Sociological Perspective

After a careful study and a deeper research on an introduction to sociology, I have come to understand that no problem can be solved well enough if one does not have the sociological perspective which is defined as a way of looking at the world through a sociological lens. In fact, there is the need of the lens that will help one to view situations and have the eye to emerge through different views to solve that problem. This mirror has become a doorway that will help one to have a beginner’s mind to approach problems.

Growing up, my life was somewhat sheltered compared to the lives of other people my age. I was raised by both my mom and dad in a Christian household, in which I was taught morals based upon our faith. As a result of this upbringing, my parents and I made the decision to enroll me in a private Christian school in sixth grade. In this setting I was protected from the influences of the outside world. All of the language, violence, and temptations were around me, which I began to recognize as I entered my freshman year of high school. Even the walls of the highly respected establishment could not keep the real world out.

I will be applying the three major sociological perspectives, which include functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism to the experiences of Hispanic Americans. No ethnic group attracts more public attention than the Hispanic people do due to their large numbers, their residential clustering, and bilingual programs and signs associated with them making them a recognizable ethnic group. Hispanic people who live in poverty or the small number involved in gangs, drugs, or other criminal activity get more attention and generate negative stereotypes, but most of them live as members of the middle class.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the extent to which women are presented as sex objects in magazines. Previous research by Stankiewic and Rosselli (2008) resulted in 51.80% of advertisements in magazines that featured women, and portrayed them as sex objects. The particular way in which objectification is defined, and thus the resulting rates at which women are portrayed as objects, had varied by study. The objectification of women in advertisements also varied by magazine type.

The final magazine I will be examining is Marie Claire. This is another publication aimed at a more mature audience, with a deeper focus on beauty through materialism. Like Complete Woman, it contains more explicit sexual detail and a more serious focus on relationships. Also, because of its abundance of advertisements of expensive cosmetics and clothing, we may assume that this magazine is class-specific to a wealthier consumer. Marie Claire’s cover stories include “What Your Style Says About You”, “How to Get Perfect Skin: 44 Products that Really Work”, “How Often Do You Have Sex?”, “Men: What They Don’t Want You To Do”, and “428 Fashion and Beauty Ideas”.

An employer is an individual or organization who employs one or more person (employee) for wages or salary, while an employee works for an individual or organization (employer) for wage or salary. The wage that is earn is used to cover expenses by the employee, in the form of bills, to cover health, housing, food, utilities, all seen as a necessity.

Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women, and their bodies, sell everything from food to cars. Women's magazines are full of articles urging women to fit a certain mold. While standing in a grocery store line you can see all different magazines promoting fashion, weight loss, and the latest diet. Although the magazines differ, they all seemingly convey the same idea: if you have the perfect body image you can have it all…the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. The media, whether TV, print, or Internet advertising, seems to play a huge role in influencing women of all ages; from adolescence and teens, to women in their twenties and thirties, as well as

Cosmopolitan is the queen of women’s magazines. Her royal court also consists of Glamour, Red Book, Vogue, and other smaller magazines. These magazines demonstrate these beauty standards. Naomi Wolf researched on body image and found a

Redbook magazine are devoted to selling products ranging from shoes to shampoo. The entire magazine only has only 210 pages. Approximately 6-8 min of every half hour television show is produced by ad agencies. Americans are bombarded with advertisements. We see them everyday in many different forms and through different mediums. Advertisers study America’s population through a systematic breakdown and analysis of our likes and dislikes in relation to our differences. These differences include gender, sexual orientation, economic status, location, race, ethnicity, and more. Advertisers have substantial knowledge of what appeals to each of these demographics and how these demographics will respond to

When researchers asked one hundred eighteen female, college-aged students to look at twenty pictures in ads from women's magazines, they felt a sudden change in mood after the pictures were observed. There was notable depression in the women, a depression that has seemed to hit many women after leafing through women's magazines (Key and Lindgren 11). This depression is due to the fact there are so many negative messages being conveyed in advertisements that are published in women's magazines. But who can blame the women for their depression anyway? When the majority of the ads in women's magazines show super-skinny models advertising nice clothes, makeup, jewelry, etc., one might find themselves to be a little down. Skinny models portray their figures to be the cultural norm in Western society today. How often does one find a model in a woman's magazine that is over a size six that is not shown advertising plus size merchandise? The answer is not very often, or sometimes never at all. If women do not see their body type being depicted in

Magazines play a part in creating the image of sex sells. Advertisers use an image to create an advertisement to sell a product. The Purpose of advertising is not to sell sex, but to attract the consumer. Their talent is the ability to transform seemingly neutral object to create a desirable product. It’s no wonder that we are so

These roles for females represent what the advertisement industry believe buyers deem as the real world. As Goffman asked," What messages about women have been given to society through magazine

Magazines that are targeted toward adolescent girls focus on the importance of being viewed as sexy by men and focusing on the way your body looks. Studies have shown that adolescents who frequently read fashion magazines are two to three times more likely to diet based on the articles in the magazine.

Women in magazines are usually tall, extremely thin, and their faces are covered in makeup. Women can easily develop insecurities in the way they look and feel about themselves because of magazines. Women choose to read certain magazines according to their interests. However, their interests are usually congruent with those of the majority of women or they wouldn’t be reading that particular magazine and those magazines wouldn’t stay in business. On the flip side of the sex factor, influences from magazines such as “For Him” magazine and “Maxim” weigh heavily on many men’s self security. These magazines teach men not only how they should look but also how they should view things. An example of this is a macho, semi sexist, tough guy, bull headed, over confident attitude. These magazines define for men the writer’s essence of a real man. Men as a whole atone themselves to such lifestyles probably out of fear of not living by these structures. Although magazines have a strong influence on the masses they are by no means the most influential medium there is.

Fashion magazines are read by many teenagers. Magazines are full of images of bodies that are too perfect to be real, and teenagers see these pictures all the time. It can influence them to be like them and act like they do. Frequent readers of women's fashion magazines are more likely to have dieted or exercised to lose weight because of a magazine article.