General Summary: Whale Rider, one might say is a movie dealing with the acceptance of.
women and the rite of passage for a 12-year-old girl in the Maori culture. The movie begins in.
New Zealand. Pai, the main character is born as a twin. During the pregnancy, her twin brother.
and mother die. Pai is then raised by her grandparents. Koro, Pai's grandfather, is the chief of.
the Maori people. He has much love for Pai but does not want her acting as a boy and trying to.
become a chief. She teaches herself how to become a chief behind his back. By the end of the.
movie she has won the respect of her grandfather and aspired to be a chief. .
2. Ten sociological concepts:.
animism- a belief in spirits or otherworldly beings. The Maori believe in spirits in their culture. .
anomie- people are unsure of what is expected of them, and they find it difficult to fashion their.
actions in terms of conventional norms. Pai felt anomie towards her grandfather, but still felt.
she wanted to be a chief. .
androgyny- a standard that allows individuals to express the full range of human emotions and.
role possibilities without regard to gender stereotypes. Pai didn't experience androgyny, instead.
she felt that she could not be a chief because of her gender.
ascribed status- a position arbitrary assigned to an individual by a group or society. Pai's twin.
brother's ascribed status was supposed to be chief. .
anticipatory socialization- people think about, experiment with, and try on the behaviors.
associated with this new role.
culture- the social heritage of a people, learned patterns for thinking, feeling and acting that.
characterize a population or society. Koro's culture made him believe that Pai could never be a.
chief.
gender- the social role of being male or female. Pai's gender made it hard for her to be taken.
seriously. .
gender identities- the conceptions we have of ourselves as being male or female. Pai's gender.
identity had very little to do with how she felt about being chief.