Beyond the Unknown...

Throughout this past semester, I have learned more about myself and the world surrounding me than I ever thought was possible. By lending a helping hand, accepting others for who they are, and achieving the unachievable is what makes this world a better place. I can honestly say that this class, Sociology, has bettered me as a person to the furthest extent. I now look into the world through a new pair of eyes; a pair of eyes that has guided me into becoming the person I am today. By being sociological mindful, I had come to the realization that by looking within a person rather than by stereotyping/grouping them you make a stronger and better impact. No longer will I stereotype an individual, because you never truly know what the person's all about until you actually get to know them. Social class, race, gender, and culture have one thing in common. Categories. That's one thing I won't go back too. When meeting someone new, I try to rid myself of all the past stereotypes that I had used, and aim to understand the man or woman behind the "image".

 

 

Remember: It only takes one person to create change and impact the world we live in.

Crash

In class we are watching a movie, by the name of Crash. Wow, is all I have to say. This movie truly demonstrates how different races affect our lives in so many different ways. So far throughout the movie, many characters are categorized and stereotyped within a blink of an eye. One example, was when Ludacris stereotyped every single white person on the street. "Man did you just see that?" Yeah she got cold.. "Nah, she just saw a couple of black a** dudes walkin towards her, n' instead of turnin around n' walkin da other way, cuz ya know that would be racist.. she grabbed onto her man.." (Something along those lines, don't really remember exactly what he said". He said that because, she was white and of course all white people don't like blacks.. JOKE. Stereotypes are all around us, whether we are the ones stereotyping or the ones being stereotyped. Growing up I was always stereotyped, because I wasn't the typical "American Girl". But luckily growing with age, I had learned to love that I'm European, because that's one more thing that not every person is. 

Black or White

Is Michael Jackson black or white? If you asked someone that didn't know who he was, their response would most likely be he's white based upon the color of his skin. Color plays a drastic role in society; especially the way people perceive others. If you saw a dark colored person walking down the street you would start narrowing down the options. Is he/she Nigerian, Indian, African? But what if in reality he/she was actually Hispanic. There you would be stereo-typing a human being. To be quite honest, all of us are racist. Of course some more than others, but we all judge, we all question, and we all assume. What we should get out of this is that skin is only color deep.. What the person's all about is really what counts in the end.

30 days in Poverty..

Last week in class we had watched a short "movie" on how a young couple would survive in complete poverty for 30 days. They had to find jobs (only jobs availiable were minimum wage jobs), find an apartment, and basically maintain a very simple lifestyle. While working they were able to buy food and find a place to live. Both of them didn't have a car; so the commute to work was rather difficult especially for the lady. As their income slowly began to become smaller because of all the expenses they had; it got to be SOO negative, that it would take monthes to get that money back all because of one emergency visit. Growing up in poverty, socially wise, many people strive so hard to achieve something but that usually isn't the outcome. Once they feel like they're getting somewhere, something always seems to come up wish always tends to push them back down. We take a lot of things for granted, just because majority of us did grow up in the middle/upper class.. but what we should really notice is how thankful we should be for having the things we do, being able to eat out, and living under a roof that isn't infested with ants.

Look at that fake CLA$S...

 During class, we had watched a movie that had a few striking moments in it. One of the clips was of a lower-middle class lady being essentially turned into a lady that would "fit in" with the upper class. She was taught the right way to speak, dress, even walk. She was given a full makeover and was sent to an art auction (because apparently that's the only place that rich people go to). When given this new image, she still awkwardly approached gentleman; which showed that she was a "phony". In society, majority of the people strive for better, then linger to get to that last step because that's where they want to be. It takes hard work both in school and out, to achieve this kind of success. Changing ones appearance will only take away from their true self, and camouflage who they truly are for a short period of time. But in reality, to get to that so called "upper class" it would take years of dedication and strive; but being yourself during the process. "YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE"!

Jail time.. waste of time.

Why do we put people in Jail?

It seems like an obvious question, but it is an important one and it is more nuanced that initially meets the eye. What is the concept of justice? Is it for revenge, to placate the victims? To protect the public or property? To 're-educate' criminals? Is it to act as a deterrent? If so, just to deter people harming others or harming themselves too (it is illegal not to wear a seatbelt in most countries, even when it is only you in the car)? Is it to punish people that society frowns apon? Is it all these things? The law clearly punishes for both intent (eg conspiricy to murder) and consequence (eg death by dangerous driving).

We put people in jail, because of the crimes they did or the laws that each of them broke. What we seize to realize is what happens after the criminal is caught in the act, and sent to jail. It's nothing but a cycle. When civilians arrive at the court houses, they're treated like complete dirt, even if not found guilty yet. But that's just the beginning. When convicted of a crime, they are sent to jail.. in other terms a hell hole. The point of jails should be to help educate the criminals and try to teach them what the right thing to do is. Instead, they don't do anything but lock them up; Expecting them to learn for themselves, which isn't reality. When sent out to the real world again, most repeat the mistakes they did because they were never told that it was wrong otherwise. Jails should be more concerned about educating the public and making sure that crime stays off our streets, rather then talking smack about each and every one of the inmates. 

Deviance

Deviance in a sociological context describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules (ex: crime) as well as informal violations of social norms (ex: rejecting folkways). 

       The past few days, we have been learning about how society thinks, and how everything that isn't considered "normal" is weird. But what exactly is the norm? To be honest, I'm not sure anyone can even pinpoint anywhere close to it. In class, we had heard multiple examples of how deviance is present in our country; in society. The example that stuck out to me the most, was the blue tooth example. So let's just say a random guy was driving in his car and his blue tooth ear piece was completely out of sight. The person to the left of him would be like "Whoa, why is that guy talking to himself? He's soooooooo weird!!" However, the person to the right of him wouldn't think anything of it, because he/she would see the man's ear piece and realize that he is talking to someone on the phone. That's considered to be normal.