IDENTITY (pt2)
AGE
MARSH + KEATING: age both enables and constricts us
age may influence: where we shop, what we buy + how we pay, music we listen to, books we read etc
SOCIAL + CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF AGE
3 stages of age:
- Children: dependent on adults
- Adults: at puberty rite of passage to adulthood
- Elderly: w/ age in tribal communities acquire greater status
Stages of age in modern society (Bradley) : (1)childhood, (2)adolescence or youth, (3)young adulthood, (4)mid-life, (5)old age
Childhood: supported by state; 2004 Children's Act 'Every Child Matters'
Aries: experience of childhood identity changed over last 500 years
Jackson + Scott: childhood in Britain is a form of subordination- age patriarchy
Young Adulthood: Pilcher says this age group is rarely researched. Jones + Wallace: public and private markers; public= right to vote, private= first sexual encounter/ first cigarette
Mid- life: physical markers: grey hair, menopause etc; social indicators: children leaving home or having more money for leisure pursuits
Old Age: officially + legally begins aged 65 (UK)
AGEISM + DISCRIMINATION: often expressed in terms of stereotypical prejudices Pilcher: old people often seen in derogatory or condescending way
CLASS
THE UPPER CLASS
2008- 42% of all wealth owned by 5% of population
strong sense of identity
socialise set of values: respect of tradition, conservative, anti-change, authority/ hierarchy
Scott: main purpose of schools is to mould ideas + outlook of pupils realise common U/C interests
exclusive lifestyle/ social events: provide sense of identity
MIDDLE CLASS
Zweig: death of class identity
usede in broad way to describe range of non- manual workers e.g. surgeons, doctors, barristers, accountant etc
more cultural capital- aids educational success (Bourdieu)
M/C is changing: fragmentation, identity shaped by their job, value cultural capital
WORKING CLASS
mainly employed in factories/mines etc; manual labour jobs
segregated conjugal roles: male breadwinner + female housewife
education not top priority
Willis: work defining life- mental/ physical bravery, physical strength/ masculinity
strong sense of community- solidarity in workplace
NEW W/C: works as means to end rather than source of identity, changing gender roles, more likely to define themselves on hobbies + recreational activities than work
Bourdieu: w/c lack cultural capital
UNDERCLASS
Murray: happy to be part of dependent culture- lazy, immoral, dependent etc
irresponsible parenting, young careless pregnancy, young absent fathers, poor role models
Saunders: " inactivity breeds apathy + soon the unemployed become unemployable"
DISABILITY
"it is society that disables physically impaired people because the disabled are excluded from full participation in society by the stereotypical attitudes of the able-bodied"- Oliver
MEDICAL MODEL OF DISABILITY
sees disability as personal tragedy
disabled deserve our pity
labelled as inferior
normalisation could only occur w/ round the clock care
SOCIAL MODEL OF DISABILITY
developed by disabled people themselves
biological disability was less important than social disability
began to change in the 80's
Shakespeare: disabled people are often socialised into seeing themselves as inferior, forming a strong collective identity is difficult as they are often isolated from one another, lack of positive role models in media + the public, disability in a largely able-bodied society often leads to reactions of pity, avoidance or awkwardness
Zola: sociologist disabled through polio- vocabulary we use to describe is borrowed from discriminatory able-bodied society e.g. dis-abled, dis-figured, de-formed
learned helplessness + self-fulfilling prophecy: Watson: perceptions of disabled people based on stereotypical ideas about dependency Scott: blind people developed blind personality, became dependent because the were expected to
Murugami: a person first- see disability as a characteristic not their whole identity, base identity on what they are able to do instead
Longmore: disabled represented on television as evil, monsters, inhuman, dependent, dangerous + deviant
NATIONALITY
Anderson: 'nation'= 'imagined community'; national identity is socially constructed through symbols such as the flag + anthem
Kumar: long history of imperialism- interests of empire + unity repression of ordinary expression of nationalism
Madood: found Asians + African Caribbeans did not feel comfortable w/ British identity- felt unaccepted
Curtice + Heath- 6 million adults identify as English British,
globalisation undermining British identity: hybrid types of British identity slowly emerging - interaction global + Global culture
mass media contribute to exposing British to global culture
Sardar: changing national identities suggests the world is in a global identity crisis, argues to develop a more confident British identity must embrace diversity