Assignment: Doing Sociology Homework- Gender Roles Essay

Assignment: Doing Sociology Homework- Gender Roles Essay

Assignment Doing Sociology Homework- Gender Roles Essay

In the contemporary society, advertisement is a key success factor for any enterprise due to the ability to attract many potential clients (Kelley, Sheehan & Jugenheimer, 2015). Consequently, the gender aspect of advertisement has also gained prominence. Gender advertisement is defined as using the images in advertising that portray stereotypes in gender roles and demonstrations (Zotos & Tsichla, 2014). Essentially, many organizations tend to use gender displays while advertising to create the distinctions in the roles of different genders. The focus on gender relationships during advertisements is primarily informed by the belief that people tend to use gender as the defining feature. Besides, it is possible to communicate gender momentarily, thus, prompting the advertisers to use gender in advertisement. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to explore dynamics of gender roles in toy store advertisement.

The study was conducted in a toy store located on a busy Street took about three hours for a period of one week. The strategic location of the store attracted many people, especially children ranging from four years to about fifteen years of age. The children were either accompanied by adults or came alone in groups. Besides, parents with infants also came to the store to check the products on the display mirror and others entered the store for shopping. The display mirror was mostly frequented with children who probably did not have money to buy the toys but only checked and admired the products. On the other hand, store room did not have many clients with approximately 20 -30 customers at any given time.

During the visit to the toy store, various methods of observation were used to analyze the gender roles relating to purchase and window-shopping of the toy products.  The first method was external observation technique. This method primarily involved observing the respondents in the toy store (Jorgensen, 2015). The purpose was to objectively view the group but not getting involved in their activities or influencing their behavior (Morgan et al., 2017). In turn, the behaviors of the respondents were assessed and recorded without their consent. Essentially, this method is naturalistic and respondents were observed in every step of their activities in the toy store, making it possible to unearth attitudes and behaviors possessed by different gender and also producing valid data. Moreover, the covert observation method was also used. This technique involved hiding the identity and totally engaging in group culture to secretly observe them (Song & Jeong, 2015). This method was primarily used to avoid disturbing the respondents’ natural rhythms. Lastly, the structured observation method was also used. In this method, the data was collected by watching behaviors from far and avoiding direct involvement with respondents.  According to Bell, Bryman & Harley (2018), this method is structured in a sophisticated and procedural manner to enable researchers to gather data in instances where other typical research techniques cannot succeed. The method involved use of coding, which is characterized by utilization of previously established particular behaviors that qualifies to depict the behaviors of interest (Heyman, Lorber, Eddy & West, 2014). Essentially, whenever one of the previously marked behaviors was observed, it would be marked. The coding facilitated quantitative observations.

The gender role was reinforced the situation observed by depicting certain social constructions. In sociology, men and women are presented as differing in behavior, attitudes, and social statuses. Consequently, the gender advertisement provided the clients a glance of a world that is characterized by socially defined and formed gender relations, roles, and presentation (Tuncay Zayer & Coleman, 2015). The display of toys was designed to portray the real life and many clients misinterpreted the ideas of fantasy and reality in the gender advertisement. For instance, one thing that was clear is that both genders focused on toys that depicted their specific gender roles as set by the society. For instance, boys concentrated on shelves with toy guns, cars, and horse riders, while girls focused on toys portraying images of girl child, babies, and motherly roles like carrying the child as a sign of care. Both men and women were greatly influenced by the images to shape themselves and change their outlook to mimic the norms presented.

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The alignment of both genders to their socially defined and formed gender relations is supported by social role theory. According to Lange, Kruglanski & Higgins (Eds.) (2012), social role theory advance the idea that extensively shared gender stereotypes

emanates from the division of labor on the basis of gender portrayed in a given society (Koenig & Eagly, 2014). For instance, in many societies in the western societies, men are accorded superior are given more positions, status, and power compared to women. Besides, the division of labor on the gendered basis facilitates the development of different skills and personality traits by men and women (Eagly & Wood, 2016). This theory is essentially a psychological theory regarding differences and similarities of sex in social behavior. However, the fundamental principle in the variations and similarities emanates mainly from categorizing women and men into social roles within the society (Eagly & Wood, 2011). As such, through the socialization process and creation of gendered roles, the division of labor is supported by the ensuing behavior.

It can, therefore, be concluded that the social role theory is mainly advanced through media and gendered advertisement in the present society (Carpenter & Lertpratchya, 2016). The use of transformation message techniques instead of information message strategy by the media and gender advertisement tend to enhance the behavioral intention women. For men the case is vice versa. These advertisements occasionally portray that both genders are the same. In turn, the viewers adjust to the world around them based on what is portrayed in the advertisement and media by developing cognitive schemes that represents the reality portrayed by the media. These schemes can be attributed to gendered division of labor.

The limitation of the social role theory regarding the present observation is the advancing of gender stereotypes and inequality. Essentially, the society is striving to eliminate the gender disparities yet the theory suggests different gendered roles. Essentially, many societies still regard women as inferior to men and are given odd jobs. Therefore, if the theory is applied in workplaces, women risk being allocated odd jobs such as cleaners and cooks which attract low payment.

Assignment: Doing Sociology Homework- Gender Roles Essay Conclusion

The present paper mostly relied on external observation method. Despite the progress made, it is possible that the method was prone to some limitations. For instance, it highly likely those respondents may change their behaviors when they are aware they are observed. Besides, different researchers may come up with different conclusions from the same circumstances of the study. That, different researchers may observe similar actions yet associate them to different causes. To mitigate these limitations, the researchers should observe ethical principles as the guide to the study.

After watching the video, imagine yourself to be a social scientist. Choose one of the following methods to examine gender roles in contemporary U.S. society. Keep in mind that this assignment is not an attempt to extract your personal opinion on particular aspects of society. You are using scientific sociological methods to describe specific situations. In other words, if you have an opinion, support it through your empirical observations.

Method 1 (250 words)

Observe a situation or scenario in which you can comment on the dynamics of gender roles in society (example: examining a toy store display). Answer the following questions.

1. Describe your method and observations.

a. Discuss the types of sociological methods you used in your observation, and quantify your results; ex: how many people were in the room, how long you observed the situation, etc. If in doubt, write it down! Keep in mind that observations can be made indirectly – not involving the live observation of human interaction (toy store example).

b. Discuss how are gender roles are reinforced or contested in the situation you observed?

2. Compare your observations to one theory we have discussed in class.

a. Apply the theory to your observations. Describe your observation through the lens of your chosen theory.

b. Draw one or more conclusions from your analysis.

c. Answer whether there are limitations to the theory’s application to your observation. What does the theory miss or not explain well?

3. List the limitations of your method. For example, are there different scenarios that would provide alternate findings?

Method 2 (250 words)

Select 15 to 20 advertisements from magazines. Answer the following questions.

1. Discuss your sample

a. Describe how you collected your ads, from what magazines, how many, dates.

b. List the limitations of your sample. For example, are all magazines like the ones you sampled from?

2. Discuss how gender is portrayed in your sample of ads.

a. How is the portrayal used to sell the product?

b. Discuss how are gender roles are reinforced or contested in the situation you observed?

3. Comment on how your findings compare to one of the theories we have discussed in class over the semester.

a. Apply the theory to your observations.

b. Draw one or more conclusions from your analysis.

c. Answer whether there are limitations to the theory’s application to your observation. What does the theory miss or not explain well?

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource