Lesson One: Sociological Constructs and Theories

Matriarchy and Patriarchy: A matriarchy is a societal or governmental system in which females hold the most power, while a patriarchy is a societal or governmental system in which males hold the most power. Patriarchy is the more common of the two, especially in Western and Westernized cultures, but some societies do fall into the matriarchal category.

Feminism and Feminist Theory: Feminism is the belief in the social, political, and economical equality of the sexes, and the social movements organized around that belief. Feminist Theory is considered one of the main theories of sociology. It looks at the gender inequality in society and the way that gender structures the social world, such as objectification and discrimination against individuals for their sex.

The Women's Movement: The women's movement (in the United States) can be categorized into three waves. The first wave, known as the suffrage movement, was spent gaining women the right to vote during the mid-nineteenth century; the second wave of the 1960s and 70s emphasized women's equal access to employment and education; the third wave, from the 1990s and on, focuses on the issues of diversity and the varying identities that women can possess.

The Men's Movement: Beginning the 1970's, male liberation-ism discussed the challenges of masculinity in our society. Since then the movement has split into two opposing groups: the men's rights movement, which feels that feminism creates disadvantages for men, and the pro-feminist men's movement, which feels that sexism harms both men and women and wants to fundamentally change society's ideas about gender.

Sociological Imagination: Sociological imagination is the ability to shift your perspective from an individualistic point of view to one that understands the broader, more complex social context in which the individual lives and is affected by. It is the understanding that our personal issues are rooted in the issues of our society.