INSTRUCTIONS: FILM ANALYSIS AND REFLECTIONT
Sociological Film Analysis: Media, Culture, Socialization, and Gender
Please answer the following prompt with as much detail as possible. Also, note the following:
• A well-written essay will demonstrate mastery of concepts presented in the textbook, film and
relevance to sociological inquiry and your personal life.
• Essays should be no shorter than 1000 words and typed in the standard 10-12 font double spaced.
• Essays must be written in a grammatically correct manner.
• Essays must conform to APA format.
• You must use at least two outside journal articles along with your text and the films to help support
your essay. All sources consulted (paraphrased or not) must be cited according to APA
standards and must include bibliographic references (including quoting or citing from the
film).
• Plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and result in an ungraded
assignment (hence a “0” for that assignment).
• Failure to meet the minimum page or word count requirement will also result in an ungraded
assignment. Please place your word count at the end of your essay.
• Please note that all submitted essays will be filtered through Turnitin which checks your submitted
work for plagiarism and/or academic dishonesty by matching it to other submitted work (by yourself
and others) in a database.
Essay Prompt
The films Miss Representation and The Mask You Live In delve into numerous themes relating to concepts discussed in
your textbook and presented in supplemental videos. Both films include discussions concerning media representation,
the social construction of masculinity and femininity, gender inequity, sexism, violence, rape, self-image, eating
disorders, race, body image, media centralization, labeling, deviance, the sexualization of young girls, objectification of
women’s bodies, and suicidal and homicidal violence, to name a few concepts.
After watching both films and reflecting on the course material presented:
A
1) Discuss the main points of both documentaries, paying keen attention to the aforementioned issues, and, its effects
on the social expectations and lives of young girls, boys, men, and women.
2) Where relevant, relate the films to concepts discussed: in chapters:
3: SOCIALIZATION. This chapter explores different ideas and theories as to how we are socialized from birth to adulthood. The chapter starts with the debate between nature and nurture, suggesting that socialization is a combination of the two and that extreme cases such as feral children can provide insight into the socialization process. The chapter then explores Cooley’s idea of looking-glass self, Mead’s theory of role-taking, and Piaget’s theory regarding reasoning to further explain our socialization. It then focuses on socialization into gender, the different agents of socialization, such as family, neighborhood, religious organizations, daycare, school, peer groups, mass media, and the workplace. The section on resocialization discusses how over our lives we experience the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors, which can also occur in total institutions, such as prisons or the military, where resocialization is slightly more extreme. The chapter also examines the life course and how we experience different socialization throughout it. The chapter ends by examining how socialization is not predetermined and we are not prisoners of socialization.
4: SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND INTERACTION. This chapter examines the differences between macrosociology and microsociology focusing on theories for each. It explains the importance of connecting both views of research to better understand the social world. It discusses several components of social structure including culture, social class, status, roles, groups, and social institutions. On a micro level, the chapter also examines symbolic interactionists and their perspectives, including a discussion of dramaturgy. The chapter also explores ethnomethodology and the social construction of reality and ends by reiterating the importance of using both macrosociology and microsociology.
11: SEX AND GENDER. This chapter examines gender discrimination, beginning by defining the difference between sex, the biological aspect, and gender, the social aspect. Then it discusses the intersection of biology and sociology and how they need to work together as neither provides a complete picture on its own. Next, the author explores gender discrimination at work and outside of work and then examines how women experience discrimination regarding health care and still face challenges in terms of education and work. The chapter shifts to violence against women and ends by talking about gender and politics and why the future looks brighter.
and 16: MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY. This chapter examines the changing roles and views of family and marriage. To start, the chapter discusses the similarities and differences between families across cultures. It then explains the different perspectives on the family. Functionalists view the family’s role in society as creating and raising children. The conflict perspective focuses on the struggle for power between members of the family, specifically husbands, and wives. The interactionist perspective focuses on the meanings attached to different activities that the family completes. The next section examines different families based both on race-ethnicity, one-parent families, couples without children, blended families, and gay and lesbian families and how they are similar and different. Then the chapter examines how family life, cohabitation, and elder care have changed over time, including people putting off marriage, the increase in cohabitation, and sandwich families. The next part discusses statistics about divorce and explains the different ways to establish the statistics. This section also examines research findings on children of divorce, grandchildren of divorce, what types of fathers are likely to be in contact after divorce, and the social situations of ex-spouses and remarriage. The chapter ends by discussing the good and bad of family life and exploring the likely future of marriage and family—which will most likely continue in the future.
from outside journal articles.
3) Finally, personally reflect on what the film meant to you and how the mass media has contributed to your notions of
beauty, sexuality, and gender.
NOTE: To view both films, click on the links below and log in:
(When prompted to create an account, please make sure to skip)
Miss Representation:
The Mask You Live In:
