Agents of Socialization Essay -- essays research papers

Agents of culture in short are the people, groups, and social institutions, as well as the interactions within these groups that influence a persons social and self-development. Agents of socialization are believed to provide the critical information carryed for children to function successfully as a member of society. Some examples of such agents are family, neighborhood, schools, peers, religion, sports, the workplace, and oddly the mass media. Each agent of socialization is linked to another. For example, in the media, exemplary images affect both the individual and the society, making the mass media the most controversial socialization agent. hotshot of the most obvious places agents of socialization lay is in the m solelys of America. Malls are filled with advertisements and consumed by the mass media touching on all levels of society. No whiz is immune from the affect of the agents of socialization that exist in malls. Any matchless and allone who is part of a society is a product of socialization. Within every advertisement, clothing store, toy store, arcade, music store, etc, there is a inner urge preferable subliminal message being sent. The way toys are divided into manlike sections and female sections and the way advertisements portray all men and women in a certain way contribute to societies norm of gender roles. The mass media is one of the most influential agents of socialization and malls are surrounded by it. The messages inclined through the media act as the teachers of gender roles, values, ideologies, and beliefs, and individuals who pick up on these messages eventually take on, whats thought to be, the normative roles of society. Both boys and girls rely on societys expectations in regard to both masculinity and womanhood in order to interpret interaction and to develop expectations for themselves and those around them. It is because of these agents of socialization, that gender roles are created. Advertisements portray both m en and women in characteristically uninspired fashions that support the various institutions and socialization agents. The women depicted in these advertisements fit the stereotypical roles related to sexuality by focusing on beauty, body image, and visible attractiveness. They are skinny and tan, with teeth as white as reputation and hair looking healthy and fresh. Girls in society look up to th... ...re much more scarce. For the more adult cards, those for women all had jokes pertaining to looks, weight and/or sex life, while the mens cards had jokes pertaining to hair loss, blindness, beer paunchs etc. One card I noticed entailed for women had a picture of a gorgeous, tan, and muscular male with the washboard stomach, and on the inside was a joke saying something along the lines of how one would hit the sack this as her present. This send the message to guys that to be a plummy man, they need to be the typical tall, dark, and handsome prince of their dreams, and vise vers a for the mens cards. One card for a male had a picture of a request Watch Babe assuming that any typical guy would want a woman like that. This tells women that in order to be desirable to men they need to be skinny, gorgeous, and have a high sexual appeal. Wrapping typography is available to fit both sexes. In one bin theres a collection of wrapping report with trucks, tractors, bulldozers etc, and in the other there is a collection of wrapping paper with Barbie and friends, dolls, butterflies etc for girls. Anyone would get the message that one bin is entailed for males, and the other is entailed for females.