September Blog

            For my September blog, one concept I found interesting was the Standpoint theory. This theory was created by Sandra Harding and Julia Wood. This theory is how we view the world around us. It is our viewpoint, outlook, or perception. We can use the inequalities of race, gender, or class to observe how different positions on the social hierarchy lead us to create distinctive relationships. This theory is also about objectivity in society. The idea where someone falls in the social hierarchy sets the tone for how open and objective that person is. Being on the “low” end of the social ladder, you have to look up and be able to see and understand those around you. Whereas if you are at the “top” of the social ladder, you only have yourself to worry about. This theory suggests that being able to see and understand those above you leads to a more correct view of the world. Those at the top of the ladder may have a false view of the world, and their view is limited to themselves. In our society, it is typical to see or feel that while males have a falser view of the world compared to women because of their place in the social hierarchy.

            An example of Standpoint theory is seen in the movie Mean Girls. The movie starts with Cady low on the ladder. When Cady first comes to the new school, the “freaks”, Janice and Damian, who feel they understand and relate to her, welcome her in. They are open-minded and see others clearly. Cady sees everyone for their own uniqueness as well when hanging around Janice and Damian. Later on, she works her way up to the top of the ladder. Once Cady becomes the leader of the “Plastics”, she starts to become very self-centered that she only sees herself. She is out for herself and only herself. She does whatever she can to get the guy she likes, disrespects her parents by throwing a party while they are gone and doesn’t invite her very 2 first friends, Janice and Damian. Gets drunk, and tries to hook up with the boy she likes, which is something she wouldn’t have done before she was so high up on the ladder. When Cady was low on the social ladder, she cared about her friends, parents, and looked/saw others in a clear way. Once she jumped up the ladder, she only saw herself. This transformation we see of Cady is exactly what the Standpoint theory explains, that her objectivity slowly withered as she went up on the social ladder. 

            Standpoint theory is important to understand because it is often how we form our opinions on many different things, such as people, politics, and so on. With where we stand on the ladder, gives us a sense of if we have power or not and whether we are looking up to people or not. Being lower on the ladder allows us to see those who are at the top being unaware of how they only see themselves and no one else. They are full of their own power, and not a lot of people like when others are full of themselves. We often find good relationships with those who are in similar areas of the ladder to us, allowing us to create good relationships with those we can relate too. 

September Blog

Samantha Sadler

Christina Ivey

Comm 160-001

25 September 2018

Learning about language and culture is an important task for us to do. We must be able to understand how language works as well as how it can interact with our culture. One concept that I found to be interesting was orders of signification which are the processes of linking the signifiers to the signified. The first key aspect of this is denotation, which refers to the literal definition of something. For example, the denotation of a map would be a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads, etc. because it is the textbook definition of a map. The second aspect is connotation which is the expressive meaning of something. Going back to the map example, here, a map would be the thoughts that are generated in our minds when the word map is said. We then are presented with the myth which is the cultural values and beliefs that are expressed through that connotation. This would be the different visualizations people have of maps which then becomes the denotative meaning of that sign. Myths can be both positive and negative in society.

Myths are common in our everyday life, we just may not know them as myths. One type of myth that is present especially in today’s society is the idea of stereotypes. This is an idea that was socially constructed by society and now has both a denotative and connotative meaning. When thinking about it as a myth, we are able to see how the connotative meaning has taken the place of the denotative meaning. There is now a very negative meaning to stereotypes. People use them to discriminate against others and create ideas about certain groups of people then clumping them together. A common stereotype that is constantly brought up is the idea that those of Asian descent are bad drivers. This is reaffirmed everytime someone who is not Asian sees a driver make a common mistake while driving then happens to be Asian. The myth is thus furthered because people associate the Asian race with the ability to drive poorly when in reality we all make mistakes while driving, we just tend to point it out more when we see the stereotype against Asians to present itself on the road.

The overall idea of myths is important to be understood because like Roland Barthes said in his book titled Mythologies, “Myth is a language” (Barthes 10). Understanding how myths work and being able to find them within everyday life is helpful. It will then allow us to see how society has changed the meanings of certain words, allowing us to think back to the real meaning of something. All three of the terms that make of the order of significance are important to understanding the truths in language throughout our lives.

September Blog- Lauren Brill

I am going to focus my months blog on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the connection between a language and a person’s perspectives. Our language choices are due to our values of reality. Our text book describes that the hypothesis argues that “our words are not just words; rather, they can determine what we can (and can’t) understand” (Warren & Fassett 131). Due to our experiences our language is structured. 

            An example that is very common in our society today is sexist language. It influences our views comparing men and women. The words like fireman or policeman are examples of these. Instead of using firefighter we mainly resort to one as a fireman. This causes issues between men and women, by given men a higher acknowledgement. 

            Going off of the book’s hypothesis example with money, just thinking of the word in the U.S. culture we can come up with many things. But if we were to ask another, less privileged, culture they could look at it very differently. Even it being as simple as what kind of money it is. I immediately think of a dollar, but if you were to ask someone in Europe, they would most likely think of a euro. Our cultures influence our language and the meanings that we visualize them as. 

            In the article Relatively Thinking: do our words influence how we speak? By Josephine Livingstone explains the principle of linguistic relativity. It describes Whorf’s experiment in Hopi, and how the Native American tribe who lives there is “time-less”. He found that within their language they have no word for time. This describes how different our linguistic priorities are compared to other cultures. 

            Simple things in our language can mean so much to us, without us even realizing it. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis put a different perspective of how we communicate in my mind. I see that we need to be more careful and couscous of our choice in words. I learned how different cultures are within linguistic relativity. 

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/29/how-words-influence-thought

September's Blog Post

The topic I am going to do this blog post on is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. This hypothesis states that the way we shape our language and the way we say things influences our way of thinking and how our culture acts with one another as a whole. Depending on how you choose to make a statement, shows your experiences, views, knowledge, etc. For example, my dad used to call my phone, or laptop a "little black box." He referred to these items in this way because he wasn't acquainted with technology and did not care to learn the names at the time. However, as time passed and he got a smart phone (which he is on WAY more than I am), he now refers to it as a cell phone. It became a part of his world, and knowledge. Another example is racial slurs. A person who uses the "n" word and is not a person of color, is probably using it to distastefully talk about or to someone who is. The way they're forming their language has now shown a piece of their character, it's shaped the way people around them view them and interact with them. This concept is important to understand because it will help improve relationships and avoid misunderstandings by opening our thoughts to other's different experiences and why they might use the language that they do. There have been more times than I can count that the way I've said something has offended someone else, but is normal to me because of where I came from and the group of people I hang around with.

August Blog post

Social Construction Theory

The social construction theory basically means humans need to know how to socially conform and communicate to the current society one lives in.

Berger and Luckman said, "Humans are the only animals when we are born we cannot survive at that moment."

Basically no other species has to know how to communicate with others of its kind in order to survive in our society. We have a socializing factor that goes into our society and to socialize you need to be able to communicate with one another verbally or nonverbally. Some people who have trouble establishing the basic forms of communication are considered special needs even.

People that are considered special needs require assistance for disabilities that can be medical, mental, or psychological. Most of the time, people placed in this category have noticeable communication disabilities and the incapability to communicate with others. Also, these people usually get outcasted by our society today. This is an outside example of the social construction theory because they lack the social and communication skills needed and for that they are viewed and treated differently than average.

I think this concept is an important concept to discuss and grasp because it allows us to understand how important communication is to our species and society. We literally must know how to communicate sufficiently in order to "fit in" with the common society or advance above others in one's lifetime.

Levi Butler Murmur Project

Boise Greenbelt

https://youtu.be/0p3P_VG6P7o

Murmur Project- Melissa Hansen

https://youtu.be/9h373mbexWI