Socail Construction

Name: Jamoy Welsh

Faculty:  Social Sciences

ID Number: 6200078968

Assignment 1

  Social Construction is the meaning, notion, or connotation placed on the object or event by a society. Whatever is socially constructed is the view that is held and accepted as the norm by society. There can be negative or positive meanings derived (Barnes, Barry. 1974). There are several ways in which a meaning can be constructed, the media being a main source for constructing ideologies. Social Problems are socially constructed, both in terms of the particular acts and interactions problems participants pursue.

 In the Late 1900s, a large number of Taiwanese peasants and working class individuals, predominantly male left the country side to search for brides. Taiwan Government officials gave the information that there was approximately a quarter million foreign spouses that entered the country between 1987 and 2003, ninety three percent women. The high level of men going overseas for brides caught the media’s attention and as such gave rise to the ‘foreign bride Phenomenon’ as labelled. These ‘foreign brides’ and their husband were perceived to be the causes of several social problems facing Taiwan, Such as , divorce, domestic violence, runaway brides and poor quality of the children conceived.

Taiwan’s  Ministry of Education in 2004 publicly denounced transnational marriages and urged the brides to control fertility, reason being The ‘foreign brides’ were  perceived to create poor quality children that would  gradually deteriorate Taiwan’s population quality. For an issue to be seen as a social problem it has to be widespread and affects a mass.  This issue thus became a social problem as a large number of the society were affected. As aforementioned the media is seen as one of the crucial instrument used to construct ideologies.

 The general public along with government depended on the media as their main sources for information regarding the understanding of the transnational marriages, Branded in the media as  the ‘Foreign Bride Phenomenon’, Thirty three reports related to ‘foreign brides’ was done via the media between 1988 and 1996.It is the media that perceives and constructs minds. There are several identified narratives used by the media as it related to the ‘foreign brides’ issue. An argument put across is the fact that it was believed that Taiwanese men brought home poorly-educated, dull and sometimes even ugly southeast women. There is also the issue of prostitution, a stigma that was directly associated with the ‘foreign brides’. It is the wide view that these women were prostitutes and were money driven. The term runaway bride is derived from the fact that many of these brides were said to have run away after they have used up their husband’s money. According to the article written by Hsia the narrative runaway bride is male-centred, because it was constructed from the perspective that the females hurt their husbands who are the victims. There is also the problem where it is said that these women also disrupt old traditions, as long marriages were cherished but transnational marriages generally were said to have a short life span. The media enforced this view and urged individuals to “think three times’ rather than regret in the future” (marrying a foreign bride) and supported ‘normal’ traditional marriages, that is between heterosexual couples of the same nationality.