In the article, “The Promise of Sociology,” C. Wright Mills discusses how the, “sociological imagination,” impacts the social world. Mills stresses the importance of the sociological imagination because he claims that, “neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both” (Mills 1959, 1). This is important because viewing individual experiences doesn’t explain why they acted accordingly. In other words, the social forces during that particular context plays a major role in explaining why the individuals behaved that way.
In the article, “Sociology, Theory, and the Modern Agenda,” Allan introduces how, “modernity,” is rooted towards science. Allan explains how science “assumes the universe is empirical and operates according the law-like principles” (Allan 2011, 5). Alike Mill’s sociological imagination, Allan suggests that modernity is used to explain the social world through the observable experiences and how they can change over time.
For my example, I chose to discuss how both concepts explain how difficult it was to live a life as a homosexual in the 1970s than it is today. First I will talk about how this example relates to the sociological imagination. In the 1970s, everyone believed heterosexuality was the norm and viewed homosexuality deviant to societal norms. If someone found out you were homosexual, you would be discriminated by the community. In the article, “In the Closet,” Steven Seidman explains how Lenny, a homosexual at the time, changed his sexual orientation to heterosexual because he did not want to be discriminated. He writes, “No one knows about my homosexuality—not family, friends, or neighbors. I never thought about telling anybody. I won’t tell anyone” (Seidman 2002). Seidman suggests that though Lenny was homosexual, he was unable to express it freely because he didn’t know how his friends or family would react and had too much to lose. In turn, he was unable to walk out of the closet and became heterosexual because he wanted to feel accepted in his community. On the other hand, if Lenny was born in this generation and entered the dating community now, he would have a much easier time walking out of the closet. This is because there are more LGBT communities and awareness events such as parades that make it easier for homosexuals to express themselves without feeling discriminated in society. In all, this relates to the sociological imagination because you wouldn’t be able to understand how difficult or how easy it was to be homosexual unless you look at the history of the society in the difference of time.
When relating modernity to this topic, its easy to see by observation how the homosexual’s behavior were depending on context. Back in the 1970s, there were no LGBT communities and homosexuals were unable to use that as an outlet to express themselves. If the community found out someone was homosexual, they homosexual would have a stigmatized identity and the community would continuously treat them insignificantly through the media and everyday interaction. In present day and as previously stated, there are LGBT communities and awareness movements to make life for homosexuals less strenuous then before. They even have an Gendered and Sexuality center at UIC for students to help make the university a safer place for the LGBT community. Through these observable events, creates law-like principles that change overtime by the society. Thus, the sociological imagination and modernity are two concepts that allow sociologist to explain the social world.
In the article, “Sociology, Theory, and the Modern Agenda,” Allan introduces how, “modernity,” is rooted towards science. Allan explains how science “assumes the universe is empirical and operates according the law-like principles” (Allan 2011, 5). Alike Mill’s sociological imagination, Allan suggests that modernity is used to explain the social world through the observable experiences and how they can change over time.
For my example, I chose to discuss how both concepts explain how difficult it was to live a life as a homosexual in the 1970s than it is today. First I will talk about how this example relates to the sociological imagination. In the 1970s, everyone believed heterosexuality was the norm and viewed homosexuality deviant to societal norms. If someone found out you were homosexual, you would be discriminated by the community. In the article, “In the Closet,” Steven Seidman explains how Lenny, a homosexual at the time, changed his sexual orientation to heterosexual because he did not want to be discriminated. He writes, “No one knows about my homosexuality—not family, friends, or neighbors. I never thought about telling anybody. I won’t tell anyone” (Seidman 2002). Seidman suggests that though Lenny was homosexual, he was unable to express it freely because he didn’t know how his friends or family would react and had too much to lose. In turn, he was unable to walk out of the closet and became heterosexual because he wanted to feel accepted in his community. On the other hand, if Lenny was born in this generation and entered the dating community now, he would have a much easier time walking out of the closet. This is because there are more LGBT communities and awareness events such as parades that make it easier for homosexuals to express themselves without feeling discriminated in society. In all, this relates to the sociological imagination because you wouldn’t be able to understand how difficult or how easy it was to be homosexual unless you look at the history of the society in the difference of time.
When relating modernity to this topic, its easy to see by observation how the homosexual’s behavior were depending on context. Back in the 1970s, there were no LGBT communities and homosexuals were unable to use that as an outlet to express themselves. If the community found out someone was homosexual, they homosexual would have a stigmatized identity and the community would continuously treat them insignificantly through the media and everyday interaction. In present day and as previously stated, there are LGBT communities and awareness movements to make life for homosexuals less strenuous then before. They even have an Gendered and Sexuality center at UIC for students to help make the university a safer place for the LGBT community. Through these observable events, creates law-like principles that change overtime by the society. Thus, the sociological imagination and modernity are two concepts that allow sociologist to explain the social world.