Have you ever wondered where some of the ideas you believe to be true come from? Who created them? And who do they all entail? I tend to do that more now than I ever have. Each “big idea” we come to accept and try to understand comes from some foundation that had an intention on it being implanted in many individuals to be carried out from generation to generation. This same happening has occurred in Sociology. The theorist Sprague explains Sociology as something that has been defined by only a white male perspective which another theorist, Connell calls the canon. These white men, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber are considered the “founding fathers” of Sociology and the spiritual most respected sociologists of all time. However, since they were all white men, their perspective has always been limited. Sprague identifies three problems with this with one being the hierarchy of social that focuses on privileged attention. Second is the poor analytic categories that supposedly has “logical” dichotomies which also means that there is an either/or spot to fit in and nothing in between. According to Sprague, these dichotomies do not portray real life because not everyone fits into one of the either/or spots. Third, the role of social theory is misguided because there has been a chain of ideas meaning something passed down from generation to generation with little to no change or additions. Sprague discusses that a feminists perspective should be incorporated into social theory that takes Sociology out of being something of a straight tunnel few. Feminist perspective argues that social theory must focus on connection, engagement, and integrating diverse standpoints. Discovering this about Sociology reminded me of something else that has a canon that has formulated an aspect of this country and has a narrow perspective and that is the Constitution.
Sometimes when we think about the Constitution for the United States of America, we tend to think of it as a set of rules and regulations that help govern this country to keep order, peace, and equality however that is false. The Constitution was created for those things but it was things for a certain group of people, whites. These set of rules were created however excluded the African American slaves that existed and help build this country. Parts of the Constitution gave people the authority to vote however once again excluded anyone who wasn’t white. Even when people of color were able to vote, there were once again rules and regulations that made it extremely hard for people of color to vote. I feel as if our whole society has been shaped by the perspectives of white men who are unfortunately only out to make it for themselves and would exclude any and everybody from the equation to come out on top. We lack the knowledge of any other perspective in theory other than white men because they have not been allowed. One reason other perspectives might have not been allowed because it contradicts many things that were once believed to be true in the white men perspective. Of course no one wants to accept anything that makes their idea seem invaluable however I believe it’s necessary to incorporate as many perspectives as possible to avoid coming up with false truths about society and how exactly it works.
Sometimes when we think about the Constitution for the United States of America, we tend to think of it as a set of rules and regulations that help govern this country to keep order, peace, and equality however that is false. The Constitution was created for those things but it was things for a certain group of people, whites. These set of rules were created however excluded the African American slaves that existed and help build this country. Parts of the Constitution gave people the authority to vote however once again excluded anyone who wasn’t white. Even when people of color were able to vote, there were once again rules and regulations that made it extremely hard for people of color to vote. I feel as if our whole society has been shaped by the perspectives of white men who are unfortunately only out to make it for themselves and would exclude any and everybody from the equation to come out on top. We lack the knowledge of any other perspective in theory other than white men because they have not been allowed. One reason other perspectives might have not been allowed because it contradicts many things that were once believed to be true in the white men perspective. Of course no one wants to accept anything that makes their idea seem invaluable however I believe it’s necessary to incorporate as many perspectives as possible to avoid coming up with false truths about society and how exactly it works.