Wrldsyrs Siege at Bridgeport 2010 Staff Report BNET – Chattanooga Times Free Press 26 March 2010 http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/chattanooga-times-free-press/mi_8094/is_20100326/siege-bridgeport-2010/ai_n52925930/?tag=content;col1
Goffman –
Erving Goffman’s dramaturgy explains social life as a series of performances like those performed in a theater. Actors engage in impression management, or the methods used to preserve desired impressions to the audience. Actors use a series of techniques in order to ensure their performance is defined in a desired way.
A Civil War reenactment will take place in Bridgeport, AL in order to recreate the conflict that took place in 1862. Actors will reenact the Union forces recapturing Bridgeport from the Confederate forces, which was an important strategic holding because of its access to a railroad which connected Alabama to Chattanooga. Actors will engage in many forms of impression management in order to make the reenactment seem authentic. The front stage will consist of the battlefield, the troops and the soldiers’ uniforms, guns and cannons, and the war faces of the attacking soldiers. Actors are going to need to dress the part, free from all modern clothing and technology, in order to maintain the proper appearance. The back stage will comprise the actors preparing for their performance. This could include actors removing modern clothing, dressing in the proper soldiers’ costume, preparing props, like guns and an ammo belt, and rehearsing their scene and possible script. The actors will have predetermined roles in order for the performance to go smoothly. For example, Confederate soldiers know they must battle the approaching Union forces and eventually relinquish control of the town. If actors do not reach a consensus on their roles, the performance could be disrupted. All of these techniques are employed to convey and maintain a certain impression to the audience and the actors.
Hoopa "Social and Cultural Impacts of Globalization" Dogu Ergil Sunday's Zaman March 21, 2010 http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/yazarDetay.do?haberno=204938
Our positions and roles in this world as individuals are socially constructed. In an increasingly globalized world, these positions and roles are constantly changing and are dependent on the larger social context in which we live. The changes that are occurring in the world today are not happening independent of us humans, but rather, we are instigating these changes as social beings. Whether the change is brought through technology, consumer products, new thoughts or lifestyles as Ergil suggests, we as individuals, are in control of what the effects of those changes.
Globalization is largely the process that is bringing about these changes. Globalization would not be happening if it weren’t for us individuals. In this way, the meanings associated with globalization are socially derived and socially constructed. Globalization as a social and cultural process is occurring as a result of different people interacting and integrating with one another. Individuals are sharing their experiences through networks and it is through this exchange that people begin to develop knowledge as a product of the context in which they interact. This knowledge is based on systems of thought that are culturally and historically bound to the society in which it is being exchanged. According to Egril, this human integration has resulted in a greater exchange of ideas and thoughts between people.
The family is one social unit that is highly socially constructed. Factors like the division of labor define the identities of the family members and furthermore, their interaction with other groups and with larger society. One of the most profound impacts of globalization is claimed to be on the family unit, as a result of changing gender roles. The empowerment, or increased autonomy of women has altered the hierarchical role distribution that has existed in families for a long time.
Over time, people’s actions have become objectified and these habitualized actions are becoming institutionalized. As in the previous paragraph, the family can be viewed as an institution in this context. People are beginning to redefine their positions and roles in the family, and in larger society as a consequence of globalization. This phenomenon of globalization is sparked and modified through human activity which in turn, changes human activity and behavior. In this way, not only are institutions influencing humans but humans are influencing the largest institutions.
Chichen "Sierra High School becomes a model institution" Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell The San Bernardino Sun 3/28/10 http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14774407?source=most_emailed
Berger & Luckmann
I would like to take a moment to discuss a social context in which institutions shape individuals, and individuals shape institutions. Sierra High School in San Bernadino, California has been named one of the 12 model continuation high schools by the California Department of Education. The key word that I would like to focus on is model. How have the individuals created such a model, and what construction of reality has granted this school to be considered a model for education? First, education has been a social structure that has a taken-for-granted meaning. Too much education is seen as infringing on other social institutions, not enough from this institution seems to risk the demise of others. Education is a perfect example as to how an institution can act to control individual behaviors as a “social reality”.
Sierra High School is being applauded for molding students into acceptable citizens, based on socially constructed and accepted criteria of what a high school student should be capable of accomplishing. Maby of these students report stories of difficult lives at home and having a lack of motivation from other social institutions and individuals such as “running with the wrong crowd.” However, individuals in the education industry observed the fact that these individual students were not reaching the standard model of the education system, thus recreated the institution to fit the needs of said individuals in order to “get them back on track” and to re-engage them.
Looking at our three step process for the creation of institutions, we can see how this example fits our “model”. First, humans act upon their social world. In this case, the students who “ran with the wrong crowd” tended to be more likely to fail within the institution of education. Next, these actions became objectified and habitualized into the ways in which the students reacted to the institution of education, such as poor attendance and poor learning, thus shaping the social construction of their education. Re-looking at these steps, we can see how Sierra High School has shaped the individuals involved. The school acted upon their social world. In realizing there was a problem among a generalized group of people, the school acted in a way to reach out to these kids to help bring them back in line. Next these actions became habitualized and institutionalized, and as the school began seeing improvements in the students, bringing them closer to the culturally acceptable model, the institution became recognized and awarded for its accomplishment, thus solidifying its habits and actions.
1. Scribe 2. More workers are choosing Fear over Flex Time, experts say 3. Author of the news article 4. CNN 5. 3/30/10 6. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/03/29/flex.time/index.html?hpt=T2
Goffman
This article describes a new trend amongst employees of large companies and corporations to choose longer hours at the office over flex-time that would allow them to work from home. When commuting is such a draining hassle, and gasoline so expensive, why would workers neglect an opportunity to work from home? The answer, as described throughout the article, is that they are afraid that their physical absence will lead to their permanent absence, because of the assumption that managers are more likely to fire employees who work from home.
This is a clear example of impression management: these employees want to SEEM more useful to their supervisors than those who work form home, regardless of their actual impact on the company. The article quotes several experts who all agree that longer hours at one's place of business do not translate to higher productivity, and that in fact the trend of overworking will lead to decreased productivity and "worker burnout." So the point isn't to actually prove that they are the most valuable employees, but rather to prove that they seem like the most valuable.
The workers discussed here are deliberately crafting their images and reputations as hard workers in an attempt to be seen as indispensable by their managers. None of it is about improved quality of work, or a better "bottom line," but all about the management of appearance, and paying mind to what others think about them.
october "Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages" Stephanie Goldberg CNN 3-29-10 http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/29/facebook.job-seekers/index.html?npt=NP1
Goffman
As according to Goffman, we engage in impression management throughout the day “acting” certain ways with different people. We normally would not act in the same way around our boss, as oppose to our friends, family, or complete strangers. As we “sell” a particular image of ourselves to others for some sort of social approval, performances will occur. In this article, many people are changing around their Facebook pages in order to keep some sort of privacy from potential employers or supervisors. Websites such as Facebook gives many people a way to interact while showing sides of them that might not necessarily project images for different types of social settings and audiences. While it is good for friends and family, it might cause a potential problem in terms of a current or future occupation. While on the job, we act professionally when on the "front stage". When it is time to head home and relax with friends or family, the "back stage" comes into play where we can act how we usually do without the worry of business. Sometimes, a performance can become mismanaged. An employer can possibly see a picture that might not be appropriate and can cause embarrassment. However, looking on Facebook in the first place should be a disclaimer in itself. It should be known beforehand that a profile page is a personal website that many people engage in to show and tell about things going on their lives. Sometimes though, hiding their Facebook page such as changing the name or putting their settings to "private" may be one of the options younger people make take in order keep up with their impression management for future job employers.
1. Wolverine 2. First Impressions: Do they really matter? 3. Lisa Tiffin 4. www.education.com 5. March 28,2010 6.http://www.education.com/magazine/article/First_Impressions_Matter/
Goffman:
This article explains how everyone pretty much knows the value of making a good first impression in situations where they are encountering new people. This could range from job interviews to first dates. The author of this article stated that we overlook the importance of first impressions that children exude in school. First impression is specifically important during the first days of school. For the first couple days of school, the author advises parents to take the time to prepare their children to start strong and stay strong in the classroom.
The author states that it is important for students to make a good impression during the first days of classes because once the teacher creates a negative persona of them, it will take a long time for that persona to be restored. On a more important note, making a bad impression could lead to a tough relationship between the teacher and student, which could prevent the student from performing to the best of their abilities. I am sure Goffman would agree to the ideas of this article. Goffman believes that society is not homogeneous. This means that we must act differently in different settings. Goffman states that we were are all social actors, performing based off of the perception and ideas of others. His ideas are clearly identified within the article. The author explain ways that students can create a good first impression for their teachers.
Zapheros Network Rail takes legal action to stop strikes Not given BBC 3/30/2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8595658.stm Berger & Luckmann In this situation I see a struggle over control over an institution within society, namely the British railways. The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers, or RMT, as well as, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, or TSSA are on one side attempting to define and modify the British railways, while Network Rail Company stands on the other. RMT and TSSA have already voted to strike in protest of layoffs and changes in work schedules instituted by Network Rail. Network Rail has in response moved to challenge the legality of both group's strikes, hoping to redefine the efforts of RMT and TSSA as illegitimate or institutionalized. RMT and TSSA are insisting that what they are doing and the manner in which they enacted the decision to strike is in fact “the way things are done” and are the institutionalized methods for influencing the British rails. Both groups are also struggling to influence what the objectified treatment of the workers. National Rail wants to make cuts in response to the recession to strengthen the company, while RMT and TSSA are focusing on the well-being of the workers who make up the company. The opinion that prevails how this particular institution, the British rails, as well as, institutions all across Britain and perhaps Europe, are supposed to treat their workers. Whether sacrifices are made by individuals or the overall company.
Penny The Rules About How Parents Should Make Rules Alix Spiegel NPR March 29 2010 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125302688
Garfinkel
The rules that parents make and children must follow on a day to day basis could certainly be studied through ethnomethodology. Children are expected to act a certain way around their parents and listen to what they say. There is that expectancy about the parent child relationship that says the parent makes the rules and the child follows them. So in a way, when children disobey, they are breaching that expectancy. They might not realize that is what they are doing at the time, but that is why a parent will reprimand them, possibly with the help of another parent thereby achieving interactional corroboration. The article starts off listing some of the rules that exist in one child’s home. This child, Cameron, willingly follows some rules, like not piercing his brother with a pencil. This is not the correct way to act. If Cameron grew up and went around poking people with pencils that would be breaking a norm in society about personal space and breaching the way everyone is supposed to be interacting. So his parents put rules into place telling him not to behave in such a way so that he will learn. Then the article continues by mentioning some rules that this boy does not want to follow, like he does not believe his mother should be able to pick his friends. Perhaps when a mother tries to do something like this she is breaching her appropriate role in a way. According to the article, children are more likely to follow the rules that have to do with their morality, safety, or social conventions, but they do not like to be told what to do when it comes to their own privacy, like friends, games they want to play, and the like. But interestingly, the article goes into how some things kids consider their personal business, might not actually be. For example, with bathing, kids think that it is their body and they should be able to do what they want with it. Parents on the other hand, realize that there are certain societal norms set in place that say you must bathe daily and maintain a certain appearance in public. By making their children bathe daily, parents are trying to keep their kids from breaching the correct way to interact and carry on in society. Basically, parents set rules in place as a way of socializing their children into the norms of the society in which they live.
House Sex, drug parties of professor who led double life Ians Sifynews 3-30-2010 http://sify.com/news/sex-drug-parties-of-professor-who-led-double-life-news-international-kd4lEbjbajj.html
Goffman-
Human actions are dependent on time, place, and audience. One can be a professor, a student, a parent or a child all depending on his or her surroundings. One thing that never seems to fail us is that we are all acting; acting for an audience or for ourselves, we are always putting on a show. That is where Charles Butler comes in. He was an actor for multiple audiences. At home he was a father and husband, at work he was a professor, and in his flat in East London, he was the organizer and host of masochistic sex parties. Butler reportedly used money from a grant that he received for pharmaceutical research to host these sex parties. His wife and children had no idea what was going on, so which one is the real Charles Butler? Is he really a loving father and husband working at Reading College, or was a sex obsessed man? I believe that he was putting on a show no matter where he went. His audience was changing from scene to scene, but the actor did his best and acted according to each environment; a cunning specimen of tricks and trades that left all audiences wanting more. I believe that discovering what a person “really is” is impossible. Actors change their roles in new situations and to truly pinpoint who a person really is cannot be possible. With societal pressures for a person to be a certain way, no one can be original or who they “really are”. They just become what the situation calls for at a certain moment. Charles Butler for example will never know if he is truly the father or the sex addict. He will change with each surrounding, even adding new faces if the scene calls for it.
House Sex, drug parties of professor who led double life Ians Sifynews 3-30-2010 http://sify.com/news/sex-drug-parties-of-professor-who-led-double-life-news-international-kd4lEbjbajj.html
Goffman-
Human actions are dependent on time, place, and audience. One can be a professor, a student, a parent or a child all depending on his or her surroundings. One thing that never seems to fail us is that we are all acting; acting for an audience or for ourselves, we are always putting on a show. That is where Charles Butler comes in. He was an actor for multiple audiences. At home he was a father and husband, at work he was a professor, and in his flat in East London, he was the organizer and host of masochistic sex parties. Butler reportedly used money from a grant that he received for pharmaceutical research to host these sex parties. His wife and children had no idea what was going on, so which one is the real Charles Butler? Is he really a loving father and husband working at Reading College, or was a sex obsessed man? I believe that he was putting on a show no matter where he went. His audience was changing from scene to scene, but the actor did his best and acted according to each environment; a cunning specimen of tricks and trades that left all audiences wanting more. I believe that discovering what a person “really is” is impossible. Actors change their roles in new situations and to truly pinpoint who a person really is cannot be possible. With societal pressures for a person to be a certain way, no one can be original or who they “really are”. They just become what the situation calls for at a certain moment. Charles Butler for example will never know if he is truly the father or the sex addict. He will change with each surrounding, even adding new faces if the scene calls for it.
1. Enfinity 2. Suicide in South Hadley 3. Emily Bazelon 4. Slate 5. March 30, 2010 6. http://www.slate.com/id/2249307/?from=rss
Garfinkle: The tragedy in South Hadley, Massachusetts can be viewed as a breach. The nine students charged with bullying Phoebe Prince, which later led to her suicide, broke the taken for granted rules of interaction and went against the social norms of society. In high school students expect to make friends and have a good time, not to be constantly harassed and made fun of like Phoebe was. In addition she was from a different country so she may have been unfamiliar with the way high schools in America differ from schools in Ireland. Recently in the news there have been talk about students getting bullied and maybe Phoebe would have dealt with the situation differently if she knew that there were others that encountered the same treatment and she wasn’t alone. By constantly bullying and harassing her every day the nine students redefined Phoebe’s reality. The bullying most likely started out with one or two people then those students searched for interactional corroboration in other students that may have justified their actions which made them continue bullying her. Phoebe may have questioned the reality of the situation and tried to figure out what was going on and what was causing the students to treat her like that. Eventually she started to question herself and what she was doing wrong, especially since it was a large group of students harassing her, and this final thought may have led to her suicide. The breach caused confusion in her world and she felt like an outsider. The only way she felt she could correct her reality was by taking herself out of it.
Muffin 9 Teenagers are Charged after Classmate’s Suicide Eric Eckholm and Katie Zezima NY Times March 29, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html
Garfinkel-
Ethnomethodology is the study of the social norms in a society and how people react to those norms. In the case of the suicide of a fifteen year old girl in Massachussetts, there was a lot of breaching of these social norms. Fifteen year old Phoebe Prince was constantly teased and harassed by her classmates. When in school, a child expects to learn while meeting new people and making lasting friendships. This did not happen for Phoebe. Instead, she was harassed, therefore creating a breach in what she expected out of high school. Some administrators and teachers even knew this harassment was occurring, but did not do a thing to stop it! That is definitely a breach of what is expected to do from them. It would fall under the category of breaching the interchangeability of standpoints. These teachers and administrators’ role is to ensure the students are learning in a positive, safe environment. They breached their roles by not doing anything to stop the teasing of Phoebe. Her reality was changed because she thought she was supposed to be making friends in high school. With the harassment, she probably started questioning what was wrong with her to make the nine bullies bother her like that. She probably questioned herself until it just got to be too much and she felt she could not deal with the reality anymore, so decided to take her life. She must have felt as if that was the only way to get out of that situation those nine kids put her in.
MissMD I'm glad my husband cheated Angela Tung CNN March 30, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/personal/03/30/tf.glad.my.husband.cheated/index.html?hpt=Sbin Goffman In this living section article by columnist Angela Tung, Tung describes the reasons that she is happy that her husband cheated on her. She intricately tells the story leading up to her finding out about her husband’s affair. In this particular situation, this man performances the role of a husband. In the front stage he is a good and honest husband but backstage there is a barrier/conflict considering that he is having an affair on his wife. The fact that he was an attorney and the woman he had an affair with was an immigrant was a prop within the context of their reality. All of the “legal” dilemma helped them to keep the performance going. Now at some point his performance is mismanaged and this man tries to save face by begging on his knees for forgiveness and apologizing to his wife for the embarrassment. He tries to save face by giving an account of the behavior to restore his identity. Even in the process of cleverly explaining this situation, I find that the wife was also performing her reality. She was in this marriage and unhappy and kept this all to herself. It was also apparent that her staying with him and not getting a divorce at first was to keep herself from an embarrassment from her parents who did not want her to marry him in the first. In this particular situation, this whole marriage deal was just a huge performance staged by two unhappy people who grew apart from each other before they were even married but couldn’t even face that reality.
tweak "Law Makers try to pull the plug on teen 'sexting'" Martin Merzer Business Week 30 March 2010 http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EP6AUO0.htm
Berger & Luckman Berger and Luckman devised a three step process for the development of institutions. This process progresses as humans act on their social world and these actions become objectified and then habitualized and then institutionalized. This article deals with changing social acts, their meanings, and how they are dealt with on a political level.
In Tallahassee law makers are attempting to decriminalize a newly developed behavior called 'sexting'. This behavior is described as using any electronic device to transmit images or sexually suggestive material to another person. Among teens, the number of those participating in this activity is very high, but the punishment for any minor sending sexually suggestive material through a medium such as the internet is a felony charge, five years in prison, and a 5,000 dollar fine. Senator Dave Aronberg states that we have "a 20th century punishment for a 21st century crime," and that many think that this punishment is too harsh for the crime.
This social change is a direct reflection of Berger and Luckmans' theory of the development of institutions. There is a quote in this article that almost directly states how new or dynamic social acts become institutionalized:
"People started to react pretty strongly because it was such a shock that these things were going on," Sheets said. "And once parents, teachers, communities, etc., began to focus on this issue, it followed logically that lawmakers would begin taking a closer look."
As people begin to react to a new social development, their values change. In this case, because so many people have the technological capacity to connect to others, more and more people have the ability to send what was once considered inappropriate material. Now, we see that society's view about transmitting sexual photos or exchanging sexually suggestive conversation becoming more accepting, which is reflected in the law makers' decisions to prioritize the issue. 'Sexting' is becoming a more 'normal' behavior, and for many people it is not seen as inappropriate. Because of this new and more liberal view from society, policies must be changed to reflect what society feels is the appropriate punishment for such crimes.
1. Gecko 2. Young Job-Seekers Hiding Their Facebook Pages 3. Stephanie Goldberg 4. CNN 5. March 29, 2010 6. http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/29/facebook.job-seekers/index.html
Goffman: This article is an excellent demonstration of the powerful effects of impression management. In the current economy, jobs are difficult to find and keep, so managing public opinion about you, especially related to professional performance, is becoming increasingly important. Facebook has the potential to destroy a performance, so these job-seekers are attempting to hide their profiles by changing their names or raising their privacy settings. Many of the men and women interviewed for the article mentioned the importance of a professional appearance when job seeking. They pointed out that their Facebook profiles are not accurate portrayals of them as employees and that the information they contain is private. These statements indicate their awareness of the importance of managing their performance and not allowing the audience to see the outside of the performance. One job-seeker was trying to use justifications for changing their Facebook accessibility because the information is contains is not an accurate reflection of who he is overall; people take and post pictures of silly, out of character experiences that portray a different self than the one he hopes to convey to employers. Other men and women used disclaimers to justify information in their profiles and the changes they made to their accessibility. Although these statements were made to a reporter, they still demonstrate an attempt to repair a potentially spoiled performance. All of these things indicate the significance of impression management in the job world.
1. Apple 2. Democrats Defend Appointments 3. Joseph Berger 4. New York Times 5. March 28, 2010 6.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/us/politics/29recess.html?ref=politics
Reality is theatre, where each of us, the actors, performs ourselves. Recently President Obama announced the appointments of 15 officials, which really riled up the performance team known as the Republicans. The Republicans preformed their disagreement to these appointments by using the front stage of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” for the audience of the American people.
The Republican performers had to employ emotional labor by eliciting fear for the “pro-labor radical” who was appointed to the National Labor Relations Board, while their real fear was more personal in the opposition to their own pro-business ventures.
The second performance team, the Democrats, supported the President. They justified his actions by saying it was his best option since the Republican performers have “taken a position where they’re going to try and slow and block progress on all fronts whether it’s legislation and appointments.” Further justification came with the fact that President George W. Bush had made just as many appointments at this same point in his Presidency.
Through the front stages of NBC and CNN, the two performance groups have acted out their roles, views and ideologies for the American public audience, employing emotional labor, justification and props in their performances.
1. CKES 2. For Hutaree, Militia Ethos Extended To Family Life 3. Justin Elliot 4. TPM Muckraker 5. March 30th, 2010 6.http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/for_hutaree_militia_ethos_extended_to_family_life.php?ref=fpa
Garfinkel
Those who decide to breach any type of social norm are often ostracized and ridiculed, the degree varying by the norm they violate, and who witnesses the breach. The institution of marriage is a very familiar custom of our society filled with rules and expectations most people are expected to follow. For example, the bride wears a white gown, and the husband a black tuxedo. Marriage ceremonies are typically held in a church or some other type of religious setting, or some other secular setting such as a beach. The point is that the wedding ceremony itself is seen as an indication to the character of the parties being married.
This article features a couple that decide to breach this norm. The bride wears a black and white dress, and the groom wears military fatigues, matching those of his groomsmen. The ceremony took place in what appears to be a basement or a bunker. There is a heavy presence of firearms, as the entire wedding party including a child is depicted bearing rifles. It's obvious that this marriage is anything but typical.
It's interesting to note the comments that the readers of the article decided to post. Many of the posts instantly attack the character of the people involved in the wedding. Their character is attacked not so much because of the alleged crime they committed unrelated to the ceremony itself, but for what they were wearing. They were repeatedly labeled as "hillbillies" or "inbreds."
This is a classic example of the repercussions of breaching a social norm. The ceremony was depicted over the internet so there was no opportunity for any type of defense or reaction from the family, so the only recourse the readers had was to react to the situation. In order to make sense of their breach, their character was attacked and was then corroborated by other comments, reaffirming the assumptions the readers have about the couple.
AMEMYLUV The Sandra Bullock Trade David Brooks The New York Times March 29, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html
Goffman: This article brings to light the back stage of the famous actress Sandra bullock. Essentially the article speaks about how Sandra Bullock had to trade professional success for personal success and termed it the Sandra Bullock trade. However, what David Brooks, the author of the article, stumbled upon is something that occurs in everyone’s life. We know Sandra Bullock to be an A list actress whom is well liked by the majority of people whom have seen her work this is her front stage self. What we present to everyone when we step out of our private space into public space can be thought as an act that we do as part of a play. This is not to say that we are being “fake” but simply just managing our impression in front of others so that we can convey to others the self that we would like them to see. In the Sandra Bullock example when she walks down the red carpet she smiles and acts as if nothing is wrong portraying the person that she wants everyone to see her as. However, she might be worried about her family life at home thinking about the infidelity of her husband. What she feels like and how she acts at home is most likely very different from the smiles that she does for the cameras. This is the back stage self. Those things that we do that the majority of people do not know about is the back stage self. That back stage is defined by borders which are the places that separate the front stage from the back stage. Again going back to the Sandra Bullock example the border for her back stage would be her home away from public attention. For actors and people who are in the public eye it is very easy to see the difference from the front stage and the back stage, however we must all remember that we all do this in other to survive as social beings.
1.The riff 2. UPD cuts Slightly Stoopid concert short 3. Cristina Rabaza 4. The UF Alligator 5. 3/29/2010 6. www.aligator.org
The free “Slightly Stoopid concert featuring G. Love” was shut down at 9:00pm Saturday due to the crowd being too crazy. Ambulances carried out 7 people, and others were injured. Although many people were probably shocked, this shouldn’t be a surprise due to the influence on students UF creates. Using our three-step process, we can show you how drunken habits become institutionalized by using a college freshman at UF as an example. When a new freshman comes into UF they may have drank alcohol before or not, but when they hear UF is the number one party school according to certain news articles and find out they can’t get any sleep on game nights because everybody is hammered, a freshman who never drank before might start. The juniors and seniors might inflect peer pressure on the new freshman and question why they aren’t drinking because that’s the only real way to have a good time. These habits become objectified (drinking), and others act and react to our actions. Then after a while, the new freshman sees that most activities outside of school are alcohol related and even if they don’t live on campus they will find out that drinking seems to be especially common during weekends and almost necessary for every activity outside of class. The once sober freshman now becomes a heavy drinker or “weekend warrior” according to some and starts making a habit out of drinking on certain occasions. Everybody is doing this at every sports game, at every outside activity and during every weekend so why shouldn’t you and once has to drink to be a real member of the UF team as a whole. These actions become objectified. Then after the first semester or first year the freshman will stop saying here I go again drinking and just start drinking all the time because this is just how things are done at UF. This may be just one freshman’s experience to becoming a drinker at UF, but most incoming freshman will follow this pass and it shouldn’t surprised that everybody was acting drunk and obnoxious at a free concert because that’s what you just do at UF.
1. Theriff 2. UPD cuts Slightly Stoopid concert short 3. Cristina Rabaza 4. The UF Alligator 5. 3/29/2010 6. www.alligator.org
The free “Slightly Stoopid concert featuring G. Love” was shut down at 9:00pm Saturday due to the crowd being too crazy. Ambulances carried out 7 people, and others were injured. Although many people were probably shocked, this shouldn’t be a surprise due to the influence on students UF creates. Using our three-step process, we can show you how drunken habits become institutionalized by using a college freshman at UF as an example. When a new freshman comes into UF they may have drank alcohol before or not, but when they hear UF is the number one party school according to certain news articles and find out they can’t get any sleep on game nights because everybody is hammered, a freshman who never drank before might start. The juniors and seniors might inflect peer pressure on the new freshman and question why they aren’t drinking because that’s the only real way to have a good time. These habits become objectified (drinking), and others act and react to our actions. Then after a while, the new freshman sees that most activities outside of school are alcohol related and even if they don’t live on campus they will find out that drinking seems to be especially common during weekends and almost necessary for every activity outside of class. The once sober freshman now becomes a heavy drinker or “weekend warrior” according to some and starts making a habit out of drinking on certain occasions. Everybody is doing this at every sports game, at every outside activity and during every weekend so why shouldn’t you and once has to drink to be a real member of the UF team as a whole. These actions become objectified. Then after the first semester or first year the freshman will stop saying here I go again drinking and just start drinking all the time because this is just how things are done at UF. This may be just one freshman’s experience to becoming a drinker at UF, but most incoming freshman will follow this pass and it shouldn’t surprised that everybody was acting drunk and obnoxious at a free concert because that’s what you just do at UF.
Casper More Students Disciplined Following Girl's Suicide CNN Wirestaff CNN News March 31, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/30/massachusetts.bullying.suicide/index.html?npt=NP1
Garfinkel:
Fifteen year old Phoebe Prince committed suicide in a suburb of Massachusetts. Her suicide stemmed from a three month long episode that involved a series of breaching by other students. Garfinkel describes breaching as "breaking the taken-for-granted rules of interaction". In Phoebe's case it was her classmates who breached their roles. As students, they are expected to attend school in order to obtain an education and at age 15 are expected to respect and be polite to their peers. Instead, the classmates bullied and harassed Phoebe causing relentless taunting that mentally affected the young girl more than anyone would have imagined. Even worse, it is noted that a faculty member witnessed the bullying and breached her role as an authoritative figure by doing nothing to stop it. Garfinkel also states that "when assumptions are breached, people look for a reasonable explanation, something that reaffirms the underlying assumptions". It is possible the mental anguish Phoebe endured caused her to begin to doubt herself as a person and ultimately led to her suicide. Furthermore he says, "When one continues to act as if nothing is wrong, the audience becomes confused and begins to question the reality of the situation". They think to themselves, "is this really happening"? Next, Garfinkel states that after the confusion they search for "interactional corroboration" in which the reality that 'everyone knows' is reconfirmed. Unfortunately, this corroboration did not seem to occur in Phoebe's case. If it had, and teachers had said to one another "This is a serious matter. We need to step in" maybe her suicide could have been prevented.
1. Aaron 2. The Sandra Bullock Trade 3. David Brooks 4. The New York Times 5. March 29, 2010 6. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html
Berger & Luckman
Social institutions are large-scale social structures and behaviors that have a taken-for-granted nature and meaning. Examples of such institutions and behaviors include: marriage, careers, personal relationships, socializing with co-workers, eating dinner with others, and sex. Often, we do not think about how we participate in certain social interactions and how we participate in certain institutions. This is due to habitualization. Through habitualization, individuals learn how to behave in certain situations (e.g., sex) and learn to predict the actions of others (e.g., eating dinner with others), or how to act within a certain institution (e.g., marriage).
Sandra Bullock has recently won an Academy Award (i.e., a significant career accomplishment) and reports of her husband’s infidelity have surfaced (i.e., a significant marital tragedy). In his article, David Brooks asks if one would rather trade a significant marital tragedy for a significant career accomplishment. In doing so, he brings forward research on two major institutions: marriage and career.
Research has shown that the daily activities that are most associated with happiness are socializing after work, having dinner with others, and sex. All of these activities are social institutions that have certain taken-for-granted behaviors. For example, when having dinner with others, it is known through habitualization that it is rude to start eating before others have received their meals. If the activities that are most associated with happiness all involve institutionalization and habitualization, then shouldn’t more attention and effort be placed in having effective social interactions?
David Brooks proposes that there should be curriculum in schools that focus on socializing and how to make the correct social decisions in life. I, Dr. Peter Berger, and my associate, Dr. Thomas Luckmann, both agree with David Brooks. Although we learn how to socialize through firsthand experience of social interactions, we believe there should be more emphasis on social interactions in the classroom. First, there should be actual classes dedicated to teaching students appropriate behavior in social interactions. Second, there should be more opportunities for students to engage in social interactions naturally. Through this, each individual will become more capable of predicting the actions and behaviors of others, which would lead to a significantly happier life in general.
Buckley “Obama Details Plan to Open Offshore Areas to Drilling” John M. Broder www.nytimes.com March 31, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/science/earth/01energy.html?ref=us
Goffman:
Every time President Obama gets up in front of a live audience or a video camera, he is participating in dramaturgy. His most recent proposal to extend offshore drilling is an example of his impression management, which he has had to perfect as his term goes on due to the controversial material he discusses during his speeches and public events.
President Obama must present a self as ‘President,’ a self that many men have had to do before him. He must come off as calm, in control, and confident. His impression management is apparent in his speech. Obama foresees what the critics of his oil plan will say, and speaks directly to them in his initial speech. He tries to look at the different angles of those who will disagree, and gives his explanation right off the bat. Obama’s front stage is usually the White House or Congress, but today it was in front of a F-18 “Green Hornet” at Andrew’s Air Force Base in Maryland.
President Obama’s personal front would be the podium, and also his American flag pin he wears on his suit. President Obama must also change his manner with each performance, depending on what his speech is about. His manner today would be frank and confident, whereas in the face of a tragic situation, it could be humble and solemn.
1. StudentB 2. Einstein and Israel 3. Ralph Seliger 4. In These Times 5. March 27, 2010 6. http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4866/einstein_and_israel/
Berger and Luckmann:
Ralph Seliger critiques journalist Fred Jerome's third and newest book on Albert Einstein's political activism. The subject matter of the book alone is noteworthy because it uncharacteristically discusses the political views of a man who is perhaps the most prominent figurehead of physical sciences in Western society. Seliger states in his article that the book is an eye opener, but not entirely in the way that the author intended.The book mostly consists of Einstein's own words, largely translated from German, so it is useful in understanding Einstein's views from his own words, so some information is less subjective. Seliger says that if the author were not so tendentious and set in his conclusions, he could have written an illuminating book, illustrating the social construction of the knowledge which Seliger believes is available to us, and the further subjectivity of the knowledge which is presented in the book because of its social context and the views of the author.
Seliger goes on to say that one can understand Jerome’s confusion in how to characterize Einstein’s beliefs because Einstein was a prominent Zionist and a bi-nationalist, in that he supported the Jewish homeland to be in Israel and also advocated Israel and Palestine to become a single state with equal rights for all citizens. Seliger additionally adds, "[certain] complicated facts resist Jerome’s effort to depict Israel’s founding and the nature of Zionism in exclusively sinister terms. The writer apparently cannot accept the weight of the evidence he has unearthed in the Jerusalem archives which he sifted for his book.” Seliger's critique of Jerome's book is very much related to the idea of "the vertigo of relativity," in that Seliger and Jerome are both concerned with investigating the relationship between thought and its historical context. Seliger's view on Jerome's book is arrived at by a very Nietzschean analysis, and it expresses that Jerome's research and his perspective on it create a "false consciousness," in that Jerome is biased by his anti-Zionist "ideology" and uses Einstein's words to emphasize and promote that ideology.
stopngo43 Should There Be an Inquisition for the Pope? Maureen Dowd The New York Times March 30, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/opinion/31dowd.html
Goffman: Clearly the Vatican role as a symbol of moral and righteous character has been mismanaged by the recent allegations of child abuse. To see such embarrassment must be very inconvenient for the church, especially at a time where it is natural for one to correct their mistakes. Clearly the church is not doing what is right in order to save face now that they have been exposed to such an embarrassing situation. They have done nothing but make excuses at a time where they should own up to the mistakes they have made in the past. Blaming the victims? Blaming the homosexual community? Blaming others rather than themselves? Those actions are not going to be tolerated if they wish to save face. No amount of justification or excuses will help the Vatican; at this point what they need to do is show that they understand and agree with their followers that action needs to be taken in correcting the wrongs that has been committed to hundreds of innocent people. Society wants accountability and if the Vatican wishes to reclaim its role as the pillar of supreme ethical standards then they must prove that they too have made a mistake and are willing to repent for their sins.
1. Elephant 2. Federal Judge Rules Against Patents On Human Genes 3. Scott Hensley 4. NPR.ORG 5. 3/30/2010 6. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/by_scott_hensley_in_a.html?ft=1&f=1024 Goffman Being a judge you have to play a part, there is a lot of roles you have to play and a lot of roles you have to ignore. A judge has to be impartial and calm. When they have cases in front of them that they feel a certain way they cannot let this impact them. This particular case was about the genes that cause breast cancer. The test to see if you carry a gene costs three thousand dollars. He had to look at the law behind the ruling. He ruled that genes belong to the people they are a part of and cannot be owned by the company who discovers the test. This is good and bad. If a company doesn’t have the money to motivate them to do research then they might not work towards finding things. The judge has to ignore how he might have felt if his wife needed this test and his daughter or another woman he loves and this might take away their opportunity to have access to things like this. This might undo thousands of patents this includes this kind of material, making the scientific world less motivated. The judge had to be impartial and ignore his own personal feelings and play a certain role. He has to be a judge, a father, a husband and maybe his own feelings might have leaked into this case and in hope that this test might be cheaper for them even though it might have negative consequences.
sting The “Mommy Track” Turns 21 Angie Kim Slate Magazine March 31, 2010 http://www.slate.com/id/2249312/?from=rss
Goffman
Goffman says that performance is a necessary part of human social interaction. Humans perform realities constantly, and two main acts are parenthood and that of the work place. Angie Kim’s article is on the 21st birthday of a new professional women’s-working condition for the work place. It divided the workplace for females giving a fast track to women whose careers came first and a more flexible, slow track for women who were balancing a family. Many people bashed the idea of this “Mommy Track” claiming that it was a dangerous kind of “retrofeminism.” Goffman would likely approve of this mommy track because it allows women to choose how and when they act in their many realities, as a working-class, as mothers, as wives if they choose to. Some argue this track would allow more power to women and demands, or more power to men to excel. Though having a daddy track would also be useful. Parenthood is not the only other institution that the working-class acts out. Marriage, ill or aging family members also call for people to act out another reality. All dependent on social interaction. Perhaps it would not be a bad thing to allow humans to more easily combine all the roles they take on, appeasing themselves and their different audiences.
Minina I am proud to be gay, says pop star Ricky Martin No author BBC News March 30, 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8594121.stm
Goffman: It is interesting to see that a famous Pop star named Ricky Martin has finally decided to stop projecting himself, at least in part of his sexuality, as something that he was not. Mr. Martin is a direct example of impression management. He was an individual who in his everyday life as a pop star and through his social was motivated to sell a particular image of himself to others. Often he was suggested that if his sexuality was discovered or revealed this would ruin his career or seriously affect it in a negative way. Therefore, hiding his homosexuality was due to the fact that often in our society being gay is not socially approved. Although, no one would say that being gay is a crime or that it would intentionally hurt his career, it has been an unspoken norm to hide someone’s sexuality if it is not the “norm” of the society, due to these factors. It was necessary for Mr. Martin to hide his sexuality in account of his interaction with society as a famous pop artist.
Mr. Martin projected an image of a heterosexual for a very long time and there were even speculations of his sexuality throughout the years. According to some he revealed being gay due to a potential article in a tabloid. Therefore, Mr. Martin performed an aligning action. He took the opportunity to make a verbal statement, through twitter, in order to explain potentially the unacceptable behavior, or made an account. It was important for Mr. Martin to use his performance as a heterosexual artist in order to maintain his position as successful pop star and avoid being stigmatized for being gay which tends to happen at times within society. However, even though for a long time he had a discreditable stigma his revelation has now become discredited, but he is willing to live proudly no matter what the consequences and be true to his identity.
Babydoll Secret Service paid hacker $75k a year, friend says Kim Zetter CNN March 24, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/03/24/secret.service.hacker/index.html?npt=NP1
Goffman: Albert Gonzalez worked two jobs. His first job was as an undercover agent for the U.S. Secret Service; his job was to inform the Secret Service of credit card fraud and bank card thieves. As for his second job, he was self-employed. Gonzalez ran his own multimillion-dollar card-hacking operation, which stole debit and credit card information from the same network he used for the Secret Service. This is not the first time an incident like this has been reported. There are at least three other situations where Secret Service informants have been also running fraudulent schemes. In this article, Gonzalez is an actor who conveys a specific impression to two different audiences. He uses two different personas as a mask to project particular image to each audience. To one audience he is an informant for the Secret Service. To the other audience he plays the role as a criminal, which is more of a backstage to his other persona. Gonzalez used impression management to control his peers’ ideas and notions of how he behaved in different interactions within each scene. He also idealized himself through his role as an informant to emphasize positive qualities to others and portray values that are accepted of society as well as to hide his role as a criminal. The article explains that Gonzalez’s role as an informant may have reinforced his role as a criminal. This portrays a sense of alienation because the actor is unable to genuinely accept or take on one role and assumes the role of another persona. Without one role, there other may not exist.
Dr. Mo44 That’s What She Said Josh Levin Slate.com March 18, 2010 http://www.slate.com/id/2248340/
Goffman:
Impression management is keeping up the image of ourselves that we display to the world. In most cases, our would consist of a few hundred people. We are not straight up performers, but we produce these images of ourselves to make a impression on others. In the case of golf great Tiger Woods, his world consisted of millions of people that he have know idea exist. His stage is so large that a single event has turned his life upside down. For him, his performance team is filled with many P.R representatives. The article that was found on slate.com is about a spoiled performance. The perfect image that he upheld has been tarnished by text message that were revealed by one of his mistresses. When the story first broke, he tried to “save face” by being silent, but the squeaky clean performance that the world knew as Tiger Woods seemed to be gone forever. What the audience saw was a family man who was the typical “all American” father and husband. That projected image that has been in tact for so many years is the reason why so many people around the world was shocked and in disbelief about everything that was coming into the front of this actor’s stage. After months of silence and millions of dollars lost, he has now began to take part in aligned actions to clean up his spoiled performance. The aligned action that he is taking part in the most is Account. He is giving a series of verbal statements to let the on looking audience know that he understand that he messed up, but wants forgiveness.
Juice2135 “Solar Power’s Dirty Secrets” Marc Gunther GreenBiz.com March 30, 2010 http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/03/30/solar-powers-dirty-secrets?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Greenbuzz+%28GreenBiz+Feed%29
Summary: Gunther reports that an activist group, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, has completed a survey and scorecard of solar energy firms. The report has some disturbing findings on various firms and their inadequate recycling programs. Two main problems are outlined in the article. First, because the industry is so vast, the amount of waste that could potentially be recycled cannot be ignored: “SVTC estimates that announced utility-scale solar panel projects in the state of California alone will generate about 1.5 billion pounds of panel waste.” The second, and perhaps more alarming, issue is one regarding the industry’s response to the scorecard. Only about 25 percent of companies showed any response of compliance to the environmental deficiencies practiced, and those that felt they could ignore such reprimands include companies that receive (9-figure) loans from the U.S. government. Executive director of SVTC, Sheila Davis, had this to say: "We've done scorecards in the past, and in the first round, we typically get a low response rate. Our experience is after a couple of years, companies are knocking on your door to participate because it becomes a competitive issue."
Goffman: Here we can see a quite literal example of impression management. Each individual company is acting as its own, whole entity. Unlike human interaction, however, it is important to note that in each of these specific cases, “selling” a particular image of itself for each company is a very tangible, conscious effort. As a result, the front stage and the back stage are separated by such a delicately articulated line, that it is difficult to conceptualize any real difference between the two. However, they still exist as two separate and distinct entities. In the back stage, we see each company’s operations: through these we can determine the beliefs and ideals that the company as a whole adheres to. The front stage, on the other hand, is an open display of the image they wish to portray: for each company, we can assume this to be the work of its performance team, the public relations department. This article shows a disturbing disconnect between many companies’ front stage impression, that of environmentally responsible and progressive energy producers, and the workings done in the backstage, outright failure to adhere to “green” policies, even when made explicitly known to them. SVTC attempts to make compliance to environmentally friendly practices a requirement through stigma-based strategies. As we can see from Davis’s statement, it is not until each company’s identity is spoiled that they attempt to change, as evidenced by her assertion that, “it becomes a competitive issue.”
1. Smlongbb 2. Curtis says Woods playing well, looked 'nervous' 3. The Associated Press 4.Gainesville Sun 5. March 26, 2010 6. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100326/ARTICLES/100329555?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar
Goffman,
This article concerned Tiger Woods appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. A fellow golfer described all of Tiger Woods actions in its entirety, from his physical stance to his facial expressions. This was dramaturgy at its finest. Since his embarrassing ordeal, Tiger Woods image has been greatly tarnished. Due to his previous performances/ actions/ indiscretions being greatly mismanaged, he subsequently “loss face” in front of millions. So at the tournament his performance team worked in overhaul to try to change the impression on the people at the golf tournament, e.i., the audience. Following his numerous cases of infidelity, Woods is constantly trying to find remedies for his spoiled identity. He has given an account, excuse, justification, and disclaimer with hopes and prayers that these aligning actions would minimize the stigma placed on him. All in all, I feel he needs to cool out. He needs to leave public eye for a little while longer then reemerge with a new identity or as a better golf. At the tournament his golfing performance was described as average. And after a major ordeal like that, he desperately needs an above average performance.
Jh1988 Junk Food Jones Is Wired In Your Brain Scott Hensley NPR http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/junk_food_jones_is_wired_in_yo.html?ft=1&f=1024 Garfinkle Junk food is bad. Everyone knows that junk food is bad, one of the main reasons they call it junk food is because for the most part it serves no direct function to your body. The purpose of junk food is to feed a pleasure sensor in the brain, so in order to examine the function of the brain that needs this pleasure scientists used rats to explore these phenomenon. Feeding the rats junk food is a breech of social norms that everyone knows you are not supposed eat junk food. The author compares the rats dependence on junk food to addiction to drugs, a further indication of the stigmatization associated with eating junk food in abundance. Junk food is not meant to be eaten in great amounts and doing this goes against social norms society establishes to promote public health.
sweetmay Dubai makes U-turn on cooking with alcohol ban Daniela Deane CNN March 24, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/24/dubai.food/index.html
Garfinkle:
Dubai has really unique demographic that over 85% of people there are come from other countries. Also, there is one of the popular places for visitors in the world. For entertaining those visitors from other countries, alcohol beverages were used to be served at licensed restaurants or bars, even though Muslims are not legally arrowed to drink alcohols in Dubai. However, last month Dubai officials stated that the use of alcohol in cooking was "strictly prohibited" since it violated the Muslim country's strict alcohol rules. Most of restaurants there were confused because they have some menu even popular dishes (especially foie gras which needs alcohols to cook. Soon after that, officials changed their statements and said there was just misunderstanding and there was no bun.
The situation in Dubai is a great example of my breaching experiments. In Dubai, majority of people was Muslim and no alcohol was like one of religiously taken-for-granted rules for them in the past. However, many foreigners (no Muslims) began to live in Dubai and they are breaching norms for Muslim. For new comers, drinking alcohols is usually normal activity so that they keep doing but it is not same for Muslim. Muslims started to be confused and they tried to reaffirm no alcohol are allowed.
However, nowadays there are a lot of dweller who came from different countries so stating that no more alcohol makes those people confuse again. This is the way back-and-forth on ban is happened in Dubai. I often use the term "Ethnomethodology" which is the study of method or pratices that people use to accomplish their everyday lives and make sure of their reality. The situation in Dubai is an exact object of study for ethnomethodology.
Moreover if I adopt this situation in Dubai to my breaching experiments, two visible taken-for-granted rules can be found. One is rules for Muslims that is no alcohol and another one is rules for foreigners that is alcohol freedom. Actually, there are some other problems of belief between Muslims and foreigners. I believe that it is really important for both different group of people to understand taken-for-granted rules for other groups and respect each other. It is the only way for all people in Dubai live at peace.
woohoo Bullies: They can stoped but it takes a village Alan E. Kazdin and Carol Rotella Slate March 31, 2010 http://www.slate.com/id/2249424/?from=rss
Berger and Luckman Bullies are something that has been around since the beginning of time. Eversince their was the idea of power, bullies came around. Some people go as far to say that to have a vast amount of power one has to be a bully. This artical speakes of bullying. It isexplained by the authors that it is a way of one of the childs insisting on power over the other children. I beleive that people act upon their social world, this even applies to children. The bullies normally are bullies because they have impulsive temperaments, don't get enough parential supervision, and they may also have significant exposure to models of agress, according to the artical. These are all examples of the social world for the child that is a bully. Now these actions that the bully sees becomes objectivied. This leads the child to doing these actions that he sees, in which it now becomes a habit . A habit of bullying. This leads to the habitualized action becoming an institution. The child that is a bully just sees it as something norman. He thinks that" this is the way things are done". This is an example of the three step process of how institutions are formed.
Ruby What Makes Chechen Women So Dangerous? Robert A. Pape, Lindsey O’Rourke, and Jenna McDermit New York Times March 30, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/opinion/31pape.html?pagewanted=1 Berger & Luckman: In this article, it describes the disturbing fact that Chechen women are more deadly as suicide bombers than their male counterparts, by killing more people in a single bombing. The article clearly reflects the 3 step process according to Berger and Luckman about women becoming terrorists since “Humans act upon their social world.” Their social reality is that “they do not accept being humiliated or living under occupation” in Russia. This story is about men and women strapping explosives to themselves and deliberately killing others to prove a point, whether it is religious based or politically. It details Chechen women as being more dangerous than men because they are not looked at in society as much of a threat. The advantage that a woman has in this society is that they are able to travel without being detected to their desired targets more easily than a man. Another reason they are considered more dangerous is because they have the ability to inspire other men and women to take up their cause, therefore creating an institution of their own, where individuals are banded together for the sole purpose of committing suicide and killing dozens at the same time. Berger and Luckman would view this behavior by these women as a form of “externalizing” their actions so that others will follow and thus causes these habitualized actions to become “institutionalized” by the Chechen suicide bombers.
Private1 The Culture Gabfest, "Shake Your Bon-Bon" Edition Stephen Metacalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas, and Julia Turner Slate March 31, 2010 http://www.slate.com/id/2246621/?from=rss
In this program, the critics discuss the coming out of celebrities. Recently, pop artist Ricky Martin came out of the closet after years of speculation about his sexuality. According to the critics, sexuality is used as a tool to create artists' image. The stigmatization artists experience when they come out depends directly on the sexual image they establish. Those with more ambiguous sexual images will confront less disproval, while those who are highly gendered in the minds of fans, will lose a greater portion of their fan base. For instance, after constant reaffirmations of his heterosexuality, singer Bruce Springsteen can't come out without causing a riot. While David Bowie's sexual preference was never really in question and Niel Patrick Harris's homosexuality makes no difference. As the critic's stated, "you're not forced to rethink him or the character he plays." The critics also mention how biological sex and the medium in which celebrities work makes a difference. According to them, the sexuality of soap opera stars is less relevant than that of the music industry's. They say this is because a musician's sexual image is more pure and true in nature than that of an actors who is merely playing a role. And it is more accepting for a woman to come out than man. This has to do with anxiety we have of men and men together. Whereas in theatre, most men are almost expected to be homosexual. As for Ricky Martin, he stated that he didn't come out sooner because it would have been a distraction. This article is the perfect example of how we perform ourselves in everyday life. Celebrities especially, live a life where every minute of it is acting. As they are constantly under the speculation of the public, they along with a performance team create an image that will foster sales. Their performance team includes their managers, stylists and publicists that lead the audience or public to form either a gay or straight impression of themselves. These gay or 'straightness' characteristics are carefully selected and managed to enhance or maintain their fame and acceptance. As for the distinction between actors' and artists' sexuality, the differ lies in that actors are already playing out a role. The audience is aware that these are not their true feelings, but simply ones they are taking on because the script enforced it. Singers and musicians on the other hand, are believed to be true to the performance they broadcast. Yet both of these celebrity types, like everyone else in the world, are acting out their sexuality, and the rest of their personality for that matter. Flamboyant singers such as David Bowie are motivated to sell the homosexual persona so that it's part of who they "are". He intentionally floats between both genders to create a rather risky persona. Its key in selling his eccentric and glamorous image. So that when we do become aware of sexual preferences, we are already desensitized. While Bruce Sringsteen's fan base consists of mostly a heterosexual population. He portrays himself as a free-spirited yet all-manly rock and roller. Most homosexual celebrities, like Ricky Martin, use varying forms of aligning action to minimize possible stigma. Typically their sexuality and act of coming out is justified as a way of being true and honest to their fans. Ricky justified his sexuality and lack of not coming out sooner in an attempt to define this behavior as appropriate due to all the pressure coming from media and paparazzi. In actuality, it was done to gain fan's sympathies and maintain his image at the time. -Goffman
Private1 The Culture Gabfest, "Shake Your Bon-Bon" Edition Stephen Metacalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas, and Julia Turner Slate March 31, 2010 http://www.slate.com/id/2246621/?from=rss
In this program, the critics discuss the coming out of celebrities. Recently, pop artist Ricky Martin came out of the closet after years of speculation about his sexuality. According to the critics, sexuality is used as a tool to create artists' image. The stigmatization artists experience when they come out depends directly on the sexual image they establish. Those with more ambiguous sexual images will confront less disproval, while those who are highly gendered in the minds of fans, will lose a greater portion of their fan base. For instance, after constant reaffirmations of his heterosexuality, singer Bruce Springsteen can't come out without causing a riot. While David Bowie's sexual preference was never really in question and Niel Patrick Harris's homosexuality makes no difference. As the critic's stated, "you're not forced to rethink him or the character he plays." The critics also mention how biological sex and the medium in which celebrities work makes a difference. According to them, the sexuality of soap opera stars is less relevant than that of the music industry's. They say this is because a musician's sexual image is more pure and true in nature than that of an actors who is merely playing a role. And it is more accepting for a woman to come out than man. This has to do with anxiety we have of men and men together. Whereas in theatre, most men are almost expected to be homosexual. As for Ricky Martin, he stated that he didn't come out sooner because it would have been a distraction. This article is the perfect example of how we perform ourselves in everyday life. Celebrities especially, live a life where every minute of it is acting. As they are constantly under the speculation of the public, they along with a performance team create an image that will foster sales. Their performance team includes their managers, stylists and publicists that lead the audience or public to form either a gay or straight impression of themselves. These gay or 'straightness' characteristics are carefully selected and managed to enhance or maintain their fame and acceptance. As for the distinction between actors' and artists' sexuality, the differ lies in that actors are already playing out a role. The audience is aware that these are not their true feelings, but simply ones they are taking on because the script enforced it. Singers and musicians on the other hand, are believed to be true to the performance they broadcast. Yet both of these celebrity types, like everyone else in the world, are acting out their sexuality, and the rest of their personality for that matter. Flamboyant singers such as David Bowie are motivated to sell the homosexual persona so that it's part of who they "are". He intentionally floats between both genders to create a rather risky persona. Its key in selling his eccentric and glamorous image. So that when we do become aware of sexual preferences, we are already desensitized. While Bruce Sringsteen's fan base consists of mostly a heterosexual population. He portrays himself as a free-spirited yet all-manly rock and roller. Most homosexual celebrities, like Ricky Martin, use varying forms of aligning action to minimize possible stigma. Typically their sexuality and act of coming out is justified as a way of being true and honest to their fans. Ricky justified his sexuality and lack of not coming out sooner in an attempt to define this behavior as appropriate due to all the pressure coming from media and paparazzi. In actuality, it was done to gain fan's sympathies and maintain his image at the time. -Goffman
Cloud123 The Sandra Bullock Trade David Brooks www.nytimes.com March 29, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html
Goffman:
David Brooks highlights the so-called “trade” that Sandra Bullock has unintentionally made between her personal life and her professional life. After winning an Oscar this year, Bullock's personal life shortly came into the forefront in media as disastrous, as her husband was caught cheating on her. Brooks goes on to say that “economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important.”
Like Sandra Bullock, I believe that all people take part in dramaturgy, in which they perform their realities on a daily basis, as if their lives were a constant theatrical performance. In dramaturgy, people, or actors, must play their roles in a way that portrays their selves to their respective audiences. These performances are maintained through impression management, in which both the actors and their audiences play a role in foreseeing and fixing problems in their performances on the front stage, through aligning action techniques.
As in a theatrical performance, there exists both a front and a back stage, as well as all of the different props and tools necessary for the actor's performance. The front stage is the setting for the apparent actions that are displayed by the actor, and where the audience views the parts of the performance intended for them. In Sandra Bullock's case, her front stage could be any public place from the red carpet, to the movie screen, to the Oscars where she stood on stage and accepted her award with a speech about her loving husband. The back stage is the part of the actor's self in which he or she does not want to share with the audience, as it is more private and removed from their public performance and/or interaction with the audience. For Sandra Bullock, this back stage could be her home, in which trouble has been stirring these past weeks, or even in her trailer when she is filming, or in her dressing room when she can expect that no member of her audience will intrude.
HalfPint "UF student who was shot by police tells of his ordeal" Nathan Crabbe The Gainesville Sun 30 March 2010 www.gainesville.com/article/20100330/ARTICLES/100339936/1007/NEWS
Goffman:
University of Florida doctoral student Kofi Abu-Brempong, who was shot in the face by the UFPD four weeks ago, has issued his first statements since the tragic incident. He has stated that the UFPD officers had no right to enter his apartment in the first place and that he only acted in self-defense.
While the officers were acting out their roles as protectors of the student population, Mr. Abu-Brempong was also acting out his as a student being threatened with gun-toting officers. The officers are fathers, sons, and brothers at home. But on duty, they are enforcers of the law. They have a different set of goals and rights when they don their uniforms. They use props to carry out their mission, such as guns, batons, and TASERs. In the back stage, prior to entering Mr. Abu-Brempong's apartment, they most likely agreed upon a strategy to take in how to enter the apartment and what to do if Mr. Abu-Brempong did not cooperate.
Mr. Abu-Brempong also used props, including a metal rod he hurriedly grabbed to defend himself from the officers who forced open his doors. He also claimed that the officers did not fulfill their proper roles, as they never told him to put his hands up. He and his supporters see his role in the incident as characterized by victim-hood, while the officers involved in the incident see him as the aggressor.
Cronus Can Animals be Gay? By Jon Mooallem New York Times March 31, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?hp
Harold Garfinkle:
Today I read a rather strange and yet humorous article in the New York Times. The article was title, Can Animals be Gay, by Jon Mooallem. My first impression was that it seemed as if the New York Times was running out of news worthy material to print. However, as I read the article, I realized that it illustrated my explanations about breaching.
The article, Can Animals be Gay, begins by stating facts about a seabird called Laysan Albatross. The unique thing about this seabird is that it lives for about 60 to 70 years and maintains the same mate throughout its lifespan. According to the article, a small colony of Laysan Albatross assembles once every year at a place called Kaena Point. During this visit, they wait and search for their life mate so that they could copulate a single egg for a few months and then part ways until the next year.
The surprising twist to this story is that a third of the colony’s pairs consist of two female birds. What makes this story news worthy is that birds in general have the lowest percentage of what biologist calls “divorce rate”, which are those pairs that are not made up of a male and a female. These particular birds are known icons of monogamy and for making lifelong commitments to one another.
It was very surprising to many biologists that these birds pair themselves with the same sex. The story about the Laysan Albatross is a perfect example of breaching. Specifically the types about expectancy of interacting in personal relationships and what every ones knows to be the correct way to interact. It was a well known fact that these birds have lifelong mates. However, everyone assumed and expected the pairs to be a male and a female when in reality a portion of the population was not.
As I stated in my explanations, when the people’s assumptions are breached, they look for a reasonable explanation. In this case, biologist tries to explain the so called un-natural behavior of this seabird. In my opinion, biologist would say anything so that they can reaffirms the original underlying assumption that a couple if composed of a male and female.
1. Mickeydog 2. SCHOOL BULLYING ACTIVIST: I Know 3. Jodee Blanco 4. CNN 5. March 31, 2010 6.http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/31/blanco.phoebe.bullying/?hpt=C1
This article is about the problem that millions of teens face everyday but somehow is swept under the rug in our society. Teen bullying is the cause of deaths, abuse, discrimination, and even suicide. In this article a young female age 17 named Pheobe commited sucicide after years of constant bullying by 9 of her class mates. The article begins by questioning why the parents and faculty were not more in tuned with this problem and the types of experinces that pheobe must have been feeling creeping through the hallways of her massachuts school getting picked on and tortured at every corner. The article furthur discusses they author Jodee's experinces growing up because she was also bullied. She talks about how much she sympathezies for Pheobe and how similiar their stories are. From Social constructionism perspective we can generate are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena of bullying is develop in the social context of school. Bullying is when other kids (who often feel inadequate themselves) pick up smaller defenseless kids with malicious intent. Thus bullying is , a social construct is and practiced in every school all across our society and generally every member of society comes to experince this social construct however people re act to it differently depending on the particular group. This construct is the by product of our society's attitudes towards dominance in being #1 at all times and all costs. By using social constructionism we can uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in bullying and eliminate the need for bullys in our social reality. This is a necessity before its too late and more children resort to the devasting option of sucicide
Sasha 9 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide Published on March 29, 2010 By Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html?pagewanted=2&bl
Goffman The teenagers in this story I am sure were pleasant, normal children at home and in their standard settings. The problem with the schoolyard is kids feel the need to be cool and to seem bad and interesting to the other children, which often results in bullying. In this case, the performance put on by thee nine teenagers resulted in the suicide of Ms. Price. According to Goffman’s impression management, people usually put on this “act” for social approval. Using his theory, the nine bullies interacted through the bullying of this poor, young lady in order to “sell” a particular image of themselves to others. I’m sure Ms. Price went through extreme emotional labor, which led her to the result of her death. Bottling up something so severe is hard, especially for a girl her age, from another country with no friends, just trying t fit in.
Wangmu Federal Judge Rules Against Patents On Human Gene Scott Hensley npr http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/by_scott_hensley_in_a.html?ft=1&f=1024
Goffman:
It's astonishing to see that society has reached a point where it's players are able to not only calculate specific areas of the human genome, but also want to own it. In this world where we all play our parts according to how society dictates we should play them, perhaps it's regrettably more interesting to put our attention to these corporations. If they are acting out their role in our community as benefactors of our very own DNA, our biological essence of life, perhaps their part in our communal play has gotten a bit too large. Regardless of how it comes out to be, we have faith that social order will dictate to what extent businesses can own our biology. If we, as the audience of these big time players sit back and allow this to happen, perhaps that addresses to what extent, middle americana, or "normal americans" have allowed themselves to become just props, tools, or an audience for these big corporations; allowing them to have all the fun, and regrettably all the major parts in our theatre. Is this our time, middle america, to get back into the play! Lets start participating in our society, voicing our opinions. Perhaps we wont have to see the same actors with biased and selfish pursuits and we can start seeing the common voice being played out.
SongBird Armed Gang Robs Switzerland Casino By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The New York Times Published: March 28, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/europe/29swiss.html?scp=22&sq=march+29%2C+2010&st=nyt
Goffman: In this particular situation my theory of Dramaturgy is being exemplified perfectly. The article explains an armed gang of men who have decided to put on mask and rob a casino. They were reported as being a group of 10 people dressed in all black with two cars. They robbed the casino by force with guns and a sledgehammer. The men robbing the casino have become actors in order to play the role of robbers in front of everyone who was at the casino. The scene took place at the casino where the heist took place. Those who were there mentioned how they spoke French to each other. I suspect it was all planned out within their performance team. The individuals who were all cooperating in the robbery wanted their audience to be confused and disconnected from what they were saying. The emotional labor were the use of machine guns and pistols because the men were trying to display strength, courage, and fearlessness. They wanted to construct an atmosphere of helplessness and fear inside of the people at the casino. I do not think these were their true emotions because no one really goes around with these type of weapons in public places. The front stage was the casino. The back stage was wherever they planned the heist together. They used the sledgehammer, machine guns, pistols, and mask as props. I suspect that they will be caught sooner or later by authorities and then will end up “losing face”. When they are caught and have to show up in court to receive their punishment, it is possible that they might try to give an account, excuse, or even justify their inexcusable behavior. I found it very interesting that prosecutors in Basel described the scene like an action film heist. This is because they are all actors just like in the movies who are playing roles.
At the top of each post you must list the following information: 1. Your Codeword 2. Title of the news article you choose (see suggestions below) 3. Author of the news article 4. Source of the news article 5. Date of the news article 6. Link (url) to the news article
Those six lines should be followed by your reflection from the perspective of the social theorist you choose from the list of options for each due date. A reflection is not a summary. Instead, what you are expected to do is to thoroughly read the news article of your choice and reflect on it from the perspective of one of the assigned Social Theorists. Note that your reflection may include a bit of summary, but it must not consist entirely of summarizing the article. Good reflections will analyze the issue discussed in the article from the perspective of one of the assigned Social Theorists; outstanding posts will even take the voice (write in the tone and style of) the Social Theorist. Reflections should be a minimum of one paragraph. They must be posted no later than 4pm on the due date below and the article you choose must have been published within two weeks of the due date. There are 3 points possible of Extra Credit for each post.
#1 - W. 9/29 - Marx, Engels, Durkheim #2 - W. 10/13 - Weber, Gilman, Dubois, Cooper, James, Cooley, Mead #3 - W. 10/20 - Popper, Parsons #4 - W. 11/10 - Mills, Habermas #5 - W. 11/17 - Berger & Luckman, Garfinkel, Goffman
Wrldsyrs
ReplyDeleteSiege at Bridgeport 2010
Staff Report
BNET – Chattanooga Times Free Press
26 March 2010
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/chattanooga-times-free-press/mi_8094/is_20100326/siege-bridgeport-2010/ai_n52925930/?tag=content;col1
Goffman –
Erving Goffman’s dramaturgy explains social life as a series of performances like those performed in a theater. Actors engage in impression management, or the methods used to preserve desired impressions to the audience. Actors use a series of techniques in order to ensure their performance is defined in a desired way.
A Civil War reenactment will take place in Bridgeport, AL in order to recreate the conflict that took place in 1862. Actors will reenact the Union forces recapturing Bridgeport from the Confederate forces, which was an important strategic holding because of its access to a railroad which connected Alabama to Chattanooga. Actors will engage in many forms of impression management in order to make the reenactment seem authentic. The front stage will consist of the battlefield, the troops and the soldiers’ uniforms, guns and cannons, and the war faces of the attacking soldiers. Actors are going to need to dress the part, free from all modern clothing and technology, in order to maintain the proper appearance. The back stage will comprise the actors preparing for their performance. This could include actors removing modern clothing, dressing in the proper soldiers’ costume, preparing props, like guns and an ammo belt, and rehearsing their scene and possible script. The actors will have predetermined roles in order for the performance to go smoothly. For example, Confederate soldiers know they must battle the approaching Union forces and eventually relinquish control of the town. If actors do not reach a consensus on their roles, the performance could be disrupted. All of these techniques are employed to convey and maintain a certain impression to the audience and the actors.
Hoopa
ReplyDelete"Social and Cultural Impacts of Globalization"
Dogu Ergil
Sunday's Zaman
March 21, 2010
http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/yazarDetay.do?haberno=204938
Our positions and roles in this world as individuals are socially constructed. In an increasingly globalized world, these positions and roles are constantly changing and are dependent on the larger social context in which we live. The changes that are occurring in the world today are not happening independent of us humans, but rather, we are instigating these changes as social beings. Whether the change is brought through technology, consumer products, new thoughts or lifestyles as Ergil suggests, we as individuals, are in control of what the effects of those changes.
Globalization is largely the process that is bringing about these changes. Globalization would not be happening if it weren’t for us individuals. In this way, the meanings associated with globalization are socially derived and socially constructed. Globalization as a social and cultural process is occurring as a result of different people interacting and integrating with one another. Individuals are sharing their experiences through networks and it is through this exchange that people begin to develop knowledge as a product of the context in which they interact. This knowledge is based on systems of thought that are culturally and historically bound to the society in which it is being exchanged. According to Egril, this human integration has resulted in a greater exchange of ideas and thoughts between people.
The family is one social unit that is highly socially constructed. Factors like the division of labor define the identities of the family members and furthermore, their interaction with other groups and with larger society. One of the most profound impacts of globalization is claimed to be on the family unit, as a result of changing gender roles. The empowerment, or increased autonomy of women has altered the hierarchical role distribution that has existed in families for a long time.
Over time, people’s actions have become objectified and these habitualized actions are becoming institutionalized. As in the previous paragraph, the family can be viewed as an institution in this context. People are beginning to redefine their positions and roles in the family, and in larger society as a consequence of globalization. This phenomenon of globalization is sparked and modified through human activity which in turn, changes human activity and behavior. In this way, not only are institutions influencing humans but humans are influencing the largest institutions.
Chichen
ReplyDelete"Sierra High School becomes a model institution"
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell
The San Bernardino Sun
3/28/10
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14774407?source=most_emailed
Berger & Luckmann
I would like to take a moment to discuss a social context in which institutions shape individuals, and individuals shape institutions. Sierra High School in San Bernadino, California has been named one of the 12 model continuation high schools by the California Department of Education. The key word that I would like to focus on is model. How have the individuals created such a model, and what construction of reality has granted this school to be considered a model for education? First, education has been a social structure that has a taken-for-granted meaning. Too much education is seen as infringing on other social institutions, not enough from this institution seems to risk the demise of others. Education is a perfect example as to how an institution can act to control individual behaviors as a “social reality”.
Sierra High School is being applauded for molding students into acceptable citizens, based on socially constructed and accepted criteria of what a high school student should be capable of accomplishing. Maby of these students report stories of difficult lives at home and having a lack of motivation from other social institutions and individuals such as “running with the wrong crowd.” However, individuals in the education industry observed the fact that these individual students were not reaching the standard model of the education system, thus recreated the institution to fit the needs of said individuals in order to “get them back on track” and to re-engage them.
Looking at our three step process for the creation of institutions, we can see how this example fits our “model”. First, humans act upon their social world. In this case, the students who “ran with the wrong crowd” tended to be more likely to fail within the institution of education. Next, these actions became objectified and habitualized into the ways in which the students reacted to the institution of education, such as poor attendance and poor learning, thus shaping the social construction of their education. Re-looking at these steps, we can see how Sierra High School has shaped the individuals involved. The school acted upon their social world. In realizing there was a problem among a generalized group of people, the school acted in a way to reach out to these kids to help bring them back in line. Next these actions became habitualized and institutionalized, and as the school began seeing improvements in the students, bringing them closer to the culturally acceptable model, the institution became recognized and awarded for its accomplishment, thus solidifying its habits and actions.
1. Scribe
ReplyDelete2. More workers are choosing Fear over Flex Time, experts say
3. Author of the news article
4. CNN
5. 3/30/10
6. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/03/29/flex.time/index.html?hpt=T2
Goffman
This article describes a new trend amongst employees of large companies and corporations to choose longer hours at the office over flex-time that would allow them to work from home. When commuting is such a draining hassle, and gasoline so expensive, why would workers neglect an opportunity to work from home? The answer, as described throughout the article, is that they are afraid that their physical absence will lead to their permanent absence, because of the assumption that managers are more likely to fire employees who work from home.
This is a clear example of impression management: these employees want to SEEM more useful to their supervisors than those who work form home, regardless of their actual impact on the company. The article quotes several experts who all agree that longer hours at one's place of business do not translate to higher productivity, and that in fact the trend of overworking will lead to decreased productivity and "worker burnout." So the point isn't to actually prove that they are the most valuable employees, but rather to prove that they seem like the most valuable.
The workers discussed here are deliberately crafting their images and reputations as hard workers in an attempt to be seen as indispensable by their managers. None of it is about improved quality of work, or a better "bottom line," but all about the management of appearance, and paying mind to what others think about them.
october
ReplyDelete"Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages"
Stephanie Goldberg
CNN
3-29-10
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/29/facebook.job-seekers/index.html?npt=NP1
Goffman
As according to Goffman, we engage in impression management throughout the day “acting” certain ways with different people. We normally would not act in the same way around our boss, as oppose to our friends, family, or complete strangers. As we “sell” a particular image of ourselves to others for some sort of social approval, performances will occur. In this article, many people are changing around their Facebook pages in order to keep some sort of privacy from potential employers or supervisors. Websites such as Facebook gives many people a way to interact while showing sides of them that might not necessarily project images for different types of social settings and audiences. While it is good for friends and family, it might cause a potential problem in terms of a current or future occupation. While on the job, we act professionally when on the "front stage". When it is time to head home and relax with friends or family, the "back stage" comes into play where we can act how we usually do without the worry of business. Sometimes, a performance can become mismanaged. An employer can possibly see a picture that might not be appropriate and can cause embarrassment. However, looking on Facebook in the first place should be a disclaimer in itself. It should be known beforehand that a profile page is a personal website that many people engage in to show and tell about things going on their lives. Sometimes though, hiding their Facebook page such as changing the name or putting their settings to "private" may be one of the options younger people make take in order keep up with their impression management for future job employers.
1. Wolverine
ReplyDelete2. First Impressions: Do they really matter?
3. Lisa Tiffin
4. www.education.com
5. March 28,2010
6.http://www.education.com/magazine/article/First_Impressions_Matter/
Goffman:
This article explains how everyone pretty much knows the value of making a good first impression in situations where they are encountering new people. This could range from job interviews to first dates. The author of this article stated that we overlook the importance of first impressions that children exude in school. First impression is specifically important during the first days of school. For the first couple days of school, the author advises parents to take the time to prepare their children to start strong and stay strong in the classroom.
The author states that it is important for students to make a good impression during the first days of classes because once the teacher creates a negative persona of them, it will take a long time for that persona to be restored. On a more important note, making a bad impression could lead to a tough relationship between the teacher and student, which could prevent the student from performing to the best of their abilities. I am sure Goffman would agree to the ideas of this article. Goffman believes that society is not homogeneous. This means that we must act differently in different settings. Goffman states that we were are all social actors, performing based off of the perception and ideas of others. His ideas are clearly identified within the article. The author explain ways that students can create a good first impression for their teachers.
Zapheros
ReplyDeleteNetwork Rail takes legal action to stop strikes
Not given
BBC
3/30/2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8595658.stm
Berger & Luckmann
In this situation I see a struggle over control over an institution within society, namely the British railways. The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers, or RMT, as well as, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, or TSSA are on one side attempting to define and modify the British railways, while Network Rail Company stands on the other.
RMT and TSSA have already voted to strike in protest of layoffs and changes in work schedules instituted by Network Rail. Network Rail has in response moved to challenge the legality of both group's strikes, hoping to redefine the efforts of RMT and TSSA as illegitimate or institutionalized. RMT and TSSA are insisting that what they are doing and the manner in which they enacted the decision to strike is in fact “the way things are done” and are the institutionalized methods for influencing the British rails. Both groups are also struggling to influence what the objectified treatment of the workers. National Rail wants to make cuts in response to the recession to strengthen the company, while RMT and TSSA are focusing on the well-being of the workers who make up the company. The opinion that prevails how this particular institution, the British rails, as well as, institutions all across Britain and perhaps Europe, are supposed to treat their workers. Whether sacrifices are made by individuals or the overall company.
Penny
ReplyDeleteThe Rules About How Parents Should Make Rules
Alix Spiegel
NPR
March 29 2010
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125302688
Garfinkel
The rules that parents make and children must follow on a day to day basis could certainly be studied through ethnomethodology. Children are expected to act a certain way around their parents and listen to what they say. There is that expectancy about the parent child relationship that says the parent makes the rules and the child follows them. So in a way, when children disobey, they are breaching that expectancy. They might not realize that is what they are doing at the time, but that is why a parent will reprimand them, possibly with the help of another parent thereby achieving interactional corroboration.
The article starts off listing some of the rules that exist in one child’s home. This child, Cameron, willingly follows some rules, like not piercing his brother with a pencil. This is not the correct way to act. If Cameron grew up and went around poking people with pencils that would be breaking a norm in society about personal space and breaching the way everyone is supposed to be interacting. So his parents put rules into place telling him not to behave in such a way so that he will learn.
Then the article continues by mentioning some rules that this boy does not want to follow, like he does not believe his mother should be able to pick his friends. Perhaps when a mother tries to do something like this she is breaching her appropriate role in a way. According to the article, children are more likely to follow the rules that have to do with their morality, safety, or social conventions, but they do not like to be told what to do when it comes to their own privacy, like friends, games they want to play, and the like. But interestingly, the article goes into how some things kids consider their personal business, might not actually be. For example, with bathing, kids think that it is their body and they should be able to do what they want with it. Parents on the other hand, realize that there are certain societal norms set in place that say you must bathe daily and maintain a certain appearance in public. By making their children bathe daily, parents are trying to keep their kids from breaching the correct way to interact and carry on in society.
Basically, parents set rules in place as a way of socializing their children into the norms of the society in which they live.
House
ReplyDeleteSex, drug parties of professor who led double life
Ians
Sifynews
3-30-2010
http://sify.com/news/sex-drug-parties-of-professor-who-led-double-life-news-international-kd4lEbjbajj.html
Goffman-
Human actions are dependent on time, place, and audience. One can be a professor, a student, a parent or a child all depending on his or her surroundings. One thing that never seems to fail us is that we are all acting; acting for an audience or for ourselves, we are always putting on a show. That is where Charles Butler comes in. He was an actor for multiple audiences. At home he was a father and husband, at work he was a professor, and in his flat in East London, he was the organizer and host of masochistic sex parties.
Butler reportedly used money from a grant that he received for pharmaceutical research to host these sex parties. His wife and children had no idea what was going on, so which one is the real Charles Butler? Is he really a loving father and husband working at Reading College, or was a sex obsessed man? I believe that he was putting on a show no matter where he went. His audience was changing from scene to scene, but the actor did his best and acted according to each environment; a cunning specimen of tricks and trades that left all audiences wanting more. I believe that discovering what a person “really is” is impossible. Actors change their roles in new situations and to truly pinpoint who a person really is cannot be possible. With societal pressures for a person to be a certain way, no one can be original or who they “really are”. They just become what the situation calls for at a certain moment. Charles Butler for example will never know if he is truly the father or the sex addict. He will change with each surrounding, even adding new faces if the scene calls for it.
House
ReplyDeleteSex, drug parties of professor who led double life
Ians
Sifynews
3-30-2010
http://sify.com/news/sex-drug-parties-of-professor-who-led-double-life-news-international-kd4lEbjbajj.html
Goffman-
Human actions are dependent on time, place, and audience. One can be a professor, a student, a parent or a child all depending on his or her surroundings. One thing that never seems to fail us is that we are all acting; acting for an audience or for ourselves, we are always putting on a show. That is where Charles Butler comes in. He was an actor for multiple audiences. At home he was a father and husband, at work he was a professor, and in his flat in East London, he was the organizer and host of masochistic sex parties.
Butler reportedly used money from a grant that he received for pharmaceutical research to host these sex parties. His wife and children had no idea what was going on, so which one is the real Charles Butler? Is he really a loving father and husband working at Reading College, or was a sex obsessed man? I believe that he was putting on a show no matter where he went. His audience was changing from scene to scene, but the actor did his best and acted according to each environment; a cunning specimen of tricks and trades that left all audiences wanting more. I believe that discovering what a person “really is” is impossible. Actors change their roles in new situations and to truly pinpoint who a person really is cannot be possible. With societal pressures for a person to be a certain way, no one can be original or who they “really are”. They just become what the situation calls for at a certain moment. Charles Butler for example will never know if he is truly the father or the sex addict. He will change with each surrounding, even adding new faces if the scene calls for it.
1. Enfinity
ReplyDelete2. Suicide in South Hadley
3. Emily Bazelon
4. Slate
5. March 30, 2010
6. http://www.slate.com/id/2249307/?from=rss
Garfinkle:
The tragedy in South Hadley, Massachusetts can be viewed as a breach. The nine students charged with bullying Phoebe Prince, which later led to her suicide, broke the taken for granted rules of interaction and went against the social norms of society. In high school students expect to make friends and have a good time, not to be constantly harassed and made fun of like Phoebe was. In addition she was from a different country so she may have been unfamiliar with the way high schools in America differ from schools in Ireland. Recently in the news there have been talk about students getting bullied and maybe Phoebe would have dealt with the situation differently if she knew that there were others that encountered the same treatment and she wasn’t alone. By constantly bullying and harassing her every day the nine students redefined Phoebe’s reality. The bullying most likely started out with one or two people then those students searched for interactional corroboration in other students that may have justified their actions which made them continue bullying her. Phoebe may have questioned the reality of the situation and tried to figure out what was going on and what was causing the students to treat her like that. Eventually she started to question herself and what she was doing wrong, especially since it was a large group of students harassing her, and this final thought may have led to her suicide. The breach caused confusion in her world and she felt like an outsider. The only way she felt she could correct her reality was by taking herself out of it.
Muffin
ReplyDelete9 Teenagers are Charged after Classmate’s Suicide
Eric Eckholm and Katie Zezima
NY Times
March 29, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html
Garfinkel-
Ethnomethodology is the study of the social norms in a society and how people react to those norms. In the case of the suicide of a fifteen year old girl in Massachussetts, there was a lot of breaching of these social norms. Fifteen year old Phoebe Prince was constantly teased and harassed by her classmates. When in school, a child expects to learn while meeting new people and making lasting friendships. This did not happen for Phoebe. Instead, she was harassed, therefore creating a breach in what she expected out of high school. Some administrators and teachers even knew this harassment was occurring, but did not do a thing to stop it! That is definitely a breach of what is expected to do from them. It would fall under the category of breaching the interchangeability of standpoints. These teachers and administrators’ role is to ensure the students are learning in a positive, safe environment. They breached their roles by not doing anything to stop the teasing of Phoebe. Her reality was changed because she thought she was supposed to be making friends in high school. With the harassment, she probably started questioning what was wrong with her to make the nine bullies bother her like that. She probably questioned herself until it just got to be too much and she felt she could not deal with the reality anymore, so decided to take her life. She must have felt as if that was the only way to get out of that situation those nine kids put her in.
MissMD
ReplyDeleteI'm glad my husband cheated
Angela Tung
CNN
March 30, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/personal/03/30/tf.glad.my.husband.cheated/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Goffman
In this living section article by columnist Angela Tung, Tung describes the reasons that she is happy that her husband cheated on her. She intricately tells the story leading up to her finding out about her husband’s affair. In this particular situation, this man performances the role of a husband. In the front stage he is a good and honest husband but backstage there is a barrier/conflict considering that he is having an affair on his wife. The fact that he was an attorney and the woman he had an affair with was an immigrant was a prop within the context of their reality. All of the “legal” dilemma helped them to keep the performance going. Now at some point his performance is mismanaged and this man tries to save face by begging on his knees for forgiveness and apologizing to his wife for the embarrassment. He tries to save face by giving an account of the behavior to restore his identity. Even in the process of cleverly explaining this situation, I find that the wife was also performing her reality. She was in this marriage and unhappy and kept this all to herself. It was also apparent that her staying with him and not getting a divorce at first was to keep herself from an embarrassment from her parents who did not want her to marry him in the first. In this particular situation, this whole marriage deal was just a huge performance staged by two unhappy people who grew apart from each other before they were even married but couldn’t even face that reality.
tweak
ReplyDelete"Law Makers try to pull the plug on teen 'sexting'"
Martin Merzer
Business Week
30 March 2010
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EP6AUO0.htm
Berger & Luckman
Berger and Luckman devised a three step process for the development of institutions. This process progresses as humans act on their social world and these actions become objectified and then habitualized and then institutionalized. This article deals with changing social acts, their meanings, and how they are dealt with on a political level.
In Tallahassee law makers are attempting to decriminalize a newly developed behavior called 'sexting'. This behavior is described as using any electronic device to transmit images or sexually suggestive material to another person. Among teens, the number of those participating in this activity is very high, but the punishment for any minor sending sexually suggestive material through a medium such as the internet is a felony charge, five years in prison, and a 5,000 dollar fine. Senator Dave Aronberg states that we have "a 20th century punishment for a 21st century crime," and that many think that this punishment is too harsh for the crime.
This social change is a direct reflection of Berger and Luckmans' theory of the development of institutions. There is a quote in this article that almost directly states how new or dynamic social acts become institutionalized:
"People started to react pretty strongly because it was such a shock that these things were going on," Sheets said. "And once parents, teachers, communities, etc., began to focus on this issue, it followed logically that lawmakers would begin taking a closer look."
As people begin to react to a new social development, their values change. In this case, because so many people have the technological capacity to connect to others, more and more people have the ability to send what was once considered inappropriate material. Now, we see that society's view about transmitting sexual photos or exchanging sexually suggestive conversation becoming more accepting, which is reflected in the law makers' decisions to prioritize the issue. 'Sexting' is becoming a more 'normal' behavior, and for many people it is not seen as inappropriate. Because of this new and more liberal view from society, policies must be changed to reflect what society feels is the appropriate punishment for such crimes.
1. Gecko
ReplyDelete2. Young Job-Seekers Hiding Their Facebook Pages
3. Stephanie Goldberg
4. CNN
5. March 29, 2010
6. http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/29/facebook.job-seekers/index.html
Goffman:
This article is an excellent demonstration of the powerful effects of impression management. In the current economy, jobs are difficult to find and keep, so managing public opinion about you, especially related to professional performance, is becoming increasingly important. Facebook has the potential to destroy a performance, so these job-seekers are attempting to hide their profiles by changing their names or raising their privacy settings.
Many of the men and women interviewed for the article mentioned the importance of a professional appearance when job seeking. They pointed out that their Facebook profiles are not accurate portrayals of them as employees and that the information they contain is private. These statements indicate their awareness of the importance of managing their performance and not allowing the audience to see the outside of the performance. One job-seeker was trying to use justifications for changing their Facebook accessibility because the information is contains is not an accurate reflection of who he is overall; people take and post pictures of silly, out of character experiences that portray a different self than the one he hopes to convey to employers. Other men and women used disclaimers to justify information in their profiles and the changes they made to their accessibility. Although these statements were made to a reporter, they still demonstrate an attempt to repair a potentially spoiled performance. All of these things indicate the significance of impression management in the job world.
1. Apple
ReplyDelete2. Democrats Defend Appointments
3. Joseph Berger
4. New York Times
5. March 28, 2010
6.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/us/politics/29recess.html?ref=politics
Reality is theatre, where each of us, the actors, performs ourselves. Recently President Obama announced the appointments of 15 officials, which really riled up the performance team known as the Republicans. The Republicans preformed their disagreement to these appointments by using the front stage of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” for the audience of the American people.
The Republican performers had to employ emotional labor by eliciting fear for the “pro-labor radical” who was appointed to the National Labor Relations Board, while their real fear was more personal in the opposition to their own pro-business ventures.
The second performance team, the Democrats, supported the President. They justified his actions by saying it was his best option since the Republican performers have “taken a position where they’re going to try and slow and block progress on all fronts whether it’s legislation and appointments.” Further justification came with the fact that President George W. Bush had made just as many appointments at this same point in his Presidency.
Through the front stages of NBC and CNN, the two performance groups have acted out their roles, views and ideologies for the American public audience, employing emotional labor, justification and props in their performances.
-Goffman
1. CKES
ReplyDelete2. For Hutaree, Militia Ethos Extended To Family Life
3. Justin Elliot
4. TPM Muckraker
5. March 30th, 2010
6.http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/for_hutaree_militia_ethos_extended_to_family_life.php?ref=fpa
Garfinkel
Those who decide to breach any type of social norm are often ostracized and ridiculed, the degree varying by the norm they violate, and who witnesses the breach. The institution of marriage is a very familiar custom of our society filled with rules and expectations most people are expected to follow. For example, the bride wears a white gown, and the husband a black tuxedo. Marriage ceremonies are typically held in a church or some other type of religious setting, or some other secular setting such as a beach. The point is that the wedding ceremony itself is seen as an indication to the character of the parties being married.
This article features a couple that decide to breach this norm. The bride wears a black and white dress, and the groom wears military fatigues, matching those of his groomsmen. The ceremony took place in what appears to be a basement or a bunker. There is a heavy presence of firearms, as the entire wedding party including a child is depicted bearing rifles. It's obvious that this marriage is anything but typical.
It's interesting to note the comments that the readers of the article decided to post. Many of the posts instantly attack the character of the people involved in the wedding. Their character is attacked not so much because of the alleged crime they committed unrelated to the ceremony itself, but for what they were wearing. They were repeatedly labeled as "hillbillies" or "inbreds."
This is a classic example of the repercussions of breaching a social norm. The ceremony was depicted over the internet so there was no opportunity for any type of defense or reaction from the family, so the only recourse the readers had was to react to the situation. In order to make sense of their breach, their character was attacked and was then corroborated by other comments, reaffirming the assumptions the readers have about the couple.
AMEMYLUV
ReplyDeleteThe Sandra Bullock Trade
David Brooks
The New York Times
March 29, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html
Goffman:
This article brings to light the back stage of the famous actress Sandra bullock. Essentially the article speaks about how Sandra Bullock had to trade professional success for personal success and termed it the Sandra Bullock trade. However, what David Brooks, the author of the article, stumbled upon is something that occurs in everyone’s life. We know Sandra Bullock to be an A list actress whom is well liked by the majority of people whom have seen her work this is her front stage self. What we present to everyone when we step out of our private space into public space can be thought as an act that we do as part of a play. This is not to say that we are being “fake” but simply just managing our impression in front of others so that we can convey to others the self that we would like them to see. In the Sandra Bullock example when she walks down the red carpet she smiles and acts as if nothing is wrong portraying the person that she wants everyone to see her as. However, she might be worried about her family life at home thinking about the infidelity of her husband. What she feels like and how she acts at home is most likely very different from the smiles that she does for the cameras. This is the back stage self. Those things that we do that the majority of people do not know about is the back stage self. That back stage is defined by borders which are the places that separate the front stage from the back stage. Again going back to the Sandra Bullock example the border for her back stage would be her home away from public attention. For actors and people who are in the public eye it is very easy to see the difference from the front stage and the back stage, however we must all remember that we all do this in other to survive as social beings.
1.The riff
ReplyDelete2. UPD cuts Slightly Stoopid concert short
3. Cristina Rabaza
4. The UF Alligator
5. 3/29/2010
6. www.aligator.org
The free “Slightly Stoopid concert featuring G. Love” was shut down at 9:00pm Saturday due to the crowd being too crazy. Ambulances carried out 7 people, and others were injured. Although many people were probably shocked, this shouldn’t be a surprise due to the influence on students UF creates. Using our three-step process, we can show you how drunken habits become institutionalized by using a college freshman at UF as an example.
When a new freshman comes into UF they may have drank alcohol before or not, but when they hear UF is the number one party school according to certain news articles and find out they can’t get any sleep on game nights because everybody is hammered, a freshman who never drank before might start. The juniors and seniors might inflect peer pressure on the new freshman and question why they aren’t drinking because that’s the only real way to have a good time. These habits become objectified (drinking), and others act and react to our actions.
Then after a while, the new freshman sees that most activities outside of school are alcohol related and even if they don’t live on campus they will find out that drinking seems to be especially common during weekends and almost necessary for every activity outside of class. The once sober freshman now becomes a heavy drinker or “weekend warrior” according to some and starts making a habit out of drinking on certain occasions. Everybody is doing this at every sports game, at every outside activity and during every weekend so why shouldn’t you and once has to drink to be a real member of the UF team as a whole. These actions become objectified.
Then after the first semester or first year the freshman will stop saying here I go again drinking and just start drinking all the time because this is just how things are done at UF. This may be just one freshman’s experience to becoming a drinker at UF, but most incoming freshman will follow this pass and it shouldn’t surprised that everybody was acting drunk and obnoxious at a free concert because that’s what you just do at UF.
Berger and Luckman
1. Theriff
ReplyDelete2. UPD cuts Slightly Stoopid concert short
3. Cristina Rabaza
4. The UF Alligator
5. 3/29/2010
6. www.alligator.org
The free “Slightly Stoopid concert featuring G. Love” was shut down at 9:00pm Saturday due to the crowd being too crazy. Ambulances carried out 7 people, and others were injured. Although many people were probably shocked, this shouldn’t be a surprise due to the influence on students UF creates. Using our three-step process, we can show you how drunken habits become institutionalized by using a college freshman at UF as an example.
When a new freshman comes into UF they may have drank alcohol before or not, but when they hear UF is the number one party school according to certain news articles and find out they can’t get any sleep on game nights because everybody is hammered, a freshman who never drank before might start. The juniors and seniors might inflect peer pressure on the new freshman and question why they aren’t drinking because that’s the only real way to have a good time. These habits become objectified (drinking), and others act and react to our actions.
Then after a while, the new freshman sees that most activities outside of school are alcohol related and even if they don’t live on campus they will find out that drinking seems to be especially common during weekends and almost necessary for every activity outside of class. The once sober freshman now becomes a heavy drinker or “weekend warrior” according to some and starts making a habit out of drinking on certain occasions. Everybody is doing this at every sports game, at every outside activity and during every weekend so why shouldn’t you and once has to drink to be a real member of the UF team as a whole. These actions become objectified.
Then after the first semester or first year the freshman will stop saying here I go again drinking and just start drinking all the time because this is just how things are done at UF. This may be just one freshman’s experience to becoming a drinker at UF, but most incoming freshman will follow this pass and it shouldn’t surprised that everybody was acting drunk and obnoxious at a free concert because that’s what you just do at UF.
Berger and Luckman
Casper
ReplyDeleteMore Students Disciplined Following Girl's Suicide
CNN Wirestaff
CNN News
March 31, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/30/massachusetts.bullying.suicide/index.html?npt=NP1
Garfinkel:
Fifteen year old Phoebe Prince committed suicide in a suburb of Massachusetts. Her suicide stemmed from a three month long episode that involved a series of breaching by other students. Garfinkel describes breaching as "breaking the taken-for-granted rules of interaction". In Phoebe's case it was her classmates who breached their roles. As students, they are expected to attend school in order to obtain an education and at age 15 are expected to respect and be polite to their peers. Instead, the classmates bullied and harassed Phoebe causing relentless taunting that mentally affected the young girl more than anyone would have imagined. Even worse, it is noted that a faculty member witnessed the bullying and breached her role as an authoritative figure by doing nothing to stop it.
Garfinkel also states that "when assumptions are breached, people look for a reasonable explanation, something that reaffirms the underlying assumptions". It is possible the mental anguish Phoebe endured caused her to begin to doubt herself as a person and ultimately led to her suicide. Furthermore he says, "When one continues to act as if nothing is wrong, the audience becomes confused and begins to question the reality of the situation". They think to themselves, "is this really happening"? Next, Garfinkel states that after the confusion they search for "interactional corroboration" in which the reality that 'everyone knows' is reconfirmed. Unfortunately, this corroboration did not seem to occur in Phoebe's case. If it had, and teachers had said to one another "This is a serious matter. We need to step in" maybe her suicide could have been prevented.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Aaron
ReplyDelete2. The Sandra Bullock Trade
3. David Brooks
4. The New York Times
5. March 29, 2010
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html
Berger & Luckman
Social institutions are large-scale social structures and behaviors that have a taken-for-granted nature and meaning. Examples of such institutions and behaviors include: marriage, careers, personal relationships, socializing with co-workers, eating dinner with others, and sex. Often, we do not think about how we participate in certain social interactions and how we participate in certain institutions. This is due to habitualization. Through habitualization, individuals learn how to behave in certain situations (e.g., sex) and learn to predict the actions of others (e.g., eating dinner with others), or how to act within a certain institution (e.g., marriage).
Sandra Bullock has recently won an Academy Award (i.e., a significant career accomplishment) and reports of her husband’s infidelity have surfaced (i.e., a significant marital tragedy). In his article, David Brooks asks if one would rather trade a significant marital tragedy for a significant career accomplishment. In doing so, he brings forward research on two major institutions: marriage and career.
Research has shown that the daily activities that are most associated with happiness are socializing after work, having dinner with others, and sex. All of these activities are social institutions that have certain taken-for-granted behaviors. For example, when having dinner with others, it is known through habitualization that it is rude to start eating before others have received their meals. If the activities that are most associated with happiness all involve institutionalization and habitualization, then shouldn’t more attention and effort be placed in having effective social interactions?
David Brooks proposes that there should be curriculum in schools that focus on socializing and how to make the correct social decisions in life. I, Dr. Peter Berger, and my associate, Dr. Thomas Luckmann, both agree with David Brooks. Although we learn how to socialize through firsthand experience of social interactions, we believe there should be more emphasis on social interactions in the classroom. First, there should be actual classes dedicated to teaching students appropriate behavior in social interactions. Second, there should be more opportunities for students to engage in social interactions naturally. Through this, each individual will become more capable of predicting the actions and behaviors of others, which would lead to a significantly happier life in general.
Buckley
ReplyDelete“Obama Details Plan to Open Offshore Areas to Drilling”
John M. Broder
www.nytimes.com
March 31, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/science/earth/01energy.html?ref=us
Goffman:
Every time President Obama gets up in front of a live audience or a video camera, he is participating in dramaturgy. His most recent proposal to extend offshore drilling is an example of his impression management, which he has had to perfect as his term goes on due to the controversial material he discusses during his speeches and public events.
President Obama must present a self as ‘President,’ a self that many men have had to do before him. He must come off as calm, in control, and confident. His impression management is apparent in his speech. Obama foresees what the critics of his oil plan will say, and speaks directly to them in his initial speech. He tries to look at the different angles of those who will disagree, and gives his explanation right off the bat. Obama’s front stage is usually the White House or Congress, but today it was in front of a F-18 “Green Hornet” at Andrew’s Air Force Base in Maryland.
President Obama’s personal front would be the podium, and also his American flag pin he wears on his suit. President Obama must also change his manner with each performance, depending on what his speech is about. His manner today would be frank and confident, whereas in the face of a tragic situation, it could be humble and solemn.
1. StudentB
ReplyDelete2. Einstein and Israel
3. Ralph Seliger
4. In These Times
5. March 27, 2010
6. http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4866/einstein_and_israel/
Berger and Luckmann:
Ralph Seliger critiques journalist Fred Jerome's third and newest book on Albert Einstein's political activism. The subject matter of the book alone is noteworthy because it uncharacteristically discusses the political views of a man who is perhaps the most prominent figurehead of physical sciences in Western society. Seliger states in his article that the book is an eye opener, but not entirely in the way that the author intended.The book mostly consists of Einstein's own words, largely translated from German, so it is useful in understanding Einstein's views from his own words, so some information is less subjective. Seliger says that if the author were not so tendentious and set in his conclusions, he could have written an illuminating book, illustrating the social construction of the knowledge which Seliger believes is available to us, and the further subjectivity of the knowledge which is presented in the book because of its social context and the views of the author.
Seliger goes on to say that one can understand Jerome’s confusion in how to characterize Einstein’s beliefs because Einstein was a prominent Zionist and a bi-nationalist, in that he supported the Jewish homeland to be in Israel and also advocated Israel and Palestine to become a single state with equal rights for all citizens. Seliger additionally adds, "[certain] complicated facts resist Jerome’s effort to depict Israel’s founding and the nature of Zionism in exclusively sinister terms. The writer apparently cannot accept the weight of the evidence he has unearthed in the Jerusalem archives which he sifted for his book.” Seliger's critique of Jerome's book is very much related to the idea of "the vertigo of relativity," in that Seliger and Jerome are both concerned with investigating the relationship between thought and its historical context. Seliger's view on Jerome's book is arrived at by a very Nietzschean analysis, and it expresses that Jerome's research and his perspective on it create a "false consciousness," in that Jerome is biased by his anti-Zionist "ideology" and uses Einstein's words to emphasize and promote that ideology.
stopngo43
ReplyDeleteShould There Be an Inquisition for the Pope?
Maureen Dowd
The New York Times
March 30, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/opinion/31dowd.html
Goffman:
Clearly the Vatican role as a symbol of moral and righteous character has been mismanaged by the recent allegations of child abuse. To see such embarrassment must be very inconvenient for the church, especially at a time where it is natural for one to correct their mistakes. Clearly the church is not doing what is right in order to save face now that they have been exposed to such an embarrassing situation. They have done nothing but make excuses at a time where they should own up to the mistakes they have made in the past. Blaming the victims? Blaming the homosexual community? Blaming others rather than themselves? Those actions are not going to be tolerated if they wish to save face. No amount of justification or excuses will help the Vatican; at this point what they need to do is show that they understand and agree with their followers that action needs to be taken in correcting the wrongs that has been committed to hundreds of innocent people. Society wants accountability and if the Vatican wishes to reclaim its role as the pillar of supreme ethical standards then they must prove that they too have made a mistake and are willing to repent for their sins.
1. Elephant
ReplyDelete2. Federal Judge Rules Against Patents On Human Genes
3. Scott Hensley
4. NPR.ORG
5. 3/30/2010
6. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/by_scott_hensley_in_a.html?ft=1&f=1024
Goffman
Being a judge you have to play a part, there is a lot of roles you have to play and a lot of roles you have to ignore. A judge has to be impartial and calm. When they have cases in front of them that they feel a certain way they cannot let this impact them. This particular case was about the genes that cause breast cancer. The test to see if you carry a gene costs three thousand dollars. He had to look at the law behind the ruling. He ruled that genes belong to the people they are a part of and cannot be owned by the company who discovers the test. This is good and bad. If a company doesn’t have the money to motivate them to do research then they might not work towards finding things. The judge has to ignore how he might have felt if his wife needed this test and his daughter or another woman he loves and this might take away their opportunity to have access to things like this. This might undo thousands of patents this includes this kind of material, making the scientific world less motivated. The judge had to be impartial and ignore his own personal feelings and play a certain role. He has to be a judge, a father, a husband and maybe his own feelings might have leaked into this case and in hope that this test might be cheaper for them even though it might have negative consequences.
sting
ReplyDeleteThe “Mommy Track” Turns 21
Angie Kim
Slate Magazine
March 31, 2010
http://www.slate.com/id/2249312/?from=rss
Goffman
Goffman says that performance is a necessary part of human social interaction. Humans perform realities constantly, and two main acts are parenthood and that of the work place. Angie Kim’s article is on the 21st birthday of a new professional women’s-working condition for the work place. It divided the workplace for females giving a fast track to women whose careers came first and a more flexible, slow track for women who were balancing a family. Many people bashed the idea of this “Mommy Track” claiming that it was a dangerous kind of “retrofeminism.” Goffman would likely approve of this mommy track because it allows women to choose how and when they act in their many realities, as a working-class, as mothers, as wives if they choose to. Some argue this track would allow more power to women and demands, or more power to men to excel. Though having a daddy track would also be useful. Parenthood is not the only other institution that the working-class acts out. Marriage, ill or aging family members also call for people to act out another reality. All dependent on social interaction. Perhaps it would not be a bad thing to allow humans to more easily combine all the roles they take on, appeasing themselves and their different audiences.
Minina
ReplyDeleteI am proud to be gay, says pop star Ricky Martin
No author
BBC News
March 30, 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8594121.stm
Goffman:
It is interesting to see that a famous Pop star named Ricky Martin has finally decided to stop projecting himself, at least in part of his sexuality, as something that he was not. Mr. Martin is a direct example of impression management. He was an individual who in his everyday life as a pop star and through his social was motivated to sell a particular image of himself to others. Often he was suggested that if his sexuality was discovered or revealed this would ruin his career or seriously affect it in a negative way. Therefore, hiding his homosexuality was due to the fact that often in our society being gay is not socially approved. Although, no one would say that being gay is a crime or that it would intentionally hurt his career, it has been an unspoken norm to hide someone’s sexuality if it is not the “norm” of the society, due to these factors. It was necessary for Mr. Martin to hide his sexuality in account of his interaction with society as a famous pop artist.
Mr. Martin projected an image of a heterosexual for a very long time and there were even speculations of his sexuality throughout the years. According to some he revealed being gay due to a potential article in a tabloid. Therefore, Mr. Martin performed an aligning action. He took the opportunity to make a verbal statement, through twitter, in order to explain potentially the unacceptable behavior, or made an account. It was important for Mr. Martin to use his performance as a heterosexual artist in order to maintain his position as successful pop star and avoid being stigmatized for being gay which tends to happen at times within society. However, even though for a long time he had a discreditable stigma his revelation has now become discredited, but he is willing to live proudly no matter what the consequences and be true to his identity.
Babydoll
ReplyDeleteSecret Service paid hacker $75k a year, friend says
Kim Zetter
CNN
March 24, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/03/24/secret.service.hacker/index.html?npt=NP1
Goffman:
Albert Gonzalez worked two jobs. His first job was as an undercover agent for the U.S. Secret Service; his job was to inform the Secret Service of credit card fraud and bank card thieves. As for his second job, he was self-employed. Gonzalez ran his own multimillion-dollar card-hacking operation, which stole debit and credit card information from the same network he used for the Secret Service. This is not the first time an incident like this has been reported. There are at least three other situations where Secret Service informants have been also running fraudulent schemes.
In this article, Gonzalez is an actor who conveys a specific impression to two different audiences. He uses two different personas as a mask to project particular image to each audience. To one audience he is an informant for the Secret Service. To the other audience he plays the role as a criminal, which is more of a backstage to his other persona. Gonzalez used impression management to control his peers’ ideas and notions of how he behaved in different interactions within each scene. He also idealized himself through his role as an informant to emphasize positive qualities to others and portray values that are accepted of society as well as to hide his role as a criminal. The article explains that Gonzalez’s role as an informant may have reinforced his role as a criminal. This portrays a sense of alienation because the actor is unable to genuinely accept or take on one role and assumes the role of another persona. Without one role, there other may not exist.
Dr. Mo44
ReplyDeleteThat’s What She Said
Josh Levin
Slate.com
March 18, 2010
http://www.slate.com/id/2248340/
Goffman:
Impression management is keeping up the image of ourselves that we display to the world. In most cases, our would consist of a few hundred people. We are not straight up performers, but we produce these images of ourselves to make a impression on others. In the case of golf great Tiger Woods, his world consisted of millions of people that he have know idea exist. His stage is so large that a single event has turned his life upside down. For him, his performance team is filled with many P.R representatives.
The article that was found on slate.com is about a spoiled performance. The perfect image that he upheld has been tarnished by text message that were revealed by one of his mistresses. When the story first broke, he tried to “save face” by being silent, but the squeaky clean performance that the world knew as Tiger Woods seemed to be gone forever.
What the audience saw was a family man who was the typical “all American” father and husband. That projected image that has been in tact for so many years is the reason why so many people around the world was shocked and in disbelief about everything that was coming into the front of this actor’s stage.
After months of silence and millions of dollars lost, he has now began to take part in aligned actions to clean up his spoiled performance. The aligned action that he is taking part in the most is Account. He is giving a series of verbal statements to let the on looking audience know that he understand that he messed up, but wants forgiveness.
Juice2135
ReplyDelete“Solar Power’s Dirty Secrets”
Marc Gunther
GreenBiz.com
March 30, 2010
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/03/30/solar-powers-dirty-secrets?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Greenbuzz+%28GreenBiz+Feed%29
Summary:
Gunther reports that an activist group, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, has completed a survey and scorecard of solar energy firms. The report has some disturbing findings on various firms and their inadequate recycling programs. Two main problems are outlined in the article. First, because the industry is so vast, the amount of waste that could potentially be recycled cannot be ignored: “SVTC estimates that announced utility-scale solar panel projects in the state of California alone will generate about 1.5 billion pounds of panel waste.” The second, and perhaps more alarming, issue is one regarding the industry’s response to the scorecard. Only about 25 percent of companies showed any response of compliance to the environmental deficiencies practiced, and those that felt they could ignore such reprimands include companies that receive (9-figure) loans from the U.S. government. Executive director of SVTC, Sheila Davis, had this to say:
"We've done scorecards in the past, and in the first round, we typically get a low response rate. Our experience is after a couple of years, companies are knocking on your door to participate because it becomes a competitive issue."
Goffman:
Here we can see a quite literal example of impression management. Each individual company is acting as its own, whole entity. Unlike human interaction, however, it is important to note that in each of these specific cases, “selling” a particular image of itself for each company is a very tangible, conscious effort. As a result, the front stage and the back stage are separated by such a delicately articulated line, that it is difficult to conceptualize any real difference between the two. However, they still exist as two separate and distinct entities. In the back stage, we see each company’s operations: through these we can determine the beliefs and ideals that the company as a whole adheres to. The front stage, on the other hand, is an open display of the image they wish to portray: for each company, we can assume this to be the work of its performance team, the public relations department.
This article shows a disturbing disconnect between many companies’ front stage impression, that of environmentally responsible and progressive energy producers, and the workings done in the backstage, outright failure to adhere to “green” policies, even when made explicitly known to them. SVTC attempts to make compliance to environmentally friendly practices a requirement through stigma-based strategies. As we can see from Davis’s statement, it is not until each company’s identity is spoiled that they attempt to change, as evidenced by her assertion that, “it becomes a competitive issue.”
1. Smlongbb
ReplyDelete2. Curtis says Woods playing well, looked 'nervous'
3. The Associated Press
4.Gainesville Sun
5. March 26, 2010
6. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100326/ARTICLES/100329555?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar
Goffman,
This article concerned Tiger Woods appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. A fellow golfer described all of Tiger Woods actions in its entirety, from his physical stance to his facial expressions. This was dramaturgy at its finest. Since his embarrassing ordeal, Tiger Woods image has been greatly tarnished. Due to his previous performances/ actions/ indiscretions being greatly mismanaged, he subsequently “loss face” in front of millions. So at the tournament his performance team worked in overhaul to try to change the impression on the people at the golf tournament, e.i., the audience. Following his numerous cases of infidelity, Woods is constantly trying to find remedies for his spoiled identity. He has given an account, excuse, justification, and disclaimer with hopes and prayers that these aligning actions would minimize the stigma placed on him. All in all, I feel he needs to cool out. He needs to leave public eye for a little while longer then reemerge with a new identity or as a better golf. At the tournament his golfing performance was described as average. And after a major ordeal like that, he desperately needs an above average performance.
Jh1988
ReplyDeleteJunk Food Jones Is Wired In Your Brain
Scott Hensley
NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/junk_food_jones_is_wired_in_yo.html?ft=1&f=1024
Garfinkle
Junk food is bad. Everyone knows that junk food is bad, one of the main reasons they call it junk food is because for the most part it serves no direct function to your body. The purpose of junk food is to feed a pleasure sensor in the brain, so in order to examine the function of the brain that needs this pleasure scientists used rats to explore these phenomenon.
Feeding the rats junk food is a breech of social norms that everyone knows you are not supposed eat junk food. The author compares the rats dependence on junk food to addiction to drugs, a further indication of the stigmatization associated with eating junk food in abundance. Junk food is not meant to be eaten in great amounts and doing this goes against social norms society establishes to promote public health.
sweetmay
ReplyDeleteDubai makes U-turn on cooking with alcohol ban
Daniela Deane
CNN
March 24, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/24/dubai.food/index.html
Garfinkle:
Dubai has really unique demographic that over 85% of people there are come from other countries. Also, there is one of the popular places for visitors in the world. For entertaining those visitors from other countries, alcohol beverages were used to be served at licensed restaurants or bars, even though Muslims are not legally arrowed to drink alcohols in Dubai. However, last month Dubai officials stated that the use of alcohol in cooking was "strictly prohibited" since it violated the Muslim country's strict alcohol rules. Most of restaurants there were confused because they have some menu even popular dishes (especially foie gras which needs alcohols to cook. Soon after that, officials changed their statements and said there was just misunderstanding and there was no bun.
The situation in Dubai is a great example of my breaching experiments. In Dubai, majority of people was Muslim and no alcohol was like one of religiously taken-for-granted rules for them in the past. However, many foreigners (no Muslims) began to live in Dubai and they are breaching norms for Muslim. For new comers, drinking alcohols is usually normal activity so that they keep doing but it is not same for Muslim. Muslims started to be confused and they tried to reaffirm no alcohol are allowed.
However, nowadays there are a lot of dweller who came from different countries so stating that no more alcohol makes those people confuse again. This is the way back-and-forth on ban is happened in Dubai. I often use the term "Ethnomethodology" which is the study of method or pratices that people use to accomplish their everyday lives and make sure of their reality. The situation in Dubai is an exact object of study for ethnomethodology.
Moreover if I adopt this situation in Dubai to my breaching experiments, two visible taken-for-granted rules can be found. One is rules for Muslims that is no alcohol and another one is rules for foreigners that is alcohol freedom. Actually, there are some other problems of belief between Muslims and foreigners. I believe that it is really important for both different group of people to understand taken-for-granted rules for other groups and respect each other. It is the only way for all people in Dubai live at peace.
woohoo
ReplyDeleteBullies: They can stoped but it takes a village
Alan E. Kazdin and Carol Rotella
Slate
March 31, 2010
http://www.slate.com/id/2249424/?from=rss
Berger and Luckman
Bullies are something that has been around since the beginning of time. Eversince their was the idea of power, bullies came around. Some people go as far to say that to have a vast amount of power one has to be a bully. This artical speakes of bullying. It isexplained by the authors that it is a way of one of the childs insisting on power over the other children.
I beleive that people act upon their social world, this even applies to children. The bullies normally are bullies because they have impulsive temperaments, don't get enough parential supervision, and they may also have significant exposure to models of agress, according to the artical. These are all examples of the social world for the child that is a bully.
Now these actions that the bully sees becomes objectivied. This leads the child to doing these actions that he sees, in which it now becomes a habit . A habit of bullying. This leads to the habitualized action becoming an institution. The child that is a bully just sees it as something norman. He thinks that" this is the way things are done". This is an example of the three step process of how institutions are formed.
Ruby
ReplyDeleteWhat Makes Chechen Women So Dangerous?
Robert A. Pape, Lindsey O’Rourke, and Jenna McDermit
New York Times
March 30, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/opinion/31pape.html?pagewanted=1
Berger & Luckman:
In this article, it describes the disturbing fact that Chechen women are more deadly as suicide bombers than their male counterparts, by killing more people in a single bombing. The article clearly reflects the 3 step process according to Berger and Luckman about women becoming terrorists since “Humans act upon their social world.” Their social reality is that “they do not accept being humiliated or living under occupation” in Russia. This story is about men and women strapping explosives to themselves and deliberately killing others to prove a point, whether it is religious based or politically. It details Chechen women as being more dangerous than men because they are not looked at in society as much of a threat. The advantage that a woman has in this society is that they are able to travel without being detected to their desired targets more easily than a man. Another reason they are considered more dangerous is because they have the ability to inspire other men and women to take up their cause, therefore creating an institution of their own, where individuals are banded together for the sole purpose of committing suicide and killing dozens at the same time. Berger and Luckman would view this behavior by these women as a form of “externalizing” their actions so that others will follow and thus causes these habitualized actions to become “institutionalized” by the Chechen suicide bombers.
Private1
ReplyDeleteThe Culture Gabfest, "Shake Your Bon-Bon" Edition
Stephen Metacalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas, and Julia Turner
Slate
March 31, 2010
http://www.slate.com/id/2246621/?from=rss
In this program, the critics discuss the coming out of celebrities. Recently, pop artist Ricky Martin came out of the closet after years of speculation about his sexuality. According to the critics, sexuality is used as a tool to create artists' image. The stigmatization artists experience when they come out depends directly on the sexual image they establish. Those with more ambiguous sexual images will confront less disproval, while those who are highly gendered in the minds of fans, will lose a greater portion of their fan base. For instance, after constant reaffirmations of his heterosexuality, singer Bruce Springsteen can't come out without causing a riot. While David Bowie's sexual preference was never really in question and Niel Patrick Harris's homosexuality makes no difference. As the critic's stated, "you're not forced to rethink him or the character he plays." The critics also mention how biological sex and the medium in which celebrities work makes a difference. According to them, the sexuality of soap opera stars is less relevant than that of the music industry's. They say this is because a musician's sexual image is more pure and true in nature than that of an actors who is merely playing a role. And it is more accepting for a woman to come out than man. This has to do with anxiety we have of men and men together. Whereas in theatre, most men are almost expected to be homosexual. As for Ricky Martin, he stated that he didn't come out sooner because it would have been a distraction.
This article is the perfect example of how we perform ourselves in everyday life. Celebrities especially, live a life where every minute of it is acting. As they are constantly under the speculation of the public, they along with a performance team create an image that will foster sales. Their performance team includes their managers, stylists and publicists that lead the audience or public to form either a gay or straight impression of themselves. These gay or 'straightness' characteristics are carefully selected and managed to enhance or maintain their fame and acceptance. As for the distinction between actors' and artists' sexuality, the differ lies in that actors are already playing out a role. The audience is aware that these are not their true feelings, but simply ones they are taking on because the script enforced it. Singers and musicians on the other hand, are believed to be true to the performance they broadcast. Yet both of these celebrity types, like everyone else in the world, are acting out their sexuality, and the rest of their personality for that matter. Flamboyant singers such as David Bowie are motivated to sell the homosexual persona so that it's part of who they "are". He intentionally floats between both genders to create a rather risky persona. Its key in selling his eccentric and glamorous image. So that when we do become aware of sexual preferences, we are already desensitized. While Bruce Sringsteen's fan base consists of mostly a heterosexual population. He portrays himself as a free-spirited yet all-manly rock and roller. Most homosexual celebrities, like Ricky Martin, use varying forms of aligning action to minimize possible stigma. Typically their sexuality and act of coming out is justified as a way of being true and honest to their fans. Ricky justified his sexuality and lack of not coming out sooner in an attempt to define this behavior as appropriate due to all the pressure coming from media and paparazzi. In actuality, it was done to gain fan's sympathies and maintain his image at the time.
-Goffman
Private1
ReplyDeleteThe Culture Gabfest, "Shake Your Bon-Bon" Edition
Stephen Metacalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas, and Julia Turner
Slate
March 31, 2010
http://www.slate.com/id/2246621/?from=rss
In this program, the critics discuss the coming out of celebrities. Recently, pop artist Ricky Martin came out of the closet after years of speculation about his sexuality. According to the critics, sexuality is used as a tool to create artists' image. The stigmatization artists experience when they come out depends directly on the sexual image they establish. Those with more ambiguous sexual images will confront less disproval, while those who are highly gendered in the minds of fans, will lose a greater portion of their fan base. For instance, after constant reaffirmations of his heterosexuality, singer Bruce Springsteen can't come out without causing a riot. While David Bowie's sexual preference was never really in question and Niel Patrick Harris's homosexuality makes no difference. As the critic's stated, "you're not forced to rethink him or the character he plays." The critics also mention how biological sex and the medium in which celebrities work makes a difference. According to them, the sexuality of soap opera stars is less relevant than that of the music industry's. They say this is because a musician's sexual image is more pure and true in nature than that of an actors who is merely playing a role. And it is more accepting for a woman to come out than man. This has to do with anxiety we have of men and men together. Whereas in theatre, most men are almost expected to be homosexual. As for Ricky Martin, he stated that he didn't come out sooner because it would have been a distraction.
This article is the perfect example of how we perform ourselves in everyday life. Celebrities especially, live a life where every minute of it is acting. As they are constantly under the speculation of the public, they along with a performance team create an image that will foster sales. Their performance team includes their managers, stylists and publicists that lead the audience or public to form either a gay or straight impression of themselves. These gay or 'straightness' characteristics are carefully selected and managed to enhance or maintain their fame and acceptance. As for the distinction between actors' and artists' sexuality, the differ lies in that actors are already playing out a role. The audience is aware that these are not their true feelings, but simply ones they are taking on because the script enforced it. Singers and musicians on the other hand, are believed to be true to the performance they broadcast. Yet both of these celebrity types, like everyone else in the world, are acting out their sexuality, and the rest of their personality for that matter. Flamboyant singers such as David Bowie are motivated to sell the homosexual persona so that it's part of who they "are". He intentionally floats between both genders to create a rather risky persona. Its key in selling his eccentric and glamorous image. So that when we do become aware of sexual preferences, we are already desensitized. While Bruce Sringsteen's fan base consists of mostly a heterosexual population. He portrays himself as a free-spirited yet all-manly rock and roller. Most homosexual celebrities, like Ricky Martin, use varying forms of aligning action to minimize possible stigma. Typically their sexuality and act of coming out is justified as a way of being true and honest to their fans. Ricky justified his sexuality and lack of not coming out sooner in an attempt to define this behavior as appropriate due to all the pressure coming from media and paparazzi. In actuality, it was done to gain fan's sympathies and maintain his image at the time.
-Goffman
Cloud123
ReplyDeleteThe Sandra Bullock Trade
David Brooks
www.nytimes.com
March 29, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30brooks.html
Goffman:
David Brooks highlights the so-called “trade” that Sandra Bullock has unintentionally made between her personal life and her professional life. After winning an Oscar this year, Bullock's personal life shortly came into the forefront in media as disastrous, as her husband was caught cheating on her. Brooks goes on to say that “economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important.”
Like Sandra Bullock, I believe that all people take part in dramaturgy, in which they perform their realities on a daily basis, as if their lives were a constant theatrical performance. In dramaturgy, people, or actors, must play their roles in a way that portrays their selves to their respective audiences. These performances are maintained through impression management, in which both the actors and their audiences play a role in foreseeing and fixing problems in their performances on the front stage, through aligning action techniques.
As in a theatrical performance, there exists both a front and a back stage, as well as all of the different props and tools necessary for the actor's performance. The front stage is the setting for the apparent actions that are displayed by the actor, and where the audience views the parts of the performance intended for them. In Sandra Bullock's case, her front stage could be any public place from the red carpet, to the movie screen, to the Oscars where she stood on stage and accepted her award with a speech about her loving husband. The back stage is the part of the actor's self in which he or she does not want to share with the audience, as it is more private and removed from their public performance and/or interaction with the audience. For Sandra Bullock, this back stage could be her home, in which trouble has been stirring these past weeks, or even in her trailer when she is filming, or in her dressing room when she can expect that no member of her audience will intrude.
HalfPint
ReplyDelete"UF student who was shot by police tells of his ordeal"
Nathan Crabbe
The Gainesville Sun
30 March 2010
www.gainesville.com/article/20100330/ARTICLES/100339936/1007/NEWS
Goffman:
University of Florida doctoral student Kofi Abu-Brempong, who was shot in the face by the UFPD four weeks ago, has issued his first statements since the tragic incident. He has stated that the UFPD officers had no right to enter his apartment in the first place and that he only acted in self-defense.
While the officers were acting out their roles as protectors of the student population, Mr. Abu-Brempong was also acting out his as a student being threatened with gun-toting officers. The officers are fathers, sons, and brothers at home. But on duty, they are enforcers of the law. They have a different set of goals and rights when they don their uniforms. They use props to carry out their mission, such as guns, batons, and TASERs. In the back stage, prior to entering Mr. Abu-Brempong's apartment, they most likely agreed upon a strategy to take in how to enter the apartment and what to do if Mr. Abu-Brempong did not cooperate.
Mr. Abu-Brempong also used props, including a metal rod he hurriedly grabbed to defend himself from the officers who forced open his doors. He also claimed that the officers did not fulfill their proper roles, as they never told him to put his hands up. He and his supporters see his role in the incident as characterized by victim-hood, while the officers involved in the incident see him as the aggressor.
Cronus
ReplyDeleteCan Animals be Gay?
By Jon Mooallem
New York Times
March 31, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?hp
Harold Garfinkle:
Today I read a rather strange and yet humorous article in the New York Times. The article was title, Can Animals be Gay, by Jon Mooallem. My first impression was that it seemed as if the New York Times was running out of news worthy material to print. However, as I read the article, I realized that it illustrated my explanations about breaching.
The article, Can Animals be Gay, begins by stating facts about a seabird called Laysan Albatross. The unique thing about this seabird is that it lives for about 60 to 70 years and maintains the same mate throughout its lifespan. According to the article, a small colony of Laysan Albatross assembles once every year at a place called Kaena Point. During this visit, they wait and search for their life mate so that they could copulate a single egg for a few months and then part ways until the next year.
The surprising twist to this story is that a third of the colony’s pairs consist of two female birds. What makes this story news worthy is that birds in general have the lowest percentage of what biologist calls “divorce rate”, which are those pairs that are not made up of a male and a female. These particular birds are known icons of monogamy and for making lifelong commitments to one another.
It was very surprising to many biologists that these birds pair themselves with the same sex. The story about the Laysan Albatross is a perfect example of breaching. Specifically the types about expectancy of interacting in personal relationships and what every ones knows to be the correct way to interact. It was a well known fact that these birds have lifelong mates. However, everyone assumed and expected the pairs to be a male and a female when in reality a portion of the population was not.
As I stated in my explanations, when the people’s assumptions are breached, they look for a reasonable explanation. In this case, biologist tries to explain the so called un-natural behavior of this seabird. In my opinion, biologist would say anything so that they can reaffirms the original underlying assumption that a couple if composed of a male and female.
1. Mickeydog
ReplyDelete2. SCHOOL BULLYING ACTIVIST: I Know
3. Jodee Blanco
4. CNN
5. March 31, 2010
6.http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/31/blanco.phoebe.bullying/?hpt=C1
This article is about the problem that millions of teens face everyday but somehow is swept under the rug in our society. Teen bullying is the cause of deaths, abuse, discrimination, and even suicide. In this article a young female age 17 named Pheobe commited sucicide after years of constant bullying by 9 of her class mates. The article begins by questioning why the parents and faculty were not more in tuned with this problem and the types of experinces that pheobe must have been feeling creeping through the hallways of her massachuts school getting picked on and tortured at every corner. The article furthur discusses they author Jodee's experinces growing up because she was also bullied. She talks about how much she sympathezies for Pheobe and how similiar their stories are.
From Social constructionism perspective we can generate are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena of bullying is develop in the social context of school. Bullying is when other kids (who often feel inadequate themselves) pick up smaller defenseless kids with malicious intent. Thus bullying is , a social construct is and practiced in every school all across our society and generally every member of society comes to experince this social construct however people re act to it differently depending on the particular group.
This construct is the by product of our society's attitudes towards dominance in being #1 at all times and all costs.
By using social constructionism we can uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in bullying and eliminate the need for bullys in our social reality. This is a necessity before its too late and more children resort to the devasting option of sucicide
Sasha
ReplyDelete9 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide
Published on March 29, 2010
By Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html?pagewanted=2&bl
Goffman
The teenagers in this story I am sure were pleasant, normal children at home and in their standard settings. The problem with the schoolyard is kids feel the need to be cool and to seem bad and interesting to the other children, which often results in bullying. In this case, the performance put on by thee nine teenagers resulted in the suicide of Ms. Price. According to Goffman’s impression management, people usually put on this “act” for social approval. Using his theory, the nine bullies interacted through the bullying of this poor, young lady in order to “sell” a particular image of themselves to others. I’m sure Ms. Price went through extreme emotional labor, which led her to the result of her death. Bottling up something so severe is hard, especially for a girl her age, from another country with no friends, just trying t fit in.
Wangmu
ReplyDeleteFederal Judge Rules Against Patents On Human Gene
Scott Hensley
npr
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/by_scott_hensley_in_a.html?ft=1&f=1024
Goffman:
It's astonishing to see that society has reached a point where it's players are able to not only calculate specific areas of the human genome, but also want to own it. In this world where we all play our parts according to how society dictates we should play them, perhaps it's regrettably more interesting to put our attention to these corporations. If they are acting out their role in our community as benefactors of our very own DNA, our biological essence of life, perhaps their part in our communal play has gotten a bit too large. Regardless of how it comes out to be, we have faith that social order will dictate to what extent businesses can own our biology. If we, as the audience of these big time players sit back and allow this to happen, perhaps that addresses to what extent, middle americana, or "normal americans" have allowed themselves to become just props, tools, or an audience for these big corporations; allowing them to have all the fun, and regrettably all the major parts in our theatre. Is this our time, middle america, to get back into the play! Lets start participating in our society, voicing our opinions. Perhaps we wont have to see the same actors with biased and selfish pursuits and we can start seeing the common voice being played out.
SongBird
ReplyDeleteArmed Gang Robs Switzerland Casino
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The New York Times
Published: March 28, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/europe/29swiss.html?scp=22&sq=march+29%2C+2010&st=nyt
Goffman:
In this particular situation my theory of Dramaturgy is being exemplified perfectly. The article explains an armed gang of men who have decided to put on mask and rob a casino. They were reported as being a group of 10 people dressed in all black with two cars. They robbed the casino by force with guns and a sledgehammer. The men robbing the casino have become actors in order to play the role of robbers in front of everyone who was at the casino. The scene took place at the casino where the heist took place. Those who were there mentioned how they spoke French to each other. I suspect it was all planned out within their performance team. The individuals who were all cooperating in the robbery wanted their audience to be confused and disconnected from what they were saying. The emotional labor were the use of machine guns and pistols because the men were trying to display strength, courage, and fearlessness. They wanted to construct an atmosphere of helplessness and fear inside of the people at the casino. I do not think these were their true emotions because no one really goes around with these type of weapons in public places. The front stage was the casino. The back stage was wherever they planned the heist together. They used the sledgehammer, machine guns, pistols, and mask as props. I suspect that they will be caught sooner or later by authorities and then will end up “losing face”. When they are caught and have to show up in court to receive their punishment, it is possible that they might try to give an account, excuse, or even justify their inexcusable behavior. I found it very interesting that prosecutors in Basel described the scene like an action film heist. This is because they are all actors just like in the movies who are playing roles.