Social Stratification Is A Sociological Phenomenon Sociology Essay

Social Stratification Is A Sociological Phenomenon Sociology Essay Social stratification is a sociological phenomenon in which people in the society are placed in different ranks with reference to same economic conditions. Normally, there are those of high standard and others of a low standard. Social stratification borrows classification from earth sciences and thus it refers to its classes as strata. The difference in economic characteristics of persons leads to domination of power by one group to another. Social Stratification is characterized by four core principles namely; Social stratification has been said to be transferable from generation to another. Every generation adopts the classifications that had been set by a generation that preceded. Social stratification is a societal characteristic and not an individual view. The society forms a uniform way of grading persons which is not a sole persons objective. Social stratification is said to be universal and also variable. Though this statement seems contradictory, it means that classification is uniform in a certain society but will vary when compared with other societies. Lastly, social stratification is not all about equality of persons, but also the beliefs that they hold. This means that social classes in the society are also based on common beliefs. The classification of the society into various ranks brings about inequality. In the western communities, social stratification adopts three key stratas; the upper, middle and lower class. It is due to these classes that inequality is developed. Those of upper class view themselves as superior and having more prestige compared to their counterparts in lower ranks. Therefore, sharing of common resources in the society is based on the stratification ranks. Inequality is a social evil that emanates from social stratification. Origins of the Social Stratification theory The above theory is said to have emanated from the Judaeo-Christian Bible which presents the social idea of the Greeks. Though the idea was not extremely straightforward at the beginning, it has gone through various transformations to the present day where it presents itself clearly. The sociological view of Social stratification and inequality Various sociologists have had different views and interpretations on social stratification. For instance, Talcott Parsons who was an American sociologist emphasized that stability of social stratas is partly influenced by universal values. On a different note, Marxism identifies unequal distribution of resources and limited mobility to be factors of stratified societies. However, numerous sociologists have had a uniform view with reference to the fact that the wealthy in the society control the political power. In such a case, the poor ought to submit to orders from the rich. Several sociologists had diverse views on the origin and form of the social stratification theory. Below are some of these sociologists and various discussions regarding each one of them. Karl Marx In his theory of Marxism, Karl asserted that social stratification in the society is based on the way people are related to the factors of production. In such, there exist two different categories of persons; those that own the factors of production and those who labor for the owner of the factors of production. The classification by Karl Marx seems to be inadequate especially in the current view of economics. This is because there exist various aspects of the present economy that have been left untackled by the Marxism theory. For instance; it does not provide accurate categorization as to productive, occupational and economic aspects of the society. Modern scholars of economics have said that the issue of social stratifications requires in depth classifications other than the generalized one provided for by the Marxism theory. In fact, theories behind social stratification need to draw a clear cut between the economic aspects of skilled and unskilled labor, owning and managing a bu siness and also between business and professional occupational roles. Secondly, the Marxism theory appears to be so generalized to an extent that it overlooks various vital social-structural phenomena that are o great influence in the society. These include ethnic affiliations, kinship and lineage affiliations. Modern sociologists have however not ignored these crucial aspects the way Marx did. Thirdly, the theory of Marx on social stratification seems to be so limited in defining the role of cultural factors in social classification. Cultural factors include legal practices, religious norms and scientific ideas among others. It is crucial to note that science has played a key role in maintaining social classes. In summary, Mar defined the relationship between people and property as the key aspect behind social stratification. Max Weber Weber was thrilled by the propositions of his predecessor, Marx, and hence he thought of making corrections to Marxs theory. Weber designed a model based on status, class and a more explicit and systematic differentiation with reference to social stratification. Unlike Marx who identified property to be the sole determining factor in social stratification, Weber identified status and class as additional factors. Weber build an interconnected model that would define the relationship between these three factors. Any of the factors can affect the other two, and in any case any of these factors can be replaced with another. In his model, Weber also did not cover several key influencing factors like education, ethnic and kinship factors. Below are the definitions that Weber gave to his three factors of influence; He defined class as an individuals economic position in the society with reference to birth and their personal achievement. Secondly, he defined status as the position occupied by an individual in the society as a result of their social honor, popularity and prestige. Weber also defined power as the ability of an individual to progress despite various factors offering resistance in the society. Wright Mills Wright sought to advance Webers thoughts on social stratification with no discrimination whatsoever. Similar to Weber, he identified power to be economic oriented but in addition to be influenced by political and military domains. Through his famous book titled The Power Elite, Mills brings out a clear connection between political power and social statas in the society. He asserted that the very power embodied persons occupy a certain class in the society. In order to keep themselves relevant in the society, the power elite tend to develop close ties in ideas, work and marital issues. To him, the power elite is clearly defined in education institutions whereby the persons of the high status group attend prominent schools thus preparing them for high class tertiary schools. Conceptual model to Social Stratification A conceptual model for the current nature of social stratification ought to be multidimensional. It should have considerable measurement techniques and be flexible to accommodate various ideological biases. There appears to be two factors that have led to the resistance of such a conceptual model. These are ideological and methodological oriented. Looking at ideological issues, we find sociologists who still hold on to the traditional ways of classifying people. They want to maintain definitions that are simple clear and self explanatory. However, simple definitions have proved to be incompetent in the current nature of society that presents changing and complex situations. With reference to methodology aspects, scientists have had fear of exploring a multidimensional concept because they fear the complex resources and methods that could be involved. The more differentiated a model is, the more involving it will be in terms of equipments needed to analyze and the processes that will be involved. New ideas have not been explored by sociologist researchers who have committed themselves in exploring simple models hence there is still a lot to be explored. Studies by the Hindu caste society show that there is a necessity for a multidimensional model. Various dimensions of stratification are closely related to one another but this does not mean that they are not exclusively autonomous. For instance, such dimensions as power, prestige, income and education are in a way related to one another. However, in some cases, it can be noted that power is independent of the other factors. In fact, in certain circumstances, power may be attained irrespective of occupational prestige. Again, a certain level of education grounds may not be strong enough if not accompanied by money. The key role of a multidimensional model is to address issues of interdependence and independence of social stratification factors. Key dimensions of Social Stratification Power As defined earlier in this paper and with reference to Karl Marx, power refers to the ability to pursue goals despite resisting factors. Power will be addressed with reference to size and various natures of societies. The degree of division of labor in the society is related to the way typical social classes will be formed. Power exists in two diverse forms; legitimate and illegitimate and hence there cannot be established a direct relation between power and social stratification. Occupational prestige The various productive roles in the society are accorded different level of prestige. It has been evident that though societies may be different, there will always exist a similarity in the way they accord prestige to various occupations. For instance; some professions like law, medicine and pilot are given a high level of prestige because they are associated with good amounts of money. The vaiability of the way occupations are valued is dependent on the way the society values those occupations. Therefore, it is vital to note that prestige accorded to various occupations will differ with reference to the values of the societal setting. Income/Wealth Wealth plays a extremely significant role in social stratification. Whether earned or inherited, wealth will impact the type of class that a person will occupy in the society. Various profession and business roles in the society offer diverse opportunities in accumulating wealth. Sometimes, the so high ranked roles have proven to accumulate low wealth when compared to low prestige roles. Looking at the example of a professional doctor who uses intellect and professionalism to accumulate his wealth yet he may not gather a lot like a bandit. The latter can accumulate in one night, money equal to that a professional doctor earns in an entire month. When money is used as the determining factor in social stratification, business and professional roles lack relevance. Social stratification on basis of income influences to a significant extent other dimensions of societal classification. For instance; the level of education gained by a person may be determined by the relative amount of income they have. Disposable income has also not been left out in studying how it influences social stratification. Family and ethnicity The status of kinship groups and family lineage plays a vital role in determining the social classes in the society. Not once and not twice have persons been seen as wealthy and hence prestigious because their fore fathers were wealthy. The role played by a family in the society in terms of monetary contribution and influence holds a significant support as to why it holds a certain class in the society. The class occupied by a certain family in the society determines the social class it occupies and hence the kind of treatment they will be accorded by the entire society. Family and ethnic position do not however hold a one to one relationship in far as social stratification is concerned. Local community status Individuals and families do not live in isolations or in islands in the society. Their day to day activities are influenced by norms set by the nature of the community. Families and individuals by extension are given placed under certain social classes due to the way the society operates. The position of local community in the society is determined by the nature of influence it has on the entire community. Modern Stratification Systems In the contemporary world, there exists three key systems of stratification whish are; slavery, the caste system and the class system. Despite various laws disregarding slavery, many people in the world today live in conditions that can be classified as slavery. Slavery is still eminent in nations such as Ghana, Benin and Mauritania among others. Also, Asia has been mentioned numerously for prevalent cases in sex slavery. Caste System The above is a social system that is based on characteristics and traits those persons posses as virtue of their birth. These traits include body type, race, gender and age among others. The caste system is said to be a rigid one. This means that it assigns various unchangeable castes to persons which cannot be varied. However, persons have in various situations tried to change their ascribed statuses by lying about their age, changing nationality or performing plastic surgery but not at all times do these attempts yield positive results. Class system Class system classifies persons with reference to statuses that they have earned and not those that they were born with. Persons born in a certain social class can choose their careers, education level and spouses. The class system is characterized by social mobility nature. Social mobility refers to the act of moving either up or down the various social strata. Conclusion Every society has various classes that are generally assumed by members of the society based on various factors. Common held belief in the society model the way a society sets up these classes. Most common factors that determine classification are education and knowledge, power, prestige, and religion among other factors. Sociologists have formed various theories to address the determining factors of social stratification though no one theory seems to have provided comprehensive coverage. Every society exhibits unique factors and believes, but there exists a close relationship between the way these diverse factors influence social stratification.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of Them All? Essay

As in the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the evil queen is obsessed with being the fairest, or most beautiful, woman in all the land. The word beauty, by definition, is the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether from sensory manifestation, a meaningful design, or something else such as personality. But what is beautiful to me may not evoke the same response or feeling from you. How is the queen to know she is the fairest in everyone’s eye if not everyone holds the same definition of beautiful? Why is it that we are attracted to some people and not attracted to others? The well-known phrase, â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder† may hold some truth. Perception dictates how we view everything. People’s views are gained through experience and the environment in which they live. With that being said, our ideal depiction of beauty may slightly differ because no two people experience the same things in life, but aspects as to what people find attractive overlap. These overlapping qualities can be grouped into categories, which include the influence of personality, facial beauty, and body beauty and how it’s changing with society. Both males and females, at some level or another, are concerned with how they look to others. Typically, females are more preoccupied with the idea of looking beautiful. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying; males care about what they look like as well, but generally not to the extent of that of females. This paper will focus on the perceptions people have on beauty as it pertains to women. Influence of Personality on the Perception of Beauty A study was conducted in which a group of researchers wanted to examine if the infl... ...International Journal Of Cosmetic Science, 27(6), 317-325. doi:10.1111/j.1467-2494.2005.00286.x Haughton, N. (2004). Perceptions of beauty in Renaissance art. Journal Of Cosmetic Dermatology, 3(4), 229-233. doi:10.1111/j.1473-2130.2004.00142.x Leist, A. (2003). What Makes Bodies Beautiful. Journal Of Medicine & Philosophy, 28(2), 187-219. Swami, V., Furnham, A., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Akbar, K., Gordon, N., Harris, T., & ... Tovee, M. J. (2010). More Than Just Skin Deep? Personality Information Influences Men's Ratings of the Attractiveness of Women's Body Sizes. Journal Of Social Psychology, 150(6), 628-647. doi:10.1080/00224540903365497 Weller, J. E., & Dziegielewski, S. F. (2004). The Relationship Between Romantic Partner Support Styles and Body Image Disturbance. Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment, 10(2), 71-92. doi:10.1300/J137v10n02_04

How media influences sport

Watching replays we Improve our knowledge and understanding. Participation In sports covered by the media Is always higher than for those that are not. This amount of sports coverage can have positive and negative effects. The first ever Olympic games that were televised were the 1936 games, held In Berlin, Germany, were televised by means of closed circuit television to various viewing halls located across the city. Media coverage of sport helps athletics to have the money to pay to have their rights to show the sporting events on the television.Also athletics being hon.. On the television helps the athletes to gain sponsorship, sponsors such as Aids or Lola who sponsor the Olympic gold medalist Jessica Nines would have seen Jess' potential as an athlete and approached her manager to ask for her sponsorship. Thus giving Jessica money through her sponsors. If there was a ‘face' of London 2012, Ennui's is It, and it's not something she feels particularly comfortable with. She sa ys she felt embarrassed when she went to her local newsagents and saw herself on the cover of a row of glossy magazines.Jess was being promoted by esters, television adverts and anything that the media could put her face on to promote the Olympics. Even In the Olympic village there was no escape for Nines, she was constantly being asked for photos from foreign athletes or to sign things. Jess was constantly in and out of press conferences as everyone wanted to hear what the face of the Olympics had to say. She gave very little away but spoke well, with a nod and a smile at the end of every sentence. Competitors started to see the pressure she was under.To some extent that extra pressure had been created by Team Nines ND the desire to market her. Could she live up to all that love the nation had shown here is what people wondered before the 2012 Games. So why would she do this if its added pressure and almost an embarrassment to see her face everywhere? The career of a athlete Is sho rt lived, to make the most of their career they most make the biggest profile for themselves as possible In the short amount of time. In the Olympics Lola loved her, so used It to sell moisturizer. Jaguar praised her speed and grace and supplied a black five-litter car.Omega took care of her time-keeping needs. Powered, BP and Aviva put their money behind her. Aids gave her a deal said to be the most lucrative of any Team KGB athletics competitor, at IEEE,OHO. So just from the one competition she has managed to gain a awful lot of sponsorship and money. Athletics has a range of deferent events within the sport, each having different rules in which the athletes must abide by. The media give you an idea about these rules because each and every person will witness athletics on the television or read about it in the newspaper.From this people are able to analyses and evaluate the event and main an understanding of the event. For example, a person may pick up the rule the he atheist begi ns the running events from a gun start. The event that receives the highest amount of media coverage at the Olympics games other then the Olympic opening and closing ceremony, was Susan bolt winning the mom finial. Susan Bolt's with the Jamaican historic gold in the 200 meters final taking eighth place in the London games top 10. However, Jamaica may have had an amazing time in the Olympics winning May gold medals but now they are in the media for a different reason.Safe Powell, the former mom world record holder, was the biggest name to test positive, but four others, including Bowel's training partner Sharon Simpson, the Olympic relay gold medalist, also failed tests at the country's national trials in June. Both Powell and Simpson claim they took supplements that might have been contaminated with the banned stimulant Chlorine. This was a big shock o the world of athletics and changes all opinions of the Jamaican athletics team, making people not look up to them as role models any more.Another constructive effect the media has on athletics is it helps to improve the articulation levels at grass roots as these people that enter at grass roots will have witness elite athletes in athletics being promoted as role models by the newspapers. This use of a role model is the reason athletics has 1 million new athletes start each year. Once a athlete has started they can only keep working their way up the performance pyramided to be exactly like their role models. Athletics can be a huge inspiration on people's lives through the media of television.Many people don't have the chance to watch sport on satellite television as there is normally a subscription e or a form of payment. Terrestrial television can bring athletics to those who have no access to satellite TV for one reason or another. People that won't normally see athletics, get the chance to watch it and be inspired. Once inspired, anybody may then be encouraged to get involved into athletics and see how much o f an amazing sport it really is. But what about when television isn't an option?There are a variety of other forms of media that promote sport, such as; newspapers, radio, books or the internet. A radio channel radio five live is a commentary and chat show. During the Olympics this radio station covered every inch of the Olympic Games so when you were driving on the way to and from work you never had the chance of missing a single bit of the 2012 games. Another great form of media is the internet, this is starting to get more and more popular over the years as technology advances. We have a range of different social media options with in Olympic athletes can use to help promote their image.Jess Nines uses the social media site Twitter this allows the athlete to share a bit more of themselves with friends and fans, while teaching hem to behave responsibly and act as an ambassador and role model that she is. Also, by Jess being on the twitter it will benefit her sponsors; fans that fo llow their favorite athletes on social media are 55% more likely to purchase a brand if an athlete mentions it on twitter Have you ever watched athletics and seen Lawrence Kooky do a very technical spin before launching a discus?And thought- I'd love to know how to do that? Through the new technology of the media, we have the ability to go back to that moment and watch it over and over again to look at each and every event, before that throw. We can stop and start our television screens on whatever movement we want to see; hence we have our visual guidance from the professional. Therefore, we can take it to the next level and give it ago. This way, the media has managed to make itself its own coaching aid, so we can use it to help us with our athletics.For example, Sky HAD sports allows you to watch your favorite watch over and over again to see those techniques in action. However, it could be argued that media doesn't always help athletics. To start with, athletics is a popular por t but it seems to still in the shadow of other sports such as: football or rugby. Therefore, it does not get as much attention through the media, such as terrestrial television. Also, we have two very negative, yet different, effects that the media has on athletics. The first being- lack of attendance to live events- take the 2012 Olympics for example.The BBC had said that It sold 7 million tickets to people all around the world, but this was only 80% of the total amount of tickets that they wanted to sell. You may be thinking only 80%? Well it comes down to the media! Every single event at he Olympics was shown on terrestrial and satellite TV, therefore many people chose to watch the events from the comfort of their own home rather than purchase tickets and watch the events live from the different venues. This led to a reduced number of tickets sold and people experiencing the atmosphere and witnessing the sports live.What was amazing though was the support for the face of the Olym pics Jess Nines because on day 1 as she started the crawl two days competing in seven different events in the heptathlon there was a full crowd at the Olympic stadium who came to support her on the opening day of her events. This Just shows how much of an impact Jess had on the Olympics, for a time unusual to see the stadium full- it was jam-packed! Everyone wanted to see this girl compete. She is something special. The second being often the media can over load us with sport on television.Using the Olympics again as a great example- the month that it was on- everywhere you looked, people would be watching the Olympics, listening to the Olympics, talking about the Olympics and thinking about the Olympics. This could be argued-overload. By the time that it had got to half way through the Olympic period many people could abate that seeing another Olympic event was becoming tedious. The media were trying to use the Olympics to get people into sport, when really it could be seen as forc ing people to be interested in sport.The media pushed and pushed that the Olympic Games legacy was it would leave behind for the host city new and upgraded sports facilities and venues. This would create more Jobs, more area for recreational activities and the chance for people to develop into the next athletic star. Carrying on with the media overloading us with sport there were various campaigns set up to peep us involved and interested by the Olympic Games. Nikkei created a television campaign called find your greatness'.They created an ad that showed people from all over the world participating in sports in cities that happened to have London in their name, including London, Ohio, London, Norway, and East London, South Africa. McDonald's, a huge fast food brand known all around the world decided in America they would promote the Olympics by offering when you purchase items that have under 400 calories, you can win prizes, some as big as 25,000 dollars and a trip to London. The w ay it works? An American athlete's name appears on all food items that are less than 400 calories, and if your Olympic athlete wins a gold medal, you win a prize.You may not think of McDonald's to be the best Olympic sponsor as most of its food isn't exactly suitable for a training athlete. Nevertheless, McDonald's best target audience wasn't necessarily athletes, but they were able to create an Olympics campaign that caters to their customer base nonetheless. Often it can feel that the example, in a previous Olympics, the marathon was run at a time which suited TV impasses, even though it was at the hottest time of day! The organizers had no control over when the event was run because they wanted it to suite them.Finally, the media does have an interest in promoting British athletics and other national governing bodies for sport as they are showing high profile sporting events more and more, whereby people can become encouraged to take part in these sports. However, they must be aw are of overloading prime time television slots which could have a negative impact on young sports people of the future Also in this report I want to look t not only the positive and negative effects the media has on sport but ways in which the media can improve our modern sport. The media's improved Olympics over the years. 0-50 years ago most fans would have to wait until the next days papers came out to find out the scores of the day before games. Or they might have access to the radio. The increase in televising the Olympic Games has brought more fans as they are able to follow their favorite Olympic event more closely. Over the years technology has increased to the point where even if your team is not on the television, you can still et up to the second game details through the internet. The media has been the driving force for certain changes in the game as well.For instance the ability to have the world record line run across the pool on our television as the Olympic swimmers travel through the water, has come from the media complaining the swimming wasn't exciting enough as we didn't know what they were fighting for. So now allowing for the possibility of seeing the world record line. The media, by exposing events, teams and athletes more intimately to the public have brought many more fans to the Olympic Games and allowed the Games to drive p the costs of attending a game and in essence that is partly why the facilities are so ridiculously outstanding.The media can account for another reason for outstanding facilities, they have so many commentaries and editorials about every event that the athletes compete in, giving more exposure and their sponsors use this perceived popularity to help them in getting more money. There has been an influence in creating and then helping to correct problems as well. Steroids is a perfect example. In the Olympic 100 meter sprint athletes such as Ben Johnson thought steroids helped create an atmosphere in the game where everyone felt they needed to be improving on their times in each race to gain the approval of the media and the fans.They turned to steroids when natural regimens were not making them enough gains. The media turned a blind eye for a while and then decided to expose the steroid problem in the game. By exposing the problem they basically made it impossible for Ben Johnson not to address the issue. Now there is random testing and ramifications for getting caught. Sports. They promote the Olympic Games and make them more popular without the media the Olympics would not have the popularity they enjoy today.

Grant Wood, American Gothic Painter

Grant Wood (1891 -1942) is one of the best-known and most revered American artists of the 20th century. His American Gothic painting is iconic. Some critics derided his regionalist art as influenced by pernicious political theories. Others saw hints of sly camp humor impacted by Woods closeted homosexuality. Fast Facts: Grant Wood Occupation: PainterStyle: RegionalismBorn: February 13, 1891 in Anamosa, IowaDied: February 12, 1942 in Iowa City, IowaSpouse: Sara Maxon (m. 1935-1938)Selected Works: American Gothic (1930), Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1931), Parson Weems Fable (1939)Notable Quote: All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow. Early Life and Career Born in rural Iowa, Grant Wood spent much of his childhood on a farm. His father died suddenly in 1901 when Grant was ten years old. Following the death, his mother moved their family to the small nearby city of Cedar Rapids. Along with his older brother, Grant Wood took odd jobs to help provide financial support for their family. Wood showed an interest in drawing and painting while attending Cedar Rapids public schools. He submitted his work to a national competition in 1905 and won third place. The success cemented his determination to be a professional artist. Grant Woods boyhood home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bill Whittaker / Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 3.0 While in high school, Grant Wood began designing stage sets with fellow artist Marvin Cone and began volunteering at the Cedar Rapids Art Association, which later became the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Following high school graduation, Wood took a summer course at the Minneapolis School of Design and Handicraft in Minnesota. He also took art classes at the University of Iowa. In 1913, Grant Wood moved to Chicago, making jewelry to support himself and his night classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the failure of his jewelry business, Wood returned to Cedar Rapids in 1916 and worked as a home builder and decorator to support his mother and his youngest sister, Nan. Rise to Prominence After World War I ended in 1919, Grant Wood took a position teaching art at a local Cedar Rapids middle school. The new income helped finance a trip to Europe in 1920 to study European art. In 1925, Wood left his teaching position to focus on art full time. Following a third trip to Paris in 1926, he decided to focus on the common elements of life in Iowa in his art, making him a regionalist artist. Residents of Cedar Rapids embraced the young artist and offered jobs designing stained glass windows, executing commissioned portraits, and creating home interiors. In the wake of national recognition for his paintings, Grant Wood helped form the Stone City Art Colony in 1932 with gallery director Edward Rowan. It was a group of artists who resided near Cedar Rapids in a village of whitewashed, tidy wagons. The artists also taught classes at nearby Coe College. Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1931). Francis G. Mayer / Getty Images American Gothic In 1930, Grant Wood submitted his painting American Gothic to a show at the Art Institute of Chicago. It depicts, presumably, a farming couple, either married or a father and daughter, standing in front of their frame house with a large gothic window. The models for the couple were Grant Woods dentist and his younger sister, Nan. The Chicago Evening Post published an image of American Gothic two days before the show, and it became practically an overnight sensation. Newspapers across the country reproduced the image, and the Art Institute of Chicago bought the painting for their permanent collection. Initially, many Iowans criticized the work thinking that Grant Wood depicted them as grim-faced Puritans. However, some saw it as satire, and Wood insisted that it represented his appreciation for Iowa. American Gothic (1930). GraphicaArtis / Getty Images American Gothic remains one of the most iconic American paintings of the 20th century. Countless parodies from Gordon Parks stunning 1942 photo American Gothic, Washington, D.C. to the closing image of the opening credits for the 1960s TV show Green Acres are a testament to the enduring power of the portrait. Later Career Grant Wood painted most of his key works in the 1930s, including 1931s Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,—a theatrically-lit depiction of Henry Wadsworth Longfellows legendary poem—, and 1939s unique take on the George Washington cherry tree legend in Parson Weems Fable. During the period, he also taught art at the University of Iowa. By the end of the decade, he was one of the most famous American artists. Parson Weems Fable (1939). Amon Carter Museum / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain Unfortunately, the final three years of Grant Woods life and career were rife with frustration and controversy. His ill-considered marriage, according to his friends, ended in the late 1930s. Lester Longman, a devotee of European-led avant-garde modern art, became the chair of the art department at the University of Iowa. After clashes with Wood and public efforts to discredit him, the universitys most famous artist left his position in 1941. Later investigations discovered that rumors of homosexuality also drove some of the efforts to remove him from the university faculty. In 1941, just as it seemed that some of the controversies were settling down, Grant Wood received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. He died a few months later in February 1942. Legacy For many casual observers of art, Grant Wood remains one of the most popular and revered of 20th-century American artists. Along with Thomas Hart Benton, Wood is one of the most prominent of American regionalist painters. However, the controversies that began at the University of Iowa have raised questions about his reputation since. Some critics dismissed regionalism as inspired by fascist and communist principles. Daughters of Revolution (1932). Francis G. Mayer / Getty Images Art historians also continue to reevaluate Grant Woods art in the light of his closeted homosexuality. Some see the satire and double meanings in his work as part of the camp humor sensibility in gay culture. Sources Evans, R. Tripp. Grant Wood: A Life. Knopf, 2010.Haskell, Barbara. Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables. Whitney Museum of American Art, 2018.