Comparing Societies Weakness from the Perspective of Two Authors
Carol Travis and Ellen Goodman are both writers from different backgrounds with different experiences, but they share a common opinion. Both writers find a weakness with in our society. In the article In Groups We Shrink From Loner’s Heroics Travis expresses his views on societies weakness. He believes our weakness lies in the lack of emergency response in groups. In the article Countering the Culture of Sex Goodman feels the weakness is lack of sexual education given to teenagers. Though they both have different opinions, they represent a strong case for both sides.
In Carol Tavris’ article, In Groups We Shrink From Loner’s Heroics, there is information about a social concern. Tavris feels that society does not respond to emergencies the same in groups as they do individually. “Something happens to individuals when they collect in a group. They think and act differently than they would on their own. Most people, if they observe some disaster or danger on their own – a woman being stabbed, a pedestrian slammed by a it-and-run driver – will at least call for help; many will even risk their own safety to intervene. But if they are in a group observing the same danger, they hold back.” (Tavris, 17) Even though people were put through, identical test the ones who were in the group atmosphere did not respond as much as the people who where alone. “In one experiment in behavioral psychology, students were seated in a room, either alone, or in-groups of three, as staged an emergency occurred: Smoke began pouring through the vents. Students who were on there own usually hesitated a minute, got up, checked the vents and then went out to report what certainly seemed like a fire. But the students who were sitting in groups of three did not move. They sat there for six minutes, with smoke so thick they could barely see, rubbing their eyes and coughing.” (Tavris, 18) Travis uses famous example such as Rodney King, who was beaten by 4 police officers while in front of 11 other officers, and Kitty Genovese, who was repediatly stabbed to death in front of her 38 neighbors. Tavris believes that people should be more responsive in groups then they currently are.
Ellen Goodman’s article, Countering the Culture of Sex, is an article that describes a different perspective of societal flaw.
As Estrich demonstrates, the law on rape has major flaws. The law exposes traditions and attitudes that surround women and sex. It condones the idea that sex contains male aggression and female passivity. The law uses three different criteria to label an act of sex as rape: mens rea, force, and consent. Estrich feels that these features demonstrate sexist attitudes within the law. Our legal system abandon’s mens rea which is Latin for “guilty state of the mind.” It is the perpetrator’s ability to understand force and non-consent. A woman must demonstrate resistance. The man can escape by stating he did not realize the woman was not consenting. So, the court turns to the woman to see if she provided proper evidence that she did not consent to the sex.
Since the dawn of man, sex has played a crucial role in society. Before they learned to read or write humans were engaging in sex and without it none of us would be here. In today’s society, sex has grown to become much more complicated. If I were to ask a group of people on the street what they believed sex was? I bet they would have a hard time answering. The question puzzling society today is how do we define sex? Can we define sex? These are questions raised in Tracy Steele’s article “Doing it: The Social Construction of S-E-X”. This article is about the current questions and issues that have been raised about sex within today’s society. In this paper I will summarize the key points of the article, while sharing my own thoughts and opinions of Steele’s findings.
In Groups We Shrink From Loner’s Heroics, Tavris describes the phenomenon of social loafing. Through two incidences, Tavris depicts a society where people in groups allow a murder or beating to take place without intervention. This lack of responsibility stems from the group individual’s belief that someone else is already taking care of the situation. Tavris feels strongly that people who merely stand and watch should also be considered in the wrong. She wants the public to unite and look out for each other’s best interests, to not fall into a diffusion of responsibility.
The 19th-Century was a period in which the expression of sexuality and sexual compulsion was firmly repressed. Charles E. Rosenberg explores the typical behaviors of the sexes, and how they related to the expression, or repression, of sexuality in “Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th-Century America.” Medical and biological literature tended to adopt very sex-negative attitudes, condemning sexual desires and activity. This literature was often ambivalent and self-contradicting. Initially, people viewed sex as a normal human behavior: they believed sexual excess was bad, but thought it was natural and necessary after puberty because horniness left unsatisfied and untreated could cause disease. However, in the 1830s, the previous sex-neutral attitude was quickly replaced by a harsher, more negative view of sexuality. “Quacks,” or charlatans, tried to instill people with a crippling fear of sex by warning them of
As smoke poured into the room the three strangers waiting in the lobby just sat there until it was unbearable to breathe. Believe it or not people do this, just so that they don’t get embarrassed. Carol Tavris’s essay she is successful in getting the point across that people act different in groups than they do alone. She has many appeals to emotion, logic, and being the renown psychologist she is, she has credibility. She wasn’t trying to change the way people act in this essay. just to try and make people realize what happens in groups and the horrible things that could conspire.
This brings up Greta Christina’s article, “Are We Having Sex Now or What?” (Christina 2014) the author questions what really counts as sex as her sexual partners sexes changed. Friend A thought similarly to her, thinking that just penile-vaginal sex counted as the “real thing.” Although Friend A didn’t have female partners to have this ideology, she didn’t regard as other forms of sex, such as oral, orgasm inducing and electronic sex as sex. This delves into the common theme and into the thesis of how the idea of sex is individual as well as structural in the inkling that society and cultural norms, starting from the inner mechanisms of say one’s family and then branching out as to how others perceive these norms is how the ideology of sexuality is born. As a straight CIS woman of Hispanic decent, Friend A understood how others perceived her but also had a perception of herself because she doesn’t have to think about other forms of sex since she is content in just one form. It’s a blissful unawareness of
Nowadays, more people tend to care about and work on social justice. Women’s rights, as one of the topics, draws people’s attention. The society and female-selves have rethought the meaning of being women in the 21st century. Therefore, nowadays twenty-something girls start to behave differently from early generation. One of the behaviors becomes ambiguous, which is female sexuality. In “Selections from Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom”, Leslie Bell argues that neither contradictory directing nor expectation from others is the main reason that causes female sexuality. She sets up this claim, because the identity a woman established by herself impacts more on a woman’s sexuality. Establishing an identity is more important because it’s more independently authentic, also it represents what the woman wants, who she truly wants to be. Another reason is that, sexuality is one of the changed-behaviors that women use to prove their established identity. Therefore, female sexuality is driven by identity rather than social expectation or confused directing from others because, first, the identity is established by a women herself independently; second, the identity is the way how a women defines who she is, which matters more than any other outside effects; third, women decide to have a certain kind of sexuality in order to prove their defined identities.
Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
Let’s talk about sex! Sex is primarily for the survival of our species. It satisfies our urge to reproduce and leave generational legacies on the world. Everyone does it; everyone is here because of it. Yet in society, it 's considered to be a taboo subject to discuss. Most people are uncomfortable openly talking about it, but those who do are often criticized because of their differences. As a result, the effects of the sex being such a private topic are more harmful than simply being open about it. However, in today’s society, it not that everyone cannot be open about their sexuality, it 's mostly unacceptable for women to be open, thus posing double standards on women. I wonder if the connotation of sex is a result of society’s morals
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
In the world today, people are encouraged to value the family. Incorporated with a family is sex. A portion of females in our society today, are brought up to cherish their virtue and taught that sex is a very sacred and special thing that should be only shared with the one you love. Unfortunately, with so much resting on the importance of sex and love people may be come infatuated with it and sometimes even obsessed. “Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge had but a single outlet. My love, my baby. No wonder these poor pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable. Their world didn’t allow them to take things easily, didn’t allow them to be sane, virtuous, happy. What with mothers and lovers, what with the prohibitions they were not conditioned to obey, what with the temptations and the lonely remorse’s, what with all the diseases and the endless isolating pain, what with the uncertainties and the poverty – they were forced to feel strongly. And feeling strongly (and strongly, what was more, in solitude, in hopelessly individual isolation), how could they be stable?” (Huxley 41). This suggests the way of living in the World state sees love, romance and sex as a flaw in our society today. However their mistakes of such assumptions are represented in misfits who do not share the same instincts as the other citizens of the state.
No matter what the age, every person, man or woman, wants to feel desirable. Too often it is that very desire that leads one to suffer a grievous error in judgment. However, while both man and woman can lay claim to this error, it has and will continue to be viewed differently, by society at large, in the harsh light of gender. A man, then and now, is allowed to "sow his wild oats" and society him for doing so. Unfortunately, let a woman do the same and she is labeled as promiscuous, among other not so flattering terms. Marvell and Donne, respectively, have captured the very essence of a struggle older than time itself, female versus male, and sexuality versus virtue. So, as one can see, obsession with sexuality, is not a generational matter; in fact sexuality exists independently of both time and place.
There are many different things that a massage therapist must do. First off they have to find somewhere to work and get clients, but that’s the obvious. There are also things they have to do after this, other than just massage. In an interview with Stephanie Melroy, who owns and runs The Massage Studio in Holdrege, she said to me, “A lot of high school girls are really interested in massage therapy but most of them don’t realize all the work and education that it requires. The classes that you take aren’t the easiest either. You have to take a lot of anatomy and physiology, know every bone, muscle, and nerve and they work.” You’ll to prepare the client before the massage, which might include: applying heat, alcohol, lubricants, salt, or other rubbing compounds. Of course the massage therapist will massage the client using kneading, rubbing, and/or stroking movements. You also need to know different types of diseases and skin irritations because if they have a certain kind of disease you can’t treat them. But there are also many types of massage or therapy that they might do. This includes Hydrotherapy, Swedish massage, Sports massage, Shiatsu, Trager, Hellerwork, Polarity, Reflexology, Acupressure, Rolfing, and many more. Other than a manual massage they might also use mechanical or electrical machines as well.
How does 'sexuality' come into being, and what connections does it have with the changes that have affected personal life on a more general plane? In answering these questions, Anthony Giddens disputes many of the interpretations of the role of sexuality in our culture. The emergence of what he calls plastic sexuality, which is sexuality freed from its original relation of reproduction, is analyzed in terms of the long-term development of the modern social order and social influences of the last few decades. Giddens argues that the transformation of intimacy, in which women have played the major part, holds out the possibility of a society that is very traditional. "This book will appeal to a large general audience as well as being essential reading for those students in sociology and theory."(Manis 1)
Siedman, Steven. “Social Theories of Sexuality: Marxism and Feminism.” Social construction of Sexuality. Ed. Jeffrey C. Alexander. New York: W. W. Norron and Company. 13-24. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.