1. Cohabitation is the sharing of a household by unmarried persons who have a sexual relationship. Prior to around the 1960’s cohabitation was only among the poor or near poor people so that they could share each other’s resources. Though, as stated in the text, over the past thirty years, the percentage of couples living in a cohabitation life style has drastically increased. 62% of marriages were preceded by a period of cohabitation. In 2007, the census bureau estimated that there were about 6.4 million household in the U.S maintained by two opposite sex couples who were not married. In all, cohabitation has increased for not only the poor uneducated people, but for the rich and educated people as well. This basically states that is becoming a big trend, and is something a couple will do before and if they get married.
2. Cohabitation can be put into three categories.
a.) An Alternative Way of Being Single- These couples move in together knowing that they both have zero intentions of getting married. They feel as though they are single because there is no paper that “binds” them together, so they just take advance of the fact that the other person is there to comfort them.
b.) A Testing Ground For Marriage- These couples move in together having every intentions of getting married. So they move in together first to basically “test” their relationship. They feel each other out, and really take a look at if they are happy with one another in the same house together.
c.) An Alternative to Marriage- This is when I couple moves in together who really do care and love each other, and want to be together forever. They just feel that they don’t need the legal documents to show it.
3. I would most definitely consider cohabitation. The meaning behind this that I feel as though I would use, is a testing ground for marriage. This is because I know that in the future I want to get married. But before doing so, I would like to really get to know my partner better and test him out. The only way this would truly work is if we cohabitated with one another prior to the marriage.
4. There are many rights that married couples receive that cohabiting couples want. Here are four, that I find most important;
1. They can file a joint income tax return, which may reduce their tax liability.
2. They can adopt children.
3. They can receive Social Security survivors’ benefits if their spouse dies, and they can inherit from each other even when there is no will.
4. The married couple are both responsible for their children, and each can give legal permission to schools, doctors, and the like, or trips, operations and so forth.
5.No, I do not believe that cohabiting couples should have the same rights as married couples. I feel as though, that is like cheating the system. If two people love each other that much, they should get married, so that they could have the privileges of the rights listed above. Getting married requires a lot of paper work, which I feel is worth it, in the end.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Assignment 4
1. When Cherlin argues that gender differences are built into the system, he is basically referring to the socialization approach. The socialization approach is when gender differences are on conscious, social learning. In Cherlin's argument he clearly states that in our society, we are either male or female. People get basically built into this system by watching parents, teachers, television actors and others. Gender is systematic in today’s society, because when children are young, they get rewarded for a set of behaviors that fits their gender. They easily learn then that if they were a boy and they were to cry, their parents, friends, or family will teach them that is it wrong for boys to cry, only girls cry. Therefore, they will grow up and most likely never cry because to the “society”, it is wrong.
2. An example of me “doing gender” I would have to say is basically every day after dinner. This is because once everyone is done eating my sister and I get up, clear off all the plates and begin doing dishes. My brother and father have never once done the dishes, yet I have never really noticed this until now. I have never actually sat down and thought about “doing gender”, because I have always just done this my whole life. I have never thought that it was worn or a gender thing. But because looking back at the older days, that was a women’s job, to clean the dishes. Now that this is brought up, it makes me wonder how many things I do sub-consciously that relates to “doing gender.”
3. I believe that sexual identity is how one basically identifies their sexuality. I feel as though one needs to figure out first if they are male or female. Once one figures this out, I feel as though they basically experiment to figure out what one likes, either it be the same sex, the opposite sex, or both sexes. From here one is then classified as being heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual. From there on out that person now has, and knows their sexual identity.
4. Social constructionists believe that sexual identity or gender is socially constructed. This is because a man may feel they are more feminine rather then masculine because that’s the way they were brought up. But because of society, that man may never express how he truly feels because he knows its wrong, and the society may look at him differently. The social constructionists argue that the sexual categories we use are defined by the society we live in. They believe that cultural and historical variations also play a part in ones identity. One example that was mentioned in the book was that in Latin American countries a man, who has sex with another man and plays the “masculine” role, means he is not gay, even though he is penetrating another guy. If the role was switched, he’s clearly gay in that society. If that were to happen in American’s society, both of the men would be considered gay no matter what. Which definitely backs up the social constructionists perspective.
5. If I were asked to participate in a study on sexuality, I would most definitely say yes. I would first ask what the rules on the privacy act. I would ask them, once I answered the questions would you then post that I, personally, answered them? Or would you not put a name by it and just include it in the data? Once the researcher answered my questions and I felt confident enough, I would then answer the questions, truthfully. The reason why I would answer them truthfully is because I would want to research to be correct, and if I lied, I would know that the data would be wrong. Though, I do believe that is difficult to have accurate data on sexuality as a researcher. This is because one may either lie when answering the questions. Also because one may change day to day on how they really feel, because their whole life they have been confused.
2. An example of me “doing gender” I would have to say is basically every day after dinner. This is because once everyone is done eating my sister and I get up, clear off all the plates and begin doing dishes. My brother and father have never once done the dishes, yet I have never really noticed this until now. I have never actually sat down and thought about “doing gender”, because I have always just done this my whole life. I have never thought that it was worn or a gender thing. But because looking back at the older days, that was a women’s job, to clean the dishes. Now that this is brought up, it makes me wonder how many things I do sub-consciously that relates to “doing gender.”
3. I believe that sexual identity is how one basically identifies their sexuality. I feel as though one needs to figure out first if they are male or female. Once one figures this out, I feel as though they basically experiment to figure out what one likes, either it be the same sex, the opposite sex, or both sexes. From here one is then classified as being heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual. From there on out that person now has, and knows their sexual identity.
4. Social constructionists believe that sexual identity or gender is socially constructed. This is because a man may feel they are more feminine rather then masculine because that’s the way they were brought up. But because of society, that man may never express how he truly feels because he knows its wrong, and the society may look at him differently. The social constructionists argue that the sexual categories we use are defined by the society we live in. They believe that cultural and historical variations also play a part in ones identity. One example that was mentioned in the book was that in Latin American countries a man, who has sex with another man and plays the “masculine” role, means he is not gay, even though he is penetrating another guy. If the role was switched, he’s clearly gay in that society. If that were to happen in American’s society, both of the men would be considered gay no matter what. Which definitely backs up the social constructionists perspective.
5. If I were asked to participate in a study on sexuality, I would most definitely say yes. I would first ask what the rules on the privacy act. I would ask them, once I answered the questions would you then post that I, personally, answered them? Or would you not put a name by it and just include it in the data? Once the researcher answered my questions and I felt confident enough, I would then answer the questions, truthfully. The reason why I would answer them truthfully is because I would want to research to be correct, and if I lied, I would know that the data would be wrong. Though, I do believe that is difficult to have accurate data on sexuality as a researcher. This is because one may either lie when answering the questions. Also because one may change day to day on how they really feel, because their whole life they have been confused.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Assignment 5
Like I have previously mentioned in other blogs, I am a female,100% Irish and 21 years old. When thinking about on my working years, (basically since I was 16) I feel as though my race, age, or gender has really stopped me from doing much of anything. Many people today still feel as though white Americans are more privileged because that’s how the world has always been. Yet, when I think about colleges, and their standards, “Caucasian people” tend to have more difficulties getting in rather then an African American person or a Chinese person. This I believe is based on the fact that most colleges need to meet a quota of each race. Knowing that studies have shown that there are more Caucasian people trying to get into colleges rather then other races causes some problems.
I believe my age, gender, and ethnicity has helped me get a job, as well as hindered another job. The reason why I feel as though it has helped me is because I am young and a female that fits the stereotypical look of an “Abercrombie” girl I was able to get a job at a store as well as start a modeling career. It is known today that Abercrombie has a certain persona they need to follow; I was lucky enough to have fit it.
Where my ethnicity falls short is when I work at my daycare. Today it is known that the US is changing and that there are a lot more Spanish speaking people rather then English. Because I work at a Head Start Daycare, there tends to be more children who speak Spanish. I have had difficulty understanding children, and having to ask other co-workers to help me distinguish what the child is saying. Because this is my 6 year of working there, I can now see that they are basically only hiring people who can speak both Spanish and English. If I hadn’t been working there for that long, I probably would have not been hired now.
So as you can see, my age, gender, and race has both helped and hindered many things throughout my life. I wish at times, that it didn’t have to be this way, that people can just see the good in who someone is. Not their gender, race, or age.
I believe my age, gender, and ethnicity has helped me get a job, as well as hindered another job. The reason why I feel as though it has helped me is because I am young and a female that fits the stereotypical look of an “Abercrombie” girl I was able to get a job at a store as well as start a modeling career. It is known today that Abercrombie has a certain persona they need to follow; I was lucky enough to have fit it.
Where my ethnicity falls short is when I work at my daycare. Today it is known that the US is changing and that there are a lot more Spanish speaking people rather then English. Because I work at a Head Start Daycare, there tends to be more children who speak Spanish. I have had difficulty understanding children, and having to ask other co-workers to help me distinguish what the child is saying. Because this is my 6 year of working there, I can now see that they are basically only hiring people who can speak both Spanish and English. If I hadn’t been working there for that long, I probably would have not been hired now.
So as you can see, my age, gender, and race has both helped and hindered many things throughout my life. I wish at times, that it didn’t have to be this way, that people can just see the good in who someone is. Not their gender, race, or age.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Assignment #3
By looking at my name, one can easily tell that I am Irish. I am a white 100% Irish girl, born and raised in America. Both my sides of my grandparents came over to America from Ireland. When looking at the Census questions 7 and 8, it would be easy for my to answer them. I would mark for question 7 no, not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino. And for question 8, I would mark white. Though these questions seem pretty easy for me to answer, I know that it is not the same for others.
After watching the video, a girl like me I feel as though that sociologically children for many decades have been brought up with the view of black being bad and white being good because of what has previously happened. When looking back at the older years with slavery and other complications that were brought to the blacks, I feel that, that was all they had to live by. That because they went through this, today children of that nature are brought up viewing the white being good and or better because that is what their parents are teaching them. Because that is what their parent taught them. I feel as though it’s like a chain that will never end.
The girls in the beginning of the video really bothered me for several reasons. At first I was angry at what they were saying, because I felt that they were basically saying that for attention. Then I thought about it, and though white people have their problems, the women of darker nature have similar but different problems. Many of the problems about their hair and or color made sense, because yet again, they were brought up thinking that way. That they aren’t beautiful the way they are. Many girls and women today have a very hard time going out in the world because most women feel that there is always something wrong with them. That not everything they are wearing looks nice, that they need to loose more weight, or even that they need to be lighter then darker. It’s sad to see women go through this. Unfortunately I feel that because sociologically that’s the way it has always been, it will always be. Which to me is very sad.
After watching the video, a girl like me I feel as though that sociologically children for many decades have been brought up with the view of black being bad and white being good because of what has previously happened. When looking back at the older years with slavery and other complications that were brought to the blacks, I feel that, that was all they had to live by. That because they went through this, today children of that nature are brought up viewing the white being good and or better because that is what their parents are teaching them. Because that is what their parent taught them. I feel as though it’s like a chain that will never end.
The girls in the beginning of the video really bothered me for several reasons. At first I was angry at what they were saying, because I felt that they were basically saying that for attention. Then I thought about it, and though white people have their problems, the women of darker nature have similar but different problems. Many of the problems about their hair and or color made sense, because yet again, they were brought up thinking that way. That they aren’t beautiful the way they are. Many girls and women today have a very hard time going out in the world because most women feel that there is always something wrong with them. That not everything they are wearing looks nice, that they need to loose more weight, or even that they need to be lighter then darker. It’s sad to see women go through this. Unfortunately I feel that because sociologically that’s the way it has always been, it will always be. Which to me is very sad.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)