Using Sociology to Imagine Alternative Paths: Abbi and Nathan in Liberty Lost

On By Karen SternheimerIn Class and Stratification, Marci Cottingham, Popular Culture and Consumption, Relationships, Marriage and Family, ReligionLeave a comment

By Alana Hogan, Student, Kenyon College, and Marci Cottingham, Associate Professor of Sociology, Kenyon College

The podcast, Liberty Lost, centers on the story of Abbi and Nathan—two teenagers whose lives are deeply shaped by the religious conservatism of their community. Abbi is home-schooled and close to her sisters and parents in a home run by her father as the traditional patriarch. Nathan is a public-school athlete raised in the same tight-knit community, where faith, reputation, and obedience are treated as non-negotiable. When she discovers that she is pregnant at sixteen, this triggers a chain of decisions that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Abbi and Nathan, surrounded by well-meaning but fearful family members, and experiencing feelings of shame for violating their religious beliefs, do not know how to navigate their new circumstances. Abbi’s parents, motivated by a desire to fulfill their duties to God and community, decide to send her to the Godparent Home.

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A Year of Living Minimally

On By Karen SternheimerIn Behind the Headlines, Karen Sternheimer, Popular Culture and ConsumptionLeave a comment

By Karen Sternheimer

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It has been a year since losing my home in the Los Angeles firestorm of 2025. While others are reflecting on the anniversary with concerts, community events, and hand-wringing over the rebuilding process, I have been reflecting on my 12 months as a minimalist. It has been an enlightening, and yes, in an odd way a positive experience.

Of course, I wouldn’t have chosen this experience. Finding myself without most of the material possessions I had accumulated for decades was quite a jolt. The first few weeks left me shell shocked.  I was figuring out what I really needed for day-to-day living, while at the same time as managing insurance claims and other adventures with bureaucracy.

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The Quiet Stigma of Being an “Older Mom”: Shame, Social Clocks, and Identity

On By Karen SternheimerIn Monica Radu, Relationships, Marriage and Family, Social PsychologyLeave a comment

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By Monica Radu

When actress Claire Danes recently talked about becoming a mom again in her mid-40s, she described a mix of joy, shame, and the subtle shock people express when they hear she has a newborn at 44. It struck a chord with me because the reactions she described felt familiar. I’m 41, and the other day someone casually asked if I was my toddler’s grandmother.

The moment that question landed, I experienced what sociologists call the looking-glass self—the idea that we form our sense of ourselves by imagining how others see us and then reacting to that imagined judgment. In that moment, I wasn’t just thinking about my own age; I was picturing what they must have been thinking about me. I laughed it off, but internally I went into a spiral: Do I look that old? Why did that bother me so much? And why do other people’s assumptions have so much power over how we see ourselves?

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Finding Health in Rainways

On By Karen SternheimerIn Cities and Urbanization, Lisa SmithLeave a comment

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By Lisa Smith

What comes to mind when you think of the people and places who impact your health and well-being?

If you’re like me, you probably think of nurses, doctors, clinics, and hospitals. I have grown up in North American society, and my view of health has been shaped by largely western values, beliefs, as well as social expectations that uphold and legitimize the authority of medicine and medical professionals. You are probably less likely to think about municipal planners, community members, public works and maintenance workers, or what streets, sidewalks and walkways look like.

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The Robots are Taking Over: Low Wage Work and the Future

On By Karen SternheimerIn Behind the Headlines, Karen Sternheimer, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, Social Problems, Politics, and Social ChangeLeave a comment
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By Karen Sternheimer

When I was in high school, I watched Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Years later, I didn’t remember much about the movie, other than the computer Hal’s monotone voice when speaking to Dave, the astronaut, who must “kill” Hal to save himself after Hal killed the rest of the crew.

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“You Don’t Look Like You Have Four Kids:”  Challenging What We Think Motherhood Should Look Like

On By Karen SternheimerIn Monica Radu, Relationships, Marriage and Family, Sex and GenderLeave a comment

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By Monica Radu

Motherhood comes with a whole set of cultural expectations about what it should look like, feel like, and even who is seen as a “typical” mom. I was reminded of this recently during a quick doorstep conversation with a delivery driver. I mentioned how much I rely on their services with four little ones at home, and she said, “Oh, wow. You don’t look like you have four kids.”

I think it was meant as a compliment; I’m pretty sure it was. But it stuck with me. Not because I was offended, but because it made me think about what we expect motherhood to look like.

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Drinks, Anyone? Revisited

On By Karen SternheimerIn Karen Sternheimer, Popular Culture and Consumption, Social Problems, Politics, and Social Change1 Comment
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By Karen Sternheimer

A recent Gallup Poll found that the number of American adults who report being alcohol drinkers has fallen to an all-time low in the poll’s 86-year history. Just 54 percent responded that they drink alcohol on occasion, down from recent highs of 67 percent (2022 and 2010), and the all-time high of 71 percent (1976-1978).

I wrote about alcohol consumption for the Everyday Sociology Blog’s inaugural post in 2007, and thought it would be interesting to revisit the topic and consider what changes may have taken place in the past 18 years that might help us explain the decline.

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Impressions of Goffman

On By Karen SternheimerIn Social Institutions: Work, Education, and Medicine, TheoryLeave a comment
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By Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, associate faculty at Royal Roads University (Canada), and Director of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue

One of the concepts Erving Goffman wrote about was “impression management.” He was interested in the control people have over what others learn about them. Sometimes the impression one gives is quite different from the reality, and often that’s deliberate. Let me give an example, describing something from Goffman’s life. He has often been said to have been a “loner.” While it is true that he never co-authored a publication, there is a difference between publishing and more informal collaborations.

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From the Inside Out: Education is Still Big Business

On By Karen SternheimerIn Alyssa Lyons, Class and Stratification, Social Institutions: Work, Education, and MedicineLeave a comment
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By Alyssa Lyons

When my daughter, my partner, and I walked into the large high school gymnasium that crisp fall Saturday, we were immediately overwhelmed. It was our very first high school fair, and my eighth-grade daughter was exploring her options. As we walked around the gym, we were surrounded by schools. Glossy brochures, shiny leaflets, and nifty swag adorned the tables as eager school representatives regaled us with dizzying statistics of high school graduation rates, college attendance, and career and internship prospects. 

While my family’s focus was on exploring different high schools in New York City, the sociologist in me couldn’t help but notice we were standing in the middle of a veritable marketplace with each school selling us its wares. Schools were competing against one another in real-time. Families were potential customers shopping around for a quality education. Each high school emphasized one selling point in particular: how their school would help prepare my daughter for the working world. In other words, how they would best prepare my daughter to be a worker in the labor market.

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Social Exercise and Healthy Aging

On By econnellIn Immigration, Population, Aging, and Demography, Karen SternheimerLeave a comment

By Karen Sternheimer

According to a recently published study of older adults at risk for cognitive decline, increased social engagement was one of four factors that led to cognitive improvement during a two-year period (the others were exercise, healthy diet, and cognitive challenges). In other words, beyond physical and mental exercise, we need “social exercise” too.

The experimental group in this study not only had a structured exercise program and diet to follow, but they also had to participate in mandatory social activities. “Socializing is one of the best ways to keep your brain young,” an NPR story on this study concludes. But why?

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