The Social Constructionist Perspective according to Trenholm on page 30 of the textbook is, "communication is a process whereby people in groups, using the tools provided by their culture, create collective representations of reality.
The way we "build words" in our culture is through the people around us. According to Trenholm, if the people around us talk one way about the earth, it is natural for us to take that as fact and think of the world the same way even though it may not be truth. Mentalities and attitudes are caused by the social culture we are exposed to as children all the way until we reach high education assuming each person does obtain that opportunity.
In the culture that we live in today as college students in the San Jose area and including the people of the entire Bay Area, we feel as a whole that gay marriage should be legal. College students in different parts of the country might feel that gay marriage is disgusting and against God's will. The reason for that is because of the different areas we live in, that is why our cultures clash. When a college student from a conservative area has been raised to believe one way, it is hard to open their mind to something they are not used to. The same goes for liberal areas that are used to being so open minded, when someone is in an area where there are more rules, he/she will feel uncomfortable.
This causes disagreement between people and this can lead to much more. Since there is a split between the people of the United States, let alone California, about something like gay marriage, there will never be true happiness among different cultures. This does not go for just gay marriage, it also goes for legalizing marijuana, bearing arms, legal drinking age, legal driving age, health care, abortion...the list goes on. As long as the people of different cultures continue to disagree about just about everything that is supposed to bring us together, there will be not such thing as happiness among different cultures.
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Hi Kirk,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that there are many different things in our society that are controversial and sometimes I wonder why everyone can’t just get along. I know that my views are different than other peoples but I also feel that I can keep my views to my self and not impose them on other people. When I thought about your post I began to think of other countries and that your idea is why so many countries are at war right now. It’s sad to think that people believe that one view is better than another, but that is the way society has functioned for so long now. It is an interesting concept that you have brought up and I really enjoyed your outlook.
Great idea for a blog! I didn't even think of talking about this. Not only does it differ if you believe in it or not, but there is also the topic of believe if something if born gay or it is environmental. I had a soci class, which was LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender). The first week we talked about if people are born gay or they become gay. Even though people in the class were okay with gays, lesbians, bi sexuals and transgeners, the class was split on if they were born gay or became gay. It's amazing how our culture can be torn in half by a certain topic, even if for the most part they actually agree on it.
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