Wolf's Sociology 204

That’s where sociology comes in. This particular social science attempts to analyze and explain the social world (28 Anderson and Taylor, 2008), it attempts not to merely consider all that we see and experience to be the unchangeable, natural order of things. To break the habit of taking the state of things for granted one must first develop a sociological imagination. That means realizing that nothing that goes on in society is necessarily random or new. It also means taking that realization a step further and looking at how these non-random occurrences play into the lives of people as individuals and groups.

Sociology makes this possible by breaking the social world up into pieces that can be defined and classified. These words already exist in our vocabulary, but sociology applies new meanings to them that are more scientifically specific. One of the most important definitions in this science would be that of society. According to the lecture notes on January 10, 2008, in Professor Wolf’s Soc 204 class, society can be defined as “people sharing a culture, a social structure, and a territory.” Equally relevant is the idea of culture--people sharing rules of interaction and meanings of things (Wolf’s lecture notes, January 10, 2008). Or, more simply put, a shared reality.

Even these basic explanations of these concepts of society and culture might be enough to lead one to ask some questions that may not have came to mind before one started looking at things through the sociological binoculars. Questions like “What is this ‘shared rules of behavior’ thing, anyway?” Or “Well, it seems pretty apparent that not everyone shares the same reality. Why is that?” This is when it becomes really necessary to step back, to establish critical distance (8 Anderson, Taylor, 2008). When we do this, we are able to begin to see that there are patterns in society that impact peoples lives. It is easier to do this when looking at a culture or society drastically different from one’s own.

And that’s when it starts to get really interesting. Because that is when we get to the classical sociological theories such as functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interaction that help us put what we see around us into a scientific perspective. We are able to draw conclusions by applying these theories and various methods of research. At this point, we can assume that the “reality” we experience is more or less constructed by people, groups of people, and the meaning we attach to seemingly mundane functions and items. We can now start to look deeper at social structure, that is, the rules that function to fit the needs of and to organize society. But keep in mind, this structure is not static, it is constantly changing on many levels.

To illustrate this, consider “The Body Ritual of the Nacerima” by Horace Miner. He writes about our own culture and society (circa 1956) in a fashion that is usually reserved for small groups of brown people who most likely live in jungles or on islands, or, sometimes both. Given his ironically hyper-literal descriptions of things, it’s easy to assume it’s not about us. I’m sure most readers would ask “Why would anyone talk about us like that? We’re not savages.” That, however, is not my point. I actually found myself struck most by the fact that, circa 1956, toothbrushes were relatively simple devices made of hog hair and hairdryers were cumbersome, stationary devices.

These are material artifacts of society, yes, but still important examples of how things change and how they can change quickly. Fifty years ago, it seems, very few people would have owned their own hairdryer. They were simply too big and expensive to be marketed on such a large scale. Today, however, even my dad and I own and use hairdryers in the comfort of our own homes. We’re not the most fashionable people alive and I certainly am not the most feminine woman alive, but still, we both find the devices necessary and convenient. This is one of the ways in which the “reality” of the American beauty ritual, and thus something in society, has changed. In the 1950s, hairdryer use was confined mostly to women, and even then they had to go to salons once a week for the treatment. Changes in both the material and ideological aspects of our society and culture are responsible. First the material, hairdryer technology has improved quite a bit in the intervening 50-or-so years, making it possible for me to own one that folds up and fits in a fairly small drawer in my bathroom. Astounding! Our collective understanding of acceptable behavior as applied to gender roles has also advanced to some degree. In the 1950s, I might have been arrested in some jurisdictions, given that I rarely wear 3 or more articles of “women’s” clothing. My dad’s masculinity would have certainly been in question had he attempted to seek out hair drying service in that era.

That’s what I meant before, when I hyperbolically stated that “reality is fake”. What is accepted as true, right and normal largely depends on what version of reality a group of people happen to be adhering to in a given time, location and situation. People are in charge of constructing this reality, which is better and more familiarly referred to as society. And reality, or society, is constantly informing our experiences as individuals and groups. The effects of our own particular shared reality begin at birth. We are taught, explicitly and implicitly, how to act, what to wear, who to associate with and what to results to expect in our own lives. Sociology helps us to shift our way of thinking so we can see through the things that we may not even realize we are looking at and start to analyze these things scientifically.

Bibliography
Anderson, Margaret L. and Howard F. Taylor. Sociology in Everyday Life. Thomson Wadsworth.
2008.

Wolf, S. Rowan, PhD. Lecture, January 10, 2008. Portland Community College.