Posts created by students in SOC 101 during the Fall 2022 semester.
As hospitals have become busier in recent years, physician-led labor has replaced midwife-led labor. Today, midwives are only present at 12% of US births (OSHU 2020). With the prioritization of safe medical practices, present-day society has traded woman-centered approaches to childbirth, like midwifery, for more sterile medical approaches (Sandall et al. 2010). The busy hospital […]
Young female athletes often face criticism on their appearance, regardless of their body type (Hardie et al. 2022). This scrutiny perpetuates outdated gender norms, where boys are praised for traits like strength and assertiveness, and girls face backlash for the same qualities. This double standard contributes to mental health struggles among female athletes and further […]
Greetings from the USA! I landed at John F. Kennedy Airport as an 18-year-old Chinese student from the opposite side of the world, with three heavily packed suitcases, ready to enter a new world of unknowns. Though my heart was racing with anticipation, I soon realized that things would not go as smoothly as I […]
Climate migration has begun. Art piece: A boat of climate refugees is going towards a new land. The posts have question marks on them, denoting that the refugees do not know where they will end up eventually. Also, the water is tumultuous and angry, showing that the refugees have traveled through a rough area and […]
Until recently, OCD was commonly recognized as a rare mental illness, and medical professionals defined it as such (Summerfeldt 2004). OCD is short for obsessive-compulsive disorder, a condition in which people experience recurring, intrusive, and uncontrolled thoughts (NIH). However, recent studies instead suggest that OCD results from the inability to cope with uncertainty, as seen […]
Successful women are particularly at risk of experiencing celebrity takedowns. When Travis Kelce has attended Taylor Swift’s concerts, people praise him for being society’s ‘perfect boyfriend’. By contrast, when Swift has attended Kelce’s games, some football fans have become angry, booed her when the camera pans to her, and suggested “She’s ruining football” online (Cherian […]
Dark comedy has allowed misogyny to stay mainstream (Ford et al. 2007: 168). It’s easy to find recent examples of jokes that went too far. For example, in 2016, a leaked tape of former President Donald Trump joking with a male friend about sexually harassing and “grabbing [women] by the pussy” went viral. Trump dismissed […]
The first thing that many people think of when they hear the term “accessibility” is wheelchair ramps. Ramps not only increase physical accessibility for wheelchair users, but are a convenient option for able-bodied people. Using a cart to transport something heavy? Only having stairs available will make that incredibly difficult, but with a ramp it […]
It has recently come to my attention in turning 20 that I should invest in looking 20. Evidence of my aging is emerging in wrinkles and freckles. A dermatologist has already recommended me a retinol and my 23-year-old cousin is lamenting preventative Botox. In a society obsessed with youth and beauty, how are women allowed […]
If you’re feeling anxious about the state of climate change, you are not alone. Due to the climate crisis, a chronic stress called climate anxiety is emerging among adolescents worldwide. With youth protest on the rise, adolescents look to governmental figures to pass legislative action. Many global powers, including the Biden administration, have been able […]
