JAYPEE INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY, Noida

Sociology of Youth

Submitted By:

Mansi Agarwal
17103042
B10
Social Forces: Social forces are ways of doing things that pressure or force us behaved in

specific manner. Social forces control person personal life because people have no idea who
created it and who did it. People can embrace social forces, be swept along or bypassed by them,
and most importantly challenge them.

Two Social Forces that have great effect in my life:

1.Gender

Gender should be considered the biggest and most important of all social forces as it determines
a person's social identity even before he/she is born. As a social construct, it impacts your life in
a much more explicit way if you are not male, thanks to the age-old patriarchal structure of our
society. In western countries, you can expect to lead a life free of discrimination on stereotypes
based on gender identities, but they are a lot more pronounced in developing Asian society like
ours.

Right from early childhood, both genders are expected to carry a certain appearance, behave in a
particular way and encouraged to fit in the prevailing societal norms. Attend a baby girl's
shower, she is bombarded with gifts and outfits in different shades of pink. A girl is given dolls
and stuffed toys and learns to play games imitating mother figures at home, playing the role of
nurturing caretakers. And boys are encouraged to play so-called 'masculine' games like bikes and
trucks, toy tool kits and building blocks, expected to enhance their spatial relations and in
mathematical concepts. Even the language used by society to kids is different. "Boys don't cry"
is the most common term randomly thrown at young boys to stop them from making a fuss. Girls
are expected to be shy and less outspoken than their male counterparts.

The first time I felt gender discrimination is when I was in class 10th. In school during breaks,
girls were not allowed to leave the class while on the other hand boys were free to go to the
ground area. I am very bad at craft works and drawing. So, During that lecture my teacher
usually scolded me and said “ You’re a girl how you can’t do these things but she never said
these lines to boys”.There was a sports team for boys whereas girls were not even considered
good enough to play such sports.

Here in college life, for girls, there's an in timing in hostels but the same doesn't get applied to
boys. Whenever I go alone somewhere, I am usually advised to take a male friend with me no
matter the concern, but when a male friend goes out alone there's no such advice for them. All
these situations, boundings, and restrictions have made me feel dependent, not capable enough
for once own safety. These factors play a huge role in demotivating me leads to a lack of self-
confidence. As of now, I have been around so much in these situations, gender discrimination
doesn't matter.

It's not that that belonging to the fair gender only comes with the set of demerits. We do have
some advantages and opportunities which has helped us a lot in navigating our lives. It’s
comparatively easier for women to seek for mental health facilities and receive support from
those we know. That’s a form of stereotype men face for sharing the “weak” side of them. There
are a lot of scholarships and support programs exclusively for women and the LGBT community,
to provide them the necessary resources to pursue their professional and academic interests. For
example, in the Technical field, during college placements, there are few companies whose came
only for female candidates.
2.Family

Family is the primary socialization of the children where a child learns morals, ethics, norms. It
is the biggest motivation and pillar in a person's life. Till class 10th I lived with my parents then I
shifted with my grandparents due to my father's transferable job. My grandparents are my
guidebook. They are my treasures of knowledge and morals. They guide me in every step of my
life from basic manners(how to sit, how to eat) to important life decisions. They taught me a lot
from time management, to discipline, to punctuality. How these are an important aspect of a
person's life. At this age, they are so active and punctual and most of the work there is done by
themselves. They inspire me to do once work by oneself. It helps to keep one motivated and lead
a zestful life. They've said, "Every deed pays off if done whole-heartedly with dedication."

My grandparents are my ideals, I've grown up seeing them dedicated towards their children. At
this age, they're capable enough to handle all on their own. Be it managing home alone or taking
care of me and my siblings. An active lifestyle and time management are the key they taught me.
There is always a continuous motivation from their side. I never liked physics at all back then.
My grandmother taught me physics and because of which I topped in physics. My grandfather is
the one who developed my interest in Engineering filed. My grandmother starts her day before I
start my day just to ensure that I never miss my lunch and ends after me to make sure I slept on
time.

The most important thing I felt is, there's a generation gap between me and them which creates
some problems but then they also create a balance between liberty and restrictions. Everything I
have achieved today in my life is because of them and my family for all the support motivation
they gave me. Values, ethics, morals, patience, dedication, hard work, I owe them everything for
who I am today.
 Comparative Study of Papers

Paper 1

Name of Paper- Sports for Boys, Wedding Cakes for Girls: The Inevitability of Stereotyping in
Schools Segregated by Sex. [1]

Name of author- Chapple Kelsey R

This paper talks about the history of schools are segregated on the basis of gender and the single-
gender school and the stereotype how a person should behave according to their gender. This
paper in details tells about what is stereotype, how they work and schools should be segregated
or not. This paper tells us that stereotype is basic, simple and how our brain are categorize. This
paper also tells us about the different programs on stereotypes, reasons behind the segregation on
the basis of gender.

There is an example in the paper about the school in US where they provide the different place
for girls and boys according their needs. It is mention in the paper that most of the girls explore
writing, makeup and hair art and boys are trained for being in the top. This paper also mentions
that in Louisiana boys and girls read different books hunting and love stories respectively. It also
mentions that there are programs that rely on stereotypes that girls like wedding and boys are
motivated by competition.

This paper tells us that there are different words for males and females like for females
connected and supportive and for males competitive. There is certain behavior which is expected
by both the genders. For example, It was expected from girls that they are good at craft and
reading and teacher enforce them to be best at that and school become the building blocks for
stereotype formation.

In its conclusion, it is mention that sex-segregated schools and single sex schools both are biased
and increased stereotypes in one’s life and it is crucial to encourage boys that they can dress up
and do make up and girls can roughhouse.

When this paper is compared by my incidents it also mentions that girls are taught according to
the stereotype that are formed by the society and that is the starting of stereotypes in my life.
Paper 2

Name of Paper- Differential effects of support providers on adolescents' mental health[2]

Name of author- Colarossi, Lisa G., and Jacquelynne S. Eccles.

This paper tell us about the effects of parents, teacher and peer group support on depression and
self-esteem and it is mention in the paper that females received high percentage of support by
females them as compare to the boys.

This paper tell us about the published in Social Work Research 2001, that different gender have
difference in the satisfaction and support received. It is because of different factor, beliefs and
behavior relate to the perception about the men and female needs.

This paper tells us that girls can share their personal problem to both male and female’s friends
but male only share with their female friends only. It is mention in the paper that both male and
female will discuss their emotional stuff with female friend instead male friend as it is consider
that males are less engage in emotional support.

In the paper, it is discussed that female receives more emotional support than male because it is
consider that males are not strong enough. In this paper it is mentioned that, Women have higher
rate of self-disclosure about feelings and problems and place greater emphasis on mutual support
than men.

When we compare this paper with real incidents, It is true that female share more stuffs with
females than boys. More support and chances. For eg, Girls quota in UPTU or IIT colleges.
Paper 3

Name of Paper- Parenting and its effects on Children. [3]

Name of author- Eleanor E. Maccoby

This paper talks about how parents influence their kids. It focuses on how genetics can be
affected by the influence of parents over time on kids. This paper in detail talks about the impact
that hormones have on behavior and how they play a vital role for children in achieving their
goals. This paper talks how twins with different genes tend to grow up differently over period of
time because of the environment plays crucial role in development and growth of children.

The research paper talks about the blank slate theory and how the parents are first teachers of the
kids. They help them in their mental and psychological development. This paper also discusses
the twin theory and how the influence of parents affects them even though they have the same
genes. The paper talks about how parents’ negligence causes adolescents depression. Parents act
as a source of motivation for the kids and hence the kids follow their parents more than they are
taught to them. It talks about how family atmosphere affects the kid and their behavior.

The paper also has an experiment which talks about the effect of the environment on the kids and
hence in detail talks about the shared and unshared environmental effects. It also talks about
different people treating their kids differently and the effect and impact that this has on children
during their years of growth. It also talks about how different kids take in different factors such
that of poverty in a family and hence they grown up differently because they absorb it
differently. This paper also talks about how interactive behavior affects the relationship of
children with their parents making them suitable to face situations.

This paper in relation talks about the shared that parents put and the effects they have on kids
and this also talks about the sibling relations which I personally didn’t face in my life as I am a
single child however this paper is a bit complicated and hence talks more about the future aspects
that I haven’t still faced in my life however the past experiences and the roles of parents as
mentioned are quite true and the role of environment also plays a crucial part. The paper,
however, should have also focused on the role of grandparents in the grooming of a child.
Paper 4

Name of the Paper - Early father’s and mother’s involvement in and child’s later education
outcome. [4]

Authors: Eirini Flouri and Ann Buchanan

The paper focuses on the role of parents’ involvement in child’s development, which is further
responsible for the child’s future.The paper focuses on how various people influence and impact
our lives.

Talking about the first point we infer that fathers who are involved with kids, their kids are more
likely to be physically active. Also they tend to tell us that parent’s involvement is very
important for child’s physical development and their growth over years.

Secondly according to a research where fathers are involved mothers tend to get involved more
and hence children are brought up by two highly involved parents. Children who have father’s
involvement tend to participate in more activities which further help them in their personality
development. The involvement of the father tends to give some kind of economic stability in
lives and thus the father’s involvement causes better academic performances, especially with
maths and science.

Talking about the mother’s involvement this shows that mothers are responsible for emotional
growth of the children and teaching moral and ethics and values. It also shows that mothers give
their children emotional and mental support and teach them social ethics and morals.

There has been a test conducted and subsequent equations and results show that father’s
involvement independently and significantly predicted educational attainment by late
adolescence. This study showed that father and mother’s involvement are independent of each
other. This study showed that the time spent by parent with their kids reflect in their character
and performances in school. This study showed that each parent has an ever lasting impact on
their kids for their future

The paper is not relevant as my father was not very involved in my early childhood however if I
consider people around me, I agree with the paper and the mother section is quite true as well.
The paper uniquely identifies the role that different people play in our lives.

The research paper is quite well return and perfectly establishes the role of father and mother in
the paper and the equation and experiments provide solid proof for the research that has been
conducted during the course it however my friends have been a really important part of my life
and if there would have been some relation to show how friends impact and influence life.
References:

[1] Chapple, Kelsey R. "Sports for boys, wedding cakes for girls: the inevitability of stereotyping
in schools segregated by sex." Tex. L. Rev. 94 (2015): 537.

[2] Colarossi, Lisa G., and Jacquelynne S. Eccles. "Differential effects of support providers on
adolescents' mental health." Social Work Research 27.1 (2003): 19-30.

[3] Maccoby, Eleanor E. "Parenting and its effects on children: On reading and misreading
behavior genetics." Annual review of psychology 51.1 (2000): 1-27.

[4] Eirini Flouri & Ann Buchanan (2003) Early father’s and mother’s involvement in and child’s
later education outcome. Education Psychology, 20 75-80.