has achieved is not entirely pleasant. With a B.A. in communications from California State University, Northridge and a Master’s degree in social and political thought from York University, Sarkeesian is thoroughly knowledgeable and aptly qualified for her role as media critic and feminist activist....

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of the Family

Why Sociologists Should Be Critical of the New Family Structure Study

An article in Social Science Research is causing quite a stir among sociologists, and is sure to fuel the flames of the debate surrounding gay marriage. Mark Regenerus, sociologist at UT Austin, has just published results from the New Family Structure Study (also see his Slate article). He suggests that children raised in heterosexual intact families fare better than children raised by gays and lesbians. This goes against previous research which indicated the opposite: that children of gay and lesbian...