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The connection between Foucault's archaeological method and Butler's concept of gender

The following article tackles how Foucault's archaeological method and Butler's concept of gender both go hand in hand in explaining how individuals control what we put out in the world, thus controlling how one can be perceived by the world. Foucault's idea uses social media and the concept of fake news to depict this idea while Butler uses the explanation of gender being performance one does. 

Foucault claims that the Archaeological method is equivalent to the idea that words frame everything that we do and that words matter. Social media plays a big part in the mass exchange of words. With a lot of social media claims being a huge broken telephone, fake news in attempt to deceive people with misleading information. Social media can be a great way to help and inspire positive outreach, just as it has the potential to be extremely damaging to one’s perception of themselves. Butler talks about how gender is performed and the way that you present your gender can lead to a chain of different reactions depending on who is perceiving you. Gender is a performance, it is not necessarily completely reflective of what is going on in the individual's internal thoughts. A clear example of this would be a masculine-presenting woman who does not want to be tacked into the category of “man”, based on society’s checkboxes of what a man and woman is. 

Foucault and Butler’s claims are similar in the fact that Foucault’s archaeological method says that words exchanged in general and in social media are arbitrary in the same way that Butler claims that gender performance/presentation is quite arbitrary as well. Our social perceptions of things in this world are all determined by us. We see how this is done through the archaeological method as language and the way that it is structured allow us to construct the way we view things. With Judith’s concept of gender, we see the overlap in the way that gender is performed which can consist of an individual's choice of language to shape their gender and present it to the world. 

When looking at the connection between both Foucault and Judith Butler and the ways in which the two connect, we can also recognize that the issues they both speak to allow for the further explanation of issues present within today's contemporary social world. One of the many issues within society is the presence of gender stereotyping or looking down on those who identify as a different gender as opposed to their sex. Social media and the internet have caused this increase in accessibility to negatively represent individuals who are not seen as “normal” by society. Judith Butler spoke to this topic on looking down onto these individuals and it was connected to Foucault in the way in which he spoke to media and new coverage. Both individuals as well as their topics connect greatly to this issue within the contemporary social world.

To conclude everything that has already been stated above; Foculants archaeological method and Butler's ideas on gender tackle how individuals are impacted by society’s words and strong influence. They both believe that words are important and that they shape society's beliefs and morals.

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The connection of Arlie Hochschild and Dorothy E. Smith

Arlie Hochschild’s social concept of second shift revolves around women and how it affects them and how they are perceived. Dorothy E. Smith studied the concept of Woman’s Standpoint, which argued women’s difficulties of having a voice. When comparing the ideas of Arlie Hochschild and Dorothy E. Smith we can recognize how much they interconnect with one another and the ideas that both women have on feminism and working women in society. Both women bring a lot of attention to the idea of how underappreciated women are in society. Arlie Hochschild speaks about how women in society now are required to take on roles both at home and in the workplace and how they are very overworked while men are seen as being the main provider for the family. Dorothy E. Smith speaks upon the fact that women were always looked at as lesser than within the workforce and she explains how she wanted to help expand and recognize women’s work in all fields. 

Both of these women’s theories tackle the idea of feminism in the workforce. Hochschild’s theoretical idea involves the concept of “emotional management” tackling the issue of how women have to constantly modify their behaviour both at work or at home in-order to feel respected in the workplace similar to Dorothy E. Smith theory known as bifurcated consciousness women have constantly being given the label of having to work in the household because historically that has been all they were allowed to do , both theories tackle how labeling women in a stereotypical manner force them into play acting in-order for them to present them self in what is seen as an “ acceptable manner” to their male colleagues. 

The theoretical concept of the Interaction model utilized by Hochschild is one which takes both the physical and psychological context into account when exploring the bounds of. Within the research of Dorothy E. Smith, she often would refer to feminist theories in order to better understand the disparities between genders in spaces of work, etc. The interaction model theory can be used to explore specific motives as to how and why we collect certain information according to space and specific person (an individual gauges what is an appropriate way to act according to all environmental factors), which in turn influences how we behave. Events are significant in the contemporary social world. 

An important contemporary issue within the social world that these theories can applied to is the #MeToo movement, which is a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Hochschild’s use of the interaction model theory could help individuals uncover why sexual abuse/assault is more likely to happen in some situations more or less than others. While Individuals can utilize feminist theories just as Dorothy E. Smith Died, so they can gain a better understanding as to the power imbalance within the dynamics between men and women (or the abuser and abused). This movement has empowered women to stand up and speak out after experiencing sexual assault/harassment and is creating an environment where women are taken seriously and most importantly are being heard. 

Ultimately these women and their theories have revolutionized the world’s sociological understanding of how women are treated differently from their male counterparts, and helps bring us closer to achieving a world where women are at less of social disadvantage in social/political institutions. 

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Theodor Adorno & Social Capital Theory

Have you ever desired something and the minute you get it you do not feel as satisfied or happy as you thought you would? These feelings can be connected to the social capital theory and the theories of Theodor Adorno. It is evident that Adorno’s claims from the 1930s continue to play an important role within society today. Adorno was heavily interested in the way capitalism has consumed society and that human beings have lost their initial purpose. The social capital theory reinforces the false narrative within a capitalist mindset. 

There is a noticeable overlap that is present between Adorno’s philosophical claims about how capitalism has affected us as a society and the individual themselves. That can be directly tied back into the social capital theory. The social capital theory seeks to describe the basis of capitalism whereas Adorno’s claims seek to highlight the problems that arise whilst living and existing within a capitalistic society. Social capital theory claims that in order for us to function as individuals within a capitalistic society, we must first acquire networks with people or build up our resources. A capitalistic society says that we must be consistently working hard in order to build the necessary capital (money) in order to give us access to the resources needed to fit into society. Adorno confirms this idea of that non-stop grind for more and more in any way possible as capitalism does not sell us things that we absolutely need. We forget about the value that lies within ourselves and our personal relationships. People are becoming trapped in this cyclical trap of working and spending, which shows the daily emphasis of working and achieving more and more capital. 

To help understand important issues in the contemporary social world, social media can be used as an example related to social capital theory. The social capital theory has three separate concepts, and we can recognize social media through our nature of relationships. This theory allows us to build social networks through reviews and are able to see individuals without meeting them in real life. Now, through the use of social media, we are able to all be connected and interconnected through the internet one way or another. It is evident that capitalist society has taken over various areas of the real social world we see today, in the video he mentioned how pleasure time is one of the ways in which capitalist culture has taken over. The false expectations and targeted advertising in capitalist practice are constantly pushed through social media. People are spending more time on social media micromanaging other lives than using that time as Adorno talked about educating ourselves and growing our minds. 

Ultimately, the concepts of Adorno’s theories, and it’s correlation to the social capital theory can bring insight to understanding the how society impacts individuals. These theories help explain the alienation of the production of means, which therefore makes the things that people desire, a lot less rewarding when it is obtained. Adorno’s theories intersect with the social capital theory, by drawing attention to the issues of the mindset of capitalism which are essential to understanding the sociological world. In the end, these two theories support each other by fortifying each other’s arguments with their similar goal of understanding how society’s networking functions.