1. niaps 2. More physicians say no to endless workdays 3. Harris, Gardiner 4. The New York Times 5. 04/01/11 6.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/health/02resident.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Harold Garfinkel is known for conducting breaching experiments to observe how people react to others not following social norms. This article discusses how Dr. Kate Dewar has chosen to work in the Emergency Room instead of having her own practice, like her father and grandfather did. In Garfinkel’s opinion, this would be considered breaking the norm based on tradition. Dewar’s grandfather believes the same because two generations before her chose the other direction. Sixty years ago Doctors were running their practice straight out of their houses, seeing the same patients and making house calls. Her grandfather argues that she will never have the personal relationships with her patients that he did with his. Dewar has chosen to work in the ER because she is married and has two kids. We have seen this as a very common shift, as women are waiting to have children so they can work or women are changing their attitudes about their jobs/having a job in general in order to have children.
1. JJBO 2. “Not Another Day in The Life of Ai Weiwei” 3. Austin Ramzy 4. TIME 5. April 4, 2011 6. http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/04/03/not-another-day-in-the-life-of-ai-weiwei/?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29
Within this article we can clearly see dramaturgy in full effect with two distinct actors, the rebellious protagonist Ai Weiwei and the cruel antagonist role played by the communist Chinese authorities. Ai Weiwei appears to be “playing” the deviant good guy by engaging in acts such as political activism, denouncing the Chinese government, and directing studio art that depicts acts of resilience toward an unwarranted force of the other actor communist authoritarianism. Weiwei was born into the role of artist due to his father being a famous poet, but Weiwei changed his typical artistry for a more aberrant significant masterpiece in political activism. He is most famous for using the props of photography as seen in his work “Study of Perspective” where he is seen vividly displaying a middle finger towards the Tiananmen government as well as our beloved White House. His audience not only approves and believes his acting but follow him thoroughly through his blog as well as twitter. These media outlets work as Weiwei’s stage where he can preset his actions and what his role-playing stands for. The antagonist in this article is aware of this and as a result we see Ai being restricted from leaving the country, having his house raided, and being placed under house arrest. The communist authorities have their role to carry out as well. They want the Chinese people or their audience to understand their message of “no challenger to communism is safe” and use props such as detaining and house arrests to instill this notion, avoiding stigma (in their sense). Within the article you can even see relations among differing actors as the broader crackdown that the Chinese authorities are taking is referred to as “Tunisian style”. It is made lucid that Tunisia did an exemplary job in playing its role during their major conflict and thus we see comments such as these. The world is our ever changing stage that we as actors can manipulate and play as we see fit, but sometimes its satisfying to just sit back and enjoy the show.
1. xkcdqtbh 2. Budget Stances Harden as Deadline Nears for Shutdown 3. Jennifer Steinhauer and CArl Hulse 4. NYT 5. April 5, 2011 6. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/us/politics/06budget.html?hp
Goffman's dramaturgical approach would consider the positioning of the Republicans and the positioning of President Obama and the Democrats as a form of performing self. The Republicans want to exude an identity that they are firm and unwavering in their desire to cut the current year's budget. They have two audiences: their opponents (President Obama and the Democrats) and the American public (but especially those who support budget cuts). Their front stage was Speaker Boehner's news conference. There are two prominent props they used: a one week extension with $12 billion in cuts and a long term budget resolution. President Obama and the Democrats want to project an identity of defending against what they deem extreme budget cuts. Their front stage was President Obama's news conference. They used one prop: a deal to cut $33 billion from this year's budget.
Both Speaker Boehner and President Obama have large performance teams to help they with their performance in the form of aides, advisors, etc. If either side were to cave in to the other side's proposal, the caving side would be embarrassed in Goffman's sense. They would likely need to have a news conference to perform aligning actions. They may however still be afflicted by stigma and this "deeply discrediting characteristic viewed as an obstacle to competent or morally trustworthy behavior" may cause them to lose the next election.
Finally, although Goffman was not suggesting that normal people are purposefully projecting false images of themselves, because of politics and the intensive media coverage, it is possible that the performances by Democrats and Republicans are "false" images.
1) Beacbum 2) Mad About Saffron 3) Rita Konig 4) Wall Street Journal 5) April 2, 2011 6) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704474804576222853936208990.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_HomeNGarden Although it is not one of the articles that we normally expect to see on a website such as the Wall Street Journal's, but I believe that it shows an often forgotten part of our presentation of ourselves in everyday life. Our home decoration is a big part of what makes us unique and shows a lot about our personalities. It also is a part of the setting in which many of our interactions occur. The article emphasizes the presence of yellow as an accent color in people's homes. By announcing this in the news, it is calling to those people who care enough about the fads of decor that they would go out and buy yellow things to play party to this "new thing". For those people that already have the called-for colors, the article tells them that it brings warmth to their rooms and adds a little taste of happiness. Obviously from this we can deduce the fact that people that would choose to present themselves as isolated, stand-offish, or mean, they would not likely use such yellows to decorate their homes. We can expect, from articles such as this one, that the color yellow would be used only in certain peoples' homes. In regards to playing in the interaction within a home decorated as such, I would imagine we could expect to be treated with the warmth and kindness that the homeowner is trying to portray with their choice of colors. The setting of an interaction is very important within a performance and it provides a context in which two or more people should perform. By having a choice in the appearance of a setting, it shows many things about one (or more) of the performers (the ones that had a choice in it). - Goffman
1) Cupcake 2) Slutwalk set to strut past Queen’s Park to police HQ on April 3 3) Alissa Randall 4) The Toronto Observer 5) March 30th, 2011 6) http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2011/03/30/slutwalk-set-to-strut-past-queens-park-to-police-hq-on-april-3/
Rationality is not methodological in society; no, it is instead a product of how social actors conduct themselves together. Some in society have tried to rationalize the crime of rape by blaming those victimized. Some, like Toronto police Const. Michael Sanguinetti, would like to rationalize rape as a product of simply a woman's attire. In his words, "Women can avoid sexual assault by not dressing like ‘sluts’."
It seems, in Cost. Sanguinetti's world, that a woman dressed provocatively (a term that is rather subjective) has breached the rules of social order and therefore should expect her subsequent social interactions with males to be full of confusion and possibly include rape to restore interactional corroboration.
Those participating in Slutwalk are performing a grandiose, intentional breaching experiment. As the group marched towards the Toronto police station, they disturbed "normal" order of the city streets. The varied attire also is a way of breaching; those dressed sexily may be the ones who seem to be breaching in the Slutwalk, but really it is those dressed in pajamas, work attire, etc. who are breaking social order and the societal expectation of what a rape victim should look like.
Slutwalk serves as an example of breaching what everyone knows to be correct way to interact as the group storms towards the police station. Their attire is an example of breeching interchangeability of standpoints. The walkers are certainly making visible taken for granted societal views of rape and simultaneously making a political statement and creating a force for change.
1. MishaCat 2. Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo 'negotiating surrender' 3. Unlisted 4. BBC News 5. 5 April 2011 6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12975539
There is perhaps no grander a stage than world politics. The situation in the Ivory Coast is one that involves the constant managing of globally visible performances by all those involved. Former President Laurent Gbagbo has recently been forced, through military might, to surrender his position to UN-recognized electee Alassane Ouattara. Yet, in what could perhaps be considered a dramatic front stage show, Gbagbo has personally refused to admit in any capacity that he is losing his position.
Instead, his three generals (a performance team, of sorts, as each is in charge of a major military branch) are handling the surrender negotiations for him. In an effort to save face--and save lives--the defeated generals are negotiating their surrender in return for their own lives, as well as Gbagbo's.
With an audience consisting of much of the entire world, other world leaders, such as United States President Obama, have followed what could be considered the expected scripts of peace and democracy, chastising Gbagbo for his refusal to hand over the presidency upon losing the election and for leading the Ivory Coast into bloody warfare.
Indeed, much of the situation as a whole is the product, and producer, of blatant posturing. It is rather unfortunate that this performance has led to so much bloodshed.
1. Bebop 2. Christina Aguilera: ‘I’m Human, Too’ 3. CNN.com 4. CNN 5. April 5th, 2011 6. http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/05/christina-aguilera-im-human-too/
Christina Aguilera has had a lot of mismanaged performances lately. First her and her husband got a divorce, the she messed up the National Anthem, followed by falling at the Grammys and getting arrested for public intoxication. In the article, Christina talks about being able to laugh at her ‘hiccups’ and by doing this she is performing impression management. Not only can she laugh at her embarrassing moments, but she can also use these moments to help others on her new show that have embarrassing moments.
There are many elements of dramaturgy behind Christina Aguilera’s impression management. Her performance teams, which are her reps and the reporters on this article, are trying to help her save face. The article is literally a prop for her to show her audience, her fans, that she is stronger than letting her setbacks bother her. Christina is setting the scene for her fans to show them that she’s still a good person and singer. Christina Aguilera is not letting all of her mismanaged performances ruin herself so she’s performing impression management. All in all, Christina is trying to point out that she’s a real person and she’s just performing reality and herself throughout her life. - Goffman
1. Tebow404 2. 2. Concert Goers Should Remember Unspoken Rules 3. 3. Ashley Seering 4. 4. Alestle Live 5. 5. March 22, 2011 6. 6. http://media.www.alestlelive.com/media/storage/paper351/news/2011/03/22/Opinion/Concert.Goers.Should.Remember.Unspoken.Rules-3986657.shtml
Just because there is no sign up stating “Hold the door open for others,” doesn’t mean that we don’t do it subconsciously. There is no rule or law that says we must say “please” or “thank you” when asking for a favor or when someone does something nice for you. There is no public record that people shouldn’t eat with their elbows on the table or give others their person space. These are all just things that people do without being told. These actions are often referred to as social norms.
Social norms can also be unwritten or unspoken rules. This article goes into detail about proper social etiquette at concerts. It reminds concertgoers to wear appropriate clothing to a concert, addresses what is acceptable to bring to a concert, and how to behave in public venue. I believe that most people have more common sense about these issues then they would like to admit. People breach norms to show how it is essential for society to adhere to social norms, in order for everything to function smoothly. Although concertgoers do not have specific rules or laws posted telling then what is appropriate attire and behavior, they still follow these guidelines. These “unwritten rules” function to keep society in check and maintain a sense of normalcy. When people begin to ignore these social norms it is easy to see just how quickly society is willing to transform, as a whole. It’s interesting that people don’t think about social norms or unspoken rules, yet when they are breached people feel completely awkward and uncomfortable.
1.Martha 2.Behind the Wizard’s Wand: Making the Harry Potter Films 3.Edward Rothstein 4.The New York Times 5.April 4, 2011 6.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/arts/design/harry-potter-exhibition-at-discovery-times-square-review.html?_r=1
Harry Potter films are a series of popular movies which allow the viewer to wander from their ever real lives to one full of magic and tradition. Viewers are placed in a world where they are able to use magic wands, cast spells, attend school in a Gothic style castle, and much more. “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” allows these fans to submerge themselves in the same environment as Harry and his friends. In this world people are motivated to sell an image of themselves that ties them to be represented as a wizard or witch. The audience is allowed to perform a part of themselves that they become when reading the book or watching the movies. They are showing other fans that they too can play the roles to be a wizard or witch. Each of these fans are sharing their reality at the moment and requires each fan to give an take certain interactions with each other.
By performing themselves, the fans want others to believe that they are like Harry and the gang. They want to be looked upon as another student at Hogwarts. These viewers of the exhibition do not want to lose face because they want to continue fitting in with their world. This is an example of dramaturgy because these fans are so called actors which project the images of fellow witches and wizards in front of the rest of the people attending the exhibition. They use props which they can buy such as wands, spell books, uniforms of Hogwarts students, etc. which help them fit into their role. These props help them seem much more reputable and they will give off a performance that leaves people watching them to believe that they act that way regularly.
1. cabrini 2. Russell Brand:”lawbreaker, line-crosser, madman, genius” 3. Katie McLaughlin 4. CNN 5. April 6, 2011 6.http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/04/05/russell.brand.piers.morgan/index.html?hpt=C2 Everyday life is a series of social interactions where a person in motivated to sell a particular image of themselves to others. Russell Brand, now in America is selling a new image of himself. Previously viewed as vulgar, unkempt, and wild, he has now cleaned up his act. He says it was an improvement for personal and health reasons but maybe it was for a greater social approval in the US. He is now staring in films, has cleaned up, both his appearance and his substance abuse. He says that his number one priority is his marriage, even above a movie with Brad Pitt. He definitely performed himself in his interview with Piers Morgan, sharing his ideals and beliefs that family comes first and that he is a better person now that he is clean and in a monogamous relationship. Piers didn't even ask about his relationship so the fact that he brought it up on his own to perhaps enhance his position in the social group that is Hollywood entertainers.
1. Yosemite 2.Florida Pastor does not play to burn more quarans 3. Greg Allen 4. NPR 5. April 6 2011 7. http://www.npr.org/2011/04/06/135144163/florida-pastor-does-not-plan-to-burn-more-qurans
This article represents Goffman’s idea of dramaturgy by following the events of Pastor Terry Jones’ life in the past six months. On camera, he showed his front stage. Here is a man who waivered back and forth in deciding whether he would burn the quaran or not. Many people claimed it was a radical cry for attention and that he was leading the anti-islam movement in America. Off camera however he would meet with officials from each side of the argument and eventually decided to not burn the quaran. Oh wait, never mind…he changed his mind again off camera and burned the book this last week. The weird thing is that he feels no embarrassment or remorse for his actions. Goffman states that we want to avoid embarrassment as much as possible and when embarrassment occurs we explain our actions with excuses, justifications, blaming other people etc. This man shows no remorse and no excuses. If he is truly embarrassed, he only shows it in saying that his actions were justifiable in that he is only attacking the radical element of Islam, not the everyday Muslim. His actions caused 20 people to die in Afghanistan and I believe his actions are not justifiable. Terry Jones should follow Goffman’s dramaturgy and offer an apology and possibly resign as Pastor to begin to excuse his actions.
1.FLSHEAIR 2.Atheist Student Sues School, City Over Prayer Banner 3.Eryn Sun 4.The Christian Post 5.04/05/2011 6.http://www.christianpost.com/news/atheist-student-sues-school-city-over-prayer-banner-49725/
This article deals with the lawsuit that Jessica Ahlquist a 15-year old student in the city of Cranston, Rhode Island filed against her school for the prayer banner that they school has up. The banner which encourages students to have academic integrity and ambition is 8 feet high and 3 feet wide with the words “Our Heavenly Father” and “Amen” on it.Ahlquist claims that it is a violation of her rights because she does not feel included and feels that Christian beliefs are being imposed on her. The teen has received much criticism from her classmate for attacking a banner that has been part of the school since 1963.
This article is reminiscent of Harold Garfinkel’s theory of breaching, which is a violation of social reality; because it shows when someone disrupts a social norm or a socially constructed reality people immediately react back. The teen in this article violated the social reality of the tradition and history behind the banner by speaking out against it, when what was expected of her was to accept it. Thus, this brought about the consequence of many people being insulted or thinking what she did was unacceptable because it was not expected of her. This is the same thing Garfinkel was trying to proving with his experiments of how people construct their social reality.
1. Quailman 2. Napping Worker Among Problems at Polling Places 3. CBS Local news team 4. CBS Chicago 5. Apr 5, 2011 6. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/04/05/napping-worker-among-problems-at-polling-places/
We are expected to portray a certain image of ourselves when we work/volunteer for a job. People will act out different roles that fit different situations. The audience in this case would be the community’s voters and the actors are the volunteers. However, one cannot expect the volunteers that work at the Chicago suburban elections to be attentive 100% of their shift. A poll worker’s experience can be compared to that of a waiter or a flight attendant. All of these roles require emotional labor regardless of how you really feel. They simply need to spend time separated from those that they serve—like behind a curtain or a swinging door. Without a little time spent in backstage work, one becomes overwhelmed by their tasks. The man who fell asleep could not perform his role as poll worker because he did not have a backstage where he could recover. The polling stations were set up at a school. He even went out of sight of the voters to lie down on a literal performing stage behind the curtain.
The embarrassed man that fell asleep at the polls is being blamed for making these poll stations appear lazy. Now incompetent workers are added to the list of problems with suburban elections. He attempts to save face with an aligning action: an excuse. The man explained that he was exhausted and told the election judges to wake him if they needed him. His excuse defers some of the blame onto his performance team because he would have appeared competent if they had needed his assistance. The mistake was acknowledged but he claims it was not completely his fault. The stigma associated with laziness is not successfully avoided in this case as most of the general voters and election officials still see him as incompetent. The worker’s impression management is what motivated him to convince his peers to think better of his character.
1. Captain 2. Flashing big money in India's smaller cities 3. Sara Sidner 4. CNN 5. April 5, 2011 6. http://www.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/04/05/india.aurangabad.entrepreneurs/index.html
With dream and vision, Aurangabad, India has become a stage for small number of very special people. Sachin Nagouri is a real estate developer and an entrepreneur who has teamed up with other young men who share same goals to put Aurangabad under the spotlight of the world. These guys are the main actors who are stirring up a play. They bought 151 Mercedes-Benz cars, which cost about $15 million, in a single day to use as “props.” They will utilize these props to make a point that there exist a great potential in this city. The immediate audiences are the potential investors who will help the actors complete the set. As of now, the city is the “backstage,” where preparations are being made so that the stage and the actors are presentable and operational. When that is established, they will be actors who run the city, the city will be their stage, and the audience will become the world—those who desire to experience a whole new experience of grandeur luxury. And ultimately, everyone who has made it to the great city of Aurangabad will be the actors living the life so that everyone could see and desire.
1. Dantes 2. “Will American Consumers Ever Go Green? 3. Marc Gunther 4. GreenBiz.com 5. 6 April 2011 6. http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/04/06/will-american-consumers-ever-go-green?page=0%2C1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20Greenbuzz%20%28GreenBiz%20Feed%29
In today’s society, American’s are playing the pretend role of “eco-friendly consumers”, that is to say, on top of all their other responsibilities of being husbands or wives, mom’s, dad’s, coworkers, etc., they have begun to take on another challenge in their everyday live, regardless of how futile they may be. In these times of economic and environmental hardships, we recognize that we are part of the problem, and in some cases many attempt to nullify this by doing what they can, at least in their minds, to amend the situation. People of America have full awareness of “global warming” and the mass quantities of waste we produce and in order to fix this, they come up with a new way of living: “going green”. In this new lifestyle, people change the products they buy and use, attempt to reduce their waste and carbon footprint, and on top of it all, discuss it with everyone they know, partly to spread the word, but mostly to bolster themselves in the eyes of others.
The problem here is that the majority of this new way of living is not the actual changes at all, but rather the discussion of them. People make only minor, insignificant changes, like the article said, such as changing a light bulb, or buying a new brand of cleaning products, but they turn around and tell their family and friends how great and wonderful this “going green” lifestyle is. In reality they can do much more, even smaller things that would make a bigger impact on the environment, but these changes would take more effort, more time, or even a little more money. And as we know in America, the easier, the faster, the more popular, the better. So long as these Americans make a tiny change, they feel they have changed the world and they want the world to know it. We are not concerned with saving the environment at all, but rather we are concerned with having others see us trying to save the environment. We do these things and make these changes so that we can talk about it to others and have others talk about us. It is more so based on popularity and how we live our lives for the sake and entertainment of others. We put on this show, fake it more often than not, so that others will think we are doing something good or better than them. If you really want to make a difference for others or for the environment, stop talking and do it, really do it, and in the end it will speak for itself. -Goffman
At the top of each post you must list the following information: 1. Your Codeword 2. Title of the news article you choose (see suggestions below) 3. Author of the news article 4. Source of the news article 5. Date of the news article 6. Link (url) to the news article
Those six lines should be followed by your reflection from the perspective of the social theorist you choose from the list of options for each due date. A reflection is not a summary. Instead, what you are expected to do is to thoroughly read the news article of your choice and reflect on it from the perspective of one of the assigned Social Theorists. Note that your reflection may include a bit of summary, but it must not consist entirely of summarizing the article. Good reflections will analyze the issue discussed in the article from the perspective of one of the assigned Social Theorists; outstanding posts will even take the voice (write in the tone and style of) the Social Theorist. Reflections should be a minimum of one paragraph. They must be posted no later than 4pm on the due date below and the article you choose must have been published within two weeks of the due date. There are 3 points possible of Extra Credit for each post.
1. niaps
ReplyDelete2. More physicians say no to endless workdays
3. Harris, Gardiner
4. The New York Times
5. 04/01/11
6.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/health/02resident.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Harold Garfinkel is known for conducting breaching experiments to observe how people react to others not following social norms. This article discusses how Dr. Kate Dewar has chosen to work in the Emergency Room instead of having her own practice, like her father and grandfather did. In Garfinkel’s opinion, this would be considered breaking the norm based on tradition. Dewar’s grandfather believes the same because two generations before her chose the other direction. Sixty years ago Doctors were running their practice straight out of their houses, seeing the same patients and making house calls. Her grandfather argues that she will never have the personal relationships with her patients that he did with his. Dewar has chosen to work in the ER because she is married and has two kids. We have seen this as a very common shift, as women are waiting to have children so they can work or women are changing their attitudes about their jobs/having a job in general in order to have children.
1. JJBO
ReplyDelete2. “Not Another Day in The Life of Ai Weiwei”
3. Austin Ramzy
4. TIME
5. April 4, 2011
6. http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/04/03/not-another-day-in-the-life-of-ai-weiwei/?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29
Within this article we can clearly see dramaturgy in full effect with two distinct actors, the rebellious protagonist Ai Weiwei and the cruel antagonist role played by the communist Chinese authorities. Ai Weiwei appears to be “playing” the deviant good guy by engaging in acts such as political activism, denouncing the Chinese government, and directing studio art that depicts acts of resilience toward an unwarranted force of the other actor communist authoritarianism. Weiwei was born into the role of artist due to his father being a famous poet, but Weiwei changed his typical artistry for a more aberrant significant masterpiece in political activism. He is most famous for using the props of photography as seen in his work “Study of Perspective” where he is seen vividly displaying a middle finger towards the Tiananmen government as well as our beloved White House. His audience not only approves and believes his acting but follow him thoroughly through his blog as well as twitter. These media outlets work as Weiwei’s stage where he can preset his actions and what his role-playing stands for. The antagonist in this article is aware of this and as a result we see Ai being restricted from leaving the country, having his house raided, and being placed under house arrest. The communist authorities have their role to carry out as well. They want the Chinese people or their audience to understand their message of “no challenger to communism is safe” and use props such as detaining and house arrests to instill this notion, avoiding stigma (in their sense). Within the article you can even see relations among differing actors as the broader crackdown that the Chinese authorities are taking is referred to as “Tunisian style”. It is made lucid that Tunisia did an exemplary job in playing its role during their major conflict and thus we see comments such as these. The world is our ever changing stage that we as actors can manipulate and play as we see fit, but sometimes its satisfying to just sit back and enjoy the show.
-Goffman
1. xkcdqtbh
ReplyDelete2. Budget Stances Harden as Deadline Nears for Shutdown
3. Jennifer Steinhauer and CArl Hulse
4. NYT
5. April 5, 2011
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/us/politics/06budget.html?hp
Goffman's dramaturgical approach would consider the positioning of the Republicans and the positioning of President Obama and the Democrats as a form of performing self. The Republicans want to exude an identity that they are firm and unwavering in their desire to cut the current year's budget. They have two audiences: their opponents (President Obama and the Democrats) and the American public (but especially those who support budget cuts). Their front stage was Speaker Boehner's news conference. There are two prominent props they used: a one week extension with $12 billion in cuts and a long term budget resolution. President Obama and the Democrats want to project an identity of defending against what they deem extreme budget cuts. Their front stage was President Obama's news conference. They used one prop: a deal to cut $33 billion from this year's budget.
Both Speaker Boehner and President Obama have large performance teams to help they with their performance in the form of aides, advisors, etc. If either side were to cave in to the other side's proposal, the caving side would be embarrassed in Goffman's sense. They would likely need to have a news conference to perform aligning actions. They may however still be afflicted by stigma and this "deeply discrediting characteristic viewed as an obstacle to competent or morally trustworthy behavior" may cause them to lose the next election.
Finally, although Goffman was not suggesting that normal people are purposefully projecting false images of themselves, because of politics and the intensive media coverage, it is possible that the performances by Democrats and Republicans are "false" images.
1) Beacbum
ReplyDelete2) Mad About Saffron
3) Rita Konig
4) Wall Street Journal
5) April 2, 2011
6) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704474804576222853936208990.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_HomeNGarden
Although it is not one of the articles that we normally expect to see on a website such as the Wall Street Journal's, but I believe that it shows an often forgotten part of our presentation of ourselves in everyday life. Our home decoration is a big part of what makes us unique and shows a lot about our personalities. It also is a part of the setting in which many of our interactions occur. The article emphasizes the presence of yellow as an accent color in people's homes. By announcing this in the news, it is calling to those people who care enough about the fads of decor that they would go out and buy yellow things to play party to this "new thing". For those people that already have the called-for colors, the article tells them that it brings warmth to their rooms and adds a little taste of happiness. Obviously from this we can deduce the fact that people that would choose to present themselves as isolated, stand-offish, or mean, they would not likely use such yellows to decorate their homes. We can expect, from articles such as this one, that the color yellow would be used only in certain peoples' homes. In regards to playing in the interaction within a home decorated as such, I would imagine we could expect to be treated with the warmth and kindness that the homeowner is trying to portray with their choice of colors. The setting of an interaction is very important within a performance and it provides a context in which two or more people should perform. By having a choice in the appearance of a setting, it shows many things about one (or more) of the performers (the ones that had a choice in it).
- Goffman
1) Cupcake
ReplyDelete2) Slutwalk set to strut past Queen’s Park to police HQ on April 3
3) Alissa Randall
4) The Toronto Observer
5) March 30th, 2011
6) http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2011/03/30/slutwalk-set-to-strut-past-queens-park-to-police-hq-on-april-3/
Rationality is not methodological in society; no, it is instead a product of how social actors conduct themselves together. Some in society have tried to rationalize the crime of rape by blaming those victimized. Some, like Toronto police Const. Michael Sanguinetti, would like to rationalize rape as a product of simply a woman's attire. In his words, "Women can avoid sexual assault by not dressing like ‘sluts’."
It seems, in Cost. Sanguinetti's world, that a woman dressed provocatively (a term that is rather subjective) has breached the rules of social order and therefore should expect her subsequent social interactions with males to be full of confusion and possibly include rape to restore interactional corroboration.
Those participating in Slutwalk are performing a grandiose, intentional breaching experiment. As the group marched towards the Toronto police station, they disturbed "normal" order of the city streets. The varied attire also is a way of breaching; those dressed sexily may be the ones who seem to be breaching in the Slutwalk, but really it is those dressed in pajamas, work attire, etc. who are breaking social order and the societal expectation of what a rape victim should look like.
Slutwalk serves as an example of breaching what everyone knows to be correct way to interact as the group storms towards the police station. Their attire is an example of breeching interchangeability of standpoints. The walkers are certainly making visible taken for granted societal views of rape and simultaneously making a political statement and creating a force for change.
-- Garfinkel
1. MishaCat
ReplyDelete2. Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo 'negotiating surrender'
3. Unlisted
4. BBC News
5. 5 April 2011
6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12975539
There is perhaps no grander a stage than world politics. The situation in the Ivory Coast is one that involves the constant managing of globally visible performances by all those involved. Former President Laurent Gbagbo has recently been forced, through military might, to surrender his position to UN-recognized electee Alassane Ouattara. Yet, in what could perhaps be considered a dramatic front stage show, Gbagbo has personally refused to admit in any capacity that he is losing his position.
Instead, his three generals (a performance team, of sorts, as each is in charge of a major military branch) are handling the surrender negotiations for him. In an effort to save face--and save lives--the defeated generals are negotiating their surrender in return for their own lives, as well as Gbagbo's.
With an audience consisting of much of the entire world, other world leaders, such as United States President Obama, have followed what could be considered the expected scripts of peace and democracy, chastising Gbagbo for his refusal to hand over the presidency upon losing the election and for leading the Ivory Coast into bloody warfare.
Indeed, much of the situation as a whole is the product, and producer, of blatant posturing. It is rather unfortunate that this performance has led to so much bloodshed.
--Mr. Goffywoffymannypants
1. Bebop
ReplyDelete2. Christina Aguilera: ‘I’m Human, Too’
3. CNN.com
4. CNN
5. April 5th, 2011
6. http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/05/christina-aguilera-im-human-too/
Christina Aguilera has had a lot of mismanaged performances lately. First her and her husband got a divorce, the she messed up the National Anthem, followed by falling at the Grammys and getting arrested for public intoxication. In the article, Christina talks about being able to laugh at her ‘hiccups’ and by doing this she is performing impression management. Not only can she laugh at her embarrassing moments, but she can also use these moments to help others on her new show that have embarrassing moments.
There are many elements of dramaturgy behind Christina Aguilera’s impression management. Her performance teams, which are her reps and the reporters on this article, are trying to help her save face. The article is literally a prop for her to show her audience, her fans, that she is stronger than letting her setbacks bother her. Christina is setting the scene for her fans to show them that she’s still a good person and singer. Christina Aguilera is not letting all of her mismanaged performances ruin herself so she’s performing impression management. All in all, Christina is trying to point out that she’s a real person and she’s just performing reality and herself throughout her life.
- Goffman
1. Tebow404
ReplyDelete2. 2. Concert Goers Should Remember Unspoken Rules
3. 3. Ashley Seering
4. 4. Alestle Live
5. 5. March 22, 2011
6. 6. http://media.www.alestlelive.com/media/storage/paper351/news/2011/03/22/Opinion/Concert.Goers.Should.Remember.Unspoken.Rules-3986657.shtml
Just because there is no sign up stating “Hold the door open for others,” doesn’t mean that we don’t do it subconsciously. There is no rule or law that says we must say “please” or “thank you” when asking for a favor or when someone does something nice for you. There is no public record that people shouldn’t eat with their elbows on the table or give others their person space. These are all just things that people do without being told. These actions are often referred to as social norms.
Social norms can also be unwritten or unspoken rules. This article goes into detail about proper social etiquette at concerts. It reminds concertgoers to wear appropriate clothing to a concert, addresses what is acceptable to bring to a concert, and how to behave in public venue. I believe that most people have more common sense about these issues then they would like to admit. People breach norms to show how it is essential for society to adhere to social norms, in order for everything to function smoothly. Although concertgoers do not have specific rules or laws posted telling then what is appropriate attire and behavior, they still follow these guidelines. These “unwritten rules” function to keep society in check and maintain a sense of normalcy. When people begin to ignore these social norms it is easy to see just how quickly society is willing to transform, as a whole. It’s interesting that people don’t think about social norms or unspoken rules, yet when they are breached people feel completely awkward and uncomfortable.
-Garfinkel
1.Martha
ReplyDelete2.Behind the Wizard’s Wand: Making the Harry Potter Films
3.Edward Rothstein
4.The New York Times
5.April 4, 2011
6.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/arts/design/harry-potter-exhibition-at-discovery-times-square-review.html?_r=1
Harry Potter films are a series of popular movies which allow the viewer to wander from their ever real lives to one full of magic and tradition. Viewers are placed in a world where they are able to use magic wands, cast spells, attend school in a Gothic style castle, and much more. “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” allows these fans to submerge themselves in the same environment as Harry and his friends. In this world people are motivated to sell an image of themselves that ties them to be represented as a wizard or witch. The audience is allowed to perform a part of themselves that they become when reading the book or watching the movies. They are showing other fans that they too can play the roles to be a wizard or witch. Each of these fans are sharing their reality at the moment and requires each fan to give an take certain interactions with each other.
By performing themselves, the fans want others to believe that they are like Harry and the gang. They want to be looked upon as another student at Hogwarts. These viewers of the exhibition do not want to lose face because they want to continue fitting in with their world. This is an example of dramaturgy because these fans are so called actors which project the images of fellow witches and wizards in front of the rest of the people attending the exhibition. They use props which they can buy such as wands, spell books, uniforms of Hogwarts students, etc. which help them fit into their role. These props help them seem much more reputable and they will give off a performance that leaves people watching them to believe that they act that way regularly.
-Goffman
1. cabrini
ReplyDelete2. Russell Brand:”lawbreaker, line-crosser, madman, genius”
3. Katie McLaughlin
4. CNN
5. April 6, 2011
6.http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/04/05/russell.brand.piers.morgan/index.html?hpt=C2
Everyday life is a series of social interactions where a person in motivated to sell a particular image of themselves to others. Russell Brand, now in America is selling a new image of himself. Previously viewed as vulgar, unkempt, and wild, he has now cleaned up his act. He says it was an improvement for personal and health reasons but maybe it was for a greater social approval in the US. He is now staring in films, has cleaned up, both his appearance and his substance abuse. He says that his number one priority is his marriage, even above a movie with Brad Pitt. He definitely performed himself in his interview with Piers Morgan, sharing his ideals and beliefs that family comes first and that he is a better person now that he is clean and in a monogamous relationship. Piers didn't even ask about his relationship so the fact that he brought it up on his own to perhaps enhance his position in the social group that is Hollywood entertainers.
-Goffman
1. Yosemite
ReplyDelete2.Florida Pastor does not play to burn more quarans
3. Greg Allen
4. NPR
5. April 6 2011
7. http://www.npr.org/2011/04/06/135144163/florida-pastor-does-not-plan-to-burn-more-qurans
This article represents Goffman’s idea of dramaturgy by following the events of Pastor Terry Jones’ life in the past six months. On camera, he showed his front stage. Here is a man who waivered back and forth in deciding whether he would burn the quaran or not. Many people claimed it was a radical cry for attention and that he was leading the anti-islam movement in America. Off camera however he would meet with officials from each side of the argument and eventually decided to not burn the quaran. Oh wait, never mind…he changed his mind again off camera and burned the book this last week. The weird thing is that he feels no embarrassment or remorse for his actions. Goffman states that we want to avoid embarrassment as much as possible and when embarrassment occurs we explain our actions with excuses, justifications, blaming other people etc. This man shows no remorse and no excuses. If he is truly embarrassed, he only shows it in saying that his actions were justifiable in that he is only attacking the radical element of Islam, not the everyday Muslim. His actions caused 20 people to die in Afghanistan and I believe his actions are not justifiable. Terry Jones should follow Goffman’s dramaturgy and offer an apology and possibly resign as Pastor to begin to excuse his actions.
1.FLSHEAIR
ReplyDelete2.Atheist Student Sues School, City Over Prayer Banner
3.Eryn Sun
4.The Christian Post
5.04/05/2011
6.http://www.christianpost.com/news/atheist-student-sues-school-city-over-prayer-banner-49725/
This article deals with the lawsuit that Jessica Ahlquist a 15-year old student in the city of Cranston, Rhode Island filed against her school for the prayer banner that they school has up. The banner which encourages students to have academic integrity and ambition is 8 feet high and 3 feet wide with the words “Our Heavenly Father” and “Amen” on it.Ahlquist claims that it is a violation of her rights because she does not feel included and feels that Christian beliefs are being imposed on her. The teen has received much criticism from her classmate for attacking a banner that has been part of the school since 1963.
This article is reminiscent of Harold Garfinkel’s theory of breaching, which is a violation of social reality; because it shows when someone disrupts a social norm or a socially constructed reality people immediately react back. The teen in this article violated the social reality of the tradition and history behind the banner by speaking out against it, when what was expected of her was to accept it. Thus, this brought about the consequence of many people being insulted or thinking what she did was unacceptable because it was not expected of her. This is the same thing Garfinkel was trying to proving with his experiments of how people construct their social reality.
-Garfinkel
1. Quailman
ReplyDelete2. Napping Worker Among Problems at Polling Places
3. CBS Local news team
4. CBS Chicago
5. Apr 5, 2011
6. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/04/05/napping-worker-among-problems-at-polling-places/
We are expected to portray a certain image of ourselves when we work/volunteer for a job. People will act out different roles that fit different situations. The audience in this case would be the community’s voters and the actors are the volunteers. However, one cannot expect the volunteers that work at the Chicago suburban elections to be attentive 100% of their shift. A poll worker’s experience can be compared to that of a waiter or a flight attendant. All of these roles require emotional labor regardless of how you really feel. They simply need to spend time separated from those that they serve—like behind a curtain or a swinging door. Without a little time spent in backstage work, one becomes overwhelmed by their tasks. The man who fell asleep could not perform his role as poll worker because he did not have a backstage where he could recover. The polling stations were set up at a school. He even went out of sight of the voters to lie down on a literal performing stage behind the curtain.
The embarrassed man that fell asleep at the polls is being blamed for making these poll stations appear lazy. Now incompetent workers are added to the list of problems with suburban elections. He attempts to save face with an aligning action: an excuse. The man explained that he was exhausted and told the election judges to wake him if they needed him. His excuse defers some of the blame onto his performance team because he would have appeared competent if they had needed his assistance. The mistake was acknowledged but he claims it was not completely his fault. The stigma associated with laziness is not successfully avoided in this case as most of the general voters and election officials still see him as incompetent. The worker’s impression management is what motivated him to convince his peers to think better of his character.
-Erving Goffman
1. Captain
ReplyDelete2. Flashing big money in India's smaller cities
3. Sara Sidner
4. CNN
5. April 5, 2011
6. http://www.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/04/05/india.aurangabad.entrepreneurs/index.html
With dream and vision, Aurangabad, India has become a stage for small number of very special people. Sachin Nagouri is a real estate developer and an entrepreneur who has teamed up with other young men who share same goals to put Aurangabad under the spotlight of the world. These guys are the main actors who are stirring up a play. They bought 151 Mercedes-Benz cars, which cost about $15 million, in a single day to use as “props.” They will utilize these props to make a point that there exist a great potential in this city. The immediate audiences are the potential investors who will help the actors complete the set. As of now, the city is the “backstage,” where preparations are being made so that the stage and the actors are presentable and operational. When that is established, they will be actors who run the city, the city will be their stage, and the audience will become the world—those who desire to experience a whole new experience of grandeur luxury. And ultimately, everyone who has made it to the great city of Aurangabad will be the actors living the life so that everyone could see and desire.
- Goffman
1. Dantes
ReplyDelete2. “Will American Consumers Ever Go Green?
3. Marc Gunther
4. GreenBiz.com
5. 6 April 2011
6. http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/04/06/will-american-consumers-ever-go-green?page=0%2C1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20Greenbuzz%20%28GreenBiz%20Feed%29
In today’s society, American’s are playing the pretend role of “eco-friendly consumers”, that is to say, on top of all their other responsibilities of being husbands or wives, mom’s, dad’s, coworkers, etc., they have begun to take on another challenge in their everyday live, regardless of how futile they may be. In these times of economic and environmental hardships, we recognize that we are part of the problem, and in some cases many attempt to nullify this by doing what they can, at least in their minds, to amend the situation. People of America have full awareness of “global warming” and the mass quantities of waste we produce and in order to fix this, they come up with a new way of living: “going green”. In this new lifestyle, people change the products they buy and use, attempt to reduce their waste and carbon footprint, and on top of it all, discuss it with everyone they know, partly to spread the word, but mostly to bolster themselves in the eyes of others.
The problem here is that the majority of this new way of living is not the actual changes at all, but rather the discussion of them. People make only minor, insignificant changes, like the article said, such as changing a light bulb, or buying a new brand of cleaning products, but they turn around and tell their family and friends how great and wonderful this “going green” lifestyle is. In reality they can do much more, even smaller things that would make a bigger impact on the environment, but these changes would take more effort, more time, or even a little more money. And as we know in America, the easier, the faster, the more popular, the better. So long as these Americans make a tiny change, they feel they have changed the world and they want the world to know it. We are not concerned with saving the environment at all, but rather we are concerned with having others see us trying to save the environment. We do these things and make these changes so that we can talk about it to others and have others talk about us. It is more so based on popularity and how we live our lives for the sake and entertainment of others. We put on this show, fake it more often than not, so that others will think we are doing something good or better than them. If you really want to make a difference for others or for the environment, stop talking and do it, really do it, and in the end it will speak for itself.
-Goffman