Assignment 5

1. Society stereotypes gay men as being very feminine.Some of the stereotypes that of gay men that are portrayed on TV that Savage discusses is the typical gay men who owns a puddle and walks their puddle in the park. Another stereotype that Savage talks about is the typical gay men who own and wear a purse.

2. A TV show from the 1990’s and is still shown today that gives an example of how gay men and/or straight people are not stereotypically portrayed is the Will and Grace. In this TV show, there are two characters that are gay: Will Truman and Jack McFarland. Will Truman is not the stereotypical gay man society usually portrays. He is manly, doesn’t wear a purse or own a puddle and doesn’t have feminine characteristics that are noticeable. On the other hand, Jack McFarland is one of the stereotypical gay men. He has feminine characteristics that he exposes in the show. A straight character that is not stereotypically portrayed is Grace Adler. Society portrays straight people being scared on gay people because they don’t want to be hit on by them or be influenced by them. In the show, Grace and Will live together and are best friends!

3. I think gay men should be allowed to adopt children. What makes society think that they won’t be able to do a good job or even a better job in raising a child than heterosexual couples? I believe that children who grow up in gay families versus children who grow up in straight families will be very different. Children who grow up in gay families will be more aware of the current homosexuality issues and will be more sensitive to these issues. They will also have a different type of appreciation and love for gay families raising children.

4. I didn’t find this reading! L

Assignment #4

1.) I beleive that cjildren do not "naturally" act like boys and girls, but something that is taught to them as they get older. A newborn doesn't know whether they are a boy or girl. Parents as well as society and education teach students what is right and wrong for their gender. Children do not know by instinct with what kind of toys they should be playing with or even what color they should like. For example, what kind of toys should children be playing with. Boys are taught that they should not be playing with dolls because that is for girls and get punished if they do. Girls are taught that they should not be playing with cars because young ladys are supposed to play with dolls and dressup and get punished if otherwise.
As mentioned before, it's not that children don't like playing with these kind of toys, they are taught that they have to play with those toys. I beleive we create gender roles where children are rewarded for gender appropriate behavior and are punished when they display inappropriate gender roles. Evevn though there are certain things children shouldn't do, some things are acceptable. For example, if a teacher sees that a boy wants to play dressup, automatically the teacher thinks that there is something wrong with the boy. But, if a girl acts aggessively, it is accepted by society because they believe that anyone can show or be aggressive. On another note, boys are taught, keyword here is taught, to like these colors because that's what is acceptable in society.

Assignment # 3

#1 According to the functionalist theory, the definition of “instrumental” leader is basically a person that takes charge in a group environment. The “instrumental” leader becomes the organizer and the manager that advises what the other group members should do. The “expressive” leader is the person that if placed in a group environment would be very supportive, have positive remarks and jokes. The group’s “expressive” leader helps keep the spirit of the group alive because of their expressive abilities.

#2 During the 1960’s and 1970’s women began to find employment and were no longer staying at home. Because this was women were now working, the family that had homemaker is now losing their power. The change caused the theorist to be critical and explain how the change of homemaker to employee is going to change the family for the worst. Theorists explain how this occurred from the 1960’s feminist movement.

#3 The main theme of the conflict theory is different to the functionalist theory. Unlike the functionalist theory, the conflict theory concentrates on group change, authority or unfairness to other individual. Conflict theory explains how one person becomes the leader, because of the power they use. Their main focus is to compete to try to advance or get ahead, and they lose the ability to work as a team. The theorist explains that dominance and control are parts of the conflict theory, which are not necessarily part of functionalist theory.

#4 Social exchange theory is based on ideas from the economics theory that believes humans are normal and make decisions based on the exchange of goods and services as well as think about the costs and benefits of everything. What the exchange theory has to say about husbands is that they have a stronger bargaining power than their wives because wives place such a big value on goods or services, they have few alternatives in gaining these goods or services.

#5 The feminist theory is based on the main idea of gender which refers to the social and cultural characteristics that differentiate women and men in a society.

#6 Thinking about the various methods or ways that we collect data to study the family, I would like to study families on a macro level. The method I would use to collect data is Field Research and about 25 people would be in my study because I want to have time to observe and understand the processes of their behavior. Three questions I would ask my study group is:

1. How has education limited you to help your family in a time of need?

2. Is there a religion in the household that is affecting the family?

3. Does everybody in the family have health care?