Sojourners Undergraduate Journal of Sociology

Contained in Crises: Youth’s Experience of (Digital) Familyhood During COVID-19

Richy Srirachanikorn — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

During COVID-19, children confined in households experience prevalent levels of loneliness and relationship conflict. To mitigate this challenge, youth have proliferated their use of digital media and virtual worlds (MMORPGs) for socialization. To understand their experiences, I conducted a quantitative content analysis on five games of an MMORPG website that is popular with children since the pandemic. This method is coupled with non-revealing in-game screenshots of players and settings where these practices occurred. I identify these five titles as family-themed, scoring higher in markers of differentiation, connectedness, and lower on family depictions. These results aligned with the primary hypothesis, which predicted a higher frequency of differentiation and connection on the games’ home pages than its family codes. A discussion of the data highlighted the symbolic nature of digital familyhood, meaning making, and opportunities for the differentiation of the self, per Bowen’s Family Systems Theory (1976). Implications are explored for the increasing use of technology and the concept of digital connection. Moreover, I warn of the pitfalls in relying too much on technology to socialize, through my original concept of the digitalized other.

Racial Identity and the Healthy Immigrant Effect: Does Racial Background Affect Mental Health Among Immigrants in Canada?

Kyara Liu — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

The concept of the “Healthy Immigrant Effect” emerged through findings suggesting that while immigrants are healthier than the native-born population due to a selection process favouring better health and higher education, their health tends to diminish over time due to the unique challenges they encounter in their new nation of residence (Yang, 2020). In this study, I hypothesize that established immigrants and visible minority immigrants would have worse mental health (as per the Healthy Immigrant Effect) in comparison to established immigrants and White immigrants. Furthermore, I predict that female visible minority immigrants have worse mental health than female White immigrants, due to the application of the stress process model (SPM) to infer the greater psychosocial stressors faced by women of colour (racism and sexism etc.). This study contributes to the literature surrounding the Healthy Immigrant Effect in the context of mental health, while adding dimensions of racial identity and gender producing a more nuanced and greater understanding of the concept. I implemented ordered logistic regression using a hybrid variable consisting of racial identity and length of time since migration in order to investigate social determinants of immigrant mental health. The findings suggest that both White and visible minority immigrants residing in Canada for 10 to 20 years had worse mental health than immigrants who immigrated less than 10 years ago, with implications varying depending on gender due to the different meanings of work attributed to each gender role. Overall, this study makes a strong contribution to the literature on the Healthy Immigrant Effect.

UBC and U of T International Student Recruitment: Continuing the Canadian Narrative of Multiculturalism?

Beth Patrick — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

The purpose of this research is to explore how Canadian university recruitment and promotional materials utilize Canada’s perceived narrative as a multicultural nation, in order to distinguish their institution in the global competition for international student enrollment. This research analyzes the language and visualizations in a total of 10 promotional videos and 4 websites (N=14 promotional materials) from two case studies of the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. The study finds that both the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto use elements of a multicultural narrative in recruitment of international students, such as transparency of immigration policies, maintaining cultural identity within a broader society, and an emphasis on diversity within the institution. The narrative of multiculturalism is demonstrated through repeated messages in promotional videos, such as “be yourself,” and the idea that there is no one way to be “Canadian.” However, at the same time, the repeated language in the videos also discusses the idea of “fitting in” and “finding your community,” promoting situating oneself within the broader Canadian society. Furthermore, the findings illustrate the marketing strategies of larger Canadian institutions and the omission of relationships between international and domestic students in promotional materials.

“Bring a Bucket and a Mop” for the Tears of Offended White Male Conservatives

Alex Black — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Upon it’s release, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wet Ass Pussy” garnered unprecedented controversy for both its sexually explicit lyrics and accompanying music video. Originating primarily from right-leaning outlets, WAP’s adversaries chastised not only the song itself, but moreover, the artists for their supposed violation of American morals concerning gender and sexuality. However, gender and sexuality transgressions on their own incompletely encapsulate the overarching systemic oppressions affording WAP its disrepute. This essay examines the critical context underpinning the enormous controversy following WAP’s release, namely, the unique manifestation of misogynoir in the context of black women’s sexuality. Employing a literary analysis calling on historical and social perspectives, I examine the construction of the controversy surrounding Black women’s sexuality in a discursive context. The impacts of slavery and the hypersexualization of Black women ultimately constitute the bedrock of WAP’s dissension which inherently demonizes and fetishizes the sexuality of Black women. Although highly controversial for its sexually explicit content, this paper argues that rather than degrading the sexuality of Black women and violating social moral codes, WAP represents an important avenue of empowerment for Black women, featuring a critical reclaiming of sexual autonomy.

The Siren’s Call for Non-Normativity: The Queering of Desire and Time Creates Horror in Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse

Anupriya Dasgupta — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This theoretical paper takes a social justice lens to unpack the moral predicaments of normative society, normative bodies and reproductive linearity that pose institutional regulation and oppression to the queer or non-normative experiences of reality. Employing queer theory, I analyze Robert Eggers’ maritime gothic film, The Lighthouse (2019), and explore how the horror genre and monstrous bodies can be used to challenge our normative understandings of psycho-somatic experiences, often ambiguous, in conflict with processes of normative categorization that bring us terror. Through Terror Management Theory, I discuss how the abject body of the mermaid, the queer temporality of the setting of Pilot Rock, and the Lovecraftian existentialism in the film implores audiences to acknowledge the reality of the ‘abject’ in terms of corporeality and mortality, as a way to escape from regulation and oppression. The anti-hero, Ephraim Winslow, attempts an escape from normative society through a normative body, resolutely denying his own queer embodiment, which leads to his inevitable destruction. The mermaid, read as the queer agent, challenges the barriers set in place by normative society and our conceptions of reproductive linearity so that we may embrace our queer desires and our queer ‘non-normative’ bodies.

Our Home on Native Land: An Introspection into Delgamuukw v. British Columbia and its Aftermath

Rachel Doody — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper critiques the dominant narrative of Canada as a fair and equitable nation and investigates how this narrative negatively affects Indigenous peoples in Canada. This research is important because it addresses the issue of Canada’s liberalist definition of reconciliation. This paper demonstrates how the only way to move forward on reconciliation will be for Canada as a culture and a state to let go of this liberalist narrative and redefine reconciliation through continuous consultation with Indigenous peoples across Canada. This is done through a case study of the Indigenous land claim case Delgamuukw v. Province of British Columbia and its long term outcomes as demonstrated by movements occurring in Wet’suwet’en Nation territory today. In this paper, a different definition of reconciliation is put forth and is informed by the responses to the liberalist definition of reconciliation and the falsehood of the Canadian narrative communicated by Indigenous peoples — as seen by movements in Wet’suwet’en Nation. Lastly, several baseline suggestions are made to meet this more integrative model of reconciliation by requiring the Canadian government to make an entire systemic overhaul at all levels. In breaking down this discourse through the use of Delgamuukw v. British Columbia as a case study, this paper demonstrates how this definition of reconciliation and discourse is, in fact, harmful to Indigenous rights and the obtainment of reconciliation. This paper also presents a theoretical framework for how Canada, as a state, can take steps towards reconciliation.This framework is rooted in holding Canada accountable to their word and actions by integrating Indigenous legal orders with international law.

Drivers of Dissidence: A Discourse Analysis of Vancouver’s Road to Ride-Hailing

Alexander Wilson — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

In 2012, Uber launched their ride-hailing service in B.C. to a mixed public reception. Initially met with fines from the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB), many fought for UberX (Uber’s ride-hailing service, hereafter simply Uber), and ride-hailing was subsequently allowed to run in 2020. During Uber’s eight-year road to legality, a lengthy public negotiation in Vancouver took place, pitting the ideals and history of B.C.’s taxi regulations against the purported innovation, efficiency, and customer utility of Uber. While numerous studies attempt to understand how the public and legislators have debated ride-hailing elsewhere (e.g., Brail, 2018; Pelzer et al., 2019; Serafin, 2019), in the unique legislative setting of Vancouver, no analysis of their advertising campaign has yet been undertaken.

My study uses NVivo to analyze key public documents regarding Uber’s introduction into Vancouver (2014-2020), pulling from 103 major media articles and four government documents to create a history of Uber’s arrival and analyze the frames (terms used to describe Uber, the taxi industry and ride-hailing) which supplemented the debate. I found that Uber’s contention that they are an economically sustainable technology service, not a transportation service, played a key role in justifying the final legislation in favour of Uber; able to offset their similarity to the already existent taxi regime, and in conjunction, the paying public’s responsibility to the harm Uber’s service posed to the already low-paid, marginalized work of taxi driving.

Preface

Sojourners EIC — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Sojourners Volume 14/15 Preface

Examining Attachment Style in Hookup Culture: The Societal Normalization of Trauma-Based Partner Selection

Aida Ardelean — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Based on the theory of attachment, individuals are going to love someone the way they themselves have experienced love. As young adults finish their studies and enter their careers, there is a social expectation for many to find a lasting relationship and settle down. If young adults developed an insecure attachment style during childhood, this could lead to the possible recreation of intergenerational trauma when seeking a longterm partner. Much has been written about hookup culture on university campuses and the impacts that it has on mental and emotional health (i.e. Garcia 2012, Machia 2020, etc.), but less has been written on whether the impacts of hookup culture are a product of one’s attachment. My project aims to explore how the attachment styles developed in childhood contribute to participation in hookup culture during university. Twenty participants who identified as current or previous students attending a Canadian university and residing in British Columbia were recruited to participate in this study. A series of semi-structured hour-long interviews were conducted following the completion of a preliminary survey. These surveys examined participants’ attachment styles and self-esteem levels. Participants were also asked a series of questions about their experiences with hookup culture and casual sex. It was found that participants scoring high on anxiety and avoidance are more likely to experience lower levels of self-esteem than participants scoring low on anxiety. However, participants scoring high on avoidance experienced higher levels of regret than participants scoring low on avoidance. Further, individuals that had a fearful avoidant attachment were more likely to experience feelings for a casual hookup partner. Finally, the study found that participants with fearful avoidant attachment were more likely to be single. However, participants with secure attachment were more likely, on average, to have a friend with benefits or one night stand than insecure participants.

Likes, Comments, and Colourism: The Construction of the Self and the Promotion, Maintenance, and Reproduction of Anti-Black Colourism on Social Media

Makena Zimmerman — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Colourism— or the preferential treatment of people with lighter skin tones that occurs within and across racial groups— is a pervasive public issue. However, while colourism has become a social issue that is embedded within social institutions and hierarchies, it has gone understudied in academia. Social media platforms such as Instagram provide users with the ability to like, comment, and share content that they deem entertaining and worthy of attention while allowing these same users to carefully construct and manage a depiction of their self. The growing role of social media in everyday interactions and in the creation of identity becomes troubling when considering the presence of colourism on social media platforms. Colourism is a social issue that effectively reproduces cycles of oppression. Its presence and persistence on social media must be addressed and dismantled in order to establish true racial equity both online and off. By applying contemporary sociological theories to recognize the role of social media in the construction of our identities, examining the history of anti-Black colourism, and considering social media platforms as sites for the reproduction of colourism, this project suggests ways to fully deconstruct colourism on social media and work towards the eradication of the intergenerational harm that colourism inflicts upon Black communities.

The Double-Commodification of the Filipina: Neocolonial Exploitation in the Entertainment Era

Gabrielle Abando — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Even in the absence of explicit colonizer presence, the Filipino government has profited off the sexualization of Filipinas under the white male gaze, enabling a thriving sex tourism industry and mail-order bride market which pumps foreign currency into the national economy (Cunneen & Stubbs, 2000). Thus, Filipinas use the awareness of their exoticism as a ‘survival’ mechanism to circumvent increasingly restrictive immigration policies and a dwindling local economy – at the risk of their own lives (Cunneen & Stubbs, 2000). Filipinas being marketed as marriage and sexual commodities to white men have been studied extensively – a new phenomenon has arisen in response to these relationships. The following paper will be concerned with outlining this ‘double-layered commodification’ phenomenon whereby Filipinas are first commodified through the origins and continued existence of the mail-order bride and sex tourism market, and then the new commodification of these relationships as entertainment products. As audiences consume the new entertainment product, underpinning systems of inequality, already obscured by the mail order bride and sex tourism market, are further obscured. Moreover, increased engagement with the product only promotes the propagation of the commodity, further reinforcing and feeding into underlying systemic inequality. This paper will outline this process through (1) a literature review detailing preconditions of Filipina commodification and the mail order bride/sex tourism market and (2) an analysis of YouTube comments under clips from Rose and Ed’s segment on TLC’s 90 Day Fianc´e, a TV show that follows the love stories of international couples. Ultimately, this paper will bridge the literature and empirical data together to outline and propose this ‘double layer commodification’ process.

The Relationship Between Colonialism and Public Health in Canada: The Effects of the Evacuation Policy on the Rates of Postpartum Depression for Indigenous Women

Zainab Saleh — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

The purpose of this research is to illustrate the effects of colonialism on the maternal health of Indigenous women, and to highlight the importance of their agency in the incorporation of Indigenous epistemologies in healthcare contexts. Indigenous people in Canada experience significant social, political, and economic disadvantages as a direct outcome of colonialism. This research investigates the effects of the evacuation policy on the rates of postpartum depression in Indigenous women living on-reserve or in rural areas. The evacuation policy is a federally enforced health policy that requires the medical evacuation of Indigenous women from their communities into urban areas/hospitals in order to create accessibility to maternal health services. Existing research shows that the evacuation policy is typically unfavoured among Indigenous women in Canada, as they have reported negative experiences and sentiments towards the policy and expressed preference to local birthing centers instead. In addition, existing research proposes that this policy is not effective in promoting the health of Indigenous mothers; rather, it creates adverse health outcomes as medical evacuation is associated with increased rates of stress as a result of a variety of factors, including mistrust in the healthcare system. This study’s research is significant because of the limited amount of literature about the perpetuation of colonialism in Canada through Westernized health policies. The findings indicate that the evacuation policy increases the rates of stress in pregnant Indigenous women, which may contribute to the increasing rates of postpartum depression (PPD). The findings also highlight the opinions of the evacuation policy being unfavorable for Indigenous women and their preference in incorporating Indigenous traditions.