We are all creatures of Modernity. Every moment of every day of our lives is liv

Question

We are all creatures of Modernity. Every moment of every day of our lives is lived in a world dominated by the characteristics of modern society. Not all societies in the world are modern but, we’ll see in future readings how even the most traditional society is confronting the forces of Modernity as defined by the Western European experience. Even in our society, some traditions that are pre-modern persist. After reading this week’s assignments, consider your life and the life of your family. What are some of the traditions or behaviors that you continue to practice that trace their origins to some “pre-modern” system of social organization? Do you have old family remedies/beliefs, etc. that still guide your behaviors even when confronted with “modern” reality? How has “modernity” changed some of the elements of these traditions?

Explanation / Answer

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) One of the major pre-modernist elements of the society is ‘stereotyped roles’. These assigned roles are absorbed since one’s childhood and later on affects the conceptions of an adult mind as well. Stereotype roles are those that our social environment might be responsible for inculcating within us. Whether or not these perceptions are true, it is essential to understand that these conceptions are not inherent but rather taught to an individual by the milieu that they are exposed to.

As a growing child, one major gender influence has always been the toy section at supermarkets. It was always that company marketed toys with blue boxes containing cars and soldiers for boys and pink boxes with dolls and tea sets for girls. Such sections at supermarkets catered to stereotypes and eventually led to early and unfair gender assignments.

Such stereotypes are still held in a way that one might immediately pick up a blue toy if buying something for a little boy and a pink toy if purchasing it for a girl. This is a result of advertisements and even the social environment as a child that perpetuated such stereotypes. In order to understand the influences, one might refer to the biological model and its influencers.

The major socialisation influences could be attributed to the biological model. Bronfenbrenner explained that everything in a child’s environment is likely to affect how they grow and develop. He went on to explain that a child’s inherent qualities affect the social environment and vice-versa.

Bronfenbrenner’s biological model is in the form of concentric circles or levels that influence a child.

The first level – The Microsystem which is the child itself.

The second level – The Mesosystem which comprise of the family, school, playground, peers, religious institutions and healthcare systems.

The third level – The Ecosystem which contains the extended family, neighbours, friends of the family, legal services, social welfare services and the mass media.

The fourth level – The Macrosystem is formed by the attitudes and ideologies of the society.

The fifth level – The Chronosystem is formed by all of the events and transitions that occur within a child’s life.

All of the levels of the society work together to assign such preconceptions about cultures and the kind of people that it might be limited to. It is certain that such role assignments are not modernist since they hinder the liberty of choice right from childhood and eventually become influencers in one’s adult life as well.

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