The Usefulness of “the Sociological Imagination” in Relation to Gender, Social Inequality and Suicide
The Usefulness of “The Sociological Imagination” in Relation to Gender, Social Inequality and Suicide
Sociological imagination is the “quality of mind” (Mills, 1959: p. 4) that enables us to look outside our everyday life and see the entire society as we were an outsider with the benefit of acknowledge of human and social behaviour. It allows us to see how society shapes and influences our life experiences. Is the ability to see the general in the particular and to “defamiliarise the familiar” (Bauman 1990: p. 15). According to C. Wright Mills, it “enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals” (Mills, 1959: p. 5). These experiences are affected by social changes so in order to understand them we need to look beyond them. This way, sociological imagination is very useful as it allows us to relate the situations in which we live our daily lives to global societal issues that affect us. However in this essay I am only going to discuss the usefulness of sociological imagination in relation to gender, social inequality and suicide.
Seeing the world sociologically also makes us aware of the importance of gender. Gender refers to the social aspects of differences and hierarchies between male and female. Every society attaches meanings to gender, giving woman and men different kind of work, responsibilities and dress codes. We tend to think that becoming a man or becoming women is a biological destiny. But sociological imagination allows us to see it in a different way. Butler argues that “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender ... identity is performatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results” (1990: p. 25). In other words, gender is a performance; gender is not who you are but what you do. Similarly West and Zimmerman states that “A person’s gender is not simply an aspect of what one is, but,
Sociological imagination is the “quality of mind” (Mills, 1959: p. 4) that enables us to look outside our everyday life and see the entire society as we were an outsider with the benefit of acknowledge of human and social behaviour. It allows us to see how society shapes and influences our life experiences. Is the ability to see the general in the particular and to “defamiliarise the familiar” (Bauman 1990: p. 15). According to C. Wright Mills, it “enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals” (Mills, 1959: p. 5). These experiences are affected by social changes so in order to understand them we need to look beyond them. This way, sociological imagination is very useful as it allows us to relate the situations in which we live our daily lives to global societal issues that affect us. However in this essay I am only going to discuss the usefulness of sociological imagination in relation to gender, social inequality and suicide.
Seeing the world sociologically also makes us aware of the importance of gender. Gender refers to the social aspects of differences and hierarchies between male and female. Every society attaches meanings to gender, giving woman and men different kind of work, responsibilities and dress codes. We tend to think that becoming a man or becoming women is a biological destiny. But sociological imagination allows us to see it in a different way. Butler argues that “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender ... identity is performatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results” (1990: p. 25). In other words, gender is a performance; gender is not who you are but what you do. Similarly West and Zimmerman states that “A person’s gender is not simply an aspect of what one is, but,
References: C. W. Mills, 1959. The Sociological Imagination (40th anniversary Ed.). Oxford University Press. Z. Bauman, 1990. Thinking Sociologically. B. Blackwell J C. West and D. H. Zimmerman, 1987. Doing gender: Gender and Society. Vol. 1. No. 2. P.140 Swedish family at http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623/ UNFPA, 2000. The State of World Population 2000: Lives Together, Worlds Apart: Men and Women in a Time of Change, p. 25. New York: UNFPA Plutarch quotes at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes Suicide rates by gender, Ireland, 1950- 2009 at http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/irel.pdf M J. Butler, 2004. Unduing gender. Routledge