Social Roles: What Stage Do You Stand On?
Stan Grimes
May 12, 2008
All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…(Shakespeare)
Each man/woman plays many parts in a lifetime. We are children, boyfriends, girlfriends, basketball player, student, teacher, parent, husband, wife, worker, politician, doctors, nurses, and on and on. What part do you play in this life of ours?
Are you a judge, a jury, or hangman? Are you a lover, a hater, a user, or a victim? What you are means a great deal to many people. It´s called social role valorization. What does society value about you or your role in this world?
Certain roles, whether perceived or real, hold more value to the world than others. For example, being a doctor holds great deal of value in the eyes of our culture, being a nurse holds high social value as well. On the other hand, society views fast food workers and store clerks with less value. It is a somewhat curious phenomena.
Throughout history, midwives were the healers of the world. They delivered children, cared for battle wounds, and conjured up medicines for the sick. They did so without education and without a great deal of social valorization. It wasn´t until the late 1700s and early 1800s rich American women decided that they would prefer a male midwife to assist them their ailments. Since male midwives seemed to be more interested in making money than female midwives, they refused to treat the lower classes. Hence, midwives (female) were relegated to a lower status in the pecking order of life. Male midwives became more predominate and powerful, consequently our doctors of today are on the higher end of the pecking order. I realize that this doesn´t cover the history of physicians. I´m sure there are many other factors involved in the evolution from male midwife to male doctor, but it gives you an idea of how social valorization can sometimes occur. Culture determines the pecking order, or the value of social roles.
The majority of people in this country (U.S.) are fortunate to have a role of some value to others. However, there are those in this population that have an almost negative social value, the poor, the mentally ill, and the mentally challenged. A man with schizophrenia living under a bridge is not called, "a former mechanical engineer who lost his job and his family." He is called a bum, a nut, a whacko, or homeless. A retarded lady is not identified as "that lady who works at Wal-Mart." She´s called a retard, tard, idiot, or a dummy. No social value is given to them. They are not even on the pecking order of life. They´re not on life´s radar screen.
Society, or culture if you prefer, gives valorization to its members. What is your value?
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…(Shakespeare)
Each man/woman plays many parts in a lifetime. We are children, boyfriends, girlfriends, basketball player, student, teacher, parent, husband, wife, worker, politician, doctors, nurses, and on and on. What part do you play in this life of ours?
Are you a judge, a jury, or hangman? Are you a lover, a hater, a user, or a victim? What you are means a great deal to many people. It´s called social role valorization. What does society value about you or your role in this world?
Certain roles, whether perceived or real, hold more value to the world than others. For example, being a doctor holds great deal of value in the eyes of our culture, being a nurse holds high social value as well. On the other hand, society views fast food workers and store clerks with less value. It is a somewhat curious phenomena.
Throughout history, midwives were the healers of the world. They delivered children, cared for battle wounds, and conjured up medicines for the sick. They did so without education and without a great deal of social valorization. It wasn´t until the late 1700s and early 1800s rich American women decided that they would prefer a male midwife to assist them their ailments. Since male midwives seemed to be more interested in making money than female midwives, they refused to treat the lower classes. Hence, midwives (female) were relegated to a lower status in the pecking order of life. Male midwives became more predominate and powerful, consequently our doctors of today are on the higher end of the pecking order. I realize that this doesn´t cover the history of physicians. I´m sure there are many other factors involved in the evolution from male midwife to male doctor, but it gives you an idea of how social valorization can sometimes occur. Culture determines the pecking order, or the value of social roles.
The majority of people in this country (U.S.) are fortunate to have a role of some value to others. However, there are those in this population that have an almost negative social value, the poor, the mentally ill, and the mentally challenged. A man with schizophrenia living under a bridge is not called, "a former mechanical engineer who lost his job and his family." He is called a bum, a nut, a whacko, or homeless. A retarded lady is not identified as "that lady who works at Wal-Mart." She´s called a retard, tard, idiot, or a dummy. No social value is given to them. They are not even on the pecking order of life. They´re not on life´s radar screen.
Society, or culture if you prefer, gives valorization to its members. What is your value?
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