Social Class

In sociology we learn that its very hard to change social class. If youring the working class you most likely will stay there or you could move up or down the ladder depending on your choices. For example I will probably stay in the upper middle class because my parents force me to be a certain way. They make sure I get good grades in high school and that I will be able to go to college. I wont have to worry too much about college tutition becuase my parents will help me which in turn makes less debts i'll have to pay after college. Then they'll make sure I get a good paying job and help me make sure I am ok and that I stay an upper middle class adult. It's so hard to think that poor people in the reading work so hard at their jobs but they cant even make enough money to feed and have housing. Social class needs to change so that others can have a better standard of living.

The END

I have changed over the past semester. I have become more aware of my actions and what I say does matter. Also that racial slurs need to stop because they are wrong and we need to start accepting everyone for who they are. Also I noticed that my parents influence me a lot more than I thought. My parents have taught me everything and I have been social constructed to think a certain way but i'm trying to stop that. It's Amazing sociology is everywhere and you would never think that just sitting and watching otheres could be so entertaining and also weird because you have been forced since you were born to keep moving, keep on doing something and to not stop. FRom now on i'm gonna stop more and make sure I don't fall into the busyness of life. I really wish their was more sociology classes at stevenson because this has sparked my interest as to why people think the way that they do.

Crash

After watching the movie Crash I realized that no matter how hard we try to stop with the racial stereotyping we will never be able to stop. We can't stop because we are taught since we are born what to think of other people with different skin colors than our own. It's ridiculous to think that people have changed their racial stereotypes. No matter how hard we try it seems people will never be fully accepting of one another because we are so focused on the way each mother looks no one tries to find the person behind the skin. Crash was just another example of where we see racial slurs but in an extreme example. In life it could be the little things your dad might say to you or something a friend says to you. You need to speak up and change their minds because they were told to think this way but its wrong and just haults progress for equality for all.

Will you win the Race?

What is race? Is it your skin tone? Is it the way you look? Is it who your parents are? Most people think that race is based on all this that you have to be categorized into a specific race. That you are either black or white or hispanice or native american or asian. As of the past few years Jews were never considered white they were considered their own race category of Jews. Now most jews are considered white because they fought to be considered white. White is supposedly the pure culture and all others are unpure. Hispanics even fought to be considered white hispanics instead of being a seperate category. In Brazil you can change your race by providing evidence that you are a different race. For example if someone is viewed as black they can change to become white by providing evidence that maybe their mom or grnadma was white so that therefore makes them white. Also in Brazil your family can be made up of different races. For example you could be considered asian but your sister could be white and one of your parents is white and the other asian. Race is made up and doesnt really existed biologically. Race is based on peoples perceptions of others. Race is just another way to divide people even more.

Courtroom 302

In Courtroom 302 it was about guards mentally pressuring the inmates. The guards use yelling and scare tactics to make the prisoners scared of them. If they are scareds then they wont fight back. Also so the few guards dont get hurt by the inmates. It's very degrading to be an inmate because you must do what your told or you get hit. I would never want to be put in prison.

MASKculinity

In the reading for this week it talked about gay-baiting. gay-baiting is using words such as faggot or calling someone gay. Sociologist have found that gay-baiting is more about boys not feeling like a man. gay-baiting is a way to strip away any feeling that a guy is a man. With day of silence coming up it will be interesting to see how gay-baiting plays out throughout the day. Going to a pretty acceptable school I thought naturally that everyone was ok with homosexuals but that is not the case. My friend who is gay was asked by another classmate if he gets gay slurs during the day directed towards him and he said everyday. That amazed me because he said that people say gay slurs and it make it hard for him and also that its easier to walk away. To me a real man walks away when they are made fun of because what will fighting accomplish....nothing. Men fear being called a sissy or girly becuase since birth they were told to be strong. I see this with my brother having to be manly and be just like the guys in his frat. You open a magaizine or go into a store such as Abercrombie and all you see is these sexed up versions of guys with bulging muscles. The fact is they aren't even real, just like women men too are digitally enhanced to have a better body.

What's Wrong With Me Today? (EvErYtHiNg!)

When your a young girl your mom hands you a toy. This toy becomes the thing you most play with. The toy for me was barbie. When I was a little kid I used to play with barbie because she was perfect in everyway, she had a skinny body, a big chest, perfectly toned legs, the perfect boyfriend (Ken) and of course that always awesome looking hair. As I grew up I started to see myself has having to be barbie because just as most girls I went through puberty and all the sudden cared what I looked like. Everytime I looked in the mirrror I saw something wrong but I would never let myself be mad about it or fix it because I am what I am and no one can judge me unless I let that in. Unfortunately I would see my friends not have the same attitude as me. Everytime you took your bathroom partner (for some reason girls can't go to the bathrooms by themselves!) they would look in the mirror and try to fix the hair, make up, talk about boys and be all stereotypical, they had become morphed into this socially conformed clone of one another that I couldn't tell who my real friends were anymore. In class we watched doves campaign for real beauty. This is what little girls watch, not these sexed up version of what a woman is supposed to be. Everytime I go anywhere I am confronted with that sexed up version of what a woman is. Its everywhere from ads to television to movies and to even the terrible rap videos. I refuse to give into the mainstream culture of rap and hiphop because on every video there are at least 20 girls mostly naked, but clothed enough to not be a porno. Everytime I hear a behind the music of the rappers convicted or found innocent of rape or abuse of woman it turns me off to that kind of gangster lifestyle. Everyday it kills me to see all these boys try and look and act like gangsters. FACE IT BOYS YOU LIVE IN AN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS SOCIETY AND YOU ARE WHITE!!!! My fear is that one day that these guys i've grow up with will just become another statistic of abusing or raping a woman. I also fear that my friendss that try so hard to be this perfect image of beauty that they will never be happen with themselves and that they may become a victim of rape or abuse. Every girl boy and girl in high school should be forced to take a class and how your shaped as a human being to act and show them what true beauty is not this sexed up version.

Agents of Socialization: School

In the agents of socialization reading, we learned that school shapes our values. The values that we were taught at home change when you get to school every morning at 8:05 when the bell rings and then everyone is treated the same, with the same school rules. As you progress thrrough school your values change because people form cliques. Cliques are groups of usually same gender and people that like the same social norms. The only way to stay in a clique is to do everything the same and not deviate from the rule of the group to conform to one specific way, unless you want to become the outcast. I say become the outcast because why do the same thing as supposedly "your friends" when you can be original and do what you like. We have been enstilled since birth with conforming to what are parents want to be, having to graduate high school and you must get married and have kids. Those that don't do anything of these are looked on as outcast, stupid and aren't very accepted because school has taught us to conform to these stone age ideas. For the ones that don't conform to leading a "successful life" they are conforming not to conform. Truthfully they are the smart ones!

Human Nature

Everyone needs someone, that is part of Human Nature. When a baby is born it is taught to talk, walk, eat and everything else by their parents. Babies are nurtured into being a fully grown human adult. The effect that genie had with no human relations was distarious. She could do anything because she never had any human interaction. Genie teaches you to be thankful for what you have.

Kill Me Now

This week we watched Tuesdays with Morrie. In the movie a former student, Mitch, reconnects with his college professor, Morrie, before he dies from ALS. Mitch has trouble understanding why Morrie is ok with death. Mitch is uncomfortable with the thought of death just like most Americans, myself included. Death is hard for most to talk about because it reminds you of people that used to be alive and how they impacted your life. When I think of death, I think of my grandparents. Just like Morrie I had a grandfather that was diagnosed with a similar disorder of alzheimer's and parkinson's. As each time Mitch went to visit Morrie he got progressively worse. Unfortunately just like Mitch I too had to see my grandfather go from being perfectly fine to having to be helped for everything. Its not an easy process to go through nor do you take lightly. When they would talked about almost losing Morrie but it was touch and go for awhile. I too have experienced more then I care to admit. These are the moments that make you evaluate yourself as a person and realize everyone has the same destiny of death. Death is sucha hard subject to be around because it makes everyone uncomfortable and Americans just want to stay in their comfort zone. Death is a part of life and i have had to except that but for most people they believe they will cheat death but in the end they will have to face the scary, dark tunnel of death.

How Do You View Yourself as an American?

This week we were given an outline to write about American culture. This assigment I thought would take me 5 minutes actually took me longer because it was hard to see american culture from an ethnocentric point of view. This week we were also given a reading called Bemused in American, it was a German journalist writing in the Chicago Tribune about his impression of American culture. I was amazed at his fascination with supermarkets. I never realized how big Dominick's really is when he says, "a factory-sized building surrounded by a huge parking lot." The German journalist is used to small little shops to buy groceries instead of huge supermarkets. Also the journalist had a fascination with joggers. Just like the journalist I too don't understand the concept of jogging from point A to Point B then back to point A to start or even end a day. I understand it's good exercise but it makes no sense to me how running is fun, when all you are doing is going through the motions of left foot, then right foot, but don't forget to breathe every once in awhile. As Americans we never stop and take a look around at our culture and how exspansive and crazy it actually is.

Define Your Looks

Today in class, Sal was talking about how different cultures define people on the way they look. For example in the United States you are either caucasian, african american, asian, pasific islander, or indian. In African there are 8 different categories of race. You can change your race as long as you can prove your ancestry unlike in America you are what you look like. Other countries have different categories for different races. My freshman year of high school during world history my teacher had on the board "What is your nationality?" and you discussed it with the people around you. Everyone was saying my mom is from this country or my grandparents are from this country. I consider myself to be 50% German, 25% polish and 25% Russian because that is all were my grandparents are from, but how can you be only part Russian or Polish? At the end of the activity we discussed with the class and everyone walked out trying to figure out why we wasted the whole class time on this. It took me until my junior year to understand that fact. In American we consider our self to be from different countries that our nationality isn't American. Why is this? Just like in Africa you can change your race category, Americans don't view themselves in one way but in many ways. Why do we want to change who we are?

May I go to the bathroom?

This week in classs we talked about culture shock. Mr. Salituro talked about his experience with a Japenese toilet and being culture shocked after he got off the airplane and wanted to go to the bathroom. The Japanese toilet is in the ground and you have to squat to go into it. Just like Mr. Salituro I had an experience with a Japenese toilet but it was more modernized like the toilets we use. In Hawaii there is a huge population of Japenese residents and also tourist, so naturally Honolulu (a city on one of the islands) caters to the customs of the Japanese. Me and my family got stuck in a Japanese mall about a month ago in Hawaii. We were culture shocked as to how to get out because it is like a maze to get out a Japanese mall they take you by every store so you have to look. Also my family really needed to go to the bathroom. As my mom came with me to the bathroom she told me not to use the cleaning device...being the unknown to Japanese culture I had no idea what she was talking about. As I walked in the stall I soon found out what she meant, I saw there was this control panel and you could tilt the toilet so it could clean you off with the spraying water. Naturally my culture shock threw me off and thankfully there was toilet paper because other wise I would be just like Mr.Salituro and not know what to do. It was strange to me that Japanese didn't use toilet paper but after Mr.Salituro explained in class why they go to the bathroom the way they do it started to kind of make sense. My brother was also fortunate enough to go on a trip called birthright, which is a free trip to Israel. On the trip he told us that Israeli's use a different kind of toilet flusher in order to save on water because Israel is low on fresh water. So there is a yellow tab you pull if you go numder 1 and uses less water and tab number 2 as you guessed it was brown and used more water. It's interesting to see that different cultures have different reasons for going to the bathroom.

Keep an Open Mind

In class this week our teacher put up a video of a man that was born with his feet backwards. In this video the man tries to get people to stop being so judgmental that he has a backwards feet. He tells his audience that they need to keep an open mind in the beginning of his performance. In Operation Snowball it is the exact same way. Operation snowball is a school sponsored organization that for one weekend you go to a camp and do different activities and learn team work along with meeting really cool new people. During Operation Snowball they tell you to keep an open mind. When I first went on snowball I wasnt so sure about going and I didnt have that much of an open mind but when I got there and realized it was a ton of fun I let myself be open. I was open just like the guy in the video because if I wasnt I would have hated the entire weekend and may have end up ruining somneone else's weekend. Keeping an open mind when doing a new active or seeing someone is different is the key to life.

Ruach

I am currently in a group called BBYO, which is a international organization. In BBYO there are different chapters. I am in Ruach. In Ruach we have an elected board and the other girls. I currently amthe gizboit(treasure) of the chapter. In F227 the strong told the weak what job to do and how to survive. This is the same case in Ruach. The strong are the elected board members but since we are a newer chapter I survival rests on the "strong" new 8th graders. Our own chapter isn't even run by our president it is run by a sophmore in our group because she will help Ruach survive since we are a newer chapter (started in 2007). The oldest members that started this chapter are only juniors and it is hard to know that majority of us are juniors and after we leave their may not be a ruach anymore. Ruach right now is about survival but not to the extremes in f227.

FrEaK aNd GeEks

In the show freaks and geeks it shows the true stereotypes of nerdy huys and that all the watch is star trek and have a bully. The freaks are to cool for school and dont fit in to the conformity of being a high school student. Everyday I am confronted by different diverse groups the exact same groups in the show. Today in gym we were doing a team building activity because gym teachers are tired of students being in cliques/groups and not branching out to meet new kids. Their method of trying to make the students interact is annoying because we havent become comfortable enough to talk with new people. Just like in freaks and geeks the main charcter girl tries to be with the freak crowd but doesnt really fit in, that is how I feel everyday in gym. The main character forces herself to become them just as the gym teachers force us all to be friends. Becoming friends or talking with one another is hard just like it is for the geeks when they are confroned by a bully because they are always stutering. Being forced to become friends with others is wrong just like the guidance counselor forces the main girl to go back to the academic decathalon team, even though she is trying to change and be more herself.

Awkward...Silence...Awkward

Silence is it Awkward?
Silence is not awkward because nothing is normal. As I was told by my best friend, define what normal is. Is normal being a stereotype such as a prep, jock or loner. Is normal doing the same as everyone else. Is normal not being able to think for yourself. There is no normal in society because society has become so abnormal that normal is exstinct. Society is abnormal because where I go to high school you can be a goth kid but also be really nice like my some of my friends. Also I have other friends that are the "smart kids" but don't act the way as the stereotype makes them out to be. No one or nothing is awkward because in the end awkward isn't awkward it isn't even normal it is just a part of life some people like and others think of it as annoying. Some think of it as annoying because people try to fill the silence with talk but the talk either makes it funny or just makes it worst. For example, at least once a week at the lunch table my friends have a weird silence and one of my friends just tries to talk to make it better but we all end up bursting out in laughter because we are in our comfort zones with each other. "Awkward Silences" are always the best when in your comfort zone, but if they aren't it makes you feel annoyed and uncomfortable. Real silence is so rare now a days because someone is on a cell phone, facebook, watching tv, listening to music, driving a car, using a computer or other electronics and appliances that have made society "noisy". There is always the "noise" of I need to check this application or call this person or drive here. In the end we end up not listening to society cause we never can "rest" our ears from the "noises of life". We have become trained not to listen, not to feel, not to be anything but noisy! No one can listen even if they think they are in silence. What is silence any more? Does silence even exist?

Who Am I?

I am...
-junior in high school -a sister, daughter & a cousin
-confused about life -a crazy friend
-a procrastinator -truthful
-rock n' roll lover -basketball & softball player
-lover of awkward moments -lover of sports

My goal in life is to decide what I want to do with my life such as a career, where to go to college, where to live, who I want to become. I know I want to do a career either involving computers, social work/therapist, business, music or sports. I want to learn to play the drums and guitar. My biggest influences that will help me ralong my way to reach my goals are my family. I am me.