The roles that individuals serve in a society are not randomly ascribed, but rather achieved through social cultivation. Individuals learn these roles through a process called socialization. According to Conley, specifically Craig Calhoun, “individuals internalize values, beliefs, and norms” (Conley 2013:118) so that they can be efficient members of society. Interactions with others over a period of time allow people to establish and conform to socially constructed gender labels: male or female. Gender is a “socially constructed social position” (Conley). Gender, like race, is a label constructed by society to identify and differentiate individuals within a social community. In my opinion, this objective of gender differentiation is purely
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Clothing is an attribute of status in that it describes our personality, values, and levels of comfort. To say that manufacturers are the sole reason that this perpetuation and social enforcement of gender norms and “appropriate behavior” would be ignorant and reductive. Oftentimes sociologists find that an answer to one question leads to another question and another and another. So, what role do manufacturers have in creating the gender norms for clothing? I have observed that manufacturers have a large role in responding and perpetuating socially accepted labels and beliefs on gender and clothing- while simultaneously also being open and reactive to consumer’s demands and expectations in clothing. Social institutions, such as business, seek to benefit and increase their power from financial gains. Think of Large, multi-national companies such as Wal-Mart and Burger King. Smaller, regional stores and or companies such as Peebles and Royal Farms are also examples. The hierarchy of power, in my observations, can be explained in a cycle. Hypothetically, The government (Political institution), after finding out about a study that warned of a massive population drop-off due to a lack of medical technology and care, legislates a broad act to increase the spending, researching, and implementation of better technology to ensure that infant-mortality rates lower. Businesses (economic institution) who specialize in medicinal technology will increase their research, production, and selling of advanced medical equipment. Then suddenly, there is a huge success rate and the infant mortality rate drops at a surprising rate… the media will advertise success stories and explain how the technology from the said businesses worked. Now that the infant-mortality rate is lower, we have a higher population of newborns. The demand from people increases exponentially so that department stores
Clothing is an attribute of status in that it describes our personality, values, and levels of comfort. To say that manufacturers are the sole reason that this perpetuation and social enforcement of gender norms and “appropriate behavior” would be ignorant and reductive. Oftentimes sociologists find that an answer to one question leads to another question and another and another. So, what role do manufacturers have in creating the gender norms for clothing? I have observed that manufacturers have a large role in responding and perpetuating socially accepted labels and beliefs on gender and clothing- while simultaneously also being open and reactive to consumer’s demands and expectations in clothing. Social institutions, such as business, seek to benefit and increase their power from financial gains. Think of Large, multi-national companies such as Wal-Mart and Burger King. Smaller, regional stores and or companies such as Peebles and Royal Farms are also examples. The hierarchy of power, in my observations, can be explained in a cycle. Hypothetically, The government (Political institution), after finding out about a study that warned of a massive population drop-off due to a lack of medical technology and care, legislates a broad act to increase the spending, researching, and implementation of better technology to ensure that infant-mortality rates lower. Businesses (economic institution) who specialize in medicinal technology will increase their research, production, and selling of advanced medical equipment. Then suddenly, there is a huge success rate and the infant mortality rate drops at a surprising rate… the media will advertise success stories and explain how the technology from the said businesses worked. Now that the infant-mortality rate is lower, we have a higher population of newborns. The demand from people increases exponentially so that department stores