Social issues, where to start? If there’s one thing any society will never fail to have, it’s social issues. However, that doesn’t mean that these issues should be ignored. The goal of any society should be to eliminate or lessen these issues as much as possible, for that is the true mark of advancement. Here, I’ll discuss some of the less noted, but equally important issues in our modern American society.

Ableism

Ableism is an often well-ignored issue, which is shocking considering that 12.6% of the American population is disabled. That’s almost 40 million Americans. People sometimes think that disability rights and equality are all said and done with. We have the occasional wheelchair ramps, there are elevators in most buildings, and we have lots of braille on many public restroom signs. What those people don’t realize is how hard activists have had to and still have to fight for those little pieces of accommodation. Ableism comes from the concept that disabilities are something to be “fixed” in someone, that anything and everything must be done to make them as close to “abled” as possible. There is also a lot of patronistic behavior that comes with ableism, as there is the assumption that a disability makes someone’s life a tragedy and destroys their independence. While there are struggles in day to day life with disabilities, and some assistance from others may be require, most disabled people would argue their lives are pretty worth living. Leah Smith explains this base definition pretty well.

I consider this to be an important issue considering that while I carry no physical disability, I have friends who are or have been wheelchair users. I, myself, have autism, which is considered a disability itself. There is a long historical background for this issue, from eugenics being carried out against the disabled, the protests disabled Americans have carried out in our nation’s capital, the long history of the freak show, and the fight that continues for proper accommodations, awareness, representation, and equity. I will definitely have to narrow my focus on a topic like this, for there is a lot of smaller issues that fall under the wide umbrella of ableism.

Sex Work

People often believe that sex work is a horrific occupation, full of sad, broken girls who have no other options. There is a belief that criminalizing sex work helps women, and prevents sex trafficking, when often the opposite is true. The criminalization of sex work causes much of the abuse that sex workers experience to come from the hands of law enforcement. Violence against sex workers is taken less seriously than violence committed against the average citizen. More information can be found here. Criminalizing an industry that most people consume some from of product from — because porn is sex work — does nothing but hurt the people involved in the industry. The stigmatization of sex work in general does nothing but hurt the feminist movement, despite the desire of some feminists to separate themselves from sex work. This blog, written by a now retired stripper/activist, is very helpful. Sex work advances sex positivity, which helps women everywhere. The more sex work is demonized, the more sex itself, and the feminine aspects of the sex industry, are demonized as well. Women aren’t the only sex workers as well, there are plenty of men in the industry who face similar issues, although less to do with the added factor of being female in a female-dominated industry. Sex work is real work, and by pretending it isn’t, we invalidate the people who work in it.

I consider this to be an important issue because the sex industry is very alive and thriving, yet we still choose to try to squash it down and pretend it’s this horrible, evil thing. I don’t think sex positivity can really truly happen until our society’s issue with the sex industry is addressed. There is a major historical background for the discrimination and stigmatization that sex workers face, especially when it’s commonly considered the oldest profession. I will definitely have to narrow my focus, as there are many, many issues this industry faces.

Transphobia

Transphobia is generally known as discrimination or prejudice against transgender people. Considering that the concept of being transgender is rather new to most cisgender people, otherwise known as people who identify with their assigned gender, there is a lot of stigmatization of transgender people. There is a huge risk of violence for people who are openly trans, due to the extreme transphobia in today’s society. The average life expectancy for trans women is between 30 and 35. Transphobia is killing people, whether it be through suicide or an act of violence. We often hear about the debates over bathroom laws and how young a child should be allowed to transition. It is a complex issue depending on what smaller issue you are looking at, but that is any social issue. Trans rights are incredibly important, and deserve to be addressed.

I have and have had friends who are trans, so while I have no personal insight on this issue, it’s something people in my life have struggled with. There is a major historical background for this issue, with many examples of trans people throughout history who are often erased or brushed over due to transphobia. This is not a new issue, although it is new to much of the cisgender population. I will also need to narrow my focus on this issue, as it’s something that impacts nearly every aspect of the lives of trans people.

Racism and discrimination is a social topic that spans across the entire nation. There is not a culture or person, who does not face discrimination. Racism and discrimination is a form of conflict theory. Conflict theory is said to be, “human behavior particularly in a social context is influenced by or results from conflicts between competing groups.” Conflict theory originated from Karl Marx in the 1800’s and he believed, “that conflicts arose between two main classes or groups of people…” Racism and discrimination is a form of conflict theory because these situations happen either between different ethnic groups or people with differing ideas. An example of this are the conflicts that occur between black people and white people. Many of the conflicts stem from the days when black people were enslaved by their white counterparts. The days when a white person could openly say and feel that they are better than a black person. How does this relate, is what someone might and the answer that can be given is this relates because that feeling that a white person is better than a black person is still continued in this day. Black people feel the need to compete with their white counterparts because they feel held back due to their skin color. They feel the chance they can have to be a success is being denied because they are a few shades darker than what society has deemed is the normal color that an individual should be. And it’s not only color that plays a role in this conflict. Differences in how the cultures speak, dress, or even forms of entertainment causes racism and discrimination. 

Which leads to how symbol interactionism can be a form of racism and discrimination. Symbolic interactionism is said to be, “a way to explain social behavior in terms of how people interact with each other through symbols.” As aforementioned above, the way a black person speaks compared to a white person can be used as a symbol of intelligence levels. A white person is believed to speak “proper” English, while a black person is believed to speak in “broken” or improper English. They are believed to know all the latest slang terms and most are looked at as having a reading capability of less than the 12th grade. Which causes them to be looked down upon as not being educated. But racism and discrimination happens within the community as easy as it does outside the community. The black community discriminates against their own culture if they feel a black person is too intelligent. For some reason the black community associates intelligence and manners as a “white” thing, so anyone in the black community who has both are discriminated against and considered to be proper and not black. Which makes no sense because intelligence and manners are for everyone but in certain communities are not teaching their children those values so they associate them as being characteristics of another race and culture. This association leads to racism and discriminination within their own community and outside their community.

“Is There a Difference between Black and White Funerals?” Jacaranda FM, www.jacarandafm.com/shows/breakfast-martin-bester-and-tumi-morake/there-difference-between-black-and-white-funerals/.

Haas. “”@BasketballPics: Handshakes with White People vs Handshakes with Black People (@NBAMemes) Pic.twitter.com/kL5oB8sP3S’ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.” Twitter, Twitter, 17 Nov. 2013, twitter.com/haasspitta/status/402170795956649984.

Economic disparity is the unequal distribution of income and opportunities among different groups of society.  It has changed throughout different time periods of America’s history and is indicative of a prevalent inequality within a given society.  Although it has narrowed and widened, the issue always prevails.

Functionalist Perspective

When it comes to economic disparity, the Functionalist Theory poses that all aspects of society – the wealthy, the working class, and the individuals stricken with poverty – are imperative in maintaining stability within a large working system.  This theory argues that it is beneficial to have extremely wealthy individuals as well as extremely impoverished individuals within the same society because they both maintain those worthy at the top and those unworthy at the bottom. This theory sees the economic disparity issue to be an incentive to work harder for those who wish to be at the very top and encourages those already at the top to keep working hard to remain there.  This theory sees every part to be integral within a functioning society, whether the reasonings are positive or negative. Those located at the top of the economic ladder are necessary to keep society thriving, so they have the most prestigious and best-paying careers. Contrarily, the lower classes are significant in society because they occupy the jobs that the wealthy and educated are overqualified for, such as janitors and garbage collectors. In this theory, social inequality leads to a meritocracy.^1  Although not everyone wishes to have those jobs, they are necessary in a functioning society because someone has to do them. Overall, the functionalist theory sees that within the larger picture, each small detail is necessary to have an efficient-working society.

Conflict Theory

Conflict theory poses that economic inequality is detrimental to society because it creates a system of winners and losers.  This theory sees the disparity as being a powerful group dominating over a weaker group of society. In order to maintain the status quo, “those in power repress the powerless.”^2  domination is most usually achieved as a result of cultural hegemony, such as thoughts, values, beliefs, worldviews, norms, and expectations.^3  For example, today’s billionaires such as Jeff Bezos exercise power at the expense of the poor people. The poor individuals do not get fair opportunities to compete alongside Bezos.  The competitive nature of this social issue creates social stratification. Additionally, the elite of society are often advantaged and given breaks (i.e. tax breaks) with hopes that they will invest that money so it will go back into the economy.  Ultimately, however, it is at their own discretion.  The wealthy possess power and use it as leverage so that they maintain control over sectors of society.  This creates conflict and hostility between the groups of society.  The lower group of society is unable to rise above because they are kept below by those exercising power and wealth.  Conflict theorists would argue that economic disparity is a system in which people are meant to be kept down by the elite of society who dominate over everyone else.

Bibliography

(^1, ^2, and ^3) Crossman, Ashley. “The Sociology of Social Inequality.” ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo, January 28, 2020.

(Image 2) Crossman, Ashley. “What Is Conflict Theory?” ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo, July 3, 2019.

(Image 1) Deluce, Alex. “The U.S. Income Inequality Crisis: The American Dream Vanishing?” Gold Telegraph, March 8, 2018.

Child abuse can be defined as physical, mental, or sexual abuse or harm, neglect, and/or abandonment of a child by their parent or guardian and has occurred since the beginning of time. While it has been around forever, the topic of child abuse has recently been hidden from society as its actions are deemed unacceptable; the topic is easier to hide than it is to deal with the response from the community. Through different sociological theories, different perspectives give different explanations and opinions on the topic of child abuse. The functionalist perspective and the feminist perspective give two opposing views on the topic of child abuse.

Functionalist Perspective

The functionalist perspective sees all parts of society put together to form a larger picture. The good and bad aspects of society are all important to a functionalist perspective as society cannot function properly without them. While child abuse is an important social issue that most view needs to be resolved, functionalist theorists try to see the give and take aspect of it; with having cases of child abuse, more jobs opportunities are available. Across the world, organizations and businesses have been constructed to help prevent child abuse, educate on the topic of child abuse, and help victims of child abuse cope and recover. Child Protective Services is perhaps one of the largest businesses in this field that helps children and victims who may be at risk with their given guardian. Without the social issue of child abuse, Child Protective Services may not be needed and thousands of workers would lose their jobs. The functionalist perspective sees the issue in the bigger picture as it analyzes how society would function without the issue; in this case, unemployment rates would grow.

Feminist Perspective

The feminist theory often analyzes a social issue in relation to gender and power. The topic of child abuse occurs in victims of both genders and child abusers have been reported of both genders, however, feminist perspectives place blame predominantly on the male gender because they fall under the patriarchal family system where men make the family decisions and have the ultimate power. In past times, children were often viewed as property of their fathers, as were women and wives; this gave power to the male gender. When children were seen as property rather than people, men often took more advantage of their children. Research has additionally found that most child abusers are of the male gender.  While times and gender roles are changing, the feminist theory still accounts men for the issue of child abuse. Men are deemed to be more physical and have more agression; men are typically in control of the family. In addition, men also get blamed for the abandonment of their children after leaving the family dynamic more than women do. Feminist theorists often fight for the end and prevention of child abuse as their focus tends to defend smaller groups, in this case children and female children in particular as sexual abuse has been a prevailing topic. Feminist theorists fight for the end of child abuse and view the topic through a gender power dispute.

Sociological theories each provide a distinct perspective on social issues. Functionalists view an issues place in society and how society would be affected from it. In this case, unemployment rates would grow as organizations and business would go out of business. On the opposite end, the feminist perspective views how child abuse should end and focuses on how the male gender can be attributed to child abuse cases. While both make valid points, they touch on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of opinion. Sociological theories allow society to view topics from different perspectives.