Реферат: The Comparative Method Essay Research Paper Sociologists

In ancient Greek societies people had a very different opinion of men that

slept with men. For example, it was considered quite an honor for a family

with a young boy under the age of 10, to be given the privilege on an older

man of high society taking their son into his house. The young boy would go

and live with this older man. The older man would have sex with the young

boy on a regular basis until the boy developed facial hair. It was not

until then that the boy was considered a man. Society thought that an older

mans, of great reputation, semen would help the boy develop into a fine

young man. Once the boy developed the facial hair, the sex between the two

would stop. The older man’s job was finished. Obviously this would be

considered an atrocious and disgusting act these days. The older man in

this case would certainly go to jail for the ‘crimes’ that he had committed.

However, in Ancient Greece this was not only considered perfectly normal,

but as I already stated, it was an honor and a gift that not every boy was

‘lucky’ enough to be given. Therefore, we can conclude from this comparison

that homophobia, as we know it, is not a natural truth, nor is it a

universal belief. Rather it is a socially constructed belief that many

people have taken for granted as an inevitable part of human existence.

It is important at this point to clarify something however. It is said

that the role of the sociologist is a descriptive one as opposed to a

prescriptive one. That is to say that the sociologist should describe the

various practices, customs and structures that exist in various societies

rather than suggest to people which one is actually the correct belief or

the ‘real’ truth.

Cross-gender comparisons is another commonly used comparison used to reveal

socially constructed truths. In Carol Gilligan’s book ‘In a different

voice’ we find a fine example of a cross-gender comparison. She states that

most people believe that the majority of people, both men and women, view

morale issues in the same way. However, through empirical data collection,