sociology2ll3group20-blog

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Group Assignment #3

Societal norms can significantly impact individuals based on how they view themselves, how they are viewed by others, and the consequences surrounding non-conformists. In both the video of Orientalism and power and Judith Butler's take on gender identity, we see that those that are different from the traditional 'norm' are ridiculed, bullied, and are often victims of violence. It is evident in both sources that society forces individuals to comply with specific groups. If you do not identify with the mainstream group, then you are automatically inferior. Orientalism and gender stereotyping are culturally formed types of discrimination that force individuals to be viewed differently from society's norm. Both groups are stereotyped and overlooked by society, and we place individuals from these marginalized groups into categories with no way out. For both groups of people, institutional powers keep them in these particular stereotyped groups; for example, Trump categorized all Muslims as haters of the USA, and schools and religious institutions force individuals to perform under either the male or female role. The middle East is expected to be highly exotic and strange, with the women being belly dancers or extremely oppressed, and the men are either exotically romantic or terrorists. Men and women are expected to act like a "typical man" or a "typical woman." These expectations show that there are no groups in between, it goes from one extreme to another, and either way, you are stereotyped. Society paints all members of a particular group with the same brush, causing oppression and marginalization from people of the opposite group and their own.

The concepts addressed in both the video on Orientalism and Power and Judith Butler's take on gender identity can help analyze some aspects of our social climate today. This is especially true when looking at one particular issue: the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes seen throughout North America since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A report released in March 2021 found a "distressing surge of anti-Asian attacks across Canada and the U.S. that have been reported during the pandemic" (Rodriguez, 2021). Many have attributed this uproar in attacks towards the pandemic coverage that has placed blame on Chinese people and their cultural differences from Westerners, such as eating at wet markets. The video Orientalism and Power: When Will We Stop Stereotyping People? states that "perhaps the trickiest thing about orientalism is that it…has historically been produced as knowledge by those in power; whether government officials, religious figures, or the media." This concept is exemplified by how the pandemic's media coverage has influenced public perception, with the media and former President Trump nicknaming it things like the "Chinese virus" or the "kung-flu," placing blame for the spread of the virus on China. The rise in attacks that this has caused is especially dire for Asian women, which we can further understand through Judith Butler's video. As we saw in the March 16th shooting spree in Atlanta where six Asian massage parlour workers were murdered, the intersection of Orientalism and the gendered expectations demonstrated by Butler highlights the worst experiences of marginalized groups and exemplifies the dangers of the concepts addressed in these two videos.

Works cited: 

Rodriguez, J. (2021, March 23). New report details 'disturbing rise' In Anti-Asian hate crimes in Canada. Retrieved April 08, 2021, from https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/new-report-details-disturbing-rise-in-anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-canada-1.5358955

BBC Ideas, S. (2019, April 30). Orientalism and power: When will we stop stereotyping people? | A-Z of ISMs Episode 15 - BBC Ideas. Retrieved April 9, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZST6qnRR1mY

Bigthink. (2011, June 06). Retrieved April 09, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7o2LYATDc

[sociology2ll3group20-blog]

Group Assignment #2

 Arlie Hochschild and Dorothy Smith both address the inequalities that women continue to face both in the workforce and at home. Both address things that women could not do earlier in their lives, such as voting, work outside of the home, and progress in their industry. Hochschild argues that the sociological norm was for women to work hard in their jobs and come home to do even more work with the children and in the household. This concept relates to Smith because she struggled under the second shift's burden while raising two children as a single mother while trying to earn a living. Smith argues that men and women encounter the world from a  different basis of experience, which is proven in Hochschild's research where she found that women spent more time dealing with the children and the house. Women now account for half of the workforce but are still expected to tend to the children and household labor. Smith defends that much of society is premised on the male standpoint. However, sociology must be based on people as objects with behaviour that needs to be explained. Smith's argument of the male standpoint directly relates to Hochschild's idea that women's husbands are happy for them to work as long as they do the housework, and employers are happy for them to have families as long as they arrive on time and stay late. This ideology is based on the expectations that men have on the roles of women in their lives.

 The material discussed in the videos on Dorothy Smith and Arlie Hochschild is particularly apt when looking at one particular current issue; burnout and work-distribution during the pandemic. During the Second Shift video, Hochschild refers to the increasing pressure and strains felt by women trying to juggle a career and a domestic life and states that “the family became the shock-absorber of those strains.” This is especially true in our current climate, with women trying to juggle their usual home life and career dynamics within a singular environment. Hochschild stresses that while women entered a workforce that was built on the assumption of a stay-at-home parent existing within each household, they are expected to fulfill both roles simultaneously and flawlessly. This expectation can help us understand why women are still doing the majority of parenting and household work today, even in units where both adults have been working from home throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. According to reporter Michele Henry, “It has been very, very clear that in the pandemic women have experienced gendered impacts disproportionately…Unlike any other events in recent Canadian history, Dugal said, the pandemic threatens to roll back the strides in gender equality made over the last several decades.” (2020) This reality for women also helps to reinforce Smith’s argument that women and men experience the world differently, with men having unfair expectations about the role of their partner and taking them bearing the majority of the household workload as a foregone conclusion.

 Works Cited:

  HarvardIOPVideo. (2017, March 23). Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klbtDCQ3bM4

Henry, M. (2020, December 15). COVID-19 is not an Equal-opportunity Virus women still do https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/12/15/covid-19-is not-an-equal-opportunity-virus-women-still-do-the-lions-share-of parenting-tasks-amid-the-pandemic.html the lion's share of parenting tasks amid the pandemic. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from

Tmasoninnes. (2009, October 31). Retrieved March 15, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlIavZpOYPc