Race is a social construction

This week, in sociology, we touched on the subject of racism. Racism doesn't exist biologically. It's nothing but a mere social construction that was developed in our society. The activity that really stood out was when African-American children were asked to pick between a white and black doll, and most of the time they would pick the white one because they claimed it was the "good" doll since the thought of "white is good and black is evil" is embedded in their heads. It breaks my heart how these children wouldn't realize that THEY ARE black, yet they choose against their color.

Social Class

This week in sociology, we talked about social classes. We watched a show called, "30 days." I'ts about a couple that tried to survive only working minimum wage jobs for 30 days without any help. In this interesting show, they show how hard it is to live your daily lives on the edge of the blade. They made it clear how if they only miss even one day of work, it affects their whole budget for the month. But that was the least of their problems, they took in kids that made it extra stressful for them to cope up with their everyday budget not knowing what to eat for dinner. I liked it because it opened my eyes on how the difference in social class greatly affects the privileges someone gets growing up, and the privileges that we don't have growing up restricts us from what we can actually do as we grow up. Like deviance, poverty is a brand in our society that leaves you nameless and unimportant to those who are in a "higher" class than you. 

Deviance

In sociology, we talked about how deviance is formed in our society. Like how something is socially constructed, deviance is formed through how we perceive how someone is, and a big part of that perception is one's social class. We also listened to a podcast of a real drug investigation in a high school somewhere in Florida. Although the man who was really close to the female officer didn't mean no harm, whom never said yes to drugs, and had good grades were looked down upon when he was basically forced to sell marijuana to the disguised police officer that he fell in love with the first time he laid eyes on her. This was clearly unfair because on top of getting suspended, the police officer claimed that he made the transaction with her without taking into account what was his motive which was the pressure of his crush asking him for something. Without that variable taking into place, that kid wouldn't even get close into getting caught in this mess. And once you are labeled deviant, it will stay with you forever.

Femininity and Masculinity

This week in sociology, we looked into the social construction of what femininity and masculinity is in our society. Because of this social norm, people that aren't heterosexual are deprived, and discriminated against. As a growing diverse community, I believe that accepting these people whom are different from the social norm is necessary because they're people too. I really like how Stevenson supports them with GSA (gay straight alliance), How they are included in worlds fair. This is a big cause of social rejection since being Masculine is only for men, and femininity is only for women. Although it may take time, it is necessary for our society to accept everyone, and not based on their gender.

Media

This week in sociology, we discussed about how the media soially constructs our life. We watched the video, "Killing Us Softly 4," about how the media influences girls' minds that they need to look and act a certain way and that they are the ones that belong in the house. Looking at ads, all the girls that are in a advertisement are all photo shopped to look so perfect. A lot of teenage girls look at those magazines and compare themselves to the images of reflection. Everyone is different, and can't be the exact replica of someone else especially if the perfect gals n the magazines are photoshopped. Growing up in a generation where media was embedded in our heads, I can clearly see how the media affects one's social construction. As a small boy, I thought girls were gross, and weird, but I only thought that way becase of all the T.V. shows that I watched emphasized boys disliking girls. The same thing goes on in social groups in high school, and how are they shaped by the media nowadays. Before, smart kids were seen as the "nerds," the outcasts of popularity, and kids who excelled at sports were branded "jocks," the popular faces in school. As these were all seen in the media and followed as the norms, it changed overtime like in the movie, "21 jump street," where police officers that graduated highshool years ago followed the same trend growing up. But when they went on an undercover investigation, they had to be highschool students all over again. And this time, the norms have changed like how smart kids rule the popular face of their school, gay people were accepted, and being a jerk isn't as funny as ten years ago. This all happend because of the media. This shows how poweful the media is.

Awareness

Knowing what's right from wrong, is that what we call awareness? Having cognitive thinking, is that awareness? Humans are supposed to be aware because we actually need this awareness to survive. This week, in sociology class, we were talking about children who've been neglected by their parents, and ended off being feral children. From what I've learn from this week is that, humans are very vurnerable their first years in life because that's when we develop our brains . It's the stage of nurturing, and learning how to function in our socially constructed society. Having no human interaction in that time period will cause children to stay an infant no matter what age they may be. Although there are given circumstances where in children have been exposed to the wild like this child that we watched who were raised by dogs, so she acts and even pants like a dog because that's what she saw, and the only interaction she had with any living thing. This unit really reminds me of my favorite childhood movie Tarzan. The movie is about a boy who was raised by gorillas, and was fortunate enough to have survive to his adult years in the care of Apes. Soon enough, humans came to the island, and he learned how to speak and understand the Human language knowing that he's one of them, and not of his gorilla family. An awesome movie, but would that be possible in real life to comprehend human language when one is raised like a monkey?

The big rocks

What is important to you? Do we really ask ourselves what is important to us, or do we let our society control us by having certain expectations for us? Yesterday, Sal was telling us a metaphorical story about priorities. An empty jar must be filled in with big rocks first before anything else because they might not fit in later on. After hearing this, I'm really conscious if my big rocks are my own choice, and not pebbles, sand, nor water that society expects me to have. Like in the movie we watched this week, "Tuesdays with Morrie." The movie is about a successful sports writer named Mitch Albom, and his favorite collage/sociology teacher, Morrie. It touches on Mitch's midlife crisis, and he's looking for Morrie's advice on love, and many other more. His dilemma is between the love of his life, and his work. Seeing as how Mitch values work the most because that's what he grew up learning, he realizes that his big rocks isn't as important as marrying his girlfriend. Why was he in this situation in the first place? I believe that our American culture has socially constructed our reality so that we numb ourselves with vulnerability. Who wants to get hurt right? With this thought in mind, who'd want to love? People avoid love to avoid pain, but at the same time we deprive ourselves of happiness we could've achieved. Like a good man once said, "The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” - Bob Marley

culture

This week in sociology, we read the 13 values Americans live by. This is a short reading about the differences Americans may have towards other cultures. It basically touches on the general social norms within America. Although this teaches foreigners what and what not to do, there are still little things that are made into norms within our own country divided into different types of groups whether its by state, company, school, or role in society. As a foreigner, the cultural differences between the Philippines and America isn't as different, or should I say it's starting to change. I noticed that my country is kind of adapting to the American culture. This is why the older and younger generations in my country are totally different because the older people wants the same traditional system for everything, but the younger people, like Americans, wants change. This is probably also the reason for the arguments I get with my parents because they are old fashioned, and as a growing teen in America, its really hard to agree to their ways especially if I see something wrong with it. Ultimately, people should learn to understand each others culture to understand each other.

cultural differences

This week, in sociology, we watched a movie about the lost boys of Sudan. The movie really opened my eyes to how lucky I am in terms of living with a family, and needs provided for me. While I get to cherish my childhood, these boys were forced out of their own country leaving their families. Having no adult to take care of them, the lost boys pulled through by depending on one another. Through thick and thin, the boys strived to survive up till this day in a neighboring country. Some of the lost boys were given the opportunity to make a living in the U.S. Throughout the movie, there were alot of cultural differences that they felt. Most of the problems they encountered was with new technology. They didn't know what anything was in ones house that would be considered normal by us. It's really amusing too see how someone reacts to something they've never seen before. But since the Sudanese grew up in a different environment, they were well aware of what we, Americans, do that we might not even notice since we consider it a norm. They especially criticized how Americans are very lonely. I, coming from another country, can see that Americans live a lonely and concealed life because back where I used to live, people would always be in each others business trying to help solve each other. Whilst here, it would be considered rude to be nosy even with your friends. Soon, I stopped noticing all of that, and it became normal to me as it is to you as I adapt to live here. And even if there are things like this that are different, who is to decide which lifestyle is right?

The Norms

This week in sociology, we talked about social norms. Social norms are different social construction of reality. These differences are important and need to be acknowledge because it may offend people with a different culture. This unit reminds me of an episode of Spongebob Squarepants. Spongebob accidentally went to another city called Rock Bottom. In this city, everyone looked weird and he wasn't familiar with the place. At first he was freaked out because he couldn't seem to communicate, as they had to make a noise after each sentence or else they wouldn't understand. It shows that the social norm in their society is to do the sound. This teaches me to be more sensitive and consider what you say when you're around people who grew up in a different place because people may misunderstood and get offended.