Sociological analysis through pottery

By having a full chapter about Gender and a long discussion about this topic during this week, I decided to talk about Greek Potteries. Because they show within a moment; the huge difference between males and females in that ancient civilization.

            Based on many survived artworks we can see the clear difference between the two genders. The following Greek Potteries show women activities, how they dress and look like.

            A woman sitting on a chair looking at her self through a mirror. That shows the importance of appearance to Greek women.

This Image shows 2 women carrying pieces of clothes and a large bowl in the middle between them.  This scene is about laundry.

This scene is divided into 2 friezes; the first one is for a group of women weaving. And the small one above shows women in a wedding ceremony.

We can see a strong connection between all the images of the women. Almost all of them are about Domestic and indoors activities.  In general, the house and children was the responsibility of the women.

            On the other hand, her are some images of men on Greek potteries. 

             In this Image, we have two men, perhaps athletes, fighting or sparring each other. While someone is just observing what is happening.

An Image of a man carrying a bow for hunting with his hound. As we can see, it is an outdoor scene. 

A scene of a group of warriors marching toward a battlefield. 

The scene on this pottery shows a young man, on the right, listening to an old man, on the left, playing music. Maybe the scene is about a musical lesson. So, we can say that men had more access to education than women.

Greek potteries are a key factor to look at Greek people’s social life. Just from few examples; we can see the big and clear difference between the two genders. Woman are for domestic activities and indoors obligations. Men are all about masculinity, power and outdoor activities. Also, they  have a better chance to get education than women.

From a sociological point of view, ascribed status, sex, determined a lot in the Greek’s life. Females are inferior to males. However, even though they are restricted their role is still very important. Despite how we look at their Gender Polarization right now, they found their own way to divide their social role. Each gender carries a role that supports the society and helps maintaining it.

  

"We've Got The Power"

In our last Sociology class, we discussed women and gender. Considering how there is an overwhelming majority of females in our class, the topics on femininity, neo-feminist cinema and power were highly intriguing.

I have witnessed and experienced a significant amount of sexism, not only from males but females too. Mothers in particular. They seem to conform to their roles as being housewives and homemakers; cooking and cleaning are an integral part of a married woman’s daily routine. Men, however, conform to their roles as being the breadwinner of the household. If men are placed in a situation where they can’t be the providers of the family they will submit to playing no part whatsoever in helping around the house. This is because they feel emasculated and since socialization portrays working around the house as a female’s responsibility, men would rather be useless than serve a purpose.



I have first-hand experience, in my own household, of my brother telling me to make him meals because I’m a female. I have also experienced something similar from my mother. She advised me to learn how to cook earlier on, in order for me to provide meals for my future husband. Parents, and the family, are the most prominent agents of socialization in any individual’s life. This explains how people can justify that they’re right for whatever reason – may it be on buying a house or car, or making the right choice on a certain issue - because their parents have cautioned them on what is right and what is wrong.


This week I attended the student-faculty dodge ball game. Seeing as the majority of students are female, some male students expressed bitterness because they saw this as disadvantageous to the students’ team. “The only reason we’re losing is because we have so many girls on our team,” said one male.


Men seem to be under the impression that women can’t exert physical power. This is mainly due to socialization – movies such as Rambo and the Expendables convey masculinity through strength and violence. But even when women play roles that show ‘power over’ others, which means getting others to do something even when they don’t want to, it isn’t interpreted in a serious manner. This is mainly because men find women playing aggressive roles attractive, and almost all of these roles played by women are sexualized.



Although the faculty won the dodge-ball game, there were quite a number of females on their team as well. The males on the student team purposely targeted the females on the faculty team, assuming that they would be the “weak” point. But the females played a large role in contributing the large number of points the faculty team won by, which shows that it is merely a social construction that “women are physically weaker than men.”

Glass Ceiling barriers Can Be Broken!

When sociologists study gender, they focus on male-female differences in behavior and appearance that have been socially created. Sexism has brought many inequalities to women, especially within areas of education, work and politics. By sexism, I mean the belief that one sex- and by extension, one gender- is innately superior to another, justifying unequal treatment of the sexes. The concept of gender stratification becomes evident, as there tends to be unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis of sex/gender.



The notion of glass ceiling could be the reason for gender inequality. In this case, glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that keeps women from reaching the highest ranks of jobs or industries. This may be the case with some women, but not with all women, certainly not Mercedes Duerineckx. She is the founder and CEO of the International and well known, Art Wanson Gallery. She has created a luxurious platform for all art expressions, under the trademark of excellence, tradition and exclusivity.



Women tend to face gender discrimination within higher education, but Duerinckx didn’t. She got her Business Administration degree in Tourism.



Duerinckx’s education and Art Wanson Gallery is not her only accomplishment. She has been awarded businesswomen of the year 1992 in Morocco, Founder and CEO in real state industry 1985-1992, and the executive member of Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Tanger.



She said that growing up in a multicultural family has helped her become who she is today. Duerinckx was born in a Spanish family in Morocco and later on moved to Spain and France. In sociological terms, she was raised in a highbrow culture, with a diverse cultural background.

Inequality between genders

In our society, there has always been a physical difference between both sexes. Therefor it has been a common subject where there are some big inequalities between genders. Just the idea of creating two groups of gender: men and women show the origin of this inequality. Moreover, due to the idea of a physical difference between genders it has created in our society a form of sexism. Where it is believed that man is superior to women, but it’s only a cliché just because it is based on “the physical capacity” of that gender. Somehow this idea has evolved and created many differences and inequalities in our society. There are a lot of discrimination concerning the rights of the women, the salary differences and so on….



Due to the sexism a new movement has been created to that may be considered as a deviance, but it‘s only created to give back the right that the women need. This movement is called feminism where women want to be looked in the same way as the men. They do not want any more discrimination and need to have the same status and work equally with men. Also by threaten the woman the same way as the men it will help the society and economy to grow further and be healthier. The following video is a good explanation of the inequality that is happening in our society.

Differences in cultural sexism

In Qatar, the locals can be categorized in practicing a recognized common ethnicity: for example, they share similar religious beliefs, the Arabic language, the style of clothing among many other things. In the Middle East some aspects of this ethnicity are shared, especially the language and religious beliefs. Many of the similarities between Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries are dissolving and forgotten as Qatar becomes more open to Western countries. Assimilation happens in Qatar because of this openness to the Western world, which involves exchanging cultures, beliefs and blending, thus forming the new Qatar into a new cultural system.

Rights of the genders are a debatable issue. In the earlier days, men and women were having different rights in the Gulf region, which resulted in the segregation of the sexes. In the 20th century, with modernization, Qatar witnessed a social mobility, which enabled both the genders to begin to have similar rights and were considered equal. Women in Qatar now have the same rights as men, in relation to work, vote, study, and drive. However, there are still some inequalities between male and female in the Arab world. In Qatari culture the men are responsible and are the ones who take control in hard situations. Also, men having more freedom: go out and stay up late without having to give excuses; while, women having less freedom, have to ask permission if they would do anything.

Clothing is another area that is more controversial for women than for men. Actually, the Qur’an (the Holy book of the Muslims) says the genders are equal and does not require women to cover their faces. Islam does not promote sexism (Parker, par.2). However, interpretations of Islam differ on the clothing of women, especially concerning the hijab. For example, when I went to Saudi Arabia four years ago, I went to some shopping mall, and I was shocked that everyone was looking at me. Finally, one woman came to me and said, “Cover your face!” I was wearing an Abaya and head covering (Shela) because in my Qatari culture it is optional if you wear face covering (Niqab) or not, but I was crossing their cultural boundaries by not wearing the Niqab, so I felt awkward and suspicious. As a result, I began to overgeneralize, and to assume that all of the Saudi society was like that. I became prejudiced. On the other hand, they considered me deviant because I was violating their cultural expectations.

Here’s one of my personal experiences of the deviation of the ethnicity among the various countries in the Gulf region itself. My relatives who live in Saudi Arabia were wearing the black cloves; head Abaya (a one-piece Abaya that covers the head), and Niqab. They are different, and their culture and gender expectations are different as well. There are huge differences between our freedom and theirs. Saudi girls are supposed to cover their hair and face in early age, where as in Qatar it is optional if you cover them or not. When my relatives came to visit me in Qatar, despite being knowledgeable that women here were allowed to drive, they were shocked because they didn’t realize that many women actually drive. Also, they were impressed by seeing my colored designed Abayas. In their point of view, it is against their culture to wear designed Abayas. One of them told me that it is not good to wear them, because they will be considered attractive to men, but mine was loose and it covered my body, and I didn’t see anything wrong with my Abaya. They also go to single-sex schools and gender-segregated work places. Their culture segregates the sexes, and women don’t have a chance or choice for driving because it is against their government law.

I think the change there will be really hard because people are entrenched in their culture, religious interpretations, and gender expectations. Women there bound themselves from the fear of the society and its pressures. Here are some of the instances where cultural sexism is witnessed. Although the influence of social mobility is embraced in some countries, with time, there are many windows that still need to be created and opened in the more conservative countries, especially in the Gulf.



Works Cited:
Parker, Kim. “Women, Islam, and hijab: Emory university. Fall 1996. Web 30 Nov. 2011.

Gender Polarization in Professional Tennis

Many of us enjoy watching tennis matches. We are entertained by the excitement of the game, the gracefulness and probably the elegance of the players. However, it takes sociologists to pinpoint various sociological aspects in professional tennis, and one of the most prevalent of these is gender polarization.

For instance, if you glance at the outfit of the male and female players, you will find tremendous differences. Men usually dress in loose short-sleeved t-shirts and knee-length shorts. This type of clothing identifies the masculinity of the men, which makes them look socially acceptable. On the other hand, women immensely integrate fashion into their sport. Their typical clothing would be short skirts, shorts with tank tops, or a short dress. However, women players wear these garments in attractive colors, exotic designs and glamorous jewelry on-court, which bring a lot of attention beyond their performance. Obviously, women players commit to such fashion statements because they want to remain feminine regardless of the athleticism their sport demands. Sometimes these outfits are very controversial, which was the case many times with the former world number one American tennis player, Serena Williams, who wore a leather-like catsuit in the 2002 US Open. Also, in the same event in 2004, she showed up in boots and a denim skirt.


Another aspect that shows gender polarization in professional tennis, is the game style. Men not only have more powerful consistent ground strokes, but they also like to attack a lot by moving forward to the net and finishing the point with a sensational volley. Also, the speed of men’s serve can reach to 250 kph. In contrast, if you watch the women’s game, you will see a lot of long rallies thanks to their excellent coverage of the court, but you hardly see them introducing exciting strategies as men do. They simply just hit and return the ball till one of the players makes an error or misses a shot. So men are paid more due to their capability to entertain the crowd more with their outstanding game tactics, but also in the grand slam tournaments men play best of five sets while women just play best of three. The idea of sexism fits perfectly in this scenario, as the male players receive more audience due to their high quality matches and they get paid more because they play more sets in major tournaments. As a response to this sex discrimination, many women players underwent a feminist movement to prove that they are just as good and achieve equality. Examples of these feminist acts would be when a number of top WTA players like Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki justified why they should be paid more. They said that they do a lot of endorsements, and that spike up the financial state of the businesses involved in making professional tennis possible. Besides, women tennis is becoming more aggressive and physical, so people start to sense that the women are playing and behaving more manly on the court. For instance, they run faster, hit harder and grunt louder. One of my all time favorite women’s matches, which exhibited the masculinity women players are increasingly integrating in their game was the semifinal of the 2005 Australian open championship between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Here is the video of the match:


Moreover, regarding the feminist actions taken by the female players, the WTA created a global campaign with the tagline “Strong is beautiful.” This campaign featured 38 of the professional players and the advertisement that was produced showed the women wearing very revealing tennis clothing to display their athletic bodies while hitting aggressively their shots in slow motion. The ad clearly illustrated that women players are capable to deliver assertive tennis without any compromises to their femininity.


If you also analyzed how male and female players celebrate their victory on court, you can recognize obvious differences. Men usually collapse on their backs with their legs wide open or jump around very vigorously. As an example of how wild Novak Djokovic celebrated his first Wimbledon title this year, he snatched up some blades of grass and shoved them in his mouth. But for women no matter how exciting the moment can feel like, they still take less bustling actions. Crying is quite common among women who win majors, and that explains that women are more emotional than men.


Besides, the commercialization of gender ideals, which is the process of introducing products to the market by using advertising and sales campaigns that draw on socially constructed standards of masculinity and femininity, heavily influences the type of commercials male and female players do. For instance, male players usually promote technical items like cars, rackets and watches. However, women players would advertise items related to beauty like shampoos and deodorants. And even when these women are featured in commercials about cameras and rackets, they still embrace their feminine appearance mixed with the assertive attitude.



All in all, gender polarization nearly exists in every facet of our lives. It is the people’s duty to conform to their gender ideals in order to keep the socialization process functioning well. But sometimes, gender polarization can be detrimental to women’s growth and success in certain fields. That is why women feel it’s unfair to live in a “glass ceiling” society, and that motivates them to lead feminist movements. In many cases, feminist acts were successful and society gradually started to perceive that it’s “okay” to see women working in areas that are masculine in nature and receiving privileges that they never used to be awarded before. However, it would be considered socially deviant if men started to engage in more feminine-like activities. They would probably receive a lot of sanctions and will not feel as comfortable as women feel working in more manly environments. That is just how society works.