"Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa: Men Have Named You": Smiles as a Social Fact Author(s): Jonathan Marx Reviewed

work(s): Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Jul., 1995), pp. 274-279 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1319221 . Accessed: 16/03/2012 20:32
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

American Sociological Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Teaching Sociology.

http://www.jstor.org

"MONA MONALISA-MEN HAVE NAMED SMILES A YOU": AS LISA, SOCIAL FACT*

MARX JONATHAN Winthrop University CECIL "ALBUMS studentsthat the next sessionwill meet in OF LORD DAVID ONCEWROTE,

old photographs havea curious powerto stir the historicalimagination" (1975:1). I believethat they stir the sociologicalimagination aswell. A longitudinalcontentanalysis of smilingby seniorwomen in collegeyearbooks provides beginning sociology students with an excellent way to discover many sociological concepts, social facts, and meththeoretical perspectives, research ods. In this note, I outlineand demonstrate how smiles can be used to sparkinterestin sociology. THE ASSIGNMENT The followingguidelinesare suggestedfor You this implementing exercise. maywishto them to suit your teaching styleand modify the conditionsuniqueto your college. After a discussionof theoryand metha ods, circulate handfulof collegeyearbooks datingbetween1900 and 1990 (if feasible). in Ask the studentsto note any differences facial expressionsdisplayedin the senior may portraitsover time. Many instructors research want to tailora particular question to the students' perceptions or to use a less An groundedapproach. approach structured than the one discussedhere is the "discovery style"recentlymodifiedand extendedby Scheff(1992). Because of time and logistical conto I straints, recommend askingthe students focus on smiling. Assign them to write a hypothesisabout the changesin women's smiling patternsover time and to offer a The reasonor reasonsfor their hypothesis. to ofinterestmayvaryaccording population the compositionofyour studentpopulation informthe and the school'shistory.Finally,

the university room libraryin the archives are housedat your (or wherever yearbooks institution). At the library, begin the classby asking how the students would define smiling. With yourguidance,theycan movejointly towarda workableoperationaldefinition. Forexample,all of theirsuggestionscan be listed on the board. Next, the class can exclude those operational definitions which are limited by problemssuch as reliability. (I suggest encouragingthe students to define a smile as "a display of teeth.") Next, pair off the students and yearbooks assigneachpairto find different between 1900 and 1990. I asked the studentsto tallythe numberof seniorportraits in which the women show their teeth. In my experience,about 15 minutes are required to code about 300 seniorwomen. At very largeinstitutions,it may be necessary to implement systemic sampling, the wherebythe studentscalculate percentof"smiles"andsubmit the yearlytotals age With one to the instructor compilation. for of the many readily available software packages (e.g., SAS, SPSSx, or Harvard Graphics),an instructorcan analyzedata and presentthe resultsin less thanan hour.

RESULTS

The results in displayed Figure1werecalculatedon all available seniorfemaleportraits at my institutionbetween 1900 and 1990 (N=86).Thissouthern publicuniversitywas a women'scollegeuntil 1974. fits This exercise well into the discussion of theoryandmethods whichis oftenfound texts. in the firstpartof most introductory I of To illustrate usefulness the exercise, the honors *Iwish to thankmy spring1994 freshman touch on a few conceptssuchassocialfacts, for classatWinthropUniversity beingmy 15 collaboas and theoretical on rators this project. perspectives, experience a
1995,Vol.23 (July:274-279) Sociology, Teaching

274

FACT SMILES A SOCIAL AS

Figure 1. SmilingPortraitsof Senior Womenat a SouthernCollege by Year(N=86) 100
Percent Smiling

275

80 r = +0.94 60

40

20

0
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Year

social researcher.The exercise is a heuristic to smile was not random.Furthermore, it device; the yearbook exercise is illustrative was unlikelythat the women were happier at that time, becausetheir boyfriendsand rather than an actual complete study. SOCIAL FACTS Because smiling appears to be a very individualistic and personal act, much like suicide as discussed by Durkheim, it is ideal for demonstrating to students an important way in which sociology differsfrom psychol- BASIC PERSPECTIVES ogy. Sociologists are not interested in why Posethisquestionto the class: do any one senior woman smiled at a particular '"Why you historical moment, but ratherin why we see thinkwomen'ssmilingskyrocketed during a marked increase in the collective pattern World War II?"You will hear all sorts of of smiling over time (r = .94, p <.001). alternative includingchangesin hypotheses Durkheim remarked, "The states of collec- photographictechnology, modern orthotive consciousness are of a different nature dontics, introductionof the mass media from the states of the individual conscious- (e.g., Hollywoodfilmsand fashionphotogness; they are representations of another raphy),and women'staking externalemkind. The mentality of groups is not that of ploymentduringthe war.The last two are individuals; it has its own laws" ([1893] especiallyinterestingtopics for discussion. 1982:40). These objectively verifiable pat- Browneand Litwin (1987) area strongreterns of group life-social facts, which can- sourcein the generalutilizationof alternanot be explained by individual charac- tive models to developreasoned judgment teristics-are the essence of sociology. What and critical thinking. were the larger social forces existing outside Fromthefunctional you perspective, can the young women that created a collective ask "What were the consequences for disposition to smile or frown? The overall women when AmericaenteredWorldWar linear pattern and the explosive increase in II?"Introducethe notions of manifestand the early 1940s indicate that the inclination latent functions of women's entering the

brotherswere at war. The inclination to smile was perhapsmore than an objective indicatorof their mood. Common social contingencies were likely acting on the youngwomen to controltheirfacialexpressions in predictable ways.

276
workforce.Obviously,their labor contributed to the war effort, but laborforceparThey ticipationalsobroughtnew freedoms. hadpersonal incomesthattheycouldspend on items that attractedthem. Women became the majorplayersin an increasingly mass-marketsociety (Koppes and Black 1987; May 1980; Rosten 1941). women to takepartin The warliberated managingfamily finances. This idea was classic Middlediscussed LyndandLynd's in town study of the 1920s. Their follow-up study foreshadowedeven broadergender for rolechanges women on the eveofWorld WarII:
for Careers womenhaveopenedan alternative path diverging sharply-in its demandsformaletraitsof the drive, single-mindedness, qualitiesassociated with power-from the traditional women'spathin the homewith its emphasis upon the femininetraits of gentleness, willingnessto be led, and affection. Not only has the alternative pathof independence, and career, power beckonedharder,but the traditional world of the affectionshas become more modernworld emphademandingas the franker, sizes more openly extreme femininity, including and morepositiveallurement, a richly lesspassivity, toned sexualresponse(Lyndand Lynd1937:178).

SOCIOLOGY TEACHING
Certain stepstakenbythe fashionindusAmeritry duringWorldWarII prompted canwomen fromallwalksof life to become fashionableand stylish. With increasingly the occupationof Paris,Devlin (1979) sugin gests,fashionwas Americanized the war NewYorkandHollywoodbecame the years. new fashion centers. She continues, "In un1942, the Americangarment-makers' a ion, the ILGWU,raised milliondollarsto promoteAmericanfashionthroughan adat with Vogue its center" vertising campaign Rosten(1941:362)found that (1979:124). are "movie previews attendedby stylecopybackto the East istswho rushtheirdrawing so that a Crawfordgown, mass-produced and cheaply priced, can stream to the women of Americawith a minimum of The werebothhomogenizing delay." movies and and popularizing desires behaviors. The new market involvedthe mouth. It has to isno exaggeration statethatourcountry made the smile a commodity(Hochschild smile is a means of 1983). A "winning" status and achieving occupadisplaying of tionaland socialsuccess.The marketing the mouth began afterWorld War I (Fox 1984). After the militaryhad introduced to toothbrushes and toothbrushing young Avenue American men,Madison capitalized crehabit:the advertisers on the developing ads ated a halitosisscare.Listerine such as "Even your best friend won't tell you," and wantedwas children," she "What really a bridesmaid and never a bride" "Always were typicalattemptsto shamepeopleinto All purchases. minor mouth dysfunctions, dry mouth, bad breath,tender including gums, yellow teeth, or pink toothbrush, to as werepresented obstacles socialor prosuccess(Goodrumand Dalrymple fessional of 1990). By 1926, the percentage Americanspracticing dentalhygienehadincreased of sincethe beginning morethan50 percent WorldWar I (Fox 1984). A dazzlingsmile had become a national symbol of good groomingandstatus. a also The "smile" exercise provides way to introduceWeber ([1904-1905] 1958) school.First,one can and the interpretative work review the origins of the Protestant ethic:the lackof smilingin the earlypartof this centurycan be viewed as due to the

such as smiling "Positiveallurements" the demonstrate subtle shift in "the tradithat tionalworldof the affections" Lyndand Lynd observed among careerwomen in Middletown. The erraticsmiling pattern in displayed the late 1940s may reflectthe of renegotiation genderrolesastemporary sociatedwith men'sreturnto the workforce andmanywomen'sreturnto the home during the postwarperiod. From the conflict approach, females' consumerism and preoccupation with glamourwere rooted in the largerchanges and needs of corporate capitalism. May (1980) discussesthe growth,during 19141918, of a new "middleclass"with more leisure time and greateraffluence,which embraced high-level consumerism as a "meansfor restoring family order."May suggeststhat Hollywood'sfirststars,Mary Pickfordand Douglas Fairbanks proJr., vided role models for the evolving new relationshipbetween the sexes: the confident, athletic, outgoing man and the young, innocent, yet playfulwoman.

SMILES A SOCIAL AS FACT

asceticismof that ethic. Caution is necesin trends the Protin however, assessing sary, estantworkethic and in the photos because the datado not extendfar enoughinto the Weber's notionson the interpast.Applying and playbetweenculture,behavior, psychocan on logicalstates,the instructor speculate evolvedfromthe materialism howAmerican work ethic. Some historiansof film have hinted at this dynamic.Koppesand Blackstate, "As of harbingers the mass leisureindustryof the twentiethcentury,the moviesfit in Los Angeles, both creatingand legitimatinga blend of conspicuous consumption, new morals, and personal gratification that helpedunderminethe Eastern-dominated, WASPVictorianculture"(1987:6; see Demerath 1981 for a discussionof sociology and movies). In Movie-MadeAmerica, Sklar (1975) describes how the cultural power of movies was shaped not only by the possession of economic, social, and politicalpower but also:
affiliby such factorsas nationaloriginor religious ation, not to speak of far more elusive elements, such as celebrity or personal magnetism....The and movieswerethe firstmediumof entertainment culturalinformationto be controlledby men who did not sharethe ethnic or religiousbackgrounds of the traditionalelites; that fact has dominated on theirentirehistory,engagingthem in struggles manyfronts,and sometimesnegatingthe apparent adhered advantage enjoyedby men who otherwise valuesand conto the propercapitalistic faithfully servative politicalbeliefs(1975:6).

277
emotion.Goffman(1979:10)contendsthat ceremonial functionto reaffirm baportraits sic socialarrangements notionsof masand culinityand femininity:a pictureis not an of imageof a person,but a reflection gender in society. the Accordingly changein smiling a captures majorshift in the femalerole in the UnitedStates. For advanced students, Hochschild's Heartprovidesa con(1983) TheManaged temporary, groundedtheoreticalwork on emotionalitythat expandson the symbolic interaction tradition. Her notions about feeling rules,obligationsthat governemotionalexchanges, howsocialgroups and proare vide reminders (e.g., "saycheese") valuable in showing how institutionsaffect an conindividual's emotional Hochschild life. tendsthatthe growthof largeorganizations has calledforskillsin personalrelations,or emotional labor, for women. She defines emotionallaboras follows:
I use the termemotionallaborto mean the managementof feelingsto createa publiclyobservable emotionallaboris sold for facialandbodilydisplay; a wageand therefore exchange value.I use the has synonymousterms emotion work or emotional to management referto these sameacts done in a contextwheretheyhaveusevalue(1983:7). private

Our findings are consistent with in Hochschild's work: the increase smiling indicatesa majorshift in feeling rules for to women which corresponds their changinstitutionalroles in the last hundred ing The widespreadacceptanceof "alien" years.Overall, Hochschild's theorycanprovalues promoted by the mass media ulti- vide a strong frameworkfor integrating mately produced the observedchangesin macro-with microsociological perspectives over years. on the questionof smiling. smilingbehavior the lasthundred Finally, one can introduce Goffman's Mead's([1934] "DOING" SOCIOLOGY interaction, (1969) strategic a 1962) symbolic interactionism, and The exercisegives the novice researcher ([1902] 1964) looking-glassself. sense of the researchprocess and creates Cooley's The studentscan be asked"Forwhom are excitement in understanding the social the graduates smiling?" These theorists world. The instructorcan easilyintroduce would agree that each graduateis putting the conceptsof variables, hypotheses,reliherself in the place of another person and producing expressions that she thinks will improve her situation with the observer.The women were smiling not because they were necessarily "happy" but because they believed that society generally expected a graduating American female to express that ability, validity, correlation, causality,study design, content analysis, historical records, charts, percentages, and linear regression. The "need" for these research concepts emergesfrom the exercise.The taskprovides students with an engaging means of discovering established sociological methods.

278 Ideasarelinked immediatelyto a common classexperience. My students'reactionsprovidedample opportunities for concept development. First,as the classworked towardan operathe tionaldefinitionofsmiling,I introduced notion of reliability betweencoders.In my the experience, studentsgain a truesenseof reliability when they try to determine whetherteeth areexposed.Many askedmy opinion; their questionsprovidedthe opand for instruction portunity individualized discussion. Likewise,some students (and readers) challengedthe validity of using teeth as a measureof smiling.This issuegaveme the chance to discuss the distinction between reliabilityand validity.The "Mona Lisa" is dilemma-whether an expression a smile even though teeth arenot showing-rightfullydisturbsmanystudents. Yet paradoxand dilemma are valuable Fredericks devicesin the classroom. learning and andMiller,leaders the use of paradox in contend: dilemmain the classroom,
The existenceof paradoxical socialsituationsleads to the realizationthat the constructionand the of interpretation thesesituationsareconnectedinwith the development the functioning and timately dialectical nature of ourlinguisticcommunity...the is of the paradox highlysuitablefor the stimulation of creativethinking in that it confrontsstudents with a seeminglyintractable situation,but one that can be resolved throughanalysis(1990:348).

TFACHING SOCIOLOGY should experience unglamorous, munthe daneaspectsof datacollection.I found that coding an averageof 300 portraitseach task.As a result,the yearwas a manageable undergraduates developeda sense that statistics are not magicallycreated.In addithat tion, I emphasized we wereexamining that the and only one university, therefore of generalizability our findings was limited. Sociologists suchasDurkheimlooked at collectionsof datain orderto avoidsuch a limitation. Thus my students'reactionsand concerns proved useful.We encounteredthe same issues and decisionsthat researchers we confrontdaily.Together examinedhow social researchers attempt to resolvesuch
issues.

DISCUSSION
The exercisehas two major limitations. at First,coding the seniorpicturesrequires defendedfor its contributionto producing community(seeScheff1992). Goingto the libraryand coding picturesactedas an icebreaker;the activity helped to increase class least an hour of the students' time. Yet if my experience is illustrative,this activity can be

Most studentsenjoyedexploring solidarity. the yearbooksand noting how hair and clothingstyles had changed.Many looked up relatives,friends, and embarrassingly The problem in defining a smile is a datedphotos of professors. This experience of the exercise. The instructor helpedlink the freshmen eachotherand to strength should developsuch criticalthinkingon a to the history of the university. For these research reasons,it may best be done earlyin the topic. fixed course. Furthermore,the archivistswere exIn examining Figure1, thestudents theirattentionon 1949. This momentpro- cited about sharingtheir historicaldocuvided a chanceto discussoutliers.I empha- ments with the students (Glasberg et al. in sizedthatsociologistsareinterested gen- 1990). As a latent function of the exercise, and eral patterns and not in individual data the classgaineda greater understanding of Evenso, the analysis "oddcases" respect for the archives. points. of oftenleadsto an increased Second, the students might believe that understanding some stu- this is a complete study which truly tests the processunder investigation:
dents examined the university's history in attempts to understand the variation. Finally, the activity led to a discussion of sampling. If your university is large, students' time constraints will necessitate the sampling of senior portraits. I contend, however, that within reason, students hypotheses. They should be made aware, however,that it is only an illustrativeexercise which allows introductory students to gain an applied understandingof the perspectives and basic methods ofsociology. Many of my students were somewhat disappointed that we could not prove anything; yet even the

FACT AS SMILES A SOCIAL

279

Skillsin IntroHunt:TeachingLibrary Scavenger inabilityto produceclosureis an important ductory Sociology Courses." Teaching Sociology lesson(Browneand Litwin 1987). Interest18:231-34. lead to more quesing questionstypically New Goffman,Erving.1969. GenderAdvertisements. tions than answers. York: Harper. You may discoverdifferencesbasedon Interaction. _ 1979. Strategic Philadelphia: Press. of your college'sregion, gendercomposition, University Pennsylvania and socioeconomic status.The very fresh- Goodrum,Charlesand Helen Dalrymple.1990. AdThe NewYork: ness of the topic should add to the excitevertisinginAmerica: First200 Years. Abrams. ment of the class.My honors introductory Hochschild,ArlieR. 1983. TheManaged Heart:The sociologyclassand I would like to see your Commercialization Human Feeling.Berkeley: of results. Press. of University California

REFERENCES
Browne,N.B. and JamesL. Litwin. 1987. "Critical FacilitatThinking In The SociologyClassroom: ing Movementfrom Vague Objectiveto Explicit Achievement." 15:384-91. Sociology Teaching Cecil, David. 1975. "Introductory Essay." 1 in A Pp. and Cameron Her Victorian Album: JuliaMargaret Circle,edited by G. Ovenden. New York:Da Capo. Cooley,CharlesH. [1902] 1964. HumanNatureand Schocken. New York: theSocialOrder. Demerath,N.J. 1981. "Througha Double-Crossed Eye:Sociologyandthe Movies."Teaching Sociology 9:69-82. BookofFashionPhotograDevlin, Polly.1979. Vogue: Simonand Schuster. phy, 1919-1979. New York: Durkheim,Emile.[1893] 1982. TheRules ofSociologiand on calMethodand SelectedTexts Sociology Its edited by StevenLukes.New York:Free Method, Press. A Fox, Steven. 1984. TheMirrorMakers: Historyof New York: and American Advertising Its Creators. Morrow. Marceland StevenI. Miller.1990. "ParaFredericks, Teachdoxes,Dilemmasand Teaching Sociology." 18:347-55. ing Sociology DavitaS., JudyHarwood,RolandHawkes, Glasberg, and Catherine Martinsek. 1990. "The Library

Koppes, Clayton R. and GregoryD. Black. 1987. and Goesto War: How Politics,Profits Hollywood Propaganda ShapedWorldWarII Movies.New York: FreePress. Lynd,RobertS. and Helen MerrelLynd.1937. MidA in in dletown Transition:Study Cultural Conflicts. New York: Harcourt Brace. and Out May,Lary.1980. Screening thePast:TheBirthof New and MassCulture theMotionPicture Industry. Press. OxfordUniversity York: Mead,GeorgeHerbert.[1934] 1962. Mind, Selfand Society,edited by CharlesW Morris. Chicago: of University ChicagoPress. The Rosten, Leo C. 1941. Hollywood: Movie Colony, Brace. TheMovieMakers. New York: Harcourt, Scheff, Thomas J. 1992. "DiscoveringSociology." 20:248-53. Teaching Sociology A America: Social Sklar,Robert. 1975. Movie-Made Movies.New York:Random Historyof American House. Ethic Weber,Max.[1904-1905] 1958. TheProtestant Scribner's. New and theSpiritof Capitalism. York: of Marxis an assistant Jonathan professor sociology He at WinthropUniversity. writesand teachesin the He and areasof organizations medicalsociology. also Address all honorsprogram. teachesin the freshman of to Marx,Department Socorrespondence Jonathan 327 KinardBuilding, ciology,WinthropUniversity, RockHill, South Carolina, 29733; e-mail:MARXJ@ ACAD.WINTHROPEDU.