Crash...

In class, we are watching the movie Crash. Even though I have seen this movie before, I have been able to watch it with a new perspective. Now, when I am watching, I have been looking for different examples of and how people act about racism. I have noticed 2 major things. First, I saw how people acted differently around people of different races. For example, Sandra Bullock's character is very comfortable around her white husband, but she has to put her arm around her husband's when she is by black men. She felt differently and had to act differently, subconsciously, around different races. Also, I noticed different forms of both explicit and implicit racism. There were a ton of examples of explicit or overt racism. Many times, a character would get angry because they were dealing with a person of a different race. There was also examples of implicit or hidden racism. In the movie, a lot of the racial tension came from stereotypes and misunderstandings. When the lock guy can't fix the door, the store owner gets mad at him. That whole scene is a big misunderstanding because of stereotypes. The store owner assumes the lock guy is a thief because of his race, so he accuses him of cheating him. Then, later, the whole "shooting" could've been avoided. I think that education about other races and their cultures can eliminate a lot of the racism. If people know about other races besides their own, maybe they will create less stereotypes of races because they are more educated.

The Race Spectrum...

Yesterday, we did an activity where we had to categorize different balls. Even though I think I have done this activity before, it was still very difficult. I chose to categorize by size, but it was hard to differentiate between small and medium or medium and large. It was difficult to draw the line somewhere. By categorizing the balls, we stereotyped them, like we also do for races. I clumped together all of the large balls, even if they had other differences like color, shape or use. This activity made me realize that all the people in the world don't fit into strict categories of races. It is more of a spectrum. For example, there can be someone who is half "white" and half "black", so they don't fit into the "white" category, or the "black" one. We also learned that race isn't biological, it's social. Race isn't something you are born into, it's something that society uses to categorize or group human beings. These groupings allow society to put certain characteristics with certain races, causing stereotypes, when the characteristic doesn't fit the mold of the race. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to break down these social constructions of race, but in the future, I will try to stereotype less by race.

Monopoly & the "American Dream"...

In class, when we played Monopoly by the rules of America's class structure, I got lucky and rolled the highest number, so I was the upper-upper class. I had a plethora of money to buy whatever I wanted, and I also started with two expensive properties and the railroad. I can clearly see how it is hard to move in classes for the upper and lower class because no matter how careless I was with my money, I was constantly getting paid by the others landing on my properties and with my high income. The lower class people in my group had a very difficult time avoiding bankruptcy let alone moving up in class. One person got stuck in jail, and because they were lower class, they had to miss 2 turns before they could even pay to get out of jail. This mirrors the U.S. class structure so well because it's almost impossible to move classes, unless you are in the middle. No one in my group moved up or down, but some other groups had middle people moving up one class. This is all very interesting because sometimes you think, if lower class people want a better life, all they have to do is start working hard, and they will move up in class. But that's not the case. Most lower class people do work hard, but it's nearly impossible to move up because they are only making minimum wage, living in poor areas, and have no health care or insurance. My family has moved up in class since the past generation. My grandparents on one side were around lower-middle class -- they made an okay living but never could take vacations or live in luxury. But, my dad moved up in social class to upper-middle by going to college and becoming a CPA. Now, we are able to live a nicer life because of a higher income. In the future, I see myself staying in the upper-middle class where my parents are.

Social Class Interactions...

The movie that we are watching in class is very interesting. Learning about all the different social classes and hearing real stories from real people from all different economic backgrounds can be really surprising, but it's important that we understand this to have a more cultured view of the world. One thing that I noticed that really made me sad was how they were talking about how the different social classes don't mix. For example, poor black people don't talk to rich white people. It is not socially acceptable in a way. I do think that we separate ourselves based on class. In the lunchroom, the kids that I sit with are white and upper-middle class. Right next to our table, is a group of black kids. We separate ourselves naturally because we think we would have more in common with people who are in our same social class. But the thing is, that isn't necessarily true! We don't know if we have anything in common with people from other social classes because we don't spend the time to get to know them to find that out. This "social norm" of grouping with people from your own social class spreads to our children and our grandchildren, and now everyone is acting this way. Also, the movie mentioned that lower class people feel invisible. Even though they might feel this way, I think it goes both ways. Yes, upper class people exclude lower class people, but lower class people also exclude themselves from other classes. This happens again because social classes separate themselves into similar groups. Now that I'm aware of this, I hope to try to learn more about other social classes to be more educated.

Deviance & Drugs...

Today in class, we did an activity classifying drugs. We had to decide if they should be over the counter, prescription, a felony or a worse crime. But, we didn't know what the drugs were. The interesting thing was that I classified alcohol as a felony because of its affects on people even though alcohol is legal to adults ages 21 and over. We later discussed how drugs and drug laws are relative. For example, some drugs can result in trouble with the law while other are readily available at drugstores even though a lot of the drugs have similar effects and tolerance. Also, many times, it depends on the person who is being convicted of drug abuse. If upper middle class white people are caught with drugs, they are more likely to be able to pay for bail and receive sympathy from police. On the other hand, blacks in poorer areas are less likely to have money to pay for bail and are more likely to be treated very horribly. This relativity of drugs and drug laws mirrors the relativity of deviance. If an upper middle class white person is being "deviant" according to society, they might not be judged as quickly or as bad as a poorer minority. Money is also a big factor in deviance. People with more money are more likely to be able to avoid deviance or get out of it. I hope that in the future, these judgmental views of people and social deviance can be avoided or at least seen fairly among all types of people. Now that I realize this, I will try to do that.

Social Deviance...

In class, we are talking about social deviance, or straying from society's "norms". This can be positive, like buying someone else lunch one day, or they can be negative, like dropping out of school. We watched an episode of Seinfeld, where many social norms were broken. We looked for and then discussed what they were, how people reacted to them being broken, and how they felt when they broke them. For example, Jerry is caught by a girl, who he went on a date with, picking his nose. He broke a social norm by picking his nose in public. She won't return his calls because she is uncomfortable with the fact that he didn't act "normal" in terms of society. Jerry is upset because he really wasn't breaking a social norm, he was just perceived as breaking one. There is a difference in the perception of deviance and the actual deviance. In the Saints and Roughnecks article, the town thought the Saints were good boys and the Roughnecks were delinquent, but in reality, they both did the same deviant acts. The only reason the community thought the Roughnecks were worse was because they were in a lower class than the Saints. People tend to react the same to a real deviance of a social norm and a perceived deviance because we are uncomfortable and uneasy with the thought of unconformity and differences. Now that I'm aware of this, I will be more likely not to judge people so quickly if they are breaking a social norm. It's okay to break one, it actually can be good. We are so stuck on conforming and acting how society tells us to, that we are too worried to go against that and break a social norm. But in reality, it can be good for you and people around you to break one, in a positive way.

American Teenagers "Rolelessness"

Yesterday in class, we discussed milestones in a person's life. Many of them reflected certain ages and the privileges that come along with it making it a special point in life. Then we went on to talk about how in America, kids and teens are expected to be dependent, irresponsible and submissive. But, when we become a certain age, somewhere around 18 to 25, we are expected to be the exact opposite -- independent, responsible, and dominant. We receive very little or no guidance and help to make this change. I never realized this before. When I live at home, and even when I will be a college, I will not pay bills or manage accounts and money that much. But, when I finish my education and begin my career and life, I am supposed to be a leader and manage my own money and life. This creates a problem in American society. How are kids supposed to learn how to live on their own when their whole life prior to it didn't involve them even learning or practicing how to live on their own? There are some ways that kids learn things for their future, like consumer education classes at school, but these aren't mandatory, and they don't always work. The article we read talked about parent-teen conflicts and how some of them are caused from a difference in age of when the parents think the teen should shift to be responsible and independent, and when the teens think that age is. The problem is that there is no age where this should happen. It's very confusing to teens. I can relate because I sometimes am expected to drive myself places and motivate myself in school, but I still have to live at home under my parents rules, and my parents still pay for most of my major expenses, so it's hard for me to feel independent. Now that I realize all this, I hope I can be more independent and responsible and dominant in my life, to better prepare myself for my future.

Social Construction of gender = school shootings?

The Kimmel reading that we read was surprisingly interesting. I was expected it to be about what I've heard over and over again --  that kids who shoot are black, from inner city schools, from messed up families, and influenced from violence in the media. But I was wrong. I made a generalization. The reading talked about how all of the recent shooters were seemingly normal, white boys from suburban areas, and middle to upper-middle class homes. This shocked me. I always thought something like this would never happen to me, but now, I realize that even though it's still not likely that it will, it still could happen. The idea of a school shooting is scary and concerning. Why is this happening? The reading examined this problem and said the boys who shoot are "gay-baited". They are bullied and teased because they aren't masculine enough for society. The media influences society a lot. TV shows, commercials, movies, toys and so much more create an image of what men should be like. They are supposed to be strong, muscular, tough and like fighting. In reality, this idea is crazy. Sure, there are boys who are like that, but there are many who aren't. And that is perfectly okay. But the problem is that men who aren't like this think they need to change who they are to be like the stereotypical man. This is a problem for men and women because the media influences everyone. Now that I am aware and understand that I and everyone around me is influenced, I will try to be more like myself and not what the media says I should be like.

Media's Influences...

In class, we discussed the media and how it acts as an agent of socialization. The media, which includes TV, radio, and internet is anyway society communicates to the people. When I did the Un-TV experiment, I mainly realized that when we watch TV, we are entranced in the "TV world". This trance we are in makes it easy for the media to influence our thoughts, whether we are conscious of this or not. Before this experiment, I wasn't conscious that the media was influencing me, but now I am. This makes me sociologically mindful of the media's influence on me. This will benefit me because now, I will be able to make my own decisions more. The media has always been in my life, so I never really thought of it as a way of communication or society sending me messages, both blatant and subliminal. The TV sends us blatant messages from commercials that say, "buy this product!". A lot of commercials are now geared toward kids because they will influence their parents to buy things. It also sends subliminal messages from shows like Jersey Shore. They drink and use bad language. By watching this show, they are sending the message that it is okay to do all of that and that it's cool to do it. I think that this can be very dangerous to children. Kids are very easily influenced, and if they see a show like this, they think that's okay to do. This is one of the many ways that the media influences us. Now that I'm aware of this large influence on my life, I will be able to try to live my life more as me and not how the media wants me to live my life.

Nature AND Nurture...

The other day in class, we talked about nature and nurture and how they affect socialization of humans. It's not a matter of nature vs. nurture; they work together to make us human-like. Without our human instincts like the sucking instinct and without nurture and social interactions with other humans, we would not be humans. But what I was more intrigued with was the feral children and children who grew up in isolation. This was so disturbing to me. It was amazing to see what looked like almost normal people act unlike humans by so much. I guess I always thought that I acted like a human because I was born a human. But now I realize that that is not all true. The social environment that we experience when we are babies allow for our development into human beings. That is basically what socialization is -- the development of humans. Also, the agents of socialization or what influences us to become who we are is very relatable. I see what influenced and still influences my life today. My family instilled my values and priorities. My friends taught me how to be myself in a group of your peers. My religion taught me how to be part of a community. My work taught me how to interact with all different types of people. It is so interesting to me to learn about socialization and what influences us because this goes on every second of our lives, and I didn't realize it was going on or what was happening until now.

Tuesdays with Morrie...

The movie, Tuesdays with Morrie is a very sad and moving movie that relates to culture a lot. Throughout the movie, many aspects of American culture were prevalent. Mitch's actions and Morrie's wisdom showed this. Three of the aspects go together well. Morrie talks a lot about love, death and dependency. Americans tend to fear these things because of the influence of American culture. The norm is to be embarrassed by dependency because American's value independence. The norm is also to fear death and love because it takes the control away from you and puts it in someone else's hands or puts it in "God's hands". I can relate to this because when my Grandma died, my family was fearful of what would happen next. I think we should try to live more in the present and not the future or the past. Independence and control are valued highly to Americans. This explains why Americans may be embarrassed by or fear dependency, love and death. This connects to the fourth aspect of American culture in the movie. Mitch is a workaholic at the beginning of the movie, and he mirrors many other Americans who are like this. Americans value achievement and success, almost too much sometimes. I think that some people who are too success oriented need to take a step back and think about why they value success so much. Sometimes, it can take away from their life too much, like Mitch. He almost lost the love of his life, Janine, to his work. I think people who are like this need to revaluate their values and priorities.

American Culture...or not?

Today in class, we had a discussion about America and whether we have our own unique, defined culture. Originally, on my outline, I said that American culture was not unique and that we borrowed from cultures all around the world which contributed to our diversity. And that still is true. America is a melting pot of all different ethnicities, races, religions, and cultures. America is so diverse, going from east to west or north to south you can see those differences. But this does not mean that America does not still have its own unique culture, that combines all of the other cultures that exist in America. In class, we determined that America focuses on success, efficiency, materials, competition to be the best, fairness, and freedom. Some of these are good, and others are not. Sometimes our focus on success and being the best gets out of control. We need to take a step back and work together and cooperate sometimes. Also the materialism isn't so great. We are way to focused on the durable goods and need to not expect to get everything we want. But, the freedom, efficiency and fairness are good qualities of America's unique culture. These aspects of American culture can be applied to my life. I'll admit it, I do sometimes get carried away in competitions. Even in intramural sports like flag football here at school can get very competitive. During my sophomore year, there was a very close game with another team, and we all got really into it when we could've just played for fun and not gotten competitive to avoid arguments. Also, I can relate to the freedom and fairness. We take for granted what we have without having to work for it or anything. We can basically do anything we want at anytime, not counting illegal activities. Not all countries and cultures have this, they make have much stricter laws preventing certain actions. All in all, even though America is a melting pot of many different cultures, all of those cultures come together to create America's unique culture.

Culture Shock...

The activity we did yesterday in class was really cool. I was so oblivious to the fact that there was going to be a twist, so it was really unexpected. But, as soon as the new group members were at our table, I understood. It was frustrating not being able to talk to them and explain the difference of rules of the game. I now see how this is a metaphor for all the cultures in the world. We all have different rules and social norms that are foreign and crazy to other cultures. I experienced this cultural difference when I traveled to Israel in the summer of 2008. It was the first time I was out of the country, except for Mexico and Canada. I completely felt culture shock, which is the immediate shock of a new and different culture. For example, Israelis are very fast-paced, fast talkers, and they are very blunt and straight-forward, but not in a bad way. Our tour guide was exactly like this. I was very shocked, surprised, and taken aback by their personalities and that someone would act like this. But, over time, I got used to him, and grew to understand him and enjoy his company. Through this understanding, I think I used cultural relativity. I believe that sociology would definitely help people become more aware of cultural differences and how different people live different lives. For example, in the incident with the Danish woman leaving her baby outside in New York City, I think that if the police who arrested her or the judge in the court were sociologists, the outcome would be very different. They would be able to understand that that is how they live in Denmark and that is common in Danish culture. Overall, the difference of cultures and way of life creates the diversity that we have in this world.

A Bronx Tale...

Even though I haven't finished watching the movie in class, I can already see the sociological forces and ideas present in the movie, A Bronx Tale. I think that the largest and most obvious one is the groups that Collogero belongs to. He has his friends, his family, his heritage/race and Sonny. Sonny represents his idol or the person that he looks up to. I think his master status would be a mix of his family and race. The Italian way of life governs how he lives. His parents, mostly his father, controls Collogero by telling him what to do. Those values that his parents have are those similar to many other Italians. He is known as Italian wherever he goes. The second prevalent sociological idea is the sociological imagination. As we have progressed through this semester, I have been able to see more of a sociologist's perspective. I can now see that there are larger forces acting on Collogero's life. His problems as a boy in his neighborhood represent problems that are universal and exist in many other neighborhoods. They are caused by racism, which is caused by differences in humans. By seeing and understanding these larger forces that play into Collogero's life, I can comprehend the idea of sociological imagination. The next idea is the social construction of reality. This also has to do a bit with racism. The "unwritten laws" in the neighborhood come from social status, which comes from race. I think this construction came from the racism. The last sociological idea is the macro and micro dynamics of sociology. The macro dynamics is the idea of the mobsters as a group in general. Collogero always watches them from afar and observes them. He doesn't have a one-on-one conversation with them, he just interacts with them from a group stage, in general. The micro dynamics of sociology are the one-on-one or face to face interaction Collogero has with Sonny. When they make eye contact or even exchange a few words, this the the micro sociological forces that shape who Collogero is and how he acts. Overall, this movie shows the sociological ideas of groups, sociological imagination, social construction of reality and micro and macro dynamics very well through these ways.

Abandon Ship...

During the boat activity in class, I was a sociologist. I was able to observe the group dynamics. After watching, listening and later discussing this activity, it is very easy to see the macro and micro sociological values, and apply  it to my life. The macro sociological values showed in the ship activity when we compared our class's choices of who to eliminate from the ship to past year class's choices. All of the students who participated in this activity were American, teenagers, and from the upper-middle class. The pattern emerges when similar characters were voted off the boat many times throughout the 54 times this activity has been done. We all made similar choices because we have similar values because of our common grounds, mainly because we are all American. The micro sociological values didn't show as much in the ship because everyone knew that this was just a game and not real life. But if it was real, and the people on the ship could see each other and really talk to each other, there would be more of the micro sociological values of the face to face basis and interactions. I can apply the two levels to view sociology to my life. When I worked as a camp counselor over the summer, the macro level of sociology was the large group of all the different camp sites and groups of counselors, when we all had orientation together. We were all teenagers or people in their 20s, camp counselors, from the upper-middle class, and American. We were all influenced by each other because of these similarities as part of macro sociological values. The value of the macro part that influenced us was age and experience. In general, the younger and less experienced people looked up to and listened to the older and more experienced people more. This interaction influenced the large or macro group dynamics. Then, the micro part of the sociology in this group was my smaller group of counselors. We were able to have a one on one conversation because it wasn't such a big group. My small counselor group demonstrated the micro sociological dynamics because we interacted with each other on a more personal level. Each small group of counselors was able to have this micro sociological dynamic when we were separated from the large group or macro part.

Freaks and Geeks...

The pilot episode of the TV series Freaks and Geeks was very interesting. It was funny and relatable because it took place in high school and the characters were similar to typical teenagers. It was really cool for me to see that something so relatable to my life could demonstrate sociology so well. First of all, the groups in the school are so common in high school, so they are easily understood by teenagers like me. The geeks or the smart kids are functional in that they provide a refuge for each other if they don't fit in with their other peers. The group on the smoking patio is also functional because they can relate to each other if they maybe can't relate to their other peers. But, this group also has a dysfunction by pressuring Lindsay to smoke even though she knows it's wrong. The sociology of the group dynamics is easily understood by teenagers through these high school groups. I can relate because I would wear a certain style of clothes or do my hair a certain way to fit in with my peers in school. This group dynamic is dysfunctional because I might not necessarily express myself correctly. The second sociology idea is the conflict theory. The conflict is between who has power and who doesn't. In the show, Lindsay's counselor and parents have the power. They are only trying to make sure she leads a healthy lifestyle. Her parents have the power because they provide a home and food for her and her counselor holds punishment over her. But, when Lindsay doesn't agree with them, conflict arises. I can also relate to this because I don't always agree with my parents, but I have to follow their orders because they provide a home, food and clothes for me. But, I accept their orders and control over me because I know that they are only trying to help me. Lastly, there is symbolic interaction. The big symbol in the show is Lindsay's army jacket. Everyone notices that she is wearing it, even her brother. It represents her self expression and her rebellion. It also shows that she is questioning who she is as a person. I personally don't question myself and rebel through my clothes, but I know many people who do. I express myself through my independence and self confidence. Overall, these three perspectives are three different ways to have a sociological imagination.

Outliers...

Reading the excerpt from Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell was very interesting, and it made me think, a lot. First of all, it is so unique and interesting that the Rosetans were so healthy just because of their surroundings and their history. I always thought that people are who they are because that was just how they were born. But, this excerpt made me realize that that's not true. People are who they are because of where the live, when they live, who they live with, and how they lead their life. This is the idea of sociological imagination. This is how the Rosetans stayed so healthy; their health was "in terms of a place". You have to "look beyond the individual" and realize that one's culture, community, values, and people surrounding them have an affect on who they are. In the excerpt, a sociologist named John Bruhn went to Roseto to do studies to investigate this medical mystery. This supports the fact that sociologists do studies to gain support for their claims. Finally, this completely changes my view of other people, myself, and health in general. I'm now more aware of why certain areas of people are more likely to have certain diseases or conditions or not have anything wrong with them, health-wise. I think that my sociological imagination tells me that I am me because of my family and friends. My family and friends are huge parts of my life, so I think that they shape and contribute to the person I am. They give me my values and shape my personality. Also, I think that living in a suburb of a big city makes me less sheltered because I visit the city often and see many different things that you don't normally see in the suburbs. This informs me more about what life is like in other areas. I also am privileged enough to travel because of my family's place in social structure, so that allows me to see more of what life is like in different parts of the world. This overall makes me a more cultured and learned person.

Who am I?

Hi! I'm Rachel, I'm 17 years old, and I'm a senior in high school. I have many interests and favorite things that shape the person I am. My favorite food is strawberries; I also love reese's peanut butter cups. My favorite color is purple, and my favorite class in school this year so far is environmental science. I am very passionate about the environment, and I always try to recycle, reuse, and do anything else that I believe could benefit the environment. I also love working with kids, so I was a camp counselor this summer for first and second graders. I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I'm involved in Operation Snowball, I will be a director this year. I benefited from this experience because it made me a stronger person and more confident in myself.

I never had, and still don't, have one biggest influence on my life. Many things influence me, almost everyday. These influences are not strong ones that sway or change the person I am; I'm still a very strong and independent person. But, many things or events affect me, not necessarily influence me. For example, seeing a homeless person on the street, or a mentally disabled person in the hallway. But, I think that my biggest influence on the person I am today is my mom. I know it's cheesy, but it's true. She taught me many values and morals that I believe in today, and she still teaches me everyday. My goals in life go along with my morals. I want to live a happy life. I want to feel like I lived each day to the fullest. I want to influence other people for the better.