discussion sociology

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First, read Chapter 12. Then, listen to the podcast episode (transcript available

) and answer the following questions. Your answers should reflect a sociological perspective (which may or may not align with your personal perspective or the perspectives presented in the podcast); you’ll need to use the sociological imagination and the social construction of sex and gender to analyze the information from the podcast episode.

  1. Summarize Instagram’s Community Guidelines as they relate to nudity. Under what circumstances is nudity is permitted on Instagram? When is it prohibited? Using your sociological imagination, explain how these institutional policies affect the lives of individuals (especially visual artists and patrons of the arts). 
  2. How can Instagram tell the difference between female nipples and other nipples? Considering the social construction of gender, why is Instagram’s attempt to categorize nipples problematic? 
  3. Representatives from Instagram explain that the Community Guidelines regarding nudity are based on “typical values” of American society. Using your sociological imagination, explain why it is problematic for Instagram to base their policies on their interpretation of “typical American values.”

    (HINT: you should consider how “typical American values” are being determined by Instagram, and the international implications of Instagram’s policies)

  4. Considering the conversation with model and activist Rain Dove, how well do Instagram’s nudity policies align with a sociological understanding of sex and gender?

    (HINT: Why do Rain Dove’s pictures get taken down from Instagram, and why does Rain repost the pictures?)

Your answers should incorporate any relevant information from the textbook using in-text citations to indicate the chapter and section where the information can be found (e.g., Chapter 12.3), and should reflect a thoughtful and organized response (not a “rough draft” or “stream of consciousness” response). You must answer all of the questions and your total response must be at least ten (10) sentences long.