Welcome to Soc 1A! Quick Writing and Attendance

Review Syllabus

Sociological Perspective and Analysis

Homework: Introduction to Sociology: Chapter 1

Quick Writing:

Name, email

major/interests/goals

What do you hope to learn from this class?

How do you plan on succeeding in this class?

Explain the quote at the top of the syllabus

Review the Syllabus

The Sociological Perspective

What is Sociology?

Study of Society…what does that mean?

It examines the ways in which the forms of social structure & social categories & various social institutions affect human attitudes, actions, and opportunities.

Sociology enables us to understand the structure and dynamics of society, and their intricate connections to patterns of human behavior and individual life changes.

Why Care About Understanding Society? We are products of society and society is a product

of us Understand why and how we came to be like we are

Our position within the social structure (society) determines how we will act, think, and what resources we have

Our place in society is the intersection of many social relationships Gender, race, class, age, geography, sexuality

Examining the present with the past “[Humans] make their own history, but they

do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.” - Karl Marx

To understand the present social arrangement in society, sociologists must also look into the past

How sociologists study society Sociologists look to

explain how and why things happen. In every question a sociologist asks and every answer they give you will find an explanation of the how and why

Keep this in mind over the semester!

Critical Thinking is Required

Sociology is a critical, analytical, and empirical discipline and sociological thinking is a process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating

Beliefs vs. Sociological Analysis As social beings, we see the social world through

our own lens of experience and belief system and often make judgments based on our personal beliefs

To remain objective, sociology helps us see how that lens was formed and be honest about our assumptions

What we see with sociological analyses often challenges many of our thoughts and beliefs

Come to class prepared to be exposed to alternate explanations of the world and to try and understand them

In conclusion:

Sociology provides us with the tools to examine the social world empirically, analytically, and critically

To do this objectively we have to constantly examine how our own perspectives and experiences shape how we view and interpret the world around us

Lecture One

Sociological Perspective

The Sociological Perspective

Sociology seeks to understand the relationship between the individual and society with:

C Wright Mills: Sociological Imagination A quality of mind that allows us to connect:

“Personal troubles of the milieu”with

“Public issues of social structure”

Examining these relationships gives us the knowledge to understand society, our place in it, and the ability to make changes

HIV/AIDS Globally

Understanding and Explaining HIV/AIDS Cultural Explanations

Virility is strongly linked to masculinity in many cultures affected by HIV/AIDS

Low status of women

Social Structure Explanations Global poverty and inequality create low immune systems Underdevelopment limits economic opportunities

Political Explanations Lack of adequate health care and access to treatment Political policies that do not address the issue

Individual Explanations Lack of education and poor choices

Social Consciousness

Another sociologist, Peter Berger, believes that we need a social consciousness or “A form of consciousness that enables us to see the "reality" behind the "facades."

He asks us to critically examine the things that are familiar to us as unfamiliar “It can be said that the first wisdom of sociology is

this – things are not what they seem.”

Practicing Social Consciousness Have you ever asked yourself: Why do

women shave their legs?

Why is it normal in our

culture for women to

shave their legs and

not men?

Asking How & Why (and when) with Social Consciousness When did this ideal emerge?

In the 20th Century when women’s legs became more visible due to shorter skirts and changing fashion

How did this ideal emerge? Needed to have the right technology to make shaving easy

and safe. The safety razor emerged on the market in early 20th Century.

Why did this ideal emerge? Anglo-American cultural standard: leg hair is unfeminine Cultural mechanism to increase sexual dimorphism

(difference between sexes in the same species)

In Conclusion…

A sociological perspective requires us to think critically and analytically about the social world around us, our place in it, our relationships to others, and our own personal beliefs and values

While sociologists study many aspects of society and social issues, the core concepts of the discipline are power, inequality, social justice, and social change