Word: sociologists
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...would probably say, "it's all this permissiveness." But permissiveness is just a word that stands for many things, and as with most societal changes, it is often difficult to tell what is cause and what is effect. One major factor is the "erotization of the social backdrop," as Sociologists John Gagnon and William Simon express it. American society is committed to sexuality, and even children's dolls have breasts and provocative outfits nowadays. Another frequently cited factor is the weakening of religious strictures on sex. Observes Social Critic Michael Harrington: "One of the great facts about our culture...
Even on campuses where sex is relaxed, says Sociologist Simon, "kids still experience losing their virginity as an identity crisis; a nonvirgin is something they did not expect to be." Sexually involved adolescents of all ages are sometimes beset by guilt feelings, though less often than were their elders. Admits Ellen Sims, a Tenafly girl of 15 who says she has turned celibate after sleeping with three boys when she was in the eighth grade: "I was ashamed of myself. Sometimes I wish I didn't even know what I've done." Similarly, University of Pittsburgh Junior Kathy Farnsworth confesses...
...years, a white sociologist at a California university specialized in race relations, undaunted by racists' taunts that he was a "radical," a "nigger lover" and a "Communist." Today, he is seriously considering quitting his field altogether because of demoralizing attacks, not from his old critics but from militant black students. "It is too much of a hassle," he says, "to try to be an impartial behavorial scientist when the sole criterion for knowledge, understanding or credibility is the color of your skin...
...over the U.S., white sociologists who once prided themselves on being unprejudiced and basically sympathetic to the blacks they studied have found their motivation and competence challenged by militants who claim that only a black can understand the black experience. The antagonism toward these white sociologists has also spread through the black ghettos, making it difficult for them to continue their research. During the past six months, their plight has been studied by Wilson Record, a white sociologist at Portland State University in Oregon. He interviewed 140 of the estimated 750 white sociologists specializing in race and ethnic relations...
Those who stayed "almost invariably develop a range of defensive tactics," Record writes in a preliminary report for articles to be published next year. Some minimized their difficulties by shifting their emphasis to other races. One sociologist in New Mexico, for example, now devotes much of his course to color differentiation in early Japan. Others tried-and frequently failed-to identify more closely with black students, while still others practiced self-censorship. "Unattractive traits of black culture, society and institutions were simply not explored," Record reports. "If introduced, they were rather hastily interpreted as the invariable results of white prejudice...