Sociological Terms (Terms in Italics) Varsity Jackets,

¶ … SOCIOLOGICAL TERMS (Terms in Italics)

Varsity Jackets, Subcultures, and the Function of Sports in Society

In sociological terms, the varsity letter jackets worn by the students would be considered status symbols because they have specific social connotations that correspond to achievements that are valued by the group. They represent group identity in high school based on membership in sports teams. In many cases, sports teams also feature subcultures in which group norms and values are used by members of the group to maintain a degree of exclusivity to membership in their group as well; in the high school setting, these would typically be referred to as cliques.

In general, competitive sports can be viewed from the structural-functional sociological approach or from the symbolic-interaction approach. In the former, sports would be viewed primarily in connection with their functions, such as a means through which participants maintain physical fitness or pursue enjoyment; in the latter, sports would be viewed more for their use as a means of establishing the identity of individuals within groups and as a means of establishing social relationships and social hierarchies associated with specific achievements. In that context, varsity letter jackets serve an important symbolic purpose for group identity, membership, and exclusivity.

Social Norms, High Culture, and Popular Culture

Today, communicating via cell phone through "texting" has become a pervasive social norm in many different segments of society but especially among teenagers and young adults. The girl who continuously checked her cell phone was probably texting messages to friends. That activity would now be considered part of popular culture because it is relatively pervasive throughout contemporary American society, especially among this age group. A decade (or a decade and a half) ago, cell phones were somewhat less common and air time was considerably more expensive. At that time, cell phones had not yet become widespread enough to be considered part of popular culture; however, because of the connotations associated with them when they were less widely available, they would have been considered elements of high culture by virtue of their relative exclusivity and connotations of privilege or wealth associated with their use. That would have been even more true a few years earlier when cell phones were only available in cars and generally only owned by the wealthy and powerful.

Gender Roles and Social Constructs of Reality

There were several specific representations of gender roles. The fact that the high school girls only drank while the boys ate heartily is at least partly a function of the fact that women are socialized to be more discrete about their consumption of food as well as by the fact that in our society, women are also socialized to worry more about their body weight than men and, as a result, they frequently diet to lose weight or to maintain their weight. The older couple also exhibited typical gender roles in the way the husband ordered for his wife instead of both of them ordering for themselves or her ordering for both of them. In principle, there would be nothing wrong with women ordering for their husbands in restaurants but in our culture and society, that would be perceived as strange because it contradicts established social norms in relation to gender roles.

More generally, the respective behaviors expected of the genders would be considered elements of the social construct of reality in American society. That social construct reflects both conscious and unconscious socialization about gender roles and behaviors. Another example of the social construct of reality would be the way that one of the girls kept giggling and flipping her hair while talking to one of the boys. He may or may not actually have been her boyfriend; in fact, her overtly flirtatious behavior (i.e. giggling and hair flipping) suggest that the couple was more likely in the pre-relationship "courting" phase of their relationship. In our society, women are socialized to communicate social or sexual interest in men indirectly, such as by responding to their end of conversations with laughter and by exhibiting body language and preening behaviors associated with attraction and potential interest.