Crash- Implicit & Explicit Racism

This week in sociology, we watched a movie called Crash. Crash presented the extreme cases of racism that people encounter on so many occasions. I enjoyed this movie a lot, because it really opened up my eyes about racism, and how it affects everyone. What I liked most about Crash, was that it wasn't just black and white people. It had a diverse cast from many different minorities like Hispanic, Mexican, Asian, and Persian. which gave a really good perspective of race from different points of views. In the movie, there were many examples of both implicit and explicit racism. implicit racism is based on judgments, it is from your brain. You don't realize that you're racist because it is in the subconscious part of your brain, and it's not intentional. Explicit racism is extreme racism, where you know and realize that you are racist, and it is your intention to be that. In the movie, one example of explicit racism was when the Persian family's store was broken into, and it had racist remarks to 9/11 and Arabians, when they were not even Arabian. One example of implicit racism was when sandra bullock kept telling her husband to change the locks, when she saw the locksmith was Mexican. In my opinion, I think that explicit racism is worse because the person's intention is to be racist, its not an accident. As much as I wouldn't like to, I think that I could be implicitly racist, and I think that everyone in some ways or another is. It's very easy to pass quick judgment on someone just because of what race they are or what race they look like. We can't help that because society has taught us these things. I think the best thing you can do is to realize that you are being racist and try to prevent it from happening.

Race

I never realized that race has always been a social construct. Biologically, race does not exist. There are no biological traits that can identify with "races". The first time that I actually learned that race was a social construct was in my US History class. When I was asked, "what does race mean", I would always respond with the obvious response. I would say that race is the group that you belong to based on your biological features. However, that is wrong, since race has no connection to your biological makeup. What I learned about race in sociology, was that your race can easily change depending on where you are. Like what Sal said, you might be one race in this country, but if you fly over to another area, like Brazil, you would be considered a different race. So, even though race is not real in regards to biology, I still wonder why people are so obsessed about it. I myself have always wondered what race I am. Technically, people would say that I am Asian, but I feel like I am not like other Asians, I have a different skin tone, and different features, so what really am I? I have ultimately realized that it does not matter what race I am, because race does not define me, and race can change. Watching the video in class today about the Brown vs. Board of Education and the dolls, broke my heart. It was so sad to see these little girls, who were probably only about 8 or 9 years old, think so badly of themselves, and put white people above them. That really proves how much people still obsess over race and hopefully, one day it will change, and people will not be put down because of their races.

Social Class:Monopoly

This week we've been discussing poverty, and social class. In order to represent the concept of social class and its role in our society,  we played monopoly. While playing this, each player had to roll to see what class they'd be in. This is kind of in a way like how it happens in real life.  Like Sal said, you don't get to pick your class. You get it by luck, or by being born into it. When I rolled, I ended up in the upper middle class. While playing, instead of getting 200,000 dollars everytime you pass go, you only get what your income is. As I was playing,  I started to realize that the higher class players had a huge advantage to win the game. They were able to start buying properties right away since they had the money. Then, everytime someone would land on the property,  people of the lower classes had a hard time paying.  As the game went om, eventually, all the money I had was slowly decreasing and I lost all of it and was put on welfare. Once I was put on welfare, I realized that I was stuck. I think that this was an important lesson because it taught us how certain people of certain classes have a huge advantage of getting more and more money, while people at the bottom get nothing,  and they are stuck there, holding onto whatever they can. This unit has really me alot. Many people could ignorantly say that people in poverty put themselves in poverty and don't try. However, people are literally stuck at the bottom, and its extremely difficult to make it up a class. This unit really opened up my eyes about things Ive never had to think about. Even though it was just a game, I realized that people that are actually in a situation where they are on welfare feel hopeless. I didn't even want to try anymore to try to win the game or make more money because I knew that it was just not possible with the rules.

Social Class

This week in class, we discussed social class. We learned that social class plays a very significant and huge role in shaping who we are, and the things we do or don't do. We looked at specific graphs and data. One thing we looked at was how family income and wealth affects our lives. Our family's wealth and income determine things like where we'll live, what kind of houses we buy, the people we hang out with, the quality of education we receive and other things. While we were looking at the different graphs, one thing I realized was kind of shocking. A very tiny percentage of people in the entire country owns most of the countries wealth. The rest of the people fall in the middle, which is the middle class. Then, at the way bottom is the lower class, which is a really large percentage. This showed how there's a huge gap in the distribution of wealth in our country.  The coin wager activity that we did, did an excellent job of showing how wealth is distributed and how certain people have advantages to earn more money. I have never thought about these things. I realized that the way I'm shaped, is largely determined by my family's wealth and income. These things affect who I create relationships with, how I do in school and where I go to school. I think the most important role that is affected by social class is education. Many people say that it is easy to go to college, find a great job, and make "new money". However, many people have certain advantages which may make it harder for others. People often blame people in poverty by saying that they choose to be there, however, you need some advantage in the beginning to start your life. For example, you need money to make it to college and earn a degree, and it takes a lot of investing. I realize that I am lucky for the education that I get. It was only luck that I was born into a financially stable family, and I am lucky enough to get the chance to get to college.

Drugs and Deviance

This week in class, we did an activity connecting deviance to drugs. For this activity we had to decide if a certain type of drug is legal, prescription, illegal, or a felony. This was fun and interesting. While trying to figure out what group each drug would be a part of, most of us were just trying to figure out what the drug was. I think most people did this because certain drugs already had certain labels on them based on what they knew. What struck me the most during this was that caffeine got an unexpected rating. Some groups thought it should have been illegal or prescription. This was so weird to see. This is something that some people consume daily in typical beverages like coffee, sodas, and even chocolate. It's weird to think that caffeine was grouped as something illegal when it can be found so easily. I drink coffee and pop often and I never thought about what kind of label it has. Everyone would say that it is safe and legal just because everyone knows that from its name and reputation. Another one that was intriguing to find out about was the nicotine. Nicotine was rated as a felony or illegal. Its odd because even though it has such horrible effects, its still legal, and people don't consider it such a big problem. I think the biggest thing I learned from this activity was that certain drugs have labels that are only taken from where the location is and when it is. Other states would probably classify these drugs more differently than we did.

The Saints and The Roughnecks

This week in class we read an article called The Saints and The Roughnecks. The Saints were white, middle-class, suburban teenagers. Everybody in their school, including teachers, viewed them as good guys, and they were always given extra chances. The Saints would often ditch school, drink, and pull pranks. The Roughnecks were a little bit different. The Roughnecks were not so rich, and they came from a small neighborhood. The Roughnecks also committed some of the same things that the Saints did. Despite the fact that these 2 groups committed similar crimes, they were given different punishments. For example, if one the Saints did bad on a test, he would get a second chance since he'd was viewed as a good kid who is really capable of doing better. The Saints would also get off easy from the police than the Roughnecks did. What intrigued me about the article was that not only were the boys' deviance influencing the way people viewed them now, but it also influenced their futures. As people expected, most of the Saints went on to college after high school, and they got really good jobs. Most of The Roughnecks ended up not going to college and not getting so great careers. This article proves that your appearance and background, can influence people's perception of you. This reminded me of one my friends who had gotten pulled over for speeding. When my friend got pulled over, the officer knew who she was in school. He knew that she was a good kid, who was involved, and did a lot of community service. Since the officer knew she was a good kid, he let her go. It really proves that in society people's appearances, backgrounds, and social classes play a big role in how people view them.

Community Service #3

4/11/12 Wednesday 4-8pm This was my 3rd day volunteering at Condell Hospital. I worked with Barb today. Today, alot of interesting things happened. They weren't good things, they were serious. When I first arrived at the hospital, things were a bit slow at the beginning, but today the hospital was busier than ever. One patient had over 30 different visitors. This patient had been severely injured in a motorcycle accident. Since I've been working here for a few days, im used to what I have to do. When visitors come in to see a patient in, for example, the ICU, I treat them as any other visitor coming to see another patient. But to them, they have a completely different outlook on that. Their thinking would be that its someone extremely important to them. I feel like working at a hospital's front desk makes it harder to realize what visitors are really there for. To me it feels like its just a job, and it probably feels like that for the doctors and the people that actually work there. I feel like I learned that I need to be more aware that its not just a job, there are people that are injured and ill everyday and it's serious. While sitting at the desk, a man came in. This man had been through a lot. He was telling us that he had just lost his wife to breast cancer a few days ago.  When working at the front desk, people really open up to you about their situations. His wife passed away at the hospital and he wanted to know if her body was still there to arrange for her funeral. When he was telling us this, it was so sad I had tears in my eyes. Hearing things like this makes this job feel more personal and it feels like less of a job when you are talking to someone and helping them. When my shift was over, I went home thinking how lucky I am that my family members are healthy and safe, and I was grateful for that. I love volunteering at the hospital, and i plan on continuing my work there.

Masculinity

This week we discussed masculinity. One thing we talked about was why violence with men really occurs. During class we watched a video that showed how masculinity is portrayed. People everywhere think that a real man is strong, buff, tough, doesn't show emotion or weakness, is able to fight etc. However, males that don't live up to those expectations are considered wusses, sissys, or even girls. Men feel obligated to turn to violence when they are stripped of their masculinity. In class, we read an article that focused on school shootings. Basically, the article concluded that men turn to violence when their masculinity is taken away from them by being bullied or teased, or gay-baited. When men feel like they aren't men, they turn to violence in order to prove their toughness. I think we learned about this because it's so important to realize and be conscious of the fact that the image of a typical, real man, is not real at all. The media subtly teaches us what we're supposed to think real men are supposed to act like and look like. We also watched a short video showing us how Disney movies try to influence us about masculinity. The media also encourages men to become violent toward women and to take control over them. The reason that violence toward women occurs is because the media sexualizes violence. I have never experienced this myself, but I know that many girls in high school end up in abusive relationships. Its so awful that we have the mindsets that the media wants us to have. The media makes us think that women are only valued for their looks, and men are only valued for their strength. I could never understand why men are expected to be so violent. I really enjoyed this unit of socialization. I learned and realized alot of things that I had never noticed before. The media is a scary thing if you really think about it, and we need to be more aware of the things that influence us every single day.

Community Service #2

4/4/12 Wednesday 4-8 pm

Yesterday was my 2nd day volunteering at Condell hospital. I was expecting just another day at the hospital to be the same as any other. I worked at the front desk again, and I worked with Patricia this time. Since I had to go there straight from school, i was so tired and hungry, but i knew that I wanted to be there. I got to do some new things. This time, I had to transport a patient to their room in a wheel chair. I was a little bit nervous doing this since I've never done it before. I was nervous that I would bump into something accidentally, or I would get lost and frustrate the patient. It was a long walk to get to the patient's room and it was a bit tiring to push a wheel chair that far, but I got it done and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I was able to help somebody. I spent most of my shift doing what I usually do, like greet visitors and tell them which room the patient they are visiting is in. Something cool that happens is that every time a new baby is born, the hospital plays a lullaby and I heard the lullaby 3 times. Something interesting that happened was that the helicopter that is used for traumatic accidents, came through. This usually doesn't occur often, so it was interesting to see that. At the end of my shift, the last people that came to the desk was a couple who had been in a devastating car accident. I had to call a cab for them and find them a hotel to stay at. This couple got into an accident, had just been treated at the hospital, lost their car to destruction, and they couldn't go home for a long time. While I was listening to them telling us what had happened to them, I realized how lucky I was to just be able to go back my own  home that night. I enjoy volunteering at the hospital, and I find that each week I experience something different and hear different stories.

Digitally Beautiful

In class we've been discussing how the media influences us. More specifically, this week we talked about how women in the media are portrayed. Women in the media are not only used to sell products, but also ideas. Women in advertisements are not real. For example, The pictures in magazines and catalogues are all photoshopped. It is like 1 women's photo is more like 3 or 4 different women put together, using different parts of the body. It is gross how the media portrays females. Women are only valued for their looks. Ads show women super skinny and flawless. Because of these unreal and literally impossible body types, millions of women battle with eating disorders and depression. I think that we are learning about this because its extremely important to have a conscious mind when you are being bombarded with millions of ads with fake things. It is easy to say you don't care, and you think that the media has no impact on you, but the media has such a huge influence on you, and you aren't even aware of it because it seeps deep through your mind. Huge corporations try to make money by making woman feel insecure and vulnerable and convincing them that they need something in order to feel good, happy and beautiful. Like many other females out there, I've always felt bad about myself when I see ads with perfect and flawless women. I always think to myself why I can't look like that. Well, now I know that the images are completely impossible to achieve. We are all the worst judges of ourselves, but we all need to be aware that the pictures we are seeing are never real. It's really great and refreshing to see Dove and other companies in the beauty industry put more emphasis on inner beauty rather than outer, and seeing more plus sized models in the fashion world. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and it is so sad that society stripped us of that feeling, and convinced us that if we don't look a certain way, we won't be accepted.

Community Service

Wednesday 3/28/12- 4-8 pm

For my community service project, I decided to volunteer at Condell hospital. I have never volunteered at a hospital before so I didn't know what to expect. I was a bit nervous at first. I didn't know my way around the hospital at all. Other volunteers showed me around though so that it was easier. So far it has been a rewarding experience. I meet so many new people everyday. I worked at the main desk with Barb, at the first entrance of the hospital. Normally, I would ask visitors if they are here to see a patient and I would direct them to the patient's room. Occasionally, I got to do things like deliver flowers to some patients. I delivered one bouquet of flowers to a woman who just had a baby. It was amazing to see the smile on the patient's faces, and how happy the patients would be when you'd bring them the flowers. I expected that my job would have just been to do paper work at the desk or something but I actually got to meet people and interact with them. One thing that surprised me was that the hospital had different "codes" for emergencies. It was surprising how many times you would hear something like codes for severe trauma so often in just one day. Another thing that surprised me was that some of the patient's did not want visitors, and I couldn't understand why. Since it's only been my first day, I haven't gotten to do as much, but I plan to continue at the hospital, hopefully I will get to do some more things. So far, I really like  volunteering at the hospital, and I really enjoy learning new things there.

Consuming Kids

This week in class, we watched a video which proves how much the media really influences what kinds of things we want, and sadly our own character. From watching the video I learned that we are influenced by marketing from the moment that we are born, and most of us don't even know it. We are compelled to want things. We are constantly being advertised to from all of the electronic connections that we have. We see thousands of advertisements in just one day. From Tv, to your cell phone, and magazines, we are constantly surrounded by ads which throw the latest things in our faces. The sad thing is that really young kids today, have and are doing things that the previous generations did not do when they were that young. Watching this video and understanding it was a little bit scary to think about. Marketers have so much control over what kids are going to want and it teaches them that they are not good enough if they don't have all of these nice things, and they do this just to make money. It makes me think about what I would do when I would have kids. I see millions of advertisements on a daily basis. One day I actually decided to count how many ads i had seen in one day, but I eventually lost count because there were too many. It's crazy and a little bit frightening to know that these marketers have so much control, and are able to worm their ways through our brains and completely deceive us, and most people don't even realize it.

Feral Children

This week in class we discussed some pretty shocking things. On an episode of the Oprah Show, the case of Danielle was discussed. Danielle was a feral child, meaning that she basically lived like a wild animal. Danielle was discovered in a tiny bedroom of a small house. She was in an extremely awful condition. She was not able to walk properly, talk or chew food. The reason that Danielle was in this condition was not because of anything biological, but instead because of the absence of human interaction while growing up. Danielle was abandoned by her own mother at a very young age, which drastically impacted her development. Danielle was not able to do many of the things that we do daily. Mostly everyone is born with the ability to do most things. This is called an aptitude. With a lack of interaction, sometimes children are not able to learn to use those skills. Danielle's case really made me think about how lucky I am. I grew up normally with a loving family. Because of the interaction and connection i've had in my childhood, I've been able to learn these basic things and able to live a normal life. Luckily,  Danielle was adopted and is now getting the love and interaction that she really needed. Learning about Danielle really shows how important human interaction really is in a human's development.

Tuesdays With Morrie-Love

I absolutely loved the movie Tuesdays With Morrie. This movie was so jam packed with amazing and valuable and deep life lessons. Morrie was an incredibly wise and admirable man. In the movie, Morrie says, "we think we don't deserve love, that if we let it come in, we'll become soft. " I do think that Americans are afraid of loving and showing that they love someone. They are afraid of showing love because they fear that the person they love is going to hurt them in some way, or they are afraid of losing this person. They are also afraid to care too much because sometimes the other person might not care as much. People are afraid to grow closer and build emotional attachments with others because the possibility of losing this person is too difficult to bear. Love is built on trust, and sometimes we fear that this trust will be broken and it is painful to deal with. I've had experiences where I've had my trust broken by people that I thought I loved, and it became extremely difficult to finally let people in again. Real love and romantic love are two different things, but I think that romantic love can turn into real love however, I do agree that romantic love is not as long lasting as real love is. Romantic love begins with infatuation. Real love is unconditional. Real love is a commitment and it requires lots of time to grow. Real love is based on eternal dedication, a desire to spend your life with, and care about someone no matter what the situation could be.

God Grew Tired Of Us & Time

This week involved a lot of laughter in class as we learned more about culture shock, and learned alot about the values and the norms of cultures. It was hilarious to see things like the crazy streets in Italy or India, or the Lost Boys making a meal out of smashed Ritz crackers and milk.
We find these things funny because we've all grown up to do things differently, in the ways that we view as normal or our "norms" I really enjoyed the movie "God Grew Tired Of Us." It was sad but it was a little bit funny too. The Lost Boys were determined to come to America in order to support and provide for their lost families back in Uganda. The Lost Boys had drastically different lives and values in the refugee camp that they lived in compared to how they lived in America. For example, their lives in the camp involved always being together and doing things with each other. However, when they were in  America, they felt that people were unfriendly and it felt isolating for them. One of the guys actually even went crazy because of the culture shock of the loneliness he experienced.Another concept that really stood out to me was our value of time. I never realized how much we value time on a daily basis. We ask things like, "What time is it?" Or "Is it time to go yet?" We even freak out when we are late for something. Time is something that we obsess about constantly, but we usually don't realize it. Learning about time has made me stop to think and realize that the only reason I care so much about time is because it is in our culture. An example where I really thought about time this week was when I woke up late and missed my bus. Of course, I freaked out and acted quickly to get a ride to school. When I got to school I realized I still had a few minutes left until class began and I was relieved. its so weird to think that time controls so much of what we think and do, and it controls our emotions as well. This discussion about time has really got me wondering, what if one day time disappeared and it wasn't there to control us? Would we appreciate that? would we panic? Or, would we still go on with our daily lives even in the absence of time?

Culture Shock

This week in sociology we are discussing culture. I think that the whole idea of culture is kind of hidden at times because our culture comes from the things that we are most used to, so we don't always notice it. That's why it is so hard to adjust to another culture. One interesting concept of culture we discussed was culture shock. Often, people get frustrated when they experience culture shock. We played a really interesting game called five tricks. We played the game, without any language, with one group, and with a certain set of rules for a matter of five minutes. Afterwards, we were told to switch groups. While playing the game, little did we know that the new group was playing by a completely different set of rules than we were. It was funny and interesting to see people get angry and frustrated, even though we were only playing for a short amount of time. This was a great way to show how culture shock would feel. When people are used to a certain set of rules, and a certain way of living, it is extremely difficult to adjust to a new set. I experienced culture shock when I went to India a few years ago. Since I was born and raised here in the US, I do not know that many things about Indian culture. Things in India are very different. There are different modes of transportation, they dress differently, they talk differently, and they think differently. For example, one thing is that people there do not usually say "okay" , or "yeah" as often as we do. Whenever i said that, everyone automatically knew that I wasn't from there. Learning about culture shock makes me more aware, and also more understanding and accepting of other peoples culture. Everyone belongs to a culture that is attached to them, and it is very hard to adjust to a new culture.

A Bronx Tale-Groups

This week we watched a really good movie called a Bronx Tale. I really enjoyed this movie alot. Not only was it funny, but it had a really good storyline. Calogero is a part of many different groups in his life. One group that Calogero was a part of, was his family. Another group that he belonged to was with his circle of friends.Calogero felt conflicted with this group. He always felt uneasy when they would do certain things, that he knew he didn't want to do, but he felt like he had to sometimes. I thought that Calogero's master status throughout his life was always being in Sunny's group. These are the people that Calogero spent most of his time with. More importantly, Sunny was the one he spent the most time with. In the movie, Calogero said that Sunny was like a father to him which meant that Calogero had an extremely deep connection to Sunny. When he was young, he looked up to Sunny and spent most of his time at the bar with him. In my life, I consider my master status as being a member of my family. My family is extremely important to me and it always will be. These are the people that I spend most of my time with and I have grown up with. I have considered being a part of my family for ny whole life, and I don't think that it will change.

Gang Leader For A Day

This week in class we read an article called Gang Leader For A Day. This article helped me learn that sociology is studied in two ways. The first method of studying sociology is the quantitative way. In this method, sociologists study data by conducting surveys and collecting data. The second way of studying sociology is the qualitative way. This includes interviews, and actually stepping into the subject's shoes, experiencing and seeing life through their eyes. It was an interesting article because the author did such an unusual thing. He started spending time with the gang members, even though he was told to use the surveys to study them. This article is important because sometimes, studying sociology through survey questions might not always be enough. I know that i usually get frustrated when I am asked such broad questions about something in surveys, because I am never able to fully explain or justify my answer. Questions in surveys are extremely vague and they leave no room for deeper meanings. There is no better kind of learning than to experience something for yourself.

Social Construction of Reality

This week in class we did alot of interesting things. I really enjoyed watching the show Freaks and Geeks alot, however, I was really into the topic of social construction of reality. This lesson was really interesting. I never knew that back in the old days there was no such thing as a “teenager”. It’s very weird to think that back then, 17 year olds were considered adults. At that age, they were already working in factories and having their own families. As a modern day teenager, I would not be able to support myself financially. I think that the spit for saliva activity did a good job of portraying social construction of reality. It’s odd that even though we all produce saliva, we are so trained to think that spit is disgusting, even though it’s the same exact thing. This really helps me understand how much of an impact society really has on me. Society itself created the term teenager. Everything that we do, is created for teenagers. For example, pop culture is mostly for teenagers. For us teenagers today, our lives are completely different from teenagers in previous years.

Sociological Mindfulness & Sociological Imagination

Learning about sociological mindfulness has really made me think harder about the world that I live in. This topic intrigued me. It is so interesting how we do certain things on a daily basis, but yet we rarely ever think about how they affect others around us. Learning about sociological mindfulness made me open up my eyes and realize that the things I do, small actions or big actions, affect my environment and the people around me. Being sociologically mindful as Shwalbe said, simply leads to a better life for you and the people around you. I now realize that doing something as small as picking up trash, or pushing my chair in does make some sort of a difference. Learning about this topic has made me actually stop in the middle of doing something or saying something and think to myself how it will affect the others around me.

Another thing that we talked about in class was sociological mindset. We looked at and discussed the Beloit Mindset List. I think that it is so amazing that we look at this world and our lives differently than our parents or the kids that are being born now because things are constantly changing. The list and the discussion has taught me to appreciate the things we have today, especially major technological advancements. I will admit, I do get frustrated when my internet won't connect sometimes. However, I realize that I am lucky, and I appreciate the fact that I live in a time where internet even exists, and we are able to do such broad things with technology.

So far, I have learned great things in sociology. I am looking at and thinking about aspects of the world that I've never known or noticed, and I am becoming more aware of my surroundings.

Who Am I?

Who Am I? My name is Lopa, and I am a student in high school. I am hard to figure out sometimes. I am a shy person by nature. When I meet someone new, it's not comfortable for me to be myself around them right away, and i hide my emotions. However, I love meeting new people, and getting to know them. I stand for kindness and honesty. I am obsessed with music, and i love dissecting lyrics for a hidden message. I am also grateful for everything that I have in life. I am thankful for the wonderful family and friends that I have, and it is truly a blessing that I do not take for granted. I am a very ambitious person with big dreams that I believe will come true. I believe that I was put on earth to make a difference in the world in any possible way that I can. Sometimes , I enjoy volunteering at homeless shelters. I started volunteering about 2 years ago, and it has changed my life ever since. I have mixed emotions on my life. Even though the events in my life have their ups and downs, I am grateful for the life that I live. Obviously, this really isn't all of who I am. Defining myself today is impossible, only what the future will bring, will add on to my definition of who I really am.