A Structural-Functionalist Perspective Free Essay Example

A structural-functionalist perspective concrete more on how society works and operates to continue itself (qtd. in 116). A structural-functionalist would probably focus more on how sexual violence affects society and how it affects itself by comparing it to gender inequality (pg 116). The chapter mentions how they would say that sexual violence keeps women as a minority because many live in fear of being sexually harassed and this allows men to think they are still above females by proving that they are still the dominant gender.

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Structural-functionalist would also see the good from sexual violence which is that it giving females the power to speak up through social media like the #MeToo movement. It allows us to voice out about our experiences and take back power of these situations by adding to feminism and showing that females have had enough over the normalization of sexual harassment.

Conflict Theoretical Perspective

The chapter describes conflict theory as the struggles in inequality and how it is unavoidable.

Conflict theory would compare sexual violence with gender inequality. Meaning there are more benefits to one gender than the other and that would be men. The chapter also mentions benefits that would be jobs, religion, and government assistance. Because males are thought out to be more dominant it gives them the power to do what they want even if that includes sexually taking advantage of women. And because of this gender inequality, nothing is really done about it. The #MeToo movements includes examples of how the highest rate of rape is around the time we are becoming more independent.

This is when young women are the most vulnerable which gives many the opportunity to see this as an advantage because they expect females to keep quiet.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

The symbolic interactionist perspective would be described as our understanding of other’s train of thought on how others view someone and how they react to how others judge them otherwise known as the looking-glass self (qtd. In 119). An example that was used in the chapter is the way a female might dress. In her mind, she thinks everyone will compliment and want to engage in a conversation with her because she decided to wear tight-fitting clothes. And well this might be true, for someone else they might see her and think she wants to be raped. This perspective allows us to see from both points of view. This can include the #MeToo movement because most of the victims talk about their experience of sexual abuse and how they thought people would view them with the outfit they were wearing.

Erotic Habitus

Habitus is explained as our way of thinking of something as common sense. In other words it the way we understand and view everything around us. The chapter mentions how over time our habitus can change by interactions with others. The chapter states erotic habitus as ” the way we embody our sexualities are informed by our social worlds” meaning our understanding of sexuality is also depended on society (Pg 121). This theory helps us understand our sexual desire and how it associates with society and its influences on our thoughts of what we see as sexual ideas (qtd in.121). This can relate to the #MeToo movement because it lets us understand what causes males to sexualize women. This gives us an understanding of how males can adapt their sexual interest to transgender women as well.

Black Feminist Theory

When the chapter discusses black feminist theory or other known as intersectional feminist theory they mention Beyonce. She’s been very vocal recently on her latest album about political messages like police brutality, gun rights, and even empowerment to black women (qtd. in 122). Although most black feminists agree with what she discusses, some of them like bell hooks mention that her recent album is just a setup for money that idealized women violence (qtd. in 122)..She mentions how media has to do a lot with how others stereotype black women. The chapter mentions how black feminist theory is set up to focus on injustices like oppression from class, race, and sexuality (qtd. in 122). They focus on the struggles that color women have to go through, the #MeToo movement would be an example of how the stereotype affects black women.

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