Socially Constructed Childhood
Sociologists believe that children are not natural in society, that
they do not behave naturally but that society has made children act as
they do, and that there parents teach them how to act and make their
personality for them at an early age. However childhood 'differs
enormously according to time and place' so Philippe Aries believes.
Children are treated differently to each other in different parts of
the world, for example in India when a girl is 16-17 years old she is
forced into an arranged marriage by which her parents arrange. That
type of responsibility on a girl of that age is a lot, and most Indian
girls refuse and end up running away from home or worse still killing
themselves, but in their culture at that age they are seen as adults.
Also in China girls are made to bind there feet up at an early age so
that there feet do not grow any bigger. Some people may see this as a
form of child abuse, but in China, that is what is expected of them.
So there are quite a lot of differences in the upbringing of children.
Not every child will turn out the same, all children will vary and
that is to the way that they are bought up by there parents.
It is not just the different cultures, which varies, but also the
different social classes have a different way of bringing up children.
The upper social class tend to spoil their children to a certain
extent because they can with all the money that they have. This
socially constructs the child to grow up with a spoilt nature, and
would maybe affect the rest of his life because he will believe that
he can get whatever he wants. This goes for 'designer babies...
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...operly. All this is bringing out
paedophilia and it teaches girls to be precautious because of the way
they are being made to dress sexily at such an early age. Also it
encourages stripping at an early age. In one of the routines that the
young children have to do is they have to take of layers of their
clothes in a sexy and perfectly timed manor to show off what they are
wearing underneath. This shouldn't be forced upon young children
because they will grow up with attitude problems all because the
parents expecting too much from them.
This idea of 'painted babies' is an obsessive way in which parents put
pressure and abuse on their children. The way that they get the
children to dress and look isn't natural for them at all, and this is
a final example of how childhood is gradually disappearing in society
today.
In Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Annette Lareau discussed the extensive amount of research she conducted employing observational and interview techniques. She collected data on the middle class, working class, and poor families. She was trying to understand the impact of a child’s early parental guidance on the child’s life. She was able to conduct this research with 12 families, all of whom had fourth graders. She gathered enough information to conclude the major differences in the parenting styles of each type of family, which was directly correlated to socioeconomic status. Annette Lareau opens her book with two chapters to give the reader an idea on what the examples she gives will detail.
In her article "The body as attire," Dorothy Ko (1997) reviewed the history about foot binding in seventeenth-century China, and expressed a creative viewpoint. Foot binding began in Song Dynasty, and was just popular in upper social society. With the gradually popularization of foot binding, in the end of Song Dynasty, it became generally popular. In Qing Dynasty, foot binding was endowed deeper meaning that was termed into a tool to against Manchu rule. The author, Dorothy Ko, studied from another aspect which was women themselves to understand and explained her shifting meaning of foot binding. Dorothy Ko contends that “Chinese Elite males in the seventeenth century regarded foot binding in three ways: as an expression of Chinese wen civility,
Footbinding The republic of China officially banned the traditional Chinese practice of footbinding in 1911. In “Footbinding”, John King Fairbank tells the story of what he learned about the Chinese tradition of footbinding. Footbinding became popular and a symbol of upper-class status, but it then spread to the lower class and soon became a necessity for marriage. Footbinding started out as a sexual erotic way to control women but in turn was more harmful than good.
In China, girls are seen as a possession or a “cheap commodity” (Yen Mah 100). Sons, especially the eldest, are given far more attention and praise. Families that are well off keep their daughters and marry them off to prominent families’ sons through a marriage broker (“mei-po”). Rich daughters often had their feet bound, a process by which the “four lateral toes of the foot are forced with a bandage under the sole so that only the big toe protruded. (It was) tightened daily for a number of years (so as to) permanently arrest the foot’s growth in order to achieve tiny feet so prized by Chinese men” (Yen Mah 11). Their inability to walk with ease is a symbol of submissiveness, weakness, and wealth. This tradition is becoming more rare, but still many older women bear its pain today. Adeline’s grandmother went against these traditions by not torturing her own daughter i...
The ancient Chinese custom of footbinding caused severe life-long suffering for the Chinese women involved. When researching the subject of footbinding, one of the difficult things is finding factual knowledge written before the 20th century. Most of the historical data has been gathered from writings, drawings and photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries. Additionally, the research indicates that the historical documentation was mainly from missionary accounts and literature from various anti-footbinding societies. These groups had a bias because of their opposing viewpoints. The first documented reference to footbinding was from the Southern Tang Dynasty in Nanjing (Vento 1).
Childhood can be seen as a social status with multiple meanings and expectations attached to it without a clearly defined end or beginning (Montgomery 2009), This essay will introduce different sociological perspectives on what childhood is since childhood is not universal rather is it mobile and shifting this means children experience various childhoods there are local and global variations(Waller 2009), a Childs experience can be influenced by their gender, ethnicity, culture and social class which this essay will expand on. The essay will then move forward to focusing on childhood in local and global countries to investigate the differences they have among each other lastly the essay will go onto ways an professional can help acknowledge all children diversity and create an inclusive environment regardless of their differences (Penn 2008).inclusion provides support to all children so that their experiences in an educational; setting encourages them to be as involved and independent as possible as well as help them understand the differences among their class mates
While all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different, changes, both generationally and across cultures. “The essence of childhood studies is that childhood is a social and cultural phenomenon” (James, 1998). Evident that there are in fact multiple childhoods, a unifying theme of childhood studies is that childhood is a social construction and aims to explore the major implications on future outcomes and adulthood. Recognizing childhood as a social construction guides exploration through themes to a better understanding of multiple childhoods, particularly differences influencing individual perception and experience of childhood. Childhood is socially constructed according to parenting style by parents’ ability to create a secure parent-child relationship, embrace love in attitudes towards the child through acceptance in a prepared environment, fostering healthy development which results in evidence based, major impacts on the experience of childhood as well as for the child’s resiliency and ability to overcome any adversity in the environment to reach positive future outcomes and succeed.
In what ways can childhood and youth be understood as social constructions? Illustrate your answer with relevant examples.
But now, laws have been enacted to raise the minimum age at which girls can be married. Today, The legal age is 18 years old. However, early marriages continue to be celebrated and tolerated particularly in remote and rural areas.
Childhood socialization can increase or decrease negative attitudes toward racial, ethnic, and religious groups depending on your parents and how you are raised. An increase in negative attitudes toward certain ethnic groups can be acquired through your parents. If you are probably gonna repeat the behaviors you see. For example, if your parents are prejudiced against African Americans you are likely to discriminate against them as well or believe they are “weird” or “bad”. If your parents are against you having contact with certain racial, ethnic, or religious groups, socialization towards that certain ethnic group might be negative due to the lack of knowledge a child has growing up. As a child, I was brought up to socialize with everyone
Abstract In this essay, I intend to explain how everyday lives challenge the construction of childhood as a time of innocence. In the main part of my assignment, I will explain the idea of innocence, which started with Romantic discourse of childhood and how it shaped our view of childhood. I will also look at two contradictory ideas of childhood innocence and guilt in Blake’s poems and extract from Mayhew’s book. Next, I will compare the images of innocence in TV adverts and Barnardo’s posters. After that, I will look at the representation of childhood innocence in sexuality and criminality, and the roles the age and the gender play in portraying children as innocent or guilty. I will include some cross-cultural and contemporary descriptions on the key topics. At the end of my assignment, I will summarize the main points of the arguments.
From a very early age, children experience many different stages of life until they become fully-functioning adults with distinguished personalities. Throughout each stage of a child’s life, different socialization agents play a pivotal role in his or her development and transition into adulthood. Throughout this essay, I will discuss what socialization is, as well as implying socialization in terms of the connection between biological development of the individual and individuals learning the norms and customs of society. Furthermore, to accomplish this task, I will describe the four key agents of socialization (family, school, peers, and mass media). I then aim for the audience to comprehend the difference between socialization during other
Mr. And Mrs. Bhamra are really strict parents. They are putting a lot of pressure on their daughter’s life.
Firestone, Lisa, Dr. "7 Ways Your Childhood Affects How You Parent."Http://www.psychalive.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept.
Family is a fundamental social institution in society, the family, is considered the primary and most important agent of socialization. Family typically consists of a man and woman and their children or two or more people who usually reside in the same home and share same goals and values. Traditionally, in all societies, the family has always been seen as a social institution; that has the biggest impact on society.