The Sociological Imagination and the Media Most people's lives in the 21st century are affected in one way or another by the media and this affects the way of which individuals carry out their daily tasks. Television shows are a great example; they show the development of characters over a period of time and show how larger social forces shape who they have become. C. Wright Mills uses the term "sociological imagination," meaning the theory that people's lives are shaped primarily by larger social forces and by societal expectations rather than by biology and genetic. The series Modern Family is a good example of sociological imagination because it has a diverse cast and the characters have many personalities, wants, and desires. Modern Family is a television show that features stories of separate and related individual families. Claire and Mitch are siblings and Jay is their father. The families are Claire, Phil, Alex, Hailey and Luke. Mitch, Cam and Lilly and Jay, Gloria and Mani. In Season 5 Episode 1, it's summer vacation and Claire and Phil are trying to coordinate their children's summer camps and vacations so they can have some alone time without kids at home. Mani plans to take his first solo trip to Colombia, where he is from, but Gloria keeps "losing" his travel documents. So, Jay and Mani end up having to go to the town hall to pick up a new birth certificate. Same-sex marriage becomes legal and Cam and Mitch can finally get married. The problem is that they both want to be the one to propose, so they keep avoiding the other's proposal. Mitch asks Claire to help him think of the perfect proposal and Cam asks Gloria to do the same. That evening during dinner they both planned to propose to Gloria, Jay and Cl...... middle of paper ......g more accepted and the feelings behind masculinity in relation to men and femininity in relation to women is slowly disintegrating. . The legalization of same-sex marriage allows these reflections to be broadened even further. Cam is the more feminine figure and Mitch is more masculine. This could be due to the way they were both raised. Mitch was raised by Jay who, although supportive of Mitch, is uncomfortable talking about same-sex marriage and doesn't always know what to say. This behavior may be the reason why Mitch has become more masculine. Modern Family is a representation of the sociological imagination because Cam and Mitch are gay and in the society they grew up in it is socially acceptable to be gay; it is unlikely that they would have come out if they had been in a country like Russia or Iran where society does not accept homosexuality and same-sex marriage.