SOCI201 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Erving Goffman, Breast, World War I
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
SOCI201
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Bodies
- We think of bodies as biological
- Took centuries to arrive at this understanding
- Harvey demonstrates blood circulates
- Bodies differ (female bodies, male bodies, thin old bodies, fat bodies, young bodies, etc)
- We have assumptions of what a body should be; when its at its best and worst
- Ethnocentrism- the idea that your group standards are the normal; the way we look at
the world is natural way
- The assumption that wherever you grew up, local standards are correct
- Body standards vary across space and time
- Paleolithic Venus figures from Europe ( about 25,000 years old) and shaped like females
bodies and exaggerated certain parts of the body
- Early pornography or represented fertility
- Many cultures equated more weight with greater beauty; if fat, meant you were wealthy
and eating good and if you were skinny, you were not doing so well.
- Reubenesque paintings look a little heavy, nineteenth century girls seen as thick french
postcards ( heavy erotic, porn pictures) of thick women
- Gibson girls seen as thick with small waists
- Parts of the world where fat is being valued in their countries (Mauritania’s Wife-
Fattening Farm, Burkina Faso’s Miss Large Lady)
- Fat is valued when it symbolizes wealth and leisure- Queen Rarotonga (1894)
- Jane Austen’s girls talked about bonnets to land husbands with money
- Woman want skin to be pale; which is a way of showing high status
- Made attractive bonnets to attract men
- Wanted to avoid getting tan to show they were not poor; if you were tan you were a
peasant
- Which is why most artists painted nudes who were pale not tanned
- A tan showed a sign you worked outside and were poor
- Today work is more likely to be illuminated by fluorescent lights
- Today being tan is a way of displaying you have leisure; shows you have the time to
perfect your skin (laying and sun)
- Which makes tan lines sexy (fake tans; spray tans, tanning booths)
- Thorestein Veblen (1857-1929) famous book: theory of the leisure class
- Conspicuous consumption- spending money to demonstrate to the world you are
wealthy and you have money
- Rich people used to be merchants, until people owned railroads, steel factories. People
worked their way up and made themselves fabulously rich, richer than they know what to
do with (Like today, with apps, software, the Internet) – NEW MONEY
- They started building really big houses and had armies of servants to keep the house
going
- Bought dogs and had to keep them looking good; Veblen called them “useless”, burning
money on them
- Proof that a woman had many servants wore very prestige wig and head wrap; showed
you were rich
- A walking stick demonstrated a man’s hands were not free, not required for work
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- Bodies express a society’s values- early america’s respect for age/wisdom- powdered
wigs and high waistlines made them look more older and more serious; represented you
were more wise
- High waist pants were worn to make them look older
- Today old people dress like younger people; society has flipped; old age is no longer
valued
- One’s body can be changed; spend time altering bodies to make them more alined in
what we expect so… diet
- Medical modifications to alter bodies ( if you don't like your breast or butt, a doctor will
help and alter it)
- Advertisers appeal to desires for different bodies
- Advertisements appeal to desires for different bodies (Blondes have more fun – 1950’s,
15 minutes a day exercises)
- Bodies as achievements; losing weight is an accomplishment
- Adornment make bodies more appealing;jewelry clothes, hair, makeup
- Tattoos once suggested lower status after WWII and even symbol criminality
- Now tattoos are respectable; artistics
- Irwin’s article examines how young people try to reconcile tattoos and
respectability.
- Tattoo popularity growing, varies by age.
- Not all people want to hang onto permanent reminders of temporary feelings (23%
regret getting tattoos)
- Bodies can become a social problems (obesity)
- Obesity means you are overweight and eating sugary foods
- BMI was used to determine whats healthy and whats overweight
- In 1998 redefined BMI range for normal weight. Men with BMIs of 26 and 27, and
women with BMI of 26 were overweight
- People can argue about what’s a problem (Pro-Anorexia websites are for people who
want to be anorexic)
- Feeder websites ( people who enjoy feeding loved one; making them bigger)
- Erving Goffman (1922-1982) Canadian who spent his years in the US. Particularly
interested in face-to-face interaction. Writes the Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
- All life can be understood as a performance (I am performing as a student)
- Goffman says everyone is playing a character
- Ex: “I play the character of a male; walk and talk in manner of a male;” (aspects of
performance: appearance, demeanor, speech, etc)
- ex : I play character of a female; walk and talk in the manner of a female; buy clothing in
the department of women’s
- Like a theater: Best’s stage is the front of the classroom. There’s the front stage: what
the audience can see. There’s the back stage: It’s crazy and you don’t ever want to see
it.
- People lurked in the family room and it was clean and set and respectable. Your
bedroom or backroom would be in a disaster. A woman’s bag is a back region.
- Team members cooperate to put on performance for audiences. (Best Buy with uniforms
put on performance for their customers, supporting one another. In the back region,
they’re talking behind their back)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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SOCI201 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Took centuries to arrive at this understanding. Bodies differ (female bodies, male bodies, thin old bodies, fat bodies, young bodies, etc) We have assumptions of what a body should be; when its at its best and worst. Ethnocentrism- the idea that your group standards are the normal; the way we look at the world is natural way. The assumption that wherever you grew up, local standards are correct. Body standards vary across space and time. Paleolithic venus figures from europe ( about 25,000 years old) and shaped like females bodies and exaggerated certain parts of the body. Many cultures equated more weight with greater beauty; if fat, meant you were wealthy and eating good and if you were skinny, you were not doing so well. Reubenesque paintings look a little heavy, nineteenth century girls seen as thick french postcards ( heavy erotic, porn pictures) of thick women. Gibson girls seen as thick with small waists.
