Black Hole Suns: Binarism and Gravity in Cultural Fields

Sociologicial analyses of artistic practice have long drawn on theoretical traditions grounded in binaries and dualisms. Such analytical strategies, exemplified here by field theoretical approaches, center art objects and their movements in and across markets, where binaristic visions of art worlds do offer significant leverage. But when the analyst moves away from markets for art objects and looks to artistic practices the binaristic lens provides, at best, a blurred image with meaningful blind spots. This article suggests an alternative vision of artistic practice —one based on gravity rather than polarity—that captures the ways individuals and their actions make sense in a specific universe of meaning without forcing them into fundamentally competitive and economistic relationships. It leverages findings enabled by a unique sampling strategy in a four year study of visual artists in the United States to illuminate some limitations of binary theoretical frameworks, and outlines a generative alternative to dualism that promotes new analytical and theoretical directions for sociological analyses of artists and artistic practice. This alternative model provides new leverage on four persistent issues in analyses of artistic work: cultural change in occupational fields; actors’ attempts to manage overlapping but incommensurate forms of recognition, reputation, attention, and success; the persistent hegemony of markets for objects in both vernacular and sociological understandings of artistic practice; and questions of visibility and legitimacy central to understanding boundary formation and boundary work in creative fields. The gravitational metaphor promotes a distict set of strategies for the study of artistic work as well as other nontraditional occupations.

Black Hole Suns: Binarism and Gravity in Cultural Fields

Sociologicial analyses of artistic practice have long drawn on theoretical traditions grounded in binaries and dualisms. Such analytical strategies, exemplified here by field theoretical approaches, center art objects and their movements in and across markets, where binaristic visions of art worlds do offer significant leverage. But when the analyst moves away from markets for art objects and looks to artistic practices the binaristic lens provides, at best, a blurred image with meaningful blind spots. This article suggests an alternative vision of artistic practice – one based on gravity rather than polarity – that captures the ways individuals and their actions make sense in a specific universe of meaning without forcing them into fundamentally competitive and economistic relationships. It leverages findings enabled by a unique sampling strategy in a four year study of visual artists in the United States to illuminate some limitations of binary theoretical frameworks, and outlines a generative alternative to dualism that promotes new analytical and theoretical directions for sociological analyses of artists and artistic practice. This alternative model provides new leverage on three persistent issues in analyses of artistic work: cultural change in occupational fields; actors’ attempts to manage overlapping but incommensurate forms of recognition, reputation, attention, and success; the persistent hegemony of markets for objects in both vernacular and sociological understandings of artistic practice; and questions of visibility and legitimacy central to understanding boundary formation and boundary work in creative fields. The gravitational metaphor promotes a distict set of strategies for the study of artistic work as well as other nontraditional occupations.

Understanding the Challenges of Women in Non-Traditional Occupations

This qualitative case study research was conducted to understand the perception of women in non-traditional occupations in Nepalese context. Seven participants from four nontraditional occupations, namely electrical, motorcycle mechanics (automobile), light vehicle driving and mechanical lathe operator were selected from Kathmandu valley. The data were collected using interview and focus group discussion.The findings revealed that involvement of Nepalese women in non-traditional occupations are very nominal. It is due to the conventional thinking towards women that they should do only the household chores. Non-traditional occupations for Nepalese women have not been women-friendly, however, they may if they do not feel inferior to male and avoid hesitation to work in these professions. The biggest challenge for women in these professions is the societal disbelief on the women’s work. They are behaved with suspicion by people and the society. Leg pulling and backbiting nature of people towards women in this profession are also the serious problems for them. Nevertheless, the female participants have got support from their family and organizations. Moreover, they have played significant roles from beginning to date to inspire them to continue their work.

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" Occupational aspirations of Taiwanese preschool children

Occupational aspirations have mainly been investigated with teenagers, high school students, and adults. Following Gottfredson's (1981, 2002) theory of circumscription and compromise, in which it is proposed that occupational aspirations originate in the preschool years, in this study the occupational aspirations of 1,044 preschool children in Taiwan were explored. Children who attended 38 kindergartens and were between the ages of 5 and 6, expressed their preferences about and gender orientations towards occupations and careers. In general, the occupations Taiwanese children said they most desired to pursue were teaching, being police officers, and working as doctors. Most children can recognize the occupations of their parents at this stage, and the results in this research show that children still identify strongly with their parents' stereotypical occupations. More boys than girls showed a preference for masculine-dominated occupations. More girls than boys showed a preference for nontraditional occupations. Factors that influence occupational aspirations were found to be parental identification and identifying with the role of teachers.

Masculinity in Nontraditional Occupations: Ecological Constructions

The authors present Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model as a conceptual framework to explore interlocking systemic and interpersonal influences on the development and perpetuation of men’s gender role—related distress. To demonstrate the utility of this model, the authors present results from an exploratory qualitative study of men in nontraditional occupations. Using the constant comparison method, the authors’ analysis of multiple interviews with elementary educators and medical support staff unearthed interwoven themes among the effects of cultural notions of masculinity on relationships, job tasks, and perceptions of themselves as men. Expectations about men (e.g., that men confront danger, remain calm in chaotic situations, and/or are predators) affected hiring decisions and interactions with colleagues, limited the scope of the men’s work, and provided opportunities to reinforce traditional notions of masculinity and affirm the value of masculinity in their occupations. These different experiences all interacted to inform participants’ senses of themselves as men.