SOC 308L Midterm 1 Study Guide

• Study guide for Midterm Exam 1 SOC 308L

Tolle's The Power of Now

• Personal conflicts, addiction, and dysfunction are fueled by the ego.
• Attachment to thoughts, emotions, and external validation strengthens the ego.
• Mindfulness and present-moment awareness can weaken the ego's control.
• Transformation occurs through acceptance and self-awareness, reducing suffering.
• Focus for the ego keeps individuals trapped in fear and anxiety, constantly on the past and future.
• Being mindful and in the present allows individuals to transcend the ego and experience true peace.
• Spiritual love transcends emotional and conditional aspects, promoting a connection to the divine within each person.
• Spiritual love is rooted in presence and awareness, not attachment.

Fromm's Theories on Love

• Love is an art requiring discipline, effort, and self-awareness.
• Love requires commitment, knowledge, and effort.
• Love is a complex interplay of brotherly, motherly, romantic, and self-love.

Self-Compassion (Kristin Neff & E. Pommier)

• Three core components include Self-Kindness, Mindfulness, and Common Humanity.

Self-Kindness

• Treating oneself with consideration rather than criticism.

Mindfulness

• Acknowledging pain without over-identification.
• Helps avoid suppressing negative feelings and allows individuals to observe their experiences without becoming overwhelmed by them.

Common Humanity

• Recognizing struggles as a shared human experience.
• Self-compassion research relates to ideas, emphasizing emotional resilience.

Self-Compassion vs. Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem is contingent on success and external validation.
• Self-compassion fosters unconditional self-acceptance and emotional stability, an internal practice independent of external factors.

Love in the Ancient World

• Plato's Symposium explores conceptions of love, including platonic (intellectual), eros (romantic), and agape (selfless) love.
• Different characters provide speeches on the nature of love (Eros) at a banquet, exploring different perspectives.
• Phaedrus identifies love as the greatest virtue, motivating pursuit of honor and excellence, inspiring heroism and noble acts.
• Pausanias distinguishes between Common Love (physical, temporary) and Heavenly Love (intellectual, moral growth).
• Aristophanes presents the myth of soulmates, defining love as the search for one's missing half.
• Socrates (Diotima's Ladder of Love) describes love evolving from physical attraction to appreciation of beauty and wisdom.
• For socrates, love becomes the soul's desire for knowledge and enlightenment.

The myth of Inanna

• Inanna's descent into the underworld reflects love and sacrifice's transformative power.
• Symbolizes the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth.
• Acts as a metaphor for the way love transforms individuals.
• Explores themes of love, power, and transformation, and symbolizes personal and spiritual evolution through trials.

Dostoevsky's The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

• A protagonist contemplates suicide, then has a dream that prompts a transformation.
• The dream reveals a world of pure love and compassion, changing his perception of life and humanity.
• Before the dream, the protagonist experiences nihilism and feels life is meaningless.
• A young girl's plea for help provides a turning point, sparking an emotional response.
• He imagines a utopian world free of suffering within the dream sequence.
• His presence corrupts the world, demonstrating suffering is self-inflicted.
• Learns that love originates within and must be given freely.
• The mind creates suffering, and liberation comes through presence, connecting to Tolle.
• Meaning of life is found through self-awareness and love, and the protagonist's realization of love is the key to happiness, which is a turning point in his existential journey.

Social Structure & Challenges to Unconditional Love

• Social structures like capitalism, gender norms, and institutional inequalities can limit the expression of unconditional love.
• Love becomes transactional in capitalist societies, based on what individuals can give or receive, hindering connections rooted in unconditional love.
• Social inequalities based on gender and race shape individuals' ability to give and receive love with marginalized communities potentially facing societal barriers.
• Love is often commodified in capitalist systems, with individuals seeking love for status, security, or material gain.
• Economic production and consumption can undermine the sincerity and depth of relationships.
• Women tend to be more self-compassionate but also more self-critical according to cultural and gender differences.
• Collectivist cultures link self-compassion with higher social harmony.

Shifting Understandings of Love and Intimate Relationships in the West: Love, Industrialization, and Capitalism

• The shift from pre-industrial to industrial societies drastically affected relationships, love, and marriage.
• Industrialization created new economic structures, leading to profound social changes that impacted how individuals experience love, intimacy, and marriage.

Fromm's Perspective

• Erich Fromm discusses the effect of modern capitalism on human relationships.
• Fromm critiques the commodification of love, where individuals view each other as objects of consumption and personal satisfaction.
• Love requires authenticity, care, and effort but is often undermined in capitalist society.
• He advocates for active love requiring a conscious decision and genuine care, not just consumption.
• Highlights the need for love in a world that increasingly emphasizes individualism and consumerism.

Swidler's Analysis of Love

• Ann Swidler examines love and marriage through the lens of cultural tensions.
• Marriage has shifted from being an economic and familial arrangement to a more individualistic and romantic endeavor, influenced by consumer culture.
• Love, within a capitalist framework, is individualized and influenced by economic circumstances, shifting it away from communal or familial considerations.

Marx & Engels on Love

• Discuss how social structures impact marriage, intimacy, and sexuality.
• Under capitalism, marriage often becomes a tool for economic survival, driven by economic and social class considerations.
• Capitalism shapes love by making relationships economic transactions, where personal emotions are subordinated to social status and material wealth.

Gadlin's Perspective

• Gadlin provides a critical analysis of love in a capitalist society, examining how intimacy, marriage, and sex are influenced by economic structures.
• Focuses on capitalism's devaluation of intimate, non-market relationships and the way capitalist ideals infiltrate personal lives.

Historical Contexts

• During the Colonial Period, love and marriage were influenced by imperial power dynamics, where relationships were shaped by race and class.
• The Jacksonian Era saw shifts in romantic love as industrialization began influencing family structures.
• The Progressive Era advocated for reforms in labor, marriage, and social equality, influencing how individuals perceived love and marriage in relation to broader social justice.
• Today, love and marriage are increasingly defined by individual choice, emotional fulfillment, and economic considerations.

Key Ideas

• Gadlin explores how intimacy and personal relationships are affected by social and political forces in "Private Lives and Public Order."
• Marx & Engels discuss capitalism's impact on gender roles and romantic expectations in "Women in Capitalist Society."
• Swidler's analysis of love reveals that modern relationships are often characterized by four tensions in "Four Tensions in Love":
  • Love as both voluntary and fated.
  • Love as unique but also commonplace.
  • Love as altruistic vs. selfish.
  • Love as permanent vs. fragile.

The Sexual Revolution

• Challenged traditional views on sexuality, intimacy, and relationships in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Bailey explores how the sexual revolution shifted attitudes towards sexuality, moving from a reproductive to a pleasure-oriented view of sex in "Beth Bailey's Sexual Revolution."
• Giddens examines how intimacy has transformed in modern society in "The Transformation of Intimacy."
• Rubin & Thompson studied how societal changes have altered how we view intimacy and sexuality in "Research on Intimacy."

Hooking Up and Hanging Out Culture

• Rise of casual encounters and ambiguous relationships in modern culture, as traditional dating structures decline.
• The focus shifts from formal relationships to more informal and spontaneous interactions.
• There is less emphasis on long-term commitment and more on short-term pleasure and physical attraction.
• The Social Construction of Love argues that love is socially constructed and cultural norms shape love.
• Sternberg identifies intimacy, passion, and commitment as the three components of love.
• In Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Love, love is perceived differently across cultures.

Types of Love

• Four Aspects of Love are categorized into passion, intimacy, commitment, and stability.
• Romantic Love is a combination of passion and intimacy idealized in Western cultures, indicated by intense feelings of affection and attraction, and intimacy.
• Companionate Love is deep friendship, intimacy, and commitment, without the passion typically associated with romantic love represented by intimacy and commitment.
• Fatuous has passion and commitment without intimacy.
• Consummate Love, or complete love, has all aspects of a healthy relationship present, represented by passion, intimacy, and commitment.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Arranged marriages differ from free choice based on emphasis on collectivism or individualism.
• Western cultures emphasize personal choice, individual freedom, and emotional fulfillment
• Eastern cultures emphasize family duty, social harmony, and community responsibility.
• Jankowiak explores how love is viewed in different cultures through a cross-cultural perspective on romantic love.
• Dion compares Western individualism and Eastern collectivism regarding cultural perspectives on romantic love.
• Ingoldsby's study provides a broad overview of how mate selection and marriage differ across cultures around the world.
• Jankowiak discusses how romantic love is experienced in China, focusing on romantic passion in China.
• Natarajan examines the evolving concept of arranged marriages in "Notes Towards a (Re)Arranged Love."

Guest Lecture: Love and the Brain

• Dopamine and oxytocin drive attraction and bonding at a neurological level.
• Love activates brain regions linked to addiction and reward.
• Long-term love shows increased activation in areas associated with deep attachment.

Film: The Mystery of Love

• Explores various forms of love and their philosophical, spiritual, and social dimensions.
• It aligns with Tolle's teachings, regarding spiritual love and living in the present moment.
• Different types of relationships contribute to personal growth and understanding.