#sociological analysis

[thebestpartofwakingup]

Note: this does NOT have to be the sociologist/writer you AGREE with the most — obviously this is the #marxism website — but the one you personally found the most interesting or enjoyed writing about the most.

I was always the odd one out in my sociology classes because I ADORED the constructivism lens I just thought it was a really fun way to analyze different writings and films (I ended up in a lot of sociology classes that liked to assign like. Film reports? That’s how I learned I hate film-based classes having to watch a film for a grade is so much worse than reading a book for a grade)

Yet most of my professors and other classmates treated Durkheim as the “hard” intro writer and the constructivism lens as the “hard” lens to write for even though I always found it the easiest to universally apply (because it’s just like. Social symbolism? A thing present in all forms of media related even tangentially to culture or human experiences? How is this not the easiest lens to use for every sociological “use 1-X lenses to analyze this story/article” assignment ever?)

ALSO: NOT including an “other” category because I want to keep this focused on these three in particular since, at least in the US, they are more or less taught as the first three “specific” or “initial” lenses of sociological analysis (which is why Marx isn’t my favorite because I got real sick of having to read the first section of Das Kapital the start of every semester since he it was ALWAYS assigned as a “warm up” in EVERY FUCKING CLASS)

[that-geniuss-blog]

Collective Perceptions and Sociocultural Transformations in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

Have you ever contemplated the intricate workings of the human mind, where conscious and subconscious processes interweave to construct elaborate narratives based on the slightest stimuli encountered? These narratives, infused with notions of attractiveness or its absence, possess the power to shape our perception of individuals and incite misunderstandings fueled by unfounded suspicions. Furthermore, they compel us to envision hypothetical reactions if those suspicions were indeed substantiated. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a literary luminary, masterfully captures the essence of human cognition and behavior in his evocative masterpiece, "The Most Handsomest Drowned Man In The World." With deftly crafted prose, complex characters, vivid settings, and poignant events, Marquez artfully illuminates the intricacies of human behavior, offering profound insights that reverberate through the annals of contemporary psychology, where the study of human nature remains a paramount endeavor.

Marquez adeptly employs the isolated coastal village setting as a catalyst for examining the influence of cultural beliefs on the characters' perceptions. The narrator's description of the "unrelenting wind" and the "restless sea" conveys the atmospheric intensity surrounding the drowned man's arrival (Marquez, 1968, p. 2). The extraordinary appearance of the drowned man disrupts the villagers' conventional understanding of physical beauty, thereby challenging their established cultural norms and redefining their values, dispositions, and thoughts.

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" explores the transformative potential of collective consciousness. Marquez presents a communal imagination that surpasses individual perspectives, as the entire village becomes captivated by the drowned man's allure. The narrator notes how the villagers embraced the drowned man as an integral part of their lives, even from their earliest years (Marquez, 1968, p. 3). This collective belief in the drowned man's magnificence unifies the villagers, fostering a shared identity that reconfigures their societal fabric, illustrating the profound impact of shared beliefs on collective consciousness.

The characters' experiences within the narrative are deeply influenced by the subversion of societal norms. The drowned man's physical appearance challenges the established beauty standards of the village, prompting introspection and self-questioning among the characters. Marquez writes how "no one had ever seen such a handsome sailor" (Marquez, 1968, p. 2). This encounter compels the villagers to confront their own lives and grapple with the constraints imposed by societal expectations, ultimately leading to personal growth and a collective transformation.

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" offers a profound sociological tapestry that highlights the fluidity of societal constructs and the transformative power of collective imagination. Marquez skillfully weaves together the shaping influence of the setting, the potency of shared beliefs, and the subversion of social norms to underscore the profound impact of external forces on individual and communal identities. By engaging with these themes, the narrative invites readers to contemplate the malleability of human perception and the potential for transformative change through the collective reshaping of sociocultural landscapes.

References: Marquez, G. G. (1968). The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. In "Leaf Storm and Other Stories" (pp. 1-7). Harper Perennial.

[valtsv]

was thinking about this earlier but the dynamic of cannibalism being associated with high society and the culinary elite (hannibal comes to mind specifically) while also simultaneously being associated with the socially isolated and economically impoverished (as in texas chainsaw massacre) is so interesting to me i want to read 10 million books on why it happens so much in media....

i can only speak from a place of personal opinion and general knowledge, because i haven't read that many papers or in-depth studies on cannibalism, but i think it often comes down to an interesection between the themes of the story you're telling and class structures and divisions. cannibalism is a compelling form of narrative symbolism because it's undeniably impactful and hard to ignore. when portrayed as a practice associated with the culinary and social upper class, it might be used as a critique of the rich and powerful and their lack of ethics and willingness to consume and destroy others for their own self-interest by showing them literally preying on and consuming their victims, or a horror story/cautionary tale about how having everything can lead you to never be satisfied and turn to increasingly extreme measures to feel like life is worth living, or a dark fantasy of indulgence and excess. when associated with the poor, marginalized and isolated, it's often based in bigotry and harmful stereotypes of the "primitive" "inhuman" "savage" "other", however it might also function as a revenge fantasy where the most oppressed and exploited members of society turn on their oppressors and take "eating the rich" to its most literal extreme, exposing the fragility of class divisions and pointing out that those in positions of social and economic power are hardly the mythic titans their propaganda tries to make them out to be, but ultimately just as mortal and made of flesh and blood as any other human being, and not immune to being dragged down from their position at the top of the food chain and torn to pieces by the crowd (as well as reminding the audience of their own fragile mortality and precarious position in the social order, and the humanity we all share in common - however cannibalism often divides the perpetrators from both their victims and the audience, so this is rarer than the other interpretations mentioned).

cannibalism and power often go hand in hand. cannibalism has historically been used as both a means of displaying your power over defeated opponents and delivering a final, humiliating blow to their image by consuming their flesh, and a means of othering and dehumanizing your opponent by portraying them as the cannibalistic monster.

both the very rich and very poor also tend to be perceived as more distant from the people who make and consume these stories, making them easier to project fiction onto and transform into symbols and narrative devices (or, in the worst cases, dehumanize) than those who occupy the same social spheres as the creator. they can be held at an arm's length without discomfort and, depending on the target audience, may be a source of fascination due to the differences in their lived experiences. it adds to the fantasy, and makes any inaccuracies, exaggerations and fabrications feel more plausible because the majority of the audience probably don't have any personal experiences of being in those positions to draw on.

[doomdoomofdoom]

Apparently there's currently discussion in science (humanities in particular) about whether video essays could be accepted as academic writing on par with the academic papers we currently have

I think that's awesome as fuck tbh

[trojanteapot]

Why the Northern Fremen don't believe in the Prophecy

The reason is just an incredibly simple, sociological reason. What do they keep pointing out about Arrakis? That the south is harsh and uninhabitable... to outworlders. We know this harsh environment increases religious fervour to bolster survival, but what does this mean for the north? Why did they lose their faith?

The settler's cities, Arrakeen and Carthag, are situated in the north. The Harkonnens don't believe the south is habitable so they only mine spice in the north. Their brutal suppression of the Fremen are only in the north.

So imagine you are one of the Northern Fremen. You know there's a prophecy about the Lisan al-Gaib, the Voice from the Outer World that would save your people. But here are these outworlders, who rampage your planet, who enslave and brutalize your people, who only see Arrakis as a resource, and its inhabitants as a means to an end, or "rats" that are in the way of their bottom line. Rats to be exterminated. Seeing all of this, of course you would start to doubt the prophecy. If this is how real outworlders are, why would the Lisan al-Gaib be any different from them?

And this is why Chani and the other Northern Fremen stop believing. They see through its manipulation of the Fremen. But they also understand that if the Fremen band together and fight back, they can win battles on their own. The Southern Fremen don't see any of this, because they're essentially protected from the violence of the colonizers by the dust storms near the equator. They might hear stories about the Harkonnens, but that wouldn't shake their faith in the Lisan al-Gaib. They are willing to simply wait for the "right" kind of outworlder, which does come along in the form of Paul and Jessica.

I think this is a really clever explanation of this divide in the thinking of the Northern and Southern Fremen, which is also related to the idea of how the environment that people grow up in shape their beliefs and their culture. Even though this is a departure from the first novel, this change is still true to the spirit of Frank Herbert's Dune.

[grayrazor]

Remember when people were like “Captain Planet is so shallow! The realities of climate change are so much more complicated and nuanced, millions of reasonable people making little understandable mistakes! Who would believe it’s all just evil billionaires destroying nature on purpose! How childish!”?

[intothedysphoria]

Stranger Things has a serious problem with the way it portrays working class men.

In Eddie Munson’s first real introduction in the show, he is established as intense, cynical and somewhat of a societal dropout. None of these characteristics are particularly new in the world of Stranger Things but one thing Eddie says really sticks in my mind.

“Forced conformity. That’s what’s killing the kids.”

In the Duffers eyes I’m sure that’s just a way to establish Eddie as an outcast but what he ends up eluding to is an extremely depoliticised explanation of cultural hegemony. Established by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, cultural hegemony is the ruling class dictating cultural ideology and behaviour via institutional and social messaging. (In this case, the media creating a Satanic Panic around Dungeons and Dragons and encouraging parents to force their children to conform.)

Ironic, seeing as the privately educated Duffer’s are dictating what they allow to be seen as working class culture but I digress.

The Duffer’s have an extremely rigid view of what a working class man acts like and despite a show that preaches about the right to be different, that right is ultimately only given to the middle class characters. Working class characters are always fulfilling some kind of classist stereotype.

Take four examples here. Billy, Eddie, Jonathan and Argyle. On the surface, four distinctive and different characters. But once you start noticing the similarities, it’s hard to stop.

All of them are either confirmed to be from an unconventional family unit or don’t have family at all. There’s nothing wrong with coming from a non nuclear family but the way the Duffers portray them, there is always something “wrong.”

Billy has an abusive father and his mother left him at a young age, Jonathan has an abusive father and his mother has mental health difficulties, Eddie is living with his uncle and it’s implied that his father is incarcerated, Argyles parents aren’t there at all. Notice how the middle class families rarely have this level of domestic discord (especially with the point the Duffers make about all working class fathers being shitty parents. The only exceptions seem to be Wayne and Hop and Hop REALLY has his moments.)

There’s also some stereotypical hegemonic working class male value that Billy, Eddie, Argyle and Jonathan hold that makes them either antagonist (either in the narrative or in the fandom) or isn’t a good trait to have. Billy is aggressive, all of them are addicts (which is also racist stereotyping in Argyles case), Jonathan and Billy are sexually deviant (never mind the distinction that Jonathan committed a sex crime and Billy was just groomed, the Duffers certainly don’t.)

It’s also important to note the distinct lack of working class male characters who aren’t white at this point, this show has zero understanding of intersectionality.

In some areas I’m almost glad the Duffers at least understand that working class men have a culture, because all of the working class women on the show have no real attempts to be assigned any working class female attributes. On the other hand, I already know it would just be fucking misogyny yet again.

Just like the shows blatant misogyny, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, abuse apologia and holocaust denialism, the Duffers show no real care about the discriminatory nature of the way they portray the working class. Or the classism that the wider fandom regularly espouses against working class people and culture.

If Billy, Eddie, Jonathan and Argyle had been from a show created by working class writers, I probably would have significantly less problems with the way their characters are handled. Both because the clunky, stereotypical characterisation would have been erased and also because it would have been portrayals of a real life working class experience. Abuse, addiction, racism and violence are all real problems in working class communities.

But the Duffers don’t give a shit about that. All they do is create an upper middle class view of working class values.

There’s obviously something deeper lurking under what is seemingly just a nostalgia bait sci fi show, something that speaks to the way the media industry as a whole reinforces these attitudes towards marginalised and lower class communities, but that’s a conversation that I don’t yet feel qualified enough to initiate. So, I’ll leave it at this for now.

The Duffer Brothers are absolute fucking wankers.

[chaoticace2005]

I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how the exorcists look like demons, and while I do understand where the complaint is coming from I also wanted to talk about how them looking like that kind of supports the narrative.

I’m going to start this off by staying this is from a perspective looking at the narrative presented to us in the Hellaverse, not any specific religion because 1) I am an atheist who doesn’t have the knowledge or background for making any calls on that and 2) the canon hasn’t confirmed this adheres to a specific belief system. There’s Adam and Eve and Hell and Heaven and yes, but this show arguably works as a parody of all of that.

Now that that’s established, I want to bring up one of the main points in the show: the idea that those in Heaven and Hell aren’t that different. In Helluva we’re shown the experiences of hell-born, and we even see cherubs later on who seem to fulfill the parallel role of them in Heaven (with the IMP vs CHERUB fight.) We also know that Lucifer was an angel in this canon. So some of the characters with the most authority in those domains are from the same stock.

The main difference seems to be punishment. Lucifer was punished for his actions and was given those who were deemed “Sinners.” The Hell born seem to be just natives living there and many seem to be products of their environment. So while Sinners may be “bad” and Winners “good”, all those born in Heaven or Hell have no reason for being there.

Whether exorcists are brought to heaven or made there, there is still that view of superiority. The way Lute talks makes it clear she’d be willing to kill the hellborn if she could, despite them not having done anything to be there like the Sinners. It’s similar to how some people born into high economic status view those born into lower. It’s just luck of the draw but now you have access to different opportunities and that influences the way you view others. Those born in Heaven probably look at those born in Hell and argue that if hellborn aren’t bad, then why does Hell suck? Ignoring the fact that Hell is established for the purpose of containing Sinners, who often end up being more powerful that the majority of hellborn.

Even some of the Sinners likely fall into that issue where people who gave to endure harsher environments may have to resort to more extreme measures to get by, and then punishment for it just causes them to need to do even more because their conditions worsened. As seen with the rate of people who keep returning to prison. With Hell some may have fallen down this path (think of Angel, who was born into a crime family, it’s likely a lot easier to fall into drug addiction then when you have access and more things you’d like to forget, but drug addiction can be a slippery slope and the other stuff he needed to do to survive basically condemned him.) Obviously not all Sinners fall into this category and are just monstrous pieces of shit, but they likely isn’t the case for everyone.

Then, once you get to Hell it’s essentially a larger prison, except you aren’t separated and are given powers, causing some of the more malicious individuals to rise up and acquire power, making it even more of a nightmare for everyone else. This continues that cycle of having to do certain things to survive. Similar to have in jail that fear of getting hurt by some violent people make you align yourself with slightly less violent people. Except now in Hell there’s that added issue: there’s no escape.

(Also, Hell is a prison but you STILL have to pay rent and work to survive, so you really get the added stress of both worlds.)

Anyway, this whole cycle causes a similar effect to the growing class disparity we see in many countries. Those on top (Heaven) continue to have power while those lower have to deal with most of the burden. Reinforcing that belief in exorcists that Heaven is “good” and Hell is “bad” because they are unable to see the full picture. They just see it as “they blew their shot” without thinking of why that may be or considering the people who didn’t even have a choice being there— like how some people blame others in poverty for being that way because “they are lazy.” That’s not even remotely the full picture. But because certain things come easy for you it’s hard to understand why it can’t come easy for others.

Exorcists are then given the excuse and opportunity to kill others, people who they believe are lesser than them. And some take genuine joy out of it, yet they continue to see themselves as the “good guys” because that’s what they are and the others “deserve it.” And this shows how when some people are given the opportunity and reason to be assholes they’ll take it- millionaires don’t HAVE to exploit their employees, but they view it as being to their benefit and helping the bottom line.

So now, both exorcists and those in hell have reason and excuse to be violent, albeit for very different reasons. Yet because of this exorcists are still “good” and those in hell are “bad.” And this is largely because of the lack of consequences for their actions. Heaven reinforces their behavior, before episode 8 there was no push back from Hell, so they could continue to use their reasoning as an excuse to kill others.

They’re blind and don’t see it though. They only see the world from one perspective, which is ironic given the exorcist mask is missing an eye. They can put masks on and hurt others and then take them off without dealing with the consequences. They “go down” to the level of the very people they despise and then write it all off, because they have the comfort of taking their masks off at the end. Of having a choice.

It’s also interesting how their masks don’t resemble sinners but Hellborn. Which almost reminds me of mocking another’s culture while actively hurting them. They may not be able to physically hurt hellborn, but they’re still viewed through the same lens as Sinners. They’re still “bad.” So exorcists can don caricatures of their appearances, go around “pretending” to be them by committing violent acts, and when they’re done they can take it off. As I’m writing this I’m now thinking about how in the past black-face has been used to reinforce racist stereotypes, making racist caricatures.

This also camouflage in a way, maybe they were previously asked to “fit in” before things got all crazy, and when told to look for “demon disguises” they all fall back onto the stereotype and dressed up like that.

The usage of exorcists wearing demon-looking masks could be them both “playing bad” while also clearly showing the fact that at the core people aren’t so different. For as much as they hate those in hell, they’re just as likely to fall into the same traps and patterns as them.

Having written this all now, I wanted to bring up Vaggie. Vaggie who took her exorcist mask off to show sympathy for someone only to be punished and marked with an “X” that mirrors her mask. Vaggie who previously was part of the “elite”, where she could forgo consequences until she couldn’t for not following them and was cast out, being permanently marked. Vaggie, who was previously allowed given the gift to “play bad” due to being in Heaven, but when she was cast out “playing bad” wasn’t an option anymore. Taking off her mask can’t get rid of mistakes anymore, and now she has to display them for the world to see.

I don’t know if the “X” was intentional on her part or irony, but if she did choose it it could also be her recognizing her role in the system. Her realizing she can’t go back and using the “X” to remind her of what she’s done. Because she doesn’t have the luxury of pretending she’s a good person anymore— she doesn’t want to forget.

[thelemonsnek]

visuals i made for a real actual paper i wrote for my sociology class that my professor will be reading

[image ids: the first image is a black and white drawing of Ingo and Emmet, from some time after Ingo disappeared. They both look neutrally forwards. Ingo is bedraggled per usual in Hisui, and Emmet looks tired. To either side of them are triangles emphasizing what shape their goatee is.

The second image is a photo of a salt and pepper shaker. The Submas Sideburns are drawn on top of them.

The third image is an edit of Shrek. He gestures at Donkey, saying, "submas fandom is like onions. submas fandom has layers, onions have layers... you get it? we both have layers."

The final image is an edit of the Marge potato meme. She holds Ingo and Emmet up, saying "I just think they're neat!" End id]

[silvermoon424]

I'm WAY overthinking this but

It kind of just occurred to me that the Team Rocket Trio are like, a perfect example of many of the more progressive sociological theories of crime?

Jessie, James, and Meowth really don't seem like very bad people. Yeah, they do bad things sometimes, but time and time again we see them put others' needs before their own, care for the Pokemon they work with, and they even showed up at Ash Ketchum's final battle to cheer him on. In one of the Pokemon manga (the Electric Tale of Pikachu) they literally give up a life of crime to settle down together as a family.

So why join Team Rocket? Because they had basically no other choice.

Jessie grew up as a poor foster kid. James was a runaway. And Meowth was a literal alley cat. It's been forever since I watched the anime, but I think I remember there being episodes about how the trio did try to go on the straight and narrow when they were younger but it just didn't work out. So they turned to a life of organized crime.

This is actually the background of Team Skull in Sun and Moon; the team is made up of disaffected youth who failed their Island Challenges and have been rejected by society, so they decided to band together for safety and companionship. Much like actual, real-life gangs.

Wow, yeah, it's almost like, when given no alternative options and largely shunned by society, poor people often turn to crime huh

[femmesandhoney]

i still recommend people to read If We Burn by Vincent Bevins about the latest decade of failed social movements and revolutions. it might bring an interesting perspective for some of yall interested in why it seems so much effort goes nowhere more often than not lately.

[twynte]

I diagnose you with PTOD

(post-traumatic orv disorder)

[wandering-alien]

Adam Curtis talks about how our age of individualism with ideas about needing completely free and independent identities means that nobody falls head over heels in love and gives themselves up to the emotion and the person they love but when Hozier sung 'No grave can hold my body down/I'll crawl home to her' that hit. That was beautiful.

And this is coming from the person who still doesn't really understand romantic relationships.

[osiiiris]

How has it become so prohibited to say you just don’t like something? Why do people get so offended by others' personal tastes, or worse, the way they feel about something?

[a-contemplative-soul]

I feel like nowadays society is too obsessed with immediate answers, everything must be quick and easy, as Bauman said, we are on a "liquid era" and a large problem has arisen from it, as people want everything faster, they start to judge quickly as well, which leads to a lot of disinformation, believing in generalizations becomes a recurrent thing, the process of judgement becomes very superficial, people are ready to judge everything with very little information just because it is "easier" and "quicker", also, accepting random information found on the internet becomes convenient, there is little to no filtering, anything that sounds convincing is accepted as truth. I believe it will take a lot of time to change such approach, however, if someone really tries to develop a better approach of judging things, if someone keeps observing things and always trying to find the most reasonable answer, with the adequate degree of skeptiscism, this person can start to leave such a bubble and being able to see the world in a more realistic pair of lenses, any skill that you constantly practice, eventually, at some point it will become a precise skill. Observing, analyzing and judging properly are skills for life, if developed they can be used in all areas of life.

[chthonic-cassandra]

Continued irritation at the use of the term 'gender-based violence' as an umbrella for all sexual and domestic violence when the term 'interpersonal violence' already exists.