- Sociological Themes Explored in the Film
- Deviance: Definition and Criteria
- Assessing Deviance in Logan and Lila’s Relationship
- Ascribed Status and the Possibility of Change
- Applying Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self to Lila’s Identity Formation
- Total Institutions and Military Structure
- Self-Presentation and Impression Management
- Rite of Passage and Identity Transformation
- Work Cited
Sociological Themes Explored in the Film
Sociology is the branch of science that analyzes how humans interact within society. Sociological concepts examine human behavior and culture. The film Transgender, at War and in Love examines sociological topics such as family relations, gender stereotypes, and cultural biases. Logan and Lila’s transgender relationship affects their family relations because they are afraid to introduce each other to their families.
Gender stereotypes prevent Logan from serving in the military, and he is afraid to reveal his ascribed gender to his commander. The policies prohibiting transgender people from openly serving in the military depict cultural biases. Cultural biases also prevent the couple from freely interacting with family and community members. The film examines the challenges that transgender people encounter during their interactions with society members and in the workplace.
Deviance: Definition and Criteria
Deviance is a sociological term that describes human behavior that deviates from society’s accepted norms and provokes disapproval from certain groups or communities. Violating society’s socially acceptable norms and incurring adverse reactions can make someone appear deviant.
Assessing Deviance in Logan and Lila’s Relationship
The relationship between Logan and Lila is deviant because it undermines the social interaction norms of American culture. Logan and Lila are transgender people in a sexual relationship and cannot achieve the objectives of marriage and family. Traditional American society recognized functionalism as a practical approach to achieving social stability through human reproduction (Schaefer and Lamm 456). Therefore, Logan and Lila’s relationship is functionally deviant because it violates society’s socially acceptable marriage norms and elicits adverse reactions from specific groups or communities.
Ascribed Status and the Possibility of Change
Ascribed status, such as gender, cannot be changed because culture assigns people involuntarily at birth. Logan and Lila cannot change their ascribed gender statuses because the country assigned them their status at birth. The couple wishes to change their ascribed gender statuses because they desire to become the opposite gender.
Logan joins the military to achieve a masculine body, while Lila adopts feminine attributes, including her dress code and behavior. However, the military does not recognize their desires to change their sexual orientation but acknowledges their ascribed status. The military expects Logan to use female urinals and Lila to use male urinals. Therefore, people cannot change ascribed gender statuses, but society expects them to live according to the ascribed gender roles.
Applying Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self to Lila’s Identity Formation
Cooley’s looking-glass self-theory associates people’s behavior and self-esteem with predictions of how people perceive them. Individuals who believe that others highly perceive them tend to have high self-esteem. According to Cooley, people develop the concept of self by analyzing how society perceives them (Schaefer and Lamm 456). The Looking Glass Self-theory influenced Lila’s desire to change her ascribed gender because her beauty prompted society to perceive her as a female.
Total Institutions and Military Structure
Logan and Lila work for a total institution that limits their privacy, affecting their sexual orientation. A total institution is a workplace with people who leave the regular community and are enclosed for a specific duration, such as a military camp.
Self-Presentation and Impression Management
According to Goffman’s presentation of self, impression management influences people to slant their presentation to satisfy specific audiences. Professor Diaz is a male who adopts a female character called Liza Fernanda to express his affection for women. Professor Diaz presents herself as a woman to discuss the issues affecting women and portray how women can solve their concerns. Logan shifts his impression to appear masculine to fit in with the military. He is happy when the military allows him to change his ‘blues’ and wear male attire.
Rite of Passage and Identity Transformation
The change of blues represents a rite of passage for Logan because the new attire allows him to achieve his desired self-presentation. Lila also alters her appearance to appear more feminine, so that society can perceive her as female. She achieves a presentation of self by altering his dress code and appearance to resemble a female. Logan and Lila are transgender in a sexual relationship and portray social deviance by wanting to change their ascribed genders. Therefore, impression management is a primary factor that influences the desire to change one’s ascribed gender.
Work Cited
Schaefer, Richard T., and Robert P. Lamm. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. McGraw-Hill, 1994.