This writing assignment addresses course outcomes 3 and 4. This
assignment will require you to think about gender, sexuality and social
institutions. You will apply a social theory to discuss how sexism and
heterosexism are embedded in social institutions. You will evaluate how
inequality is created and maintained by social institutions. You will be
asked to think carefully about current policies in place to prevent
discrimination and bias against women and against members of
marginalized sexual and gender orientations. You will be asked to make
suggestions on how these policies could be improved.
For this activity, you will identify one area where sexism or
heterosexism is evident in one of the key social institutions you have
studied. You will find a current event article from a local, national or
international news source that details an institutional act of sexism
or heterosexism. This might include laws that allow women or the LGBTQA
community to be treated unfairly, reports on differences in pay or
hiring practices, publicized violations of Title IX, or any other act
that appears biased that is committed by an institution. For example,
several years ago, the Boy Scouts of America (an institutionalized
group) came under fire for refusing to allow gay men to serve as troop
leaders. This is an example of heterosexist bias. Recently, the Pope
made a statement that women were allowed to nurse their infants in any
Catholic church during Mass; this was due to some parishes banning
public nursing. Banning public nursing is an act of gender bias. Be sure
that you are discussing an institutional act and not an individual act
of bias. You will describe the event that you have chosen. You will then
apply key sociological concepts and theories to your discussion of this
event. You will also apply a social theory to explain why this
institutional practice exists. The theory you pick will be the one that
best fits your world view (structural functionalism, Conflict, Symbolic
Interaction, Feminist or Queer Theory). You will review the positive
(social stability) and negative (social dysfunction) consequences of
this practice. Your review and analysis will focus on the structure of
society and not on the individual. You will support your arguments with
appropriate outside sources as needed.
Evaluate
Before beginning this project, please be sure you have thoroughly
read and reviewed all of the content in modules 4 and 5. Pay special
attention to the terms and concepts from your reading material that help
you understand the way that sociologists look at and make sense of
gender and institutional development in society. Next, select a current
event from a local or national news source that discusses a sexist or
heterosexist act. Then, please write an approximately 750 words of text
(approximately 3 pages of double-spaced, 12-point font of text) essay
addressing the following question prompts. A references list should make
up an additional page.
Briefly summarize the article that you have selected. Provide the
specifics of the act and which social institution is engaged in the act.
Provide a theoretical explanation for why the act occurred. This
must be a structural explanation that focuses on the institution. Use
the theory that best fits your understanding of the act.
Discuss how this act was managed. For example, if it was illegal,
what were the legal sanctions against the institution? If not illegal,
what was the public response?
Finally, suggest policy changes that might prevent future occurrences of this act.
Your essay will be evaluated in terms of how thoroughly you: answer
the questions above; use resources to document your main points; and
properly cite referenced work. Your essay should address all of the
questions above and should consist of approximately 750 words of text (3
pages of double-spaced, 12-point font of text). Citations and a
references list will likely make up an additional page.
To successfully complete Project 1, you will need to organize your
responses to the questions and then craft a formatted essay that
includes each of the following:
A title page;
Well-developed introductory paragraph explaining the purpose of the
essay and briefly referencing some of the main points/contentions
offered in the essay;
The body of the essay should consist of your effort to best answer
the primary questions from the assignment prompt and should consist of
approximately 750 words (approximately 3 pages of double-spaced,
12-point font of text). Though the method by which this is done is
largely up to you, it is essential that the responses to the questions
in the prompt be based upon scholarly readings and should remain at all
times defensible (in an academic sense). You have a great deal of
information to draw from in creating your essay, including the assigned
readings and hyperlinked sources in the module notes. As is the case
with every assignment in SOC101, presenting any unsubstantiated,
illogical, or indefensible position will have an adverse effect on the
final grade. Please direct any questions regarding these expectations to
the instructor;
A concise concluding paragraph that briefly restates both the
purpose of the essay as well as some of the primary argument offered by
you, the essay’s author. Be sure the concluding paragraph does not
introduce new information;
A list of all sources consulted in the preparation of the essay. The
essay should be formatted according to APA-style documentation. This
includes the format of the list of references.
