Sociology Final Blog

                                                                 What we think

                                                         

Article on Parents keeping baby's Gender a secret

In terms of race, we have covered how we perceive different races. We also talked about how we act differently to different people based on their race and create a preconceived notion of people based on their race. Most people might not be consciously racist but they are subconsciously racist. People are always judging people based on their race and many times can’t even figure out one’s race based on appearance. We watched a video that showed us that people of different skin colors can be more similar compared to others of the same skin color. We read a few pieces on people judging others based on skin color as well and had to decide what is racist and what isn’t.  We also talked about how we are racist if we try to avoid the topic of race. If we talk about skin color and our differences then we are racist and if we don’t then we are racist for ignoring it. There is no way not to be racist. Some places like colleges become racist against whites because they try to compensate by admitting minorities instead of whites with the same credentials. I believe that race is something we should talk about openly but not have a negative connotation associated with any of them.

                A sociological definition of race is classifying people based on genetics. It can also be determined by geographical region. The biological one focuses on the physical aspects on the outside such as skin color, face shape, and eye color. I think the purpose of the IAT test is to show us whether or not we are a bit racist or have a certain connotation with a certain type of people. It is meant to show us that the society we live in has influenced our beliefs and led us to be unconsciously racist. I do not think that it is accurately measuring what it is trying to because it cannot judge our perceptions on different types of people by having us press a few buttons. There are too many variables involved. For example I had white and good together first and grew accustomed to it. For this reason the first few with black and good together I got wrong. At other times in the test, I couldn’t focus as much on the task because it became repetitive and tedious. What I was thinking at the time could have also slowed my reaction time. I did believe that sometimes black people could be superior athletes. I thought this because most professional players are black and they almost always seem to be faster than white people and be able to jump higher. Even recently the winner of one of the major marathons in New York was African. The winner last year was African as well. The school record holder for long jump is also black. I believe it even more now because there is scientific reasoning behind some of my assumptions that states it is partially true for black people to be better than white people at several athletic events. At the end of the day practice probably wins out but there could be a slight advantage for one athlete over another due to genetics.

                There is no doubt that this class has definitely changed my view on several sociological concepts. Even if my thinking has changed for a few months and even if it reverts to my original thought process, I have come a long way from barely knowing the whole concept and ideology of sociology. Sociology teaches us not only what people think and function but also why they think and function that way. I would have to say that I have developed a sociological imagination. Some things that I see differently include looking at things such as beliefs and values from different points of view and understanding why we are a culture that places emphasis on education and material possessions instead of just not thinking about it. I also can see how some cultures think a preset caste system is fair based on their beliefs. I also have realized that gender is more of a mindset than a trait. Boys don’t always want to learn about cars and sports and girls don’t always want to play with makeup and Barbie dolls. Our culture has just instilled in us that we are to behave a certain way based on sex. A article about parents not telling anyone about their baby’s sex appeared on yahoo yesterday and the first thing I thought about was sociology. Sure enough the parents in the article stated that they don’t want society to influence their baby and want their baby to decide for itself how it would like to behave. This confirms that surroundings affect us more than our internal or hereditary positions. I have seen the effect of societies on different individuals as well. I often hear talk girls talk about their weight obsession. This is because we are taught through media like advertising that skinny is good and fat is bad. We are also led to believe that white is good and black is bad. I often hear people talk about bad neighborhoods, but instead of saying bad they substitute the word with black. A black neighborhood is understood to be a bad one.

                In terms of topics I might have liked to talk about more, maybe talking about the clothing we wear, food we eat, and things of that nature might have been interesting to talk about more and get in depth in.  All of these things reveal how a certain person might think and act. The idea of the looking glass self was also very interesting. We could also have talked about how most people are who they think others want them to be instead of themselves. I also enjoyed the section we had on people living with animals and how it changed their interaction with others. This once again showed us that society is the most influential things in our lives.  There aren’t really any topics that I would have liked to spend less time on.

Divided We eat

                                                   Map shows "poorer" states have higher rate of diabities

                                                      most expensive foods

The article Divided We Eat is about Americans and our eating habits. It talks about how our eating habits are much worse than most countries, and how many of us don’t care about how healthy our food is. Most of us care primarily about the taste. The first paragraph instantly sets the tone.  Mrs. Miller says “I have a espresso made in Allesi pot and mixed with organic milk which has been gently heated and hand fluffed by my husband.” She goes on to talk about homemade bread and imported cheese. She is showing us the great disparity between what Americans eat. While some of us have organic and imported cheese, others just grab a soda to go.

                People eat food for different reasons. Some of us eat for pleasure while others eat for health, yet others eat just to stay alive. I think the food we eat tells us a lot about our personality, and also our wealth and social class. Miller tells us that many people eat just junk food. This type of food is not just unhealthy, but is often associated with lower class. As we saw in the video in class, I was amazed that parents in Appalachia put mountain dew in their child’s milk bottles. We must also understand that this was not due to the sole reason of the parent’s incompetence, but also because they cannot afford milk. Mountain dew is probably half the price of milk, and therefore is a cheaper alternative.

                While reading this article, I made a connection with my own life. Miller talks about a family who disagrees on what to eat. The mother wants to buy organic food, while the mother-in-law saw no use in wasting money on the organic food. A couple of years ago, my mother got on the trend of eating healthy, organic food. She and my father often disagree on whether organic food is worth the price. My mom believes it is while my father has the concept of food is food. For the last few years, all of our milk has come from Oberweis, and we only buy the organic eggs and vegetables. This is significantly more expensive, but many people believe that if you can afford it, you should eat organic. The mother- in- law in the article makes the statement “It’s not like our food is poison”, and while it might not be poison it is definitely not as healthy.

                The U.S. has not been very concerned about health until recently. We are just concerned with outer perception, and that is why most of us only care about losing weight and looking better. The article also talks about how dinner is the most important meal. Consider a single parent living in the lower class, and she wants to take her kids out to dinner before her son’s soccer game. She is not going to fork over $80 for food at the cheesecake factory, she is going to go to McDonalds and get some food for about $10. Even a wealthy parent would do the same. All of the fast food restaurants are unhealthy. We can’t get our food from Applebee’s within two minutes, and if we are in a hurry, we go to McDonalds. With Americans, time is money, and it is very important with little time to eat. This automatically makes our take our choice an unhealthy one.

                As I mentioned earlier, many people simply can’t afford to eat healthy. Organic foods are much more expensive than nonorganic, and with someone just hoping to put food in their mouth, I am sure they aren’t too picky about the preservatives in their food. A good example is the one we saw in the video. The community was debating on whether to put the organic grocery store in their town, or the supermarket. The lower class was worried about how they would afford the higher priced food while the middle class welcomed the idea of fresh and healthy produce. If every Jewel turned into a Whole Foods, most of us would be worried about how to feed our families on a budget, and for this reason we are willing to trade organic for a cheaper price. The article states that “lower income families buy sugary, fat, and processed foods because they are cheaper” and I agree. People would rather eat three unhealthy meals a day compared to one healthy meal. Our brain just tells us that we are hungry, not that we must fill our belly with healthy food.

                Another reason we don’t spend on food is because it is only tasted for a few seconds, and turns into crap, literally within a few hours. We are a society who like to show that we have money by spending on cars, or designer clothes, but we can’t show off our wealth by purchasing organic food because that just goes straight into our body. Food is not like a car we can drive around or a coach purse we can show off. It is just something we eat in order to get energy. We also care more about taste compared to health. All of the holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day include food like candy and chocolate, and when we go to someone’s house we often take a box of chocolates. We don’t ever give organic tomatoes. When we go out with friends we get some ice cream, not organic soup. Taste is what America is known for. In a recent article, a website listed the most well like foods by Americans. None of them are healthy choices, but they are all tasty. The list includes smores, chicken wings, cookie dough ice cream, and the corn dog. If only today could be like fifty years ago where everything was organic. As I am writing this blog, my face is stuffed with chocolate chip ice cream and all that matters is that it tastes good.

The Chronicle

                                                                 Poverty in the World


Cool site on education/ class etc.. in the U.S.

This week we talked about social class and structure, and this article talks about it as well. This article discusses the Marxist viewpoint of social class. Marx believed that there were only two classes of people, the people who produced the means of production, and those who owned it. This is still somewhat true today, but we have more classes in between. If one person owns GM, and another person is working for GM, the owner is no question held in a higher manner. The owner is also making much more than the worker.  Marx was not totally off base, but his idea of a socialistic society just cannot take place today. It is human nature to want more, and after ass isn’t that what we are told from when we are born? Bigger is better, and more is better as well. Those who make $50,000 what to make $100,000 and those who make $100,000 want to make $200,000. After all, there is nothing wrong with wanting more. This way of thinking, however, does hurt our society in a harsh way. The article states “Why is it that the west has accumulated more resources than human history has ever witnessed, yet it appears powerless to overcome poverty, starvation, exploitation, and inequality?”  We have enough for everyone to live a full and good life, yet our system of giving out the resources is still flawed. As we saw in the cookie demonstration, five people got five cookies each while ten people got a crumb to share. Similarly, we have people making billions and people living on the street.  According to a report by aneki.com, the U.S. continues to get richer by the year, yet our poverty rate is increasing as well. Aren’t those two stats supposed to be inversely related? How could we be getting richer yet the poverty rate keeps increasing? The reason for this is that the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer.  The top one percent owns something like a quarter of the wealth in the country.

                The article also talks about Marx not being opposed to capitalism, but realizing that it would not work out well for many people involved in such a system. It states “This is not to suggest for a moment that Marx considered capitalism as simply a bad thing, like admiring Sarah Palin or blowing tobacco smoke in your children’s faces.” I liked the quote due to the obvious Palin reference, but I also like the fact that it shows us that Marx did not despise Capitalism, but knew that privately owned means of production would leave some very wealthy, and some dirt poor. The sad truth is that 100% equality can never be reached. It is an idea that has no way to succeed with our people.  Marx notes that prestige and salary are related, but as we did the activity about prestige for certain jobs, I realized that is not always the case. We usually give prestige to jobs involving a formal education with the ability to think and have the intellect few posses. We think of a prestigious job as one that requires sitting in a room and listening to a professor talking about the proper business strategy or how a prosecution works. When we were working on the “most powerful people sheet”, most of my people were not politicians, business executives, or lawyers, but actors and pro athletes. Do Will Ferrell and Derrick Rose not contain a tremendous amount of respect and prestige for their respective professions? I would rather have lunch with those two guys compared to anyone, including Obama or Bill Gates. While they do make a lot of money, they did not have very formal education, or need to think outside the box in tough situations (In fact Rose probably had a GPA close to one and didn’t even take the ACT). What I came up with is that prestige has more to do with how difficult a task is, and one’s ability to overcome it. Both actors and athletes go through intense training and work very hard physically and mentally. We tend to think of poor people as laborers, but that Idea is wrong. Just because someone is working physically for their paycheck instead of mentally, do they not deserve to get paid? Aren’t they also working?

                The article makes a good point of “The richest civilizations on earth sweated every bit as hard as their Neolithic ancestors”. Even the richest people work for their money, and we are taught to work hard in our lives. Our sole motivation for working hard is to be able to make a lot of money. Why would we work hard if we were told that everyone is going to make the same amount no matter how hard they worked? This is the problem with some other systems of economy. Students now day’s stay up for hours to study for tests, and work for a good GPA. If a 4.0 didn’t make a difference compared to a 1.0 in potential salary, then we wouldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t be working on this blog, and instead might write only a couple of sentences if I knew that my grade has no impact on my future. Humans must be motivated to work hard.

                We also talked about the caste system in India. While we do not have such restrictions placed on improving our social class, I do believe restrains exist. Consider a family making $30,000 annually compared to one making $200,000. The first family might come from a poorly educated family. They might not push their children to succeed in school. A “C” might be a good grade, where the second family might push their children to try hard, and emphasize an “A”. I know that if my parents were to congratulate me for a “B”, I might not work as hard for the “A”. Secondly, the first child also wouldn’t have money for a tutor. If he was failing a class for example, the rich family might be able to afford a tutor for class, and standardized tests, while the poor child would have to improve his grades and scores by himself. Another thing might be that the poor child might have to work after school, while the rich child might get to study for a test or work on a project. The poor child might not be able to afford to go to college, and might have to work at a low paying job to support his family, while the rich child could go to college and get a nice job. The point I am trying to make is that the family we are born into might also limit us in terms of having a better life that our parents if they are not financially stable. Even thought we have room for advancement, if one is born into a “poor” family, it is very difficult to climb out of the hole and raise your status. For this reason, I know that I am blessed to be in my situation where I don’t need to worry about money or paying for college and can focus solely on my grades.

                People with higher financial status are expected to achieve to a higher degree for this reason, and they are also not expected to steal a couple of $20 shirts if they make 450k annually. I read online that Mike Leake of the Reds baseball team was arrested for stealing $50 worth of t-shirts from a Macy’s. There was a huge uproar, and everyone was shocked. The reason they were shocked was because this pro ballplayer make a million times that amount. If someone working at McDonalds making $25,000 were to steal the shirts, then it would be no big deal but the fact that someone making half a million dollars a year were to steal the shirts is amazing. One final note on the Marx article is that it states “The moral ostriches of the world are those who deny that there can be radical change”, and “Competition would no longer take the form of some bankers complaining that their bonuses have been reduced to a miserly 5 million while others struggle to survive on less than $2 a day.” This is already taking place, and soon we will have those making $20 million, and those who are dead because they have no food to eat. “If things don’t change, there will only be one class; the upper class.

The Conquest of Cool

                                  This is how children dressed in the 1950's when going to school

Charlie Sheen Michael Jordan Hanes Commercial

The Conquest of Cool talks about men’s clothing, and how it has changed over the years. This is similar to what we discussed in class. In class, we talked about how and what affects the decisions we make. These decisions include clothing. Clothes were first invented as a means of protection of the skin from extreme weather conditions, but they soon turned into fashion statements. Similarly, shoes were invented as a weapon to wear to keep feet from getting hurt from the sharp objects on the ground. Today, we see shoes as a fashion statement. For example, I never buy New Balance shoes, and almost always buy Adidas due to their designs on the shoes. So how did we become a society wanting clothes that were the most comfortable and jackets that were the warmest to one where we cannot wear anything that doesn’t have a Lactose alligator or Prada printed on it?

            This change started to occur when clothing companies spent billions on advertising, and telling people that their clothes makes them more likeable or more attractive. In class we talked about things like peers, media, and parents influencing our decisions. All of these components contribute to our clothing. Every time I turn on the T.V., many of the advertisements are about buying certain clothes to make you look more appealing to the opposite sex. In middle school, all of the cool kids wore Abercrombie and American eagle. So of course I had to be cool as well. I soon found my closet filled with these two brands of clothing. I would only wear these brands exclusively for a period of over a year. After middle school, I became less brand conscious, and didn’t really care as much about brand name. My parents also influenced my clothing decisions. Since my father only wears regular underwear, I too only wore plain underwear. It wasn’t until the age of ten when I found out about boxers. Once I tried them, there was no turning back. The boxer’s felt a million times better than underwear. He also wore Ralph Lauren shirts. Naturally I grew accustomed to wearing them as well. People are also influenced based on price tag. Instead of looking for the sales, we often buy things because they are more expensive. I admit that I even buy certain brands because they are more expensive. I have bought Armani jeans that cost triple that of my Wranglers, but they looked exactly the same. The brand makes it more expensive. What would be so great about a Rolex if it cost fifty bucks? Its price makes it rare, and that is what makes the watch more appealing. My grandpa gave me one of his Rolex watches, as well as a Citizen. I often wear the Citizen to the movies or restaurants, but only wear the Rolex on special occasions. It’s not because I think the Rolex looks better, in fact I like the look of the Citizen much more. It is because of the price of the watch, and often times that is the sole reason we buy things. Maybe we should stop focusing on purchasing things because they are more expensive, and start looking for clothes on sale.

            This article references the change from monotonous clothes to unique clothing. It also mentions how our clothing style has moved to more comfortable clothing. It talks about how we are “permitting a freedom of movement absent in traditional suits” compared to our predecessors. In the U.S., we value comfort. We are willing to sacrifice a bit of fashion for comfortable clothing. Everyone owns jeans and t-shirts because they are comfortable. We talked about how in European countries, people would only wear t-shirts if they were exercising, and never to school. Here, many schools even have a PJ day, and half of us wear sweatshirts and sweatpants to school every day. We also talked about how America values individuality. Whereas in some countries we might be expected to be uniform, here we are allowed to wear what we like. Public schools don’t have strict dress codes and many clothing designs include flashy or sparkling colors. The article states that instead of wearing the same things, we “are expressive through our inner nature rather than molding into a uniform appearance.” Another example of how clothing is a statement is shown by the use of hats. People bought hats to protect their head from heat and rain, but today, while still used for those purposes, we purchase hats and caps based on their brand or to show which sports team we support.

                        The title of a Men’s Wear article in 1966 was “Break the Rules”. This once again shows how our culture has shifted to a more expressive mentality compared to a reserved one. We are also a society that wants to look nothing like their parents in terms of clothing. While our parents might influence our decisions as young children, as we grow older we have our own style. One of New Suit’s claims is that they are “different from the standardized styles your father once wore.” Phoenix clothes also advertise “a wow of a word that immediately takes you away from the ordinary.” Once again, standing out is viewed as a positive.

            Many people purchase clothes based on a group or click they belong to. Jocks might dress a certain way, and Goths dress differently to show that they are different. The thing about brand name clothes is that everyone and every group want them. “From the rock stars, to the students, to the hippies”, everyone cares about how they look. I liked the quote about the typical man. “The typical man wears a Bill Blass suit, plays golf at the country club, and drives a thunderbird which he thinks is a sports car.” This sounds just like the typical man. The idea is to break away from this concept of normal. Pepsi states “Youth is an attitude, not an age now days.” People often wear certain clothes to make them look younger as well.

            As I mentioned before, advertising and the media plays a crucial role in our decision of clothing. Companies aren’t crazy to pay people like Michael Jordan millions for a thirty second commercial in which he just has to wear a Hanes undershirt. These tactics work very efficiently. I was reading an interesting article yesterday about Tom Brady. Audi gave Tom an A8 for free. They obviously did this so he could be seen driving their car, and in turn want consumers to want it. He crashed this free $130, 00 car, and Audi did not get angry. In fact, they gave him a brand new one. Yes, I was shocked as well. It turns out that there was a lot of the publicity, and it helped increase sales for Audi. Someone debating between the A8 and BMW 7 series might have bought the Audi because they heard Tom Brady drives it.

            Today, we live in a world where everyone worries about what they are wearing. I cannot go into my own backyard without thinking about what I’m wearing because the neighbors might see.  The final major influential part of clothing is price. People are also influenced based on price tag. Instead of looking for the sales, we often buy things because they are more expensive. I admit that I even buy certain brands because they are more expensive. I have bought Armani jeans that cost triple that of my Wranglers, but they looked exactly the same. The brand makes it more expensive. What would be so great about a Rolex if it cost fifty bucks? Its price makes it rare, and that is what makes the watch more appealing. My grandpa gave me one of his Rolex watches, as well as a Citizen. I often wear the Citizen to the movies or restaurants, but only wear the Rolex on special occasions. It’s not because I think the Rolex looks better, in fact I like the look of the Citizen much more. It is because of the price of the watch, and often times that is the sole reason we buy things. Maybe we should stop focusing on purchasing things because they are more expensive, and start looking for the sales like common sense tells us to do.

Sex and Gender

                                     Homosexuality is a heated debate topic in this country, and will continue to be

The 3rd gender

The article From Mirror Self Recognition to the Looking- Glass Self talks a lot about how we perceive others, and what we think others think of us. Last week we talked about the actions we take in order to be a certain way, and this week we talked about a similar concept. Our discussion this week was not what we believe in how others think of us, but how society is trying to mold us into certain types of people. We all want to look masculine if we are guys or feminine if we are girls, but the ideas of masculinity, and feminism were created several thousand years ago. The Idea that men should be muscular and women should have big breasts in order to look attractive has been norms and staples for societies all over the world for centuries. Just like our surroundings telling us how to behave, the article talks about people having to justify their actions to others. The article states “When the actor sees their action as unjustified, they feel shame.” For example if someone is a homosexual, they might try to hide their sexual preference. This is because society tells us that being gay is wrong, and it is frowned upon.  This idea was first developed in religion. Most of the major religions forbid the act of homosexuality. Since most of the world follows one of the major religions, the vast majority of us don’t look favorably on gays.

            The video we watched about the 3^rd gender was very strange and a bit humorous to me. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend this mixed gender of man and women. While this person may have some good qualities of both genders, in our culture, we would find such a thing horrendous and sick. I also didn’t really know that there was a difference between Gender and Sex. I thought the two were interchangeable. As the video shows, they are clearly two different things. I found the part where the narrator stated “If we need more women in the house, then we take one of the boys and make them a woman” very funny. I can’t imagine my parents telling me something like “Okay son we need another person to take care of your brother so you are now a girl.” While I see this practice as cruel and wrong, if it works for the Samoans, then it’s fine. This topic could lead us into the discussion of how God meant for only two genders, and we are not supposed to just create a third.

            This is similar to our class discussion today where we talked about feminist and women’s rights. We also talked about what feminine characteristics and masculine characteristics are, and how we are starting to integrate both aspects into both genders. While I think some of them are fine, like men crying some times and women participating in sports, I do think there needs to be a separation between the two. If we allow men to take on women’s characteristics, and vice versa we may end up only having one gender. I’m probably exaggerating, and it could actually be a good thing to mix into the other gender’s characteristics. There was an article on Yahoo today about a high school girl in Florida who was one of the top 100 players in the country. Not only is this female playing a male dominated sport, but she is also excelling at it, and was able to throw an 87mph fastball! The best part was that she was willing to cross the boundaries, and venture into something that she might be thought of as less attractive, or more masculine.

            We also did a worksheet this week focusing on the differences between males and females, and how each one comes about. I never really thought of gender as a mindset, but I can see how it kind of is. Girls, for example are taught at a very young age to like Barbie dolls, makeup, and the color pink. Boys are into sports, cars, and electronics. This was apparent in the toysrus activity. I remember when I was ten, my mother made me take piano lessons. I hated the idea and insisted on guitar. I was so resistant because I saw the piano as a feminine instrument, and the guitar was as male an instrument as it got. The article about the looking glass self also talks about how we give reasons to act a certain way. Our society may do things according to the status quo just because they do not want to be seen as different. Erving Goffman talks about how “Self consciousness is involved in using a disclaimer as a shield.” “I often say things like I’m not sure” or “I think”. Similarly when it comes to the status quo, we cannot break it or our shield will break apart and we will take on criticism. The article states that “The large scale systems of justification we call culture emerges with successive generations.” Similarly, our culture cannot be changed, and nor can the way we see gender and Sex. I do believe however that some of our customs are changing. Men are no longer the dominant member of many households. In my house for example, my mother has complete authority, and whatever she says my father must agree with. If we take a vote, I, my brother, and father each have one vote, and my mother has four votes.

           

The article From Mirror Self Recognition to the Looking- Glass Self talks a lot about how we perceive others, and what we think others think of us. Last week we talked about the actions we take in order to be a certain way, and this week we talked about a similar concept. Our discussion this week was not what we believe in how others think of us, but how society is trying to mold us into certain types of people. We all want to look masculine if we are guys or feminine if we are girls, but the ideas of masculinity, and feminism were created several thousand years ago. The Idea that men should be muscular and women should have big breasts in order to look attractive has been norms and staples for societies all over the world for centuries. Just like our surroundings telling us how to behave, the article talks about people having to justify their actions to others. The article states “When the actor sees their action as unjustified, they feel shame.” For example if someone is a homosexual, they might try to hide their sexual preference. This is because society tells us that being gay is wrong, and it is frowned upon.  This idea was first developed in religion. Most of the major religions forbid the act of homosexuality. Since most of the world follows one of the major religions, the vast majority of us don’t look favorably on gays.

            The video we watched about the 3^rd gender was very strange and a bit humorous to me. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend this mixed gender of man and women. While this person may have some good qualities of both genders, in our culture, we would find such a thing horrendous and sick. I also didn’t really know that there was a difference between Gender and Sex. I thought the two were interchangeable. As the video shows, they are clearly two different things. I found the part where the narrator stated “If we need more women in the house, then we take one of the boys and make them a woman” very funny. I can’t imagine my parents telling me something like “Okay son we need another person to take care of your brother so you are now a girl.” While I see this practice as cruel and wrong, if it works for the Samoans, then it’s fine. This topic could lead us into the discussion of how God meant for only two genders, and we are not supposed to just create a third.

            This is similar to our class discussion today where we talked about feminist and women’s rights. We also talked about what feminine characteristics and masculine characteristics are, and how we are starting to integrate both aspects into both genders. While I think some of them are fine, like men crying some times and women participating in sports, I do think there needs to be a separation between the two. If we allow men to take on women’s characteristics, and vice versa we may end up only having one gender. I’m probably exaggerating, and it could actually be a good thing to mix into the other gender’s characteristics. There was an article on Yahoo today about a high school girl in Florida who was one of the top 100 players in the country. Not only is this female playing a male dominated sport, but she is also excelling at it, and was able to throw an 87mph fastball! The best part was that she was willing to cross the boundaries, and venture into something that she might be thought of as less attractive, or more masculine.

            We also did a worksheet this week focusing on the differences between males and females, and how each one comes about. I never really thought of gender as a mindset, but I can see how it kind of is. Girls, for example are taught at a very young age to like Barbie dolls, makeup, and the color pink. Boys are into sports, cars, and electronics. This was apparent in the toysrus activity. I remember when I was ten, my mother made me take piano lessons. I hated the idea and insisted on guitar. I was so resistant because I saw the piano as a feminine instrument, and the guitar was as male an instrument as it got. The article about the looking glass self also talks about how we give reasons to act a certain way. Our society may do things according to the status quo just because they do not want to be seen as different. Erving Goffman talks about how “Self consciousness is involved in using a disclaimer as a shield.” “I often say things like I’m not sure” or “I think”. Similarly when it comes to the status quo, we cannot break it or our shield will break apart and we will take on criticism. The article states that “The large scale systems of justification we call culture emerges with successive generations.” Similarly, our culture cannot be changed, and nor can the way we see gender and Sex. I do believe however that some of our customs are changing. Men are no longer the dominant member of many households. In my house for example, my mother has complete authority, and whatever she says my father must agree with. If we take a vote, I, my brother, and father each have one vote, and my mother has four votes.

           

Self Recognition And The Looking Glass Self

                                                Picture of how Homer wants others to see him

Cooly And The Looking Glass Self

This article talks about the Tree of Knowledge system. It is about how people think of themselves as they think others perceive them. People are very self conscious, and are always trying to improve how they think others want them to be. The article also talks about the self, and how we must justify our actions. Henriques talks about how our “Consciousness serves the individual as a justification filter for their motives” Our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. It is what makes us feel ashamed or guilty when we do something wrong. I agree with Henriques that we constantly have to justify our actions to others, but I also think we need to justify our actions to ourselves as well. For example when I don’t feel like running on the weekend during track season, I feel bad for letting myself down more than the excuse. More than justifying to the coach that I was busy, I can’t justify not running to myself. I might tell myself that I have a lot of homework, or have to go somewhere, but I know that I probably have minimal homework and that there are a few hours before I have to go anywhere. The quote “Who are you trying to fool” fits in nicely here because I cannot fool myself into believing a lie that I made up. Similarly when I have a test; and the day before I don’t study for it, I try to justify to myself that I did not have enough time to study. People are also constantly forced to justify their actions to peers, Teachers, and parents. If a friend asks me to come over, I cannot just say no. I need to give a reason why I will not be able to go.

                The study where apes were able to not only study their own thoughts, but also other apes thoughts was similar to humans. Gallup Jr.’s Theory Mind states that we are able to tell what others are thinking. We are able to do this through analyzing facial expressions as well as overall body language and tone of one’s voice. Baylis claims that “Each person was born with a sense of right and wrong.” I do not completely agree with this statement. While we do know that things such as stealing and lying are wrong, we do not learn other right’s and wrong’s until we young children. For example I never knew that littering was wrong. I used to throw my garbage on the floor until my parents told me that I need to throw it in the garbage can. I also agree with Mr. James’s statement that “There are inconsistencies among the self displayed among various circumstances.” This goes along with what we have been talking about in class and the Looking Glass Self. We saw a video on how people act and behave differently on Facebook than in real life. Most things we say online would not be said in front of our parents for example. We also had a discussion on how we behave when we are around different people.  For example if you are with a college admissions Rep you won’t be talking in slang or wearing a ripped up pair of jeans. If you are with a boyfriend or girlfriend, you probably won’t go to lunch with them without putting on makeup or making sure your hair is fine. Similarly, we always want to keep up with the latest things. Our culture is very materialistic, and in order to keep up our status, we have to have the newest phone, wear the designer brands, and be skinny or jacked. These are all ways to influence how others perceive us and our circumstances depict what type of person we will be.

                What people think others think of them and what they actually do can be completely different. For example the event that occurred today during 3^rd period was meant to be a way to try and voice an opinion and try to help our schools and teachers. Those kids were probably doing something that many students and some teachers might commend them for, but instead most kids thought that these protestors were just trying to be funny. I heard several students say that the protestors were just trying to make a scene and were “some stupid Goth kids that don’t care about anything.”  Another event that did not send the message that it was supposed to was the April fool’s joke in Evanston. There was a joke in the paper that Evanston residents were going to be charged for snow removal from the streets. It was meant to be a silly April fool’s Day joke, but most of the residents were furious, even after they found out it wasn’t true and was just a joke.

             Humans try to hard to worry about what others think of them, but we should only worry about how we feel about ourselves because that gives us the best insight as to who we are. People are just actors in a play, I just wish we wouldn't be acting all the time because then we are unable to see the true individual and the play becomes a repetitive action of lies.

Does Your Language Shape How You Think?

                                                     Picture of some of the major languages spoken all over the world

Similar article on how language shapes how we think with some cool new examples

This week in class we talked about how people speak and how everyone speaks differently. There is no correct way to speak, just a commonly understood way. Our speech depends on where we grew up and how a certain language was spoken in our household. We watched a movie called “Do You Speak American?” It showed us that there are multiple ways to speak English, and in this country alone there are several different ways to speak. The article Does your language shape how you think? Shows us that language is not only spoken in different ways, but it also influences how we think and act.  I agree with the statement that “Speakers would simply not be able to understand some of our most basic concepts like the flow of time.” If one language is extremely basic, and time does not exist to them, then the concept of time and date might be hard for them to understand. One of the previous articles we read talked about how Native American tribes had no idea about how and what time was because it was simply not needed. Nobody was needed to get to a certain place at a certain time. Here in America however, time is the one thing we must know at all times. While language could potentially make it hard for some cultures to understand others, I do not think it is impossible for them to learn other languages and how they function.

                I never really thought about language, but it actually does determine and shape our lives. We have words ready in our arsenal for everyday use, but we can always learn new ones to go along with different languages. I believe that language is perhaps the most important thing to our survival as a people, and without it we could not function in any way. I found it interesting that in some languages like French, people need to be very specific when talking about anything.  Their culture is must less personal, while here we reserve the right to keep several things private. I also didn’t know that in Chinese the same form of a verb can be used in all tenses. The article states that “The same verb can be used for past, present, or future actions.” This would also make it hard to decipher exactly what someone is saying. Similarly, I read an article about how humans and animals have different speech patterns, and it is similar to how people in the U.S. might have a completely different speech pattern compared to people in China. Animals have very limited means of communication. They only have a limited amount of sounds in their vocabulary and therefore cannot communicate with complex ideas. For example a monkey might be able to say “I am hungry”, but they won’t be able to say “I am very hungry” or “I am a little hungry”. They also cannot speak in different tones. They only have soft and loud voices, but they cannot express seriousness, sarcasm, or anger in their voices.

        I have also noticed how many European countries give inanimate objects a masculine or feminine gender. For example in Spanish class we give each word an “El” or “La” prefix. This gives the object a gender trait. The prefix is so important that it cannot be ignored. If we do not add the el or la before the word, then the answer is considered incorrect. Several countries also have an accent in their words. Like the movie we watched, different people say words differently. If a word has an accent then it is meant to be pronounced with an emphasis on the letter with the accent. In the U.S. it is commonly understood how to say certain words, as well as some letters that are silent. I always used to pronounce Home Depot with the t at the end until my parents told me the t was silent.

                Our language is not only different in sound and prefixes, but also how we say direction. The Guugu Yimithirr language tells direction in a compass direction instead of left and right. I would imagine that this would be very difficult to adapt to, but that is because I am not accustomed to that kind of direction. MapQuest does tell us to head east, but we only pay attention to the direction in terms of egocentric directions. This Australian language might be better, because the directions do not change in relation to an individual’s position; rather the directions are given in terms of the earth and the poles. If one car was on one side of the road, and the other car was on another side our right would be their left but our east would be the same as their east. This language is more concentrated on a geographical position as a whole compared to a position from a single point of view.  I also found it funny that the Matses language requires the truth in terms of the instant you are being spoken to. I like the line where a man was asked how many wives he had, and he replied “There were two last time I checked”. This idea would seem absurd to westerners, but it is perfectly normal in Peru. There are a lot more differences in our language that just our language.

How We eat

This picture shows that the man on the right might be looked down upon becuase of his eating habits as they are unsophisticated, while the woman shows proper manners.

10 foods that help you fall asleep

During this week, we talked about cultures and norms of America and had a debate on Euthanasia. This article has to do with what people eat and what influences how and what they eat. Food is a huge part of culture. Today we were watching Do You Speak American. It is about how language is related to culture, but food has almost as much influence on cultures as languages. There are so many countries in the world, and all of them have their unique foods and ways of eating them. It is very interesting to see just how many things go into deciding our eating habits.

                How We Eat talked about norms of America. It talked about the rule that women never order spaghetti on a date because it makes them seem less attractive. This shows us that food means different things to people at different times. It is not only a source of energy and enjoyment, but it now is used to show social class, and attractiveness among other things. Just fifty years ago we would have thought of food as something to keep our body running, but it is so much more than that.

                On the show What Would You Do I saw an episode where a man went up to an obese woman with an obese child filled with a cart full of junk food. The man started scolding the obese woman for buying food that was bad for herself and her daughter. The woman took offense, but I sided with the rude man. I believed that the woman was influencing her child’s eating habits, and not only making her obese, but that could lead to medical problems and bad eating habits. The obese woman started talking about how eating healthy is expensive compared to eating cheap. I had never even thought of that. A one dollar cheeseburger at McDonalds is much cheaper compared to buying a salmon for nine dollars from Jewel. My mother always buys the four dollar pack of dozen eggs and the Oberweis milk when we get groceries because they don’t have preservatives, but a low income family might not be able to afford to eat healthy.

                I also find it interesting how certain foods have a connotation with a type of people. The wealthy eat steak, while lower income people and college kids eat mac and cheese and Ramen noodles. The article states “food is a judgment of social class”. This shows that we are constantly judging others not only by their house/car but also what they eat.  When my parents go to parties they buy expensive name brand chocolates for the hosts. It’s always Godiva, and never Kirkland chocolate. This once again shows that name brand food is also an important aspect of our culture. Location also has a lot to do with what we eat. For example, in my household we eat rice often. This is because in southern Asia people grow rice and it is a part of our culture to eat it with many other foods. Back in Pakistan, mangoes are plentiful in every household and everyone loves them. This is because they are easily grown, and people get used to eating them when they are in their households all the time.

                The determination of social class is also contributes to the food you eat. Shopping at whole foods as I was talking about earlier and having a lobster dinner is looked at as a sign of wealth compared to eating at Burger King. The article states “People may also start buying their groceries at specialty shops in order to move to a higher social class”. They way you eat also has implications of your class. People who use a fork and knife while eating their pizza might be looked at as sophisticated whether or not it is true. Eating a hotdog with a fork and knife however is just looked at as unusual. The article also talks about how on “Monday morning, people talk about a great meal they had at a restaurant.” This shows “a sophisticated culture.” Medical conditions also cause a change in appetite. I have watched numerous ads for a depressant that show a loss of appetite as an effect of depression.  Many types of foods also advertise that they can help you lose weight. Yoplait advertises for losing weight as well as making your heart healthier. Other foods advertise similar products. A few articles I was looking at a couple days ago talk about foods that stop your hunger and foods that help you fall asleep. Among the foods that fight hunger included bananas, and smoothies.  Popcorn, pretzels, and potatoes were a few of the foods that helped you fall asleep. It is amazing how we have certain types of food designed for certain things. For example during track season we aren’t supposed to eat sugary things and eat more vegetables instead. Even thought I do not follow that guideline, certain foods are just better for your body.

                The article also talked about how “taste preferences start before birth.”  America clearly has a lot of taste preferences, with a thousand different flavors of everything, but what would have happened if mothers weren’t exposed to certain foods? Would the child not have a particular like or dislike to certain foods? Since the U.S. is the melting pot, we have foods from all different types of cultures. The article talks about how people who ate tacos were made fun of and now Americans love tacos. It’s funny to see how things change over time and how American now has foods from everywhere. We went from ethnocentric to cultural relativistic. This is evident by our panda express, taco bell, and numerous other restaurants. I never knew that so many things could influence the food we eat, and how food we eat could influence other about who we are.

Diffrent Cultures

                                             The chinese used to bind their womens feet togeather during the tenth century

           info about Russian customs
During this past week, we talked about cultures and how they differ around the world. While there may be many diffrent cultures, many of them have many similarities as well as some intresting differences. In class we recently watched a movie which contained The lost Boys of Sudan and their journey to the U.S. It talks about the similarities and diffrences that these men faced. They knew that going to school and taking the ACT during your junior year was something that was done in the U.S. They also already knew how to speak some english and made friends quickly. They adapted well to their surroundings. They did seem to have a problem with driving, and the proper documentation needed for certain things. Their culture is probably much simpler and not so money/time focused all the time. This led me to look at a few articles on my own about diffrent cultures as well as comparing it to mine.
          In Russia, if you peel a banana for a women, it shows that you are intrested in her. I also learned that in Sparta people would start training children for war at the age of seven. I also learned that Russian families often have three generations per household. The women also do all of the chores in the house. This is diferent from our life over here, but if we look at it from a diffrent perspective many things seem strange to others that are normal for us. Things like halloween, plastic surgery, and paying insane amounts for tickets to a certain event may seem strange or even stupid to others. We judje what we think is ok and what is weird by how and where we are raised. If we have lived in a certain place for a certain amount of time, we get used to their customs and cultures. I have also noticed a few diferences between my culture and the American culture.I believe that I have some of both. While the Pakistani culture is much more similar to our culture here than you would expect, we do have some diferences. For example Pakistani people always arrive late to parties. If the party starts at seven, people will probably come between eight and nine. There is also a sense of responsibility for your friends. If a friend says that they are unable to do something, you do not just tell them "that sucks". You are expected to help them out if possible even if you have to go out of your way. There are clearly many cultural diferences between diferent parts of the world, but overall all of our cultures have the same foundation.

Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomam

                                                          This is a picture of the Yanomamo tribe
Info on Yanomamo tribe

This article talks about the Yanomamo people, and their culture. A anthropologist talks about his life with these people and how they interact. We have been looking at diffrent cultures this week, and this article shows a very intresting perspective from one persons point of view. It's amazing how things change from diferent perspectives. We look at something as strange and sick only to realize that it is very similar to our own culture. When we were talking about the Nacerina and Rac tribes, I thought that many of their practices were absurd and strange. When we looked back at it in a cultural relitivistic point of view, I realized that their traditions are very similar to ours. When I found our that the Rac kills thousands of people a year and costs a lot of money to maintain, I thought the Asu people were absurd, but those traits are almost identical to our car, and yet almost every American has a car. When the women of the Nacermia put their heads in a oven for an hour, I believed they were crazy, but then we talked about how it is similar to tanning beds.
         Unlike our perspective in class, the anthropologist in this article looked at the tribe from a Ethnocentric perspective. In class we talked about how this perspective looks at other cultures from our point of view and judges them based on our norms. The anthropoligist states "I saw a dozen naked, filthy, hideous men staring at us." this quote shows that he believes these people are filthy and hideous according to him, but they might be clean and handsome to this tribe. These people have many of the same values as Americans. They value Activity, Work, Freedom, and efficency like the American people. I related their scattered villages to our Citys. They used tobacco juice as soap. They expected to be paid back later for food. Like when some people don't have money for something we might loan them some expecting to be paid back later, banks expect intrest for lending money and the Yanomamo expect intrest for their food. Their people are similar to bullies. They keep intimidating you and take your things until you confront them. The anthropologist states "They could bully me into giving goods away."
   Their are also several diffrences between our cultures. The tribe thinks it is acceptable to have mucus coming out of their noses, while we think that is "gross." It is acceptable for them to take hallucinogenic drugs while that is a crime in the U.S. They expect food when they go to someone else's tent, while in America we do not expect food from everyone we meet. Women are objects to the Yanomamo people where in the U.S. they are equals to men. They are allowed to be beaten and a man may have many wives. Here, none of these traits are acceptable. This tribe does not talk about the dead, where in America we hire people to talk to us about our loved ones who have passed. One of the tribal men says "If you ever say that name again, I will kill you." When reffering to a loved one. This shows that talking about the deceased is not acceptable. In this tribe, the men are the dominant sex just like in the U.S. I wonder if any culture has the female as the dominant sex?
          This article is also similar to an optical illusion. When you look at something one way, it seems different than another way. There are many angles at which to look at something, and each one shows a alternate result. A picture may look like a cave one second, and then a person the next. The Yanomamo may look like crazy people, but looking at things from a larger point of view shows us that they are very similar to other cultures. Recently, several scientists have talked about reclassifying Pluto as a planet after it was determined that it was not a few years ago. When I thought about it at first, I thought of course it is not a planet. It is much smaller than the other planets, and does not have rocklike particles like the others. When I looked at it again, I realized it was very similar to earth and other planets because it rotates on an axis, orbits the sun, has a thin atmosphere, and is solid. The similarities far outnumber the diffrences.

Eating Your Friends is the Hardest

    

This picture shows the survivors of the flight F-227. You can see the conditions they were facing, and this helps us understand why they would eat others. During extreme conditions, we change our view on things and their meaning.

                                      others opinions on article

  This article is very interesting and talks about how the meaning of things changes in different situations. The circumstance one faces has a lot to do with what things represent. For example, if someone is at home, water represents something that we take for granted while if said person was stranded in a desert, water is symbolic of a something needed to survive. In class we talked about symbolic meaning. Things have different symbolic meaning with different situations. We talked about how spit on a spoon is disgusting, and no one would dare to swallow it, while swallowing it in a kiss is perfectly acceptable because it is a sign of affection. The object stayed the same, yet our perception changed. This is similar to the article where people were used as food where before they would be friends, family, and a source of labor and knowledge. Another example in class was when we watched Freaks and Geeks. When the girl gave the boy his jacket, it was a sign that she liked him. In a different situation it would just have been an act of courtesy, not a sign of affection. In my personal life, I have used objects for reasons other than intended. I have used a hanger as a grappling device and books as a source to grow a fire. When people go camping, they use leaves as toilet paper. This is not a use of leaves in common society. In class we talked about how in the U.S. we consider dogs to be pets, while in China they are food. This shows that the intent of materials usage changes depending on culture, location, and other situations. These are all examples of having several uses for objects, even though our society only sees the use in one way.

                In our current life, there are many examples that demonstrate the meaning of things in our society. During Valentine’s Day which is coming up, Roses and Chocolate are not used as just decoration and food, but they are a sign of love. The color red in a rose also signifies affection. During the Super Bowl, several fans paid thousands of dollars for a ticket. The ticket itself is useless, yet the value society gives the Super Bowl increased its value by thousands of dollars. Several hundred people also sued the NFL for not letting them in the big game despite having tickets to it. The ticket was an object that showed admission into the sporting event, and when the meaning of the ticket didn’t apply, people got confused and angry.

                I was not very surprised by how the people in the crash reacted to the dead bodies. At that point, they needed to do anything necessary for survival. I find it interesting that the people told themselves that it was ok to eat the deceased because God wanted them to. The article states “God wants us to survive, and he has provided these bodies so we can live.” They needed to convince themselves that it was not immoral to perform these acts. In the society they had lived in, eating the deceased was not an acceptable practice. Had these people not have had a concept of how to act in their society prior to the crash, they would have had no problem convincing themselves that their actions were justified. Before societies existed, cannibalism was a common practice, and was expected. I also liked their innovative thinking by using skin as footwear to protect themselves. The only reason these people survived was due to their new societal rules. They gave jobs to everyone so they could survive. The article states “Even the weakest had a job to do.” This is similar to how common societies function with people having different tasks. We have our doctors, mechanics, and food providers. I also wonder what would have happened if all of the bodies would have been consumed. Would the living people kill each other in order to survive, or would they have just accepted their death and starved? Would the situation be like Herbert Spencer’s survival of the fittest? What we have learned from this article is that societies define how we should act. The show Fear Factor which gave people money for consuming “disgusting” animal parts shows why it was so hard to consume the food. Our mind is telling us that this is not a part of our culture, and we have been taught not to eat certain things through society.

The Promise and Sociology V.S. other Social Sciences

This picture shows some of the many things that determine our biography and history which are related to our social imaginationSocial Imagination Link

Both of these articles involve sociology and what it actually is. While the article by Henslin compares sociology to other social sciences, Mills article talks about the social imagination. Both articles try to define sociology and what it is. The Henslin article shows us how sociology differs from History, Economics, Anthropology, and Psychology. It shows examples of what each type of social science focuses on. They are all related and might focus on similar things but each is focused on a specific characteristic. This is similar to the activity we did when we classified reasons as to why a person might commit suicide. We separated the social reasons such as location, age, and ethnicity from things that take place individually like personal stress or a tragedy. While Psychology and Sociology might be similar, they are classified as separate entities. The article states “Like psychologists, sociologists are also concerned with how people adjust to the problems and challenges they face in their lives.” Unlike Psychologists however, they are not focused on “what occurs in the brain or mind.” People often mix these sciences up, but they are very different. Sociology is also about human interaction. This was demonstrated when Mrs. Castelli sat in the back of the room for several minutes. Our brain is telling us that they interaction is not right. We should be listening to her talking about today’s discussion, not carrying conversations with each other.

 Unlike Henslin’s work, The Promise is solely on Sociology and the Social imagination. This article talks about how everything that occurs in our lives is related to society as a whole. Society impacts each individual, but that is related to a person’s biography, history, and traditions. I realize that my life could have been entirely different if a few changes took place. If things would have turned out as expected, I should be living in Brazil right now. When my family lived in Florida, we thought it was temporary and my father’s company was going to transfer him to Brazil. That did not take place because my dad asked f he could just work in Florida. About eight years later we moved to Barrington. After three years here, my father found a very good job in Texas and we came within a day of moving there. Right before we moved however my dad got a job offer from another bank in Illinois and we decided to stay here. My biography has definitely influenced my history. If I would not be living here today, I probably would not have seen snow yet or planned on going to a school in the Big Ten. Everything we do affects our lives in some way. Mills talks about private issues V.S. public troubles, and there is only a problem in society if multiple people have that problem. The unemployment example holds true right now. A few years ago, only a few percent of the people living in the U.S. were unemployed, so it was not an issue. Right now the percent is in double digits, so it is perhaps the biggest issue we are facing. In order to find out why we have issues in society, we must find the people in the society, and look into their history. For example if we go to a “bad” neighborhood in the south side of Chicago, we try to solve the problem of why they live in poverty. Why are they uneducated, and why is the crime rate so high? The history of each individual helps to explain these questions. Many of these people were in poverty when they were born, so they might need to steal as a way of survival. If they have to work in order to support a family, they wouldn’t be able to go to college and get an education. This cycle continues from generation to generation unless someone intervenes to stop it.  I understand that the “Social Imagination is about the relationship between history and biography within society; I would probably have named it something else, like the Social Correlation. This concept is very important for societies to understand so they can evaluate themselves and see if changes are necessary to improve the society they reside in. Without this concept, we would probably still have slavery, have lower wages for women, and might not have even gotten our independence from Britain.

Who am I?

Everybody in the world is different in many ways. I am a person who is excited for every new day that comes my way. I am always eager to try new things and enjoy facing obstacles that are hard to overcome. I am very organized but am a procrastinator as well. I am intrigued by many things and like to know why and how things happen. I believe everyone has potential to do what they want, but it is just a question of how hard are they willing to work for it. I also think that we make our own destiny and where we end up is directly related to the choices we make. I am very friendly but shy as well.  I am also competitive in most things that I do. I love to sleep, hang out with friends, and watch movies. My favorite food is anything chocolate. Sociology is interesting because it is shows us how people think and act based on society. The biggest influences in my life are definitely my parents and friends. My friends influence my life because they help to determine what I do and do not do. My parents are also influential because they are in my life a lot of the time. They also influence what I do and how I behave due to how they have raised me.  My goals in life are to go to a good college and have my profession be something in business or law. I also hope to travel around the world and experience different places. Another one of my goals is to raise a family and move to a nice warm weather state. My purposes in life are just to help others if I can and to contribute to society through my actions.