Jump to content

Portal:Society

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portal topics
Activities
Culture
Geography
Health
History
Mathematics
Nature
People
Philosophy
Religion
Society
Technology
Random portal
edit 

The Society Portal

World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva
World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva

A society (/səˈsaɪəti/) is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.

Human social structures are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the specialization of labor via social roles. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. So far as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis.

Societies vary based on level of technology and type of economic activity. Larger societies with larger food surpluses often exhibit stratification or dominance patterns. Societies can have many different forms of government, various ways of understanding kinship, and different gender roles. Human behavior varies immensely between different societies; humans shape society, but society in turn shapes human beings. (Full article...)

edit 

Selected article

Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. Lesbian, as a concept, is used to differentiate women with a shared sexual orientation, and the concept is a 20th-century construct. Throughout history, women have not had the freedom or independence to pursue homosexual relationships where men have. However, they also have not met the same harsh punishment in some societies as homosexual men. In the past, lesbian relationships were sometimes regarded as harmless unless the participants attempted to pursue privileges traditionally enjoyed by their peers. As a result, little in history has been documented to give an accurate description of how female homosexuality has been expressed. When early sexologists in the late 19th century began to categorize and describe homosexual behavior, hampered by a lack of knowledge about lesbianism or women's sexuality, they distinguished lesbians as women who did not adhere to female gender roles and designated them mentally ill. Women in homosexual relationships responded to this designation either by hiding their personal lives or accepting the label of outcast and creating a subculture and identity that developed in Europe and the United States. Women exhibit sexual fluidity; some women who engage in homosexual behavior may reject identifying as lesbian or as bisexual. Greater understanding of women's sexuality has led to three components to identifying lesbians: sexual behavior, sexual desire, or sexual identity.
edit 
Death maskCredit: Bain News Service; Restoration: AutoGyro

Two workers, c. 1908, use plaster to create a mold of a deceased person's face. This mold will then be used to make that person's death mask. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, used for creation of portraits, or placed on the face of the deceased before burial rites. The best known of the last are those used by Ancient Egyptians as part of the mummification process, such as the one for Tutankhamun.

edit 

Did you know...

Confederate Memorial Monument in Montgomery, Alabama

edit 

Anniversaries this month

American Association for the Advancement of Science

edit 

Selected quote

Euripides
— Euripides, Phœmissæ. Frag. 809.
edit 

Selected biography

Margaret Fuller
Margaret Fuller
Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) was a journalist, critic and women's rights activist. She was the first full-time female book reviewer in journalism. She became the first editor of the transcendental publication The Dial in 1840 before joining the staff of the New York Tribune in 1844. By the time she was in her 30s, Fuller had earned a reputation as the most well-read person in New England, male or female. Her seminal work, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, was published in 1845 and is considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Fuller was an advocate of women's rights and, in particular, women's education and the right to employment. She also encouraged many other reforms in society, including prison reform and the emancipation of slaves in the United States. Fuller became involved with the revolution in Italy and allied herself with Giuseppe Mazzini. She also met Giovanni Ossoli, with whom she had a child. All three members of the family died in a shipwreck in 1850. Fuller's body was never recovered. Shortly after Fuller's death her importance faded; the editors who prepared her letters to be published, believing her fame would be short-lived, were not concerned about accuracy and censored or altered much of her words before publication. (Full article...)
edit 
1921 – "Explanation of the Objects of the Universal Negro Improvement Association"
Complete 1921 speech by Marcus Garvey
edit 

Categories

Society categories
Society categories
Society
edit 
edit 

Recognized content

Good articles

  • 20151030 Syrians and Iraq refugees arrive at Skala Sykamias Lesvos Greece 2
    20151030 Syrians and Iraq refugees arrive at Skala Sykamias Lesvos Greece 2
  • Bertillon, Alphonse, fiche anthropométrique recto-verso
    Bertillon, Alphonse, fiche anthropométrique recto-verso
  • Cicatrices de flagellation sur un esclave
    Cicatrices de flagellation sur un esclave
  • Daisy (1964)
  • DurbanSign1989
    DurbanSign1989
  • Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
    Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
  • Jane Addams - Bain News Service
    Jane Addams - Bain News Service
  • Marine da nang
    Marine da nang
  • Nanook of the North
  • SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b
    SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b
  • United States President Barack Obama bends down to allow the son of a White House staff member to touch his head
    United States President Barack Obama bends down to allow the son of a White House staff member to touch his head
  • W.E.B. Du Bois by James E. Purdy, 1907
    W.E.B. Du Bois by James E. Purdy, 1907
  • Xiahe mandible
    Xiahe mandible
edit 

Things you can do
Here are some tasks awaiting attention:
edit 

WikiProjects

Related projects

WikiProjects

What are WikiProjects?
edit 

Web resources

edit 

Associated Wikimedia

Society on Wikibooks  Society on Wikimedia Commons Society on Wikinews  Society on Wikiquote  Society on Wikisource  Society on Wikiversity  Society on Wiktionary 
Manuals and books Images and media News Quotations Texts Learning resources Definitions
Discover Wikipedia using portals
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portal:Society&oldid=1147915925"