In Chapter 12 of the SAGE Readings: Good and Ben-Yehuda discuss moral panics. In Clacton, England, teenagers from rival groups known as the Mods and Rockers vandalized a seaside resort. Beach huts were damaged, windows shattered, and motorcycles revved carelessly up and down the street. This was a relatively minor incident and can be contributed to teenage angst. However, every major newspaper ran a lead sensationalist story about the Clacton vandalism. The media, police, politicians and active civilian organizations vowed to improve their communities.
The politicians pressed their constituents for curfews and more police activity. The media ran lead headlines for three years about minor vandalism reports. More police were assigned to known criminal areas of activity. If we look at this from a , we can see the interconnectivity of the communities, police, media, and politicians that were all deeply affected by sensationalistic and often incorrect media reports on teenage violence, vandalism, and petty criminal acts. Being sociologically mindful, it is important to understand that the media is a very powerful tool that can shape opinions and influence the world around it.
For example, bored teenagers pick up a newspaper and see the lead titles of vandalism and teenage violence and could think to themselves that they want to be on the newspaper or television next and therefore vandalize properties and commit violent acts for media attention.
In Chapter 14 of the SAGE Readings: Tannen expresses that women wear outfits and makeup differently than what men would wear. Women are often judged for their competency and disqualified for dressing a certain way.
If a woman’s clothes are tight and revealing, it could mean she wants to feel attractive or is available. If a woman dresses conservatively and modest, it sends a different message as well. Women are often judged by marked words of availability or married status such as Miss, Mrs., Ms. Men are unmarked. Men are often not judged for what they wear and only have one marked word for their availability which is Mr. If we look at this from a sociological perspective, Women are just as competent as men in terms of work ethic, company position, leadership, and ambition. We must have compassion for women that must work harder to earn their merit in a male-dominated society. If we look at the sociological imagination, we can see that in history, women took up jobs that men predominantly worked when they went to war during World War II.