Question 1: Cooley & Mead
Discuss the concepts of the "looking glass self" presented by Cooley or "role taking" developed by Mead. Give one or more examples of how the theory might work in relation to gender socialization within families.
Question 2: Gender Socialization
Newman discusses how children are socialized to fit gender norms through toys. Can you think of other ways gender socialization occurred in your childhood? Or, if you are a parent, in your children's lives? Remember that you can be socialized not to conform as well as to conform, and that sometimes the individual resists socialization. Don't forget the Baby X reading in answering this question.
Question 3: Impression Management
Impression management is a tool we all use to present ourselves as likable, or successful or cool, or in other ways we consider desirable. Sometimes, however, our attempts fail resulting in a "spoiled identity," typically within a particular group. Has this ever happened to you? What was the identity you were trying to present? How did the attempt to claim this identity fail? What were the consequences of the spoiled identity?
Question 4: Dramaturgy
Explain Goffman's concept of Dramaturgy. Focusing on the difference between "front stage" and "back stage" settings and behavior, explain how the front stage and back stage differ in at least one of the following: a hospital, a school, a restaurant, a car dealership. You may also use a different example of your own making.
Question 5: Gender & Impression Management
Impression management isn't strictly individual in its effects. Newman discusses the "diet industry" in the U.S. as connected to the concerns of women and girls in particular. What other industries have arisen in U.S. culture fueled by concerns about appearance or impression management?
Question 6: Weber's model of bureaucracy
Present Weber's model of bureaucracy. Why do you think it is that those things we dislike about bureaucracies tend to be the things that make them efficient? What did Weber mean when he said that bureaucracy could become an "iron cage"?
Question 7: Tragedy of the commons
What is the "tragedy of the commons"? What "social dilemmas" are we experiencing now that exemplify this idea? Use an example other than those in the book. Remember that this situation fits only those circumstances where an essential but finite resource is available to everyone.
Question 8: Middle level managers
How do middle-level managers in bureaucracies deal with their relatively low chances of moving up to the top of the pyramid structure? What are some of the lower level employees' responses to their boredom and lack of control? Why are these fundamentally sociological questions?