SOC 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 41: Social Constructivism, Masculinity
12 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Identity and the politics of representation: consuming difference. Theories of identity: essentialism vs social construction. Essentialist theories - unchanging core of meaning that is consist any over time and culture and politics. A man in japan is the same as a man in america because they have the same type of body and chromosomal make up. Social constructivist theories - how identities are produced in culture and society. These relations are invisible to the extent that identity are naturalized and essentialized. Arises not from within individuals but from complex social structures and relations to power. Certain identity categories emerge at certain historical moments based on historical or economic conditions. Imaginary in the sense that essential qualities are socially constructed. Real in the sense that those constructions have material consequences in the form of laws, beliefs, ideas. What"s does it mean to say that identity is socially constructed. Having built an idea off of something such as disability.
