Sociological Perspectives on History, Gender, and Health

Medieval Art and Religious Expression

Medieval art is characterized by its irrational traits, emphasizing art as the primary form of religious expression during that era. It serves as a reflection of both religion and daily life.

Gender and Social Identity

Gender: A set of specific characteristics that identify the feminine and masculine. It relates to behaviors, roles, and attributes assigned by culture to women and men.

Gender Identity: A set of characteristics, mandates, and social valuations.

Autonomy: The development of actions ensuring women have the same opportunities for self-determination and control over their lives as men, regarding physical, economic, political, social, and cultural autonomy.

Perspectives on Death

Objective View: A biological and scientific fact.

Characteristics of Death:

• Denial: Death is treated as a taboo for science; it is not discussed.
• Individualization: Death has shifted from a public event to a private one.
• Merchantability: A business has emerged around death.

Social Behavior and Deviance

• Psychopath: A person who did not emerge from a socialization process designed to control antisocial impulses.
• Sociopath: An antisocial person whose character is attributed to a failure of parents to establish prosocial habits, rather than an inherent biological disposition.
• Anomie: A lack of rules in the social structure, preventing individuals from achieving societal goals.
• Socialization: A set of habits acquired by a person according to the rules and expectations of their society. It consists of two components:
  • Conscience: A general disposition to avoid antisocial behavior.
  • Prosocial: A general disposition towards prosocial behavior.

History of Illness and Human Progress

Hunting and Gathering: Non-communicable diseases were rare; the brevity of life was due to dietary deficiencies or environmental risks.

Agriculture: Became the leading cause of illness and death.

Industrialization: Infections declined, and non-communicable diseases became more prevalent.

Poverty-Related Illness: Malnutrition.

Wealth-Related Illness: Caused by the pace of life and an environment to which humans have not fully adapted (e.g., stress, depression).

Development and Progress

Development: A dominant ideology and theory that functions as a belief system.

Progress: A theory of modernity projecting towards the future.

Legitimizing Colonization: The idea of progress is often used to suggest that humanity as a collective body is perpetually improving.

Human Diversity and Progress: The concept that man is a tabula rasa, transformed by education and the environment.

Guarantee of a Better World: Faith in progress, change, and the future.

5 Types of Freedom: Political freedoms, economic services, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and protective security.