Social Thought and Research, Volume 24, Number 1&2 (2001)

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  • Publication
    Social Thought and Research, Volume 24, Number 1&2 (2001): Front Matter
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01)
  • Publication
    Bringing The Body Back In: The Social Construction of Embodied Sexual Identities
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Zajicek, Anna M.; Shields, Chris; Wright, Joe L.
    In this paper, we build on the sociology of the body and existentialism to explore the relationships between sexual bodies and sexual identities" and to contribute to a fuller understanding of the processes of sexuality formation from the actor's perspective. Specifically, by centering respondents' bodily experiences and the situations in which they find themselves. this study not only provides an insight into the processes of sexual identity formation and its fluid nature, but also into the possibility that sexual nature can be stable for some and changeable for others. In this context, we introduce the concept of "embodied sexual identity," which can be successfully applied to grasp the different facets, stable and unstable, rigid and malleable, of sexuality as well as the complex relationships between individual experiences of the body and sexual identities.
  • Publication
    Patterns in Family Policy Preferences in the European Union
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Brayfield, April A.; Alder, Marina A.; Luo, Ye
    This study empirically examines the relationship between national content and individual preferences for national policy priorities related to improving family life within the European Union. Using data from the Eurobarometer survey, logistic regression models indicate that public opinion about nine potential priorities (housing, economic prospects, education, flexible work hours, childcare, tax advantages, child allowances, parental leave, and contraception) parallels and ideological subscription to traditional gender roles, the level of economic prosperity, and the degree and type of state support for families with children. We also find that women are more concerned about policies that enhance the reconciliation of work and family, while men are more concerned about policies that support their traditional breadwinner duties.
  • Publication
    Reaction to R.W.Connell's Understanding Men: Gender Sociology and the New International Research on Mascudinities
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001) Hickey, Ann Marie
    As a doctoral student in the Sociology progranl at the University of Kansas, I have been privy to several lectures and panel discussions by leading scholars in my field. The 2001 Clark Lecture (Social Thought &Research, 2002, Vol. 24, 1& 2)was no exception to this trend. For the first time in my life, I was able to listen to a presentation given by one of my scholarly heroes, Robert Connell. Based on this lecture given by such a prominent scholar in the field of gender, I now have the distinct privilege-or harrowing curse, depending on how you look at it-ofcomposing a reaction piece based on Connell's lecture, Understanding Men: Gender Sociology and the New Intemational Research on Masculinities.
  • Publication
    Understanding Men: Gender Sociology and the New International Research on Masculinities
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Connell, Robert W.
  • Publication
    ANTI-JEWISH PREJUDICE IN CONTEMPORARY HUNGARY: A SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSAL MODEL
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Todosijevic, Bojan; Enyedi, Zsolt
    Predictions from three general approaches to prejudice-personality, social learning and group-conflict-have been examined on a sample of Hungarian youth and their parents. The sample consisted of 400 randomly selected college students and their parents from two Hungarian cities (total N=800). The questionaire included, among others, an antisemitism scale, authoritarianism scale, and socio-demographic variables. Socio-psychological causal model was constructed using univariate recursive regression graph methodology. The results indicated that students' antisemitism is directly related only to personality (authoritarianism) and to parents' antisemitism. Students' authoritarianism is related to parents' authoritarianism and family socio-economic status (as indicated by parents' income and education). Parents' antisemitism is related to their own authoritarian tendencies and income, while parents' authoritarianism is primarily related to their educational background. It is concluded that the results primarily support personality approach to prejudice as represented by Adorno et al.' work (1950), and socialization approach. Group-conflict approach received ambiguous suport in the same way as predictions from this approach concerning individual differences in prejudice are ambiguous.
  • Publication
    SELF-DIALOGUE AS A FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS OF EXPRESSION
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Shaw, Victor N.
    Self-dialogue involves a constant process of demarcation and interaction between "I" and "me," between the speakable and the unspeakable, and between what is said and what is meant. This paper studies self-dialogue in its main aspects. First, it reviews relevant contributions in the existing literature. Second, it attempts a working definition of self-dialogue. Third, it examines self-dialogue with regard to its main dimensions and processes. Fourth, it identifies rules that guide self-dialogue. Fifth, it looks into practical applications and implications of self-dialogue in life and personal management. The major findings and arguments are: Self-dialogue is a fundamental process of expression; it mediates between self-image and social experience; it is regulated by ontological limits, cultural norms, and social rules; and it serves as an adaptive mechanism for self-presentation, identity acquisition, stress management, health maintenance, and personal integration.
  • Publication
    Characterizing Gender and Race in the 2000 Summer Olympics: NBC's Coverage of Maurice Greene,MichaelJohnson, Marion Jones, and Cathy Freeman
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Mayeda, David
    Media representations of African Americans and indigenous peoples tend to follow stereotypical notions of both gender and race. Because African Americans and indigenous peoples are gendered and racialized simultaneously by media forces, this study examines how the television network, NBC, managed portrayals of three (3) celebrated Africna American athletes and one (1) Aboriginal athlete in Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games. Specifically, the study investigates media descriptions of Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson, Marion Jones, and Cathy Freeman. Findings reveal that media presentations of African Americans men attempt to moderate threatening imagery out of sport while also promoting nationalism, and (for Greene) amplifying threatening imagery in sport. Both African American and Aboriginal Women are feminized, and political activism carried out by Aboriginal athletes is heavily mitigated by liberal pursuits of multiculturalism, as well as feminized commentary.
  • Publication
    The Sexuality of Gender: Gay Male Social Theories and Their Relations to Women
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Oifer, Eric
    This article will focus on these troublesome aspects in gay male social theory, analyzing them as links between gay masculinity and the dominant ideology of male heterosexual masculinity. This focus is particular important because, though gay male social theory is constituted by various, and often conflicting movements, perspectives and politics, certain dominant masculine codes tend to affect much of the discourse.
  • Publication
    Godly Masculinities: Gender Discourse Among the Promise Keepers
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Bartkowski, John P.
    At the peak of its prominence, the Promise Keepers had attracted criticism from many quarters. More recently, this evangelical men's movement has struggled to retain the visibility it once enjoyed. Using insights from cultural theory, I analyze a select sample of best-selling men's manuals representing various advice genres within this movement. I argue that PK gender discourses have given rise to four evangelical archetypes of godly manhood: the Rational Patriarch (traditional masculinity), the Expressive Egalitarian (men's liberationism), the Tender Warrior (poeticized manhood), and the Multicultural Man (interracial masculinity). I explore how PK luminaries utilize two rhetorical devices-discursive tacking and gendered metaphors-to rnanage the tensions and contradictions that surface within and among these discourses. These archtype enable the Promise Keepers to define themselves with reference to other new social movements. Multiple depictions of godly manhood contributed to the rapid rise of this evangelical men's movement during the 1990s, and maybe one source of its recent decline.
  • Publication
    Gossip, Scandal, Shame and Honor Killing: A Case for Social Constructionism and Hegemonic Discourse
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Awwad, Amani
    A critical assessment of the cultural factors involved in the phenomenon of honor killing in the Middle East will be discussed in this paper. Through social constructionism and hegemonic discourse the following issues will be addressed: First, the role each cultural factor (gossip, scandal, and shame) plays in legitimizing and perpetrating the violence of honor killing. Second, unravel the mystery as to how these cultural factors became an integral part of the social control apparatus aimed at controlling and dominating women. Third, understand the ambivalent nature characterizing the role of agents of social control, including the state, the criminal justice system and the community in dealing with honor killing.
  • Publication
    THE STRANGER TRANSFORMED: CONCEPTUALZING ON AND OFFLINE STRANGER DISCLOUSURE
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Virnoche, Mary E.
    Disclosures, secrets, and stranger associations have long intrigued social researchers. In this article I consider the transformation of stranger associations with the use of mediated communication. 1 consider how non-mediated and mediated forms of stranger associations vary based on characteristics such as synchronicity, distance, ease of break, permanency of break, and stranger shopping. In addition, I propose the concept of "strange making technologies"-those that createfor acquaintances and intimates that particular tension between remoteness and distance that Simmel identified as unique to the form of the stranger. Furthermore, I suggest that this strange making quality that is particularly strong in Internet communications has both the potential to deepen and dismantle already established relationships.
  • Publication
    From Identity to Queer Politics: Shifts in the Social Logic of Normative Heterosexuality in Contemporary America
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Seidman, Steven
  • Publication
    Powder, Pomp, Power: Toward a Typology and Genealogy of Effeminacies
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Hennen, Peter
    An analysis of some of the varying historical and cross-cultural meanings of effeminancy and their relationship to hegemonic masculinity provides a unique perspective on the social construction of the sex/gender system currently operating in most industrialized societies of the West. In this paper I present a brief review of the historical uses of effeminancy in Europe and the US and develop a five point typology. My survey reveals a plethora of meanings, linking effeminacy alternaely with deficient citizenship, a general lack of sexual restraint, excessive heterosexual behavior, exclusive connection with passive homosexual activity, and finally as an incorrigible proposition that utilizes a naturalistic narrative to link it with homosexual orientation regardless of sexual role. I then employ the typology introduced here to expand and augment an argument advanced by Randolph Trumbach to explain the emergence of the strong cultural link between effeminacy and homosexuality during the 18th century.
  • Publication
    Social Thought and Research, Volume 24, Number 1&2 (2001): Book Review
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Lammers, Matt
  • Publication
    Social Thought and Research, Volume 24, Number 1&2 (2001): Book Review
    (Department of Sociology, University of Kansas, 2001-04-01) Tongier, Brian