Key term Definition Achieved status Gained by the individual through talent, effort and hard work. Agents of socialisation Social groups and institutions which have a role to teach us norms, values, customs, traditions etc. Ascribed status Status which is fixed and determined at birth. Culture The way of life of a social group, made up…
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It studies how men, women, children, old people and even animals tend to communicate. In the case of humans, it is not concerned with one or two languages, but all of the languages in the world. It observes the, phonological, lexical, and syntactic differences between languages and…
Do you think equality is important to society? In my opinion, even in the current so-called civil society, the wish of equality between man and woman is hard to achieve. In China, domestic violence is still rife. So I’m not surprised when I read “Lives of the Saints” which was written by Nino Ricci. Cristina,…
The social status of women in ancient Greece was a very limited one to say the least. In an era where women were little better than domestic slaves, there were few supporters of any kind of equality for them. One of these rare supporters, surprisingly, was none other than the great philosopher Plato. His great…
Today, every one of us is spending more of his leisure time watching TV, listening to the radio or reading newspapers and magazines. The shows on the TV and the articles in the newspapers influence our decision process, shaping our perceptions for the world. Besides the positive fact that we are better informed and in…
Sex and Gender Roles Sex – a determination of male or female on the basis of a set of socially agreed-upon biological criteria Gender – social distinctions between masculinity and femininity The Biological Female and Male? Problematizing the sex/gender distinction, and the category of sex itself, is the assertion that our bodies are absolutely separate…
