Don’t Wash Your Dirty Laundry In Public

Once again, Sociology has encouraged me to look at things differently. Even at movies! Since my previous reading was on family and gender, I decided to analyze my elder sister who is living by the traditional role and the Mona Lisa Smile movie that represent the notion.



The “ideal family" consists of the breadwinner husband, homemaker wife, and their children. This ideology may not represent how we are now, but it definitely has influenced economic policies, social roles, movies, expectations about family life and even our own individual choices we make today.

Sociologist Denzin once said, “Movies ‘screen’ and frame social reality, and they reflect ideological images of interaction relationship, and the community.”



I watched the movie Mona Lisa Smile with my elder sister, in addition to the sociological readings I had about the movie. Ironically enough, she related to the movie the same way the girl’s ultimate goal was to get married and fulfill the traditional role. She is now a housewife and mother, while being a pharmacists.

The movie is about a freethinking, feminist, independent liberal art professor who teaches conservative 50’s Wellesley girls to question their traditional societal roles they have been spoon-fed.



At one point of the movie, one of the staff members get mad at Giselle, one of the free-spirited students, and yells, “This is not a joke. A few years from now, your sole responsibility will be to taking care of your husband and children.” This quote becomes symbolic and becomes further evident as the theme of the movie evolves around the notion and on how the pupils see their education as a way to pass their time until they are married.

The traditional-societal norm at Wellesley provokes Katherine to encourage her students to reject the social norm by continuing their education. For instance, Joan is torn between attending law school and marriage; Katherine literally fills out her applications ford Yale, Joan’s dream school. However, Katherine gets disappointed when she finds out that Joan chose to get married and move to Philadelphia.

At one point of the movie, Betty’s mom says, “Good wife lets her husband think that everything’s his idea, even when its not.” This clearly shows the 1950’s conservative expected female role as a wife, and how the husband has the final say in everything.



One of the outstanding moments of the movie was when Betty returns to class and gets into an argument with Katherine. This part of the movie stood out the most to me, as it showed the struggle to break social norms of women in the society, while facing the elite.

Betty: Don’t disregard our traditions, just because you’re subversive.
Katherine: Don’t disrespect this class just because you’re married.
Betty: Don’t disrespect me just because your not
Katherine: Come to class. Do your work. Or ill fail you.
Betty: If you fail me, there will be consequences

“Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public,” Betty’s mom said. This emphasizes on the importance of appearance, and not what happens within the family itself. This tends to be symbolic as not all married women had a happy marriage and family, but had to put up an appearance.

The Full Beauty Salon Experience

In contrast to almost everyone else I know, my mother doesn’t enjoy going to a beauty salon. When I asked her why, she replied saying that it was always an awkward experience for her where she was always stared at by all the other employees in the hair salon and felt like the hairstylists would ask so many questions that she had no choice but to eventually answer and tell them about her personal life.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized a beauty salon was the perfect setting for a sociological experiment. I asked my mother to book a hair appointment for me and also asked her if I could accompany her to her next appointment at the LaDuree Salon at La Cigale Hotel.

While my mother was getting her hair cut, I observed my surroundings and tried to figure out what the social norms of a beauty salon were.  There’s a conventional procedure that most beauty salons follow if you’re getting a haircut: first, the receptionist greets you. After she/he confirms your appointment, you’re asked to sit down and wait your turn. This is really the only time you’ll have to yourself, so you’ll pick up a magazine and flip through pages. In Qatar, they usually ask you if you’d like to order anything – usually a drink. After a few minutes, you’re asked if you want to wash your hair. After your hair is washed, you’re seated for the cut.

I found the hair stylists themselves to be the most interesting aspect of the salon. I realized that they tend to be overly friendly, they listen to what you have to say, and not only do they probe you with personal questions about their lives, but they share a lot of personal information about their own lives. (I can guarantee what any woman who has ever gotten a manicure or a pedicure at a salon has been asked at least once whether or not she has a boyfriend).

 As it is portrayed in several different films, such as Beauty Shop, a hair salon is usually a place where people aren’t afraid to speak their minds. This explains why the hair stylists themselves are so intrusive with their questions – this is what’s normal for them. Even looking at the layout of the salon, I noticed that the waiting area and chairs are usually placed in front of where the haircuts are taking place. This allows multi-way conversations to take place, as other people are able to overhear conversations.

During an interaction between the salon owner and the hair stylist, I found myself relating the “beauty salon industry” to the entertainment industry, in which I found the hair stylists very similar to music artists, actors, or even filmmakers and the owners to the big corporations that own everything. The relationship between the owner and the stylist reminded me very much of the company conglomerates and music artists. The owners only seem to care about themselves and the money they make, as do production companies.   

When it came time for my own hair appointment, I decided I would defy the social norms of the salons and see what sanctions I would receive in return. After my mother greeted the receptionist, my mother and I went and sat down, waiting for my hair wash. My mother’s hand automatically reached for a magazine. I looked around the room and noticed that two of the other hair stylists were staring and my mother and me. Instead of looking away, I met their stare and tilted my head slightly. I’ll have to admit, holding that stare was very difficult and awkward, but eventually, they both frowned and looked away, staring a conversation with one another.

A woman passed by my mother and I and asked if we would like to order anything. Before my mother could politely decline, I asked the woman if there was a menu I could look at to order food from. She gave me a strange look and apologized, saying they only served water and coffee.

After I had my hair washed, the hair stylist, Lawrence, came up to me. He asked me how I wanted to cut my hair. I told him I just wanted it trimmed. He proceeded with a joke, asking me if I wanted to cut it as short as my mother’s (my mom has a pixie-ish hair cut). My expression remained the same. He hesitated, upset at the fact that I didn’t laugh at his joke. He took the joke even further and asked me if I wanted to shave my head. I paid no attention to him. He frowned and started to cut my hair.

Throughout the haircut, he tried to start a conversation with me. I only replied with one-word answers, and at times, I wouldn’t even give him an answer. I don’t think I’ve ever had a faster hair cut in my life. It seems that by breaking the norms, I made him uncomfortable enough for him to just want to get rid of me as soon as possible.

I don’t blame my mother for not liking the “beauty salon experience.” I realized that it can be quite the awkward experience for someone who doesn’t like to be social with strangers. If you do participate in the conversations, you’ll feel uneasy. If you choose to ignore the norms and conversations, then you’ll receive negative sanctions from the employees, making your experience just as unpleasant. However, despite the potentially socially awkward situation, if you're looking for a good haircut - then this is definitely the place to go.

Born This Way.

As a film student, I’ve always analysed films and music videos for their technical aspects and their aesthetics – the way they were shot and edited and how that affected the over all look of the film and its meaning. Rarely have I ever analysed a film or music video for its content from a sociological perspective – who made the video/film, for whom the video/film was made, and how the content of that video/film affected its audience.

The first music video that came to my mind was Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” The more I thought about it, the more I realized that any of Lady Gaga’s music videos could be analysed sociologically, as they have all had a massive impact on their viewers. “Born This Way,” which was released on May 2^nd, 2011, became an instant hit among her “Little Monsters.” It has also won major awards for its success.

The song and music video were intended for people who can be considered as being part of a minority group – people who are singled out from what the rest of society deems as “normal.” The message to this audience, then, is very clear: don’t be afraid of who you are – embrace it and don’t let it stop you from living your life to the fullest.  Not only do the lyrics emphasize this, but as does the content in the music video.

Lady Gaga is well known for breaking social norms in her videos – she pushes through all the socially constructed boundaries, not caring about the negative sanctions that may come with it. By doing this so in an excessively extreme manner, she shows her viewers and fans that it’s okay for them to be whoever they want to be – that they don’t have to care about what others say. She redefines the meaning of “beauty” and “normal” in her video, intentionally disfiguring her face to make herself look like a deviant.

Gaga’s success in affecting so many people can be credited to her achieved status – the fact that she was a “nobody” who fought to become somebody.  The fact that she used to be someone who was picked on and bullied in school and is now a “multi-platinum artist.” “Born This Way” and its music video have clearly positively impacted the lives of many. She has even inspired Campbell Kenneford, a transsexual teenage boy, to gather enough courage and live as a girl, disregarding and fighting off all bullying.

Through her actions, Gaga shows her viewers that society and the people in it define norms. She inspires people by letting them know they have the power to change and redefine their society’s norms.

Color Of Films

We can list a number of ways how films affect the socialization process for its audience. For example, films tend to set a trend of the current fashion sense, diet patterns, technological conformity with society, etc. Also, in the 21^st century, it is wise to assume that film goers definitely have a greater appeal for color films, in addition to the other incredible effects filmmakers tend to use, like 3D technology, special effects, pyro techniques, other graphic effects, etc. But foremost, color is on top that revolutionized the film viewing experience. And now, viewing and making a color film has become a norm in the world of cinema.

Fairly recently, while watching movies, I felt that the filmmaker’s use of color also has a potential for socialization process. These days, it is not very hard to notice that different genres are color-coded. For example, the horror genre is usually has a blue color gradient; romance tends to lean towards vivid colors like yellow and red; apocalyptic genres tend to be more washed out, or have a more grunge and grainy look to them. So, where is the socialization process in this?

Horror (Blue tone): The Sixth Sense (1999), Underworld (2003)

Romance (red or warm tones): Titanic (1997)

Post/Apocalyptic (Washed out tone): Book of Eli (2010), The Road (2009)

As an audience member, after I watch these films, I tend to view reality in that manner, just like any other socialization process. Whenever I think of romance, I feel the need of red, or vivid warm colors in the scene. Hence, I can understand why a candle light meal, or gift a red rose is more appropriate for a date. Another great example, how do all of you picture a post-apocalyptic world? What color scheme pops up in your imagination? Definitely not a green environment, definitely not a plain desert either; but rather, a barren land, with a washed out texture, just like the ones they depict in the movies. In other words, films are not only influencing the ways we act and behave, but also our thought process and imagination.

Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality movie revolves around the FBI agent Gracie Harts who works undercover as Miss New Jersey with her team to protect the Miss United States Beauty Pageant from a possible terrorist attack.

Throughout the movie we can see a huge transformation in Gracie’s identity. At the very beginning Gracie seems to be very masculine in both her looks and her behavior. She doesn’t wear any make-up, doesn’t do her eyebrows, she doesn’t even brush her hair. Moreover, she is aggressive in everything she does, including eating, walking, and laughing. One of the ladies she meets at a bar asks her if the FBI forces all women over there to wear these “really masculine shoes”, and Gracie clarifies that its not the FBI, its her own personal choice. Moreover, her beauty pageant consultant for the mission, Victor Melling, compared her walk to the walk of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.



Gracie faces a hard time accepting her new assignment to work undercover as Miss New Jersey in the pageant. She gets a new look that shocks her colleagues, where she starts to look more feminine to others.




We can also see through the film how Gracie starts to socialize and learn the norms of this new culture she has to fit in. She takes the instructions from her adviser and watches video clips of beauty pageants and starts imitating the moves of the contestants.

At this stage Gracie’s front stage behavior is in the pageant trying to act more feminine, and her backstage behavior is with her team where she can act masculine, as she’s used to. However, as the time passes and through her interaction with the other girls in the pageant, Gracie seems to absorb more of these norms and attitudes and become more feminine overall, while maintaining some aspects of her original masculine identity, like power and independence.



Her transformation gets her the guy, her FBI colleague Eric Matthews, after she had really low chances in finding any guy who would be interested in her. This shows us how society as a social force puts a lot of pressure on individuals shaping their identities in order to have some of the things we desire, like a partner, which would be considered as positive sanctions for following the norms of the society for how we look and how we behave.

Gender and our society

A society labels all male and female individuals according to their genders. It is the way of classifying and separating the males and females in terms of dressing, in terms of behavior, in terms of their respective roles and responsibilities. An individual cannot define his/her gender by himself/herself; the society mostly establishes a gender from their perspective. Most of the communities perceive gender differently. However, gendering people plays an important role in publicizing community organization. Due to globalization and tremendous growth of technologies, the roles of these two separate genders started mixing up. Even though this has not been so prominent, women and men have proven that they can perform each other’s role perfectly without any strain. Is gender today necessary for the society’s organization?

Does it limit our skills and talents? Now days mostly women play the roles of breadwinners in our society. This wasn’t possible in the past because the society made sure that a woman gets married to a man who would take care of her and would support her for family needs. Gendering has always been a part of human culture. Since like culture, the gender roles are so dynamic that keeps on changing from time to time. Gendering takes place soon after birth and all the children are designated according to their particular genders. After the birth of a child, girls and boys are treated accordingly with clear differences in the type of clothes that they wear, the kind of games that they play and also both of them have different behaviors.

The activities carried out by men and women may indeed be genetic and also their behavior may differ according to their genes. For example, biologically it is proven that men are more aggressive than women because of the hormones that are produced in their bodies. The aggressive behavior is common in almost every species but it differs with sex. For example, Crime rates are usually higher in men than in women. But boys usually display a lower level of aggressiveness as compares to girls. Does the genetics really influence the genders? Studies have shown that, if the levels of testosterone between the two sexes in animals are reversed then the aggressive behavior is also influenced.



There are some clear things that we notice like male children usually play with toy guns and violent toys but on the other hand, female girls play with dolls and soft toys. Some of the homely tasks like washing dishes can be done by both the genders but usually females more commonly do this task.



The society today, has failed to promote gender equality. Why is it that even after the developmental measures of equal rights, there are clear discrepancies on the gender roles of the community? Why is it that when people try to cross the gender lines, they are always seen as deviants in our society because they hold a small position in our society?

On the other hand, our society is successfully ensuring that the community is organized along gender lines and that gender cannot be compared to sex. Every individual accepts gender because gender promotes similarity. Living a life in a normal way and by accepting the social norms, these people do not conflict with the society. Every individual wants to be identified with the society. The good thing about gendering people is that is creates recognizable roles, rights and responsibilities to the different sexes making it easy for society organization. Anyhow, gender creates social stratification in our male dominated society that places men above women. We can find many examples and issues like employment, education etc. Girls and boys can be different and at the same time equal in terms of respect. Today living in this world of modernization the society has still not changed when it comes to a task that men can do and women cannot.

Deviating the Qatari Culture through Art

Deviance is a form of behavior that violates expected rules and social norms. There are various types of deviance. The major types of deviance include: formal and informal deviance. Formal deviance includes deviance that breaks the law such as robbery and rape. Informal deviance is deviance that violates informal social norms and rules such as swearing and burping.
 
A current example of a deviant behavior occurred within VCUQ premise on November 2011.  The source of this deviant act is an artist from Mexico.  The artist painted a deviant mural painting. Her purpose of the mural painting is to portray cultural transition and women’s empowerment.  She had a good idea but the way in which she portrayed her idea was wrong and deviant.  It was both formally and informally deviant. She painted an explicit painting in public that is socially unacceptable. Such painting has never been drawn in Qatar in public as it conflicts with the Qatari law, social norms and rules as well as our Islamic religion.
 
Qatari citizens or locals have responded to such a deviant act by various methods; they spread the word via messages, they reported to local newspapers’ Al Sharq’, reported to the Dean of VCU as well as higher authorities.
 
Finally, we don’t truly know her true intensions of her painting. By seeking other people’s opinions through informal conversations, many believe that she has done this mural painting in a Muslim country in order to get her name out there and to be included in the list of the controversial artists and gain popularity. Others believe that she was just ignorant. And others believe that it’s a mere misunderstanding; the artist comes from a country where such paintings are acceptable. Deviance could be intentional or unintentional. There are many simple ways to avoid deviance if one wishes; the basic rule is just to be familiar with the host/home’s country’s laws as well as the culture.


Examples of acceptable murals in Qatar:






Example of a mural in Columbus representing women empowerment:




This video shows an Egyptian girl posing naked on facebook and twitter to imply freedom of expression during elections. It caused chaos in Egypt because of the conservative people in the country against liberals. The girl describes it as being "screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy."

Scourge of the society

Since the time man could speak, he laid down certain mores that regulated himself and those around him. The excuses for these rules range all the way from social security to social homogeneity. But as the age old saying goes, rules are made to be broken. Since the dawn of time, every society has had its fair share of those few that seemed to make it their lives’ goal to do nothing but go against those rules of conformity. They have been labeled as deviants and punks (not the musical genre) and some of the most extreme deviants have been called the unwanted scourge of a perfectly uniform society.

To my better knowledge, I believe that no society should stringently adhere to these norms. The norms arise mostly because of some external factors that threaten the solidarity of the people. Since the society is very organic and dynamic, it evolves to adapt to any situation. Yet, in the process, there remains unchanged, the social norms that once held the people together. Under the stress and change of the evolving society, these norms get bent and broken, now endangering what they meant to protect in the first place. I believe that most people (if not all) are smart enough to know what is right and what is wrong.

To prove this point, I interviewed a close friend of mine who’s social background prohibits the permanent marking of the skin. In the interview I asked him what that meant and his reply was that the culture and the social background he is from scorns those who tattoo themselves and consider it as a vulgar display of oneself. Not surprisingly, this friend of mine was not one to stand aside and let others decide what is considered wrong or right. He got himself a tattoo and is proud of it. He says that for the first few weeks, being a secret deviant felt euphoric. But as time went on, he got used to the tattoo and so did those around him.

This just shows how certain social norms are created just so that they can be enforced upon the people. One influential man’s hatred towards something can easily become a social norm just because he is the head of a society. That is social control at its finest.