Sociological Perspective Memes

Yna Alvarez

Angela Go

Agniezska Ng

Marga Olivares

Joey Rodriguez

Clarissa Ting

Geo Yatco

Swag Or Die Krew

SA21-K

This meme shows three prominent sociologists: Durkheim, Marx, and Weber in a bar. The caption reads "cool theory bro" (A play on the cool story bro meme) to show that the three men are discussing their respective sociological perspectives, although they look either very serious or very bored. The other caption reads "can you tell it again" because they wish to understand one another's sociological theories comprehensively.

#theoreticalframeworks #sfsisc #cooltheorybro #threesociologistswalkinabar

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) is there not to form rivalries among its 8 members. Sports associations as such are established to foster good sportsmanship and camaraderie not only within the athletes themselves, but also the fans who have grown to love the sports through watching and supporting the entertaining UAAP games. This meme shows that while some may intensify school rivalries by taking sports to a whole other level, they should be reminded of the real purpose of the UAAP, which is to simply have healthy competition. 

#theoreticalframeworks #Ateneo #LaSalle #healthycompetition #SF

Laws are implemented by government officials and police officers in order to maintain a peaceful society. However, there are rebels who will always go against the rules just for the heck of it or to seem cool in the eyes of their friends. The structural functionalism approach can be seen through Robin being portrayed as the rebel who broke the rules while Batman is portrayed as the police keeping everyone, even his friend in check.

#theoreticalframeworks #lawbreaker #police #SF

A social institution like the school is not just a breeding ground for intellectual minds but also for good moral characters. There, we encounter different personalities each day and although the school creates activities that allow different types of people to work together, bullying is unavoidable. The school implements not only rules on anti bullying, but as well as what's right and what's wrong because whatever they learn during this time of their lives is what they will carry on when they grow old.

#theoreticalframeworks #bully #school #SF

Until now, the whole issue of Napoles and the Pork Barrel continues to spark buzz and controversy amongst the Filipino people and social media. These people work day and night not only to provide for themselves and for their families, but to pay their dues in taxes as well. However, instead of their money being used for the betterment of their country, politicians and lawmakers use this for their own leisure. This shows an apparent division or conflict between those in power and authority and those who are under them and who work to pay their taxes.

#theoreticalframeworks #SC #Napoles #oink #pa-lechonkanaman’te

Instagram and other forms of social media seem to have become avenues for people to show off their wealth and fortune to others. For example, many would find posts or images of their friends eating in fancy and expensive places like hotels and five-star restaurants rather than the normal fast food chain. These people, through the selection of what they share with their friends and those who follow them on these sites, intend to project an image of themselves that has a higher social position than they actually do. This behavior is defined as Conspicuous Consumption.

 #theoreticalframeworks #SC #richkid #caviarandshit #we’redrivingcadillacsinourdreams

This meme talks about how feminists are always demanding gender equality in society, but at the same time believe that an ideal "boyfriend" is the perfect gentleman who opens doors for her, pulls out chairs for her, pay for everything on dates, and basically do everything for her. These two ideas clash and cancel each other out. This displays social conflict because it shows gender inequality. Feminism in itself is gender inequality because although it demands equality, it shows preference for the female gender.

#theoreticalframeworks #SC #GenderInequality #SplittheBill #FeministHippie #burn

This meme depicts the common belief that men with toned abs or "six packs" are able to get girls more. Instead of a six pack simply showing that someone is physically fit or athletic, it has become a symbol or label for a man that is attractive to women and a "play boy". Many people believe that having toned abs is the shortcut to automatically getting girls to like you.

#theoreticalframeworks #chickmagnets #playboy #gainsbro #SI

This meme shows symbolic interactionism because it shows how the perception of certain girls towards gay men. It plays with the belief of many girls that gay men are automatically the perfect best friends a girl could have because they share the same interests despite being of the opposite sex.

#theoreticalframeworks #gaybff #guurlpls #SI

It's a common trend in Philippine media for actresses to be fair-skinned. It is not common to see actresses who are dark-skinned. Therefore, in Philippine society, fair skin is a symbol of beauty and class. People with darker skin often use whitening products to change their complexion, despite the fact that Filipinos are naturally tan due to heritage. This is an example of colonial mentality.

#theoreticalframeworks #whitechicks #whiteisthenewblack

Gender Inequality Memes

Can I Touch Your Boob?

Please Watch This First! :) Bubz Plz (SA 21 PROJECT) 


1) What norm did you violate?
- The concept of personal space and the sexual connotation that’s been ascribed to breasts; the established association of breasts with female sexuality
2) Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?
- We performed the breaching experiment in school, along SEC Walk, Gonzaga Cafeteria, and Zen Garden. We approached strangers and asked if we could “touch their boob.” We had two male and two female members of the group to each do this to strangers of both genders in the selected areas. We observed their reactions and documented each experience accordingly. After the intial question and reaction, we then disclosed that we we were doing it as a project for SA Class.
3) What were the different reactions of the people? List all possible reactions you observed. Why do you think they reacted this way? What caused these reactions? Did the deviant act reaffirm/reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?
Since the experiment was executed on both sexes and friends or strangers , there was a range of reactions. Overall, no one was angry or felt violated. Majority of the people found the request weird, especially the strangers. They would cringe away but smile or laugh. Friends would give a soft slap and laugh about it as well. However, strangers who were asked by the opposite sex, especially boy (asking) to girl , did not find it funny and gave hostile looks to the person asking. One girl even asked ," excuse me?" .
We think that majority of the people found it funny because they took it as a joke or a dare. They probably assumed that someone was daring the person to ask them the question. Most of the people asked were mostly students from Ateneo so that may also be aware that students are doing breeching experiments.

4) Aside from the norms, what sociological themes are at play for people to react in a certain way? Is it a function of gender (gender norms,roles), social class(norms of the rich & the poor ) values /beliefs og intitutions, =( religion,family,peer group, etc.) [ You could design the experiment based on these sociological themes. [For example, you could compare reactions according to gender, social class, etc.]
- An underlying theme of our experiment is gender and the predisposed behaviors that are expected of us as men and women. More men said yes than the women, probably because they felt that they did not have “boobs,” and therefore found the question less invasive. Most women participants refused to have their breasts touched and generally felt awkward or offended.This may be indicative of the sexualization of female breasts and how they have come to be defined as a “private part” of a woman’s body. Discernably, one of the key values tested in this experiment was the generally encompassing sense of conservatism that most Filipinos seem to share. During the times that a woman did say yes to our male groupmates, they felt very uncomfortable with actually proceeding with the act of touching the girl’s breast and chose to instead explain the nature of the experiment immediately.

5) How did you feel when you did this experiment How does it feel to deviate from the norms? Were you hesitant to do the activity?
- Initially the very thought of asking to “violate” someone’s personal space like that made us quite reluctant to proceed with the experiment. We first tried to ease ourselves into it by asking friends first. Soon, we began feeling a bit more confident and began asking strangers. We were common in our sentiments that it couldn’t be just anybody walking by. We tried to look for people who appeared to be a little bit more open to something like that. Through the course of the experiment, there was also the fear that we might accused of sexual harrassment (laws regarding this are found in the student handbook), but thankfully all persons involved in the activity were good sports about it.
6) Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and on deviance in general.
- Based on the reactions of people, the group did not find any difficulties executing the activity. People were generally good sports because they somehow had a common social group they belong to. They had existing assumptions about why the group was asking a weird request and this is probably why they didn’t find it offensive.
This leads to the observation that how an action or a gesture is interpreted as deviance depends on the society one is present in. They may vary depending on who is viewing it as well. The group may have received a different action if the experiment was executed on a different environment with the people coming from different age and social groups.

This meme likens the Titanic crew to Bad Luck Brian, wherein the members of the crew were "unlucky" to die first despite working hard for their passengers. This also highlights the social inequality in that tragedy.

#inequality #badluckproletariat

Surplus labor is basically work that does not get compensated for. In the film Office Space (source of this meme), the employees were overworked by their boss, compelling them to rebel.

#officespace #harshworkingconditions

Conspicuous consumption is about purchasing goods for the sake of keeping up appearances. Condescending Willy Wonka is being . . condescending towards those who purchase Ferraris to display their social status.
#bourgeois 

In this meme, Marx is saying that capitalism is bad, and that capitalists should feel bad. Because of inequality and class struggle.

#marx #classstruggle 

Insanity Wolf is a meme which tells stories, or suggests to the readers acts, of insanity, often employing hyperbole to heighten humor. In this case, someone who would dare tell a feminist that women have lesser rights would be considered either extremely brave or just insane. 

#genderinequality #socialconflict #sofunnythismeme

"FC or Feeling Close"

Normally, we do things with people we know not complete strangers. We talk, jog sit, study etc. with our friends, family or acquaintances because it’s not “normal” to do things with someone you don’t know or spend time with them even if you’re not interacting. This norm can only change if an outside authority asked you to do so (e.g. your prof suddenly asks you to partner up with your seatmate who you don’t really know). This is because there has to be trust or a sense of familiarity with a person before you interact with them.

In our breaching experiment last Jan. 28, 2014 we went to the University of the Philippines Diliman and attempted to deviate from this norm. We joined strangers talking with each other, jogging or even just sitting alone. We just went there and sat quietly not really interacting with them but invading their privacy. Here are some of our photos and videos.

 This jogger was jogging alone when our group mate Alex joined him. He looked side ways at Alex startled by what she did but just kept jogging and chose to ignore her. We believe this is because he thinks Alex just suddenly started running and ended up beside him. We think he didn’t want to believe that someone would just normally try to run beside him.

These groups of friends were chatting away when our group mate Enzo joined them. Then they suddenly stopped looked at him and continued their conversation but some still kept looking at him inquisitively. We think this is because they wanted to be polite that’s why they just tried to ignore him. Although, of course, they thought it strange that he was there that’s why the still kept looking at him.

This girl was sitting alone in the sunken garden when our group mate Ria sat beside her. She looked at Ria a bit shocked that she joined her but looked back at the people she was watching and chose to ignore Ria. We believe she thought that Ria was just also trying to relax in the garden that’s why she ignored her.

This girl was sitting alone when three of our group mates Alex, Enzo and Anthony sat beside her she looked at the three then stood up and left. We believe this was because they all sat together and the girl felt like she was invading the group’s privacy even though she was the one who sat there first.

All in all the breaching experiment was super fun and liberating. At first of course we were shy to do it but when we were already used to doing it, it became a source of fun and laughter. Unfortunately though we forgot to brief people afterwards that this was just an experiment and we think they thought of us as “weirdos” but it’s okay they don’t really know us.

Links of Videos: 

https://www.mediafire.com/?vd480pqjden9hp8

https://www.mediafire.com/?vd480pqjden9hp8

Workin' It.

Alvarez, Go, Ng, Olivares, Rodriguez, Ting

SA21-K

Swag or Die Krew

As a group, we decided that we wanted to deviate the norms of restricting exercise and physical activity to gyms, courts, studios, and normal jogging paths. There are no laws against exercising in public places, so why not? Dressed in our exercise clothes, we had the idea of working out in the vicinity of the Regis building on Katipunan for everyone to see. We chose to do this at 11:30-1 during lunch time because we knew there would be a lot of people in the area.

Our first plan was to carry out our experiment inside the Regis building itself - we were going to run up the escalators, do drills along the halls and inside the elevator. However, even though we knew we weren't doing anything illegal, we changed this last minute because we didn't want to cause a commotion inside a privately owned establishment. So instead, we decided to take our activities outside to the crosswalk bridge connected to the Regis building. This is technically a public area and therefore couldn't be sanctioned for anything considering all we were doing was "exercising". Technically, no one could tell us that we couldn't stay there because we weren't doing anything wrong - we weren't squatting, soliciting, begging, selling or doing any other activities that are unlawful.

We decided to make our exercise routine look like we were members of an work-out class with Joey as our instructor. He was the only guy in our group, so we addressed him as "coach" and had him "lead" our drills. We started by doing a few rounds of jogging back and fourth on the bridge. We continued on with our drills, doing lunges and other exercises back and fourth. We stopped and did some "wall squats" on the sides of the bridge and watched as people passed us. We made sure we were loud enough for people to hear and shouted phrases like "coach ayoko na!" "feel the burn!" "faster!" and other things associated to exercise. We wanted to do something in the elevator so we tried to do some squats as people entered. This couldn't work because the elevator was too crowded and it got even harder for us to keep a straight face when our group mate Clarissa got hit in the face by some guy's elbow because she was squatting beside him.

We got a general response from people who saw us. We passed groups of people on the bridge who looked at us oddly. Some of them would laugh and even stop to look at us. Others just gave us confused looks and kept walking. There were even people who were a bit frightened by us and quickly got out of our way. The drivers and pedestrians under the bridge even looked up at us wondering what we were doing. A social norm that could have been at play which resulted to varying reactions from people was the gender of people. The boys we ran into were more approving and amused by our exercise, while girls from Miriam were more weirded out by the unusual activity they saw over Katipunan bridge. Another social norm that could have been in play was the age difference, which was expected. The young people took our activity more lightly and brushed it off, while the older people gave off a more pissed off vibe, as if we were disrupting the peace and being rowdy. Another social norm that was in play which caused varied reactions was the social class. There were 2 street kids on the bridge sitting and begging for money, and immediately started copying us and watching us when we started the activity, while those in the upper class were more demure and just watched us without making any contact.

The different reactions we observed are the following:

-Before our experiment even started, we already were getting weird looks from people because we were dressed in our exercise clothes. We felt this was odd because - 1. There is a Gold's Gym branch in the building so people come in and out in their exercise clothes all the time, 2. There is also a Yoga studio in the building and 3. We could've just been Ateneo students coming from PE classes. People (especially the students) would stare at us oddly for what we were wearing and give us a judgemental head-to-toe glance when they would pass us.

- We noticed a distinct difference though from the students of Ateneo and Miriam. The Atenean groups would just laugh at us, even cheer us on or maybe had an idea that what we were doing was related to school. The Miriam students would look at us very judgementally, often with no laughter, and look at us as if we were crazy.

- A few Ateneo professors also passed us, but none of them bothered to say anything to us or scold us for what we were doing. Some of us were wearing Ateneo shirts and therefore bearing a representation of the university, however maybe it's possible that they understood that this was some kind of wacky assignment for one of our classes and just laughed at us.

- People not only reacted to our group's actions, but also to the camera. They tended to veer away from the camera, laugh at it awkwardly, and a few people even asked our cameraman if it was ok to pass in front of us (i guess thinking that they would be interrupting some sort of filming.)

- The Regis guards were watching us intently. When we would go back inside Regis to rest in the lounge area on the second floor, one would stand near us and just watch what we were doing. When we were finished and walking down to the parking using the stairwell, we noticed one one even "discreetly" followed us to see what we were up to. And in the parking lot, we also saw that there was one guard who came out to watch us from afar. However, none of them approached us or talked to us.

While planning the experiment, a lot of us were very hesitant. I guess we were embarrassed by the thought of our actions and what we were about to do. After all, we were gonna really stupid doing this. But our feelings changed during the experiment and we just all found it really funny. It was exciting getting the different reactions from people. We weren't doing any harm to anyone or ourselves anyway, so we just carried on with our different routines.

We felt that there was nothing wrong with what we were doing. We were minding our own business and doing our thing, so why do people have to judge us for that? We weren't being noisy or disturbing anyone in a private place because we were technically on the street. We did not block the way or cause a disruption in the flow of pedestrian traffic in the bridge (in fact, it was the pedestrians who were blocking OUR way most of the time.). If people can jog and exercise down on the street, then why can't we do that on a footbridge?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffa_ZxqP2m0&feature=youtu.be