Cultures

This week in Sociology, we started our second unit which was Culture. We discussed how other countries compare to the U.S. in numerous categories. Our teacher put 3 words up on the board and told us to find which word didn't fit in with the others. The words were laundry, beer and clothing. Every student agreed that the word beer didn't fit. We all based our thinking on the fact that laundry and clothing serve a similar purpose. However, in other countries they would agree that clothing didn't fit in. Their reasoning was laundry and beer were both foamy while clothing was not. This proves that our language influences the way we think and the way we group certain things.

When I was in China, I felt as if I was so out of place. I experienced complete culture shock in watching how life was in this country. I remember walking down the street in Shanghi with my teammates and family. We looked off to the side and saw a mother with her baby. The baby was wearing what looked like a onesie with a buttoned flap in the back. The mother opened the flap and bent down with the baby who was about to go to the bathroom on the grass. We all looked at each other baffled by what was happening. We couldn't believe it. This sight would have been unheard of in America, but in China it didn't seem like such a big deal. I remember this now years later and understand why things were so different.

A Bronx Tale

As we come to a close of Unit 1, this week in sociology we watched A Bronx Tale. Even though I missed a day in the middle, I still sensed the overall theme the movie was trying to portray. This movie also covered all of our Unit 1 topics. If discussing Micro-Macro Dynamics, the fuel that causes racism is society as a whole as well as our parents. We cannot help that whether we like it or not we grow up just like our parents. This may not be true in all cases but we learn what they believe at a young age which is why "C" feels he isn't racist, but that one slip of the tongue was because of his parents and friends. Also, in the movie neighborhoods were separated and we got a sense of that when the music changes. The neighborhoods are segregated because that is how their parents grew up and theirs before that. It was a never ending cycle of racism and segregation. In my life, I see my mother getting more and more like my grandmother. She does little habits and sayings that I know my grandmother does. I feel as I get older, I might start to do that too.


Calogero belongs to many groups throughout different times in the movie. He belongs to his family, his school, his friends, with Sonny and with Jane. I would put C in his own group with Sonny because I feel they had a more special bond than C did with anyone else in Sonny's crew. I think Calogero's master status in the beginning was a son. His father and him were really close and their bond was evident. As the movie progressed and C grew closer with Sonny, his master status, I feel, changed to a friend. Calogero was a friend to many people and he never hated anyone. C cared about a lot of people; even Sonny when no one else seemed to care at his funeral. My own master status has changed from daughter to gymnast. I feel as you grow up your master status with almost always change. When I was young people always knew me from my parents. Even though that still happens, I am more of an independent.

Compared to everyone else in the movie, Calogero is the most mindful. While everyone else in the neighborhood is racist towards black people, C keeps an open mind and never judges anyone by the color of their skin. He begins to understand that he is more mindful than his friends are when his friends see black people riding their bikes in the Italian's neighborhood. They all fight them and Calogero helps someone because he believes what they are doing is wrong. The person he helps turns out to be the girl he wants to date's brother. His mindfulness made a huge impact with Jane and her brother. Being mindful in my life would help me see that everyone is different, but we can't judge people on those difference. To live a life of hatred is terrible. Like when C asks Sonny if he trusts anyone Sonny replies' "No."
"Thats a horrible way to live."
"For me, its the only way."
"Not for me, not for me."
When C says he won't live a life where he doesn't trust anyone, it was a powerful realization that he is the most mindful character.

This week we did a Group Identity Molecule. Our teacher had us write our name in the middle of the page and create a web of all the different groups we are apart of. As we shared with the class of our groups, I realized that the students in our class are similar in some ways, yet different in others. We all attend our school and have friend groups here, but there is also sports, clubs, music, religious groups and so much more that other people identified with. We had to pick our master status, which is how or what other people view you as. I chose my master status as my sport because growing up everyone knows me as a gymnast and it has stuck. Doing this exercise made me realize that society today judges other groups by either stereotypes or by other means that are unfair. More of the common stereotypes are that Americans are obese, lazy and dim-witted, Italian or French people are the best lovers, all Jews are greedy, all asians are good at math and so on. Even if the stereotype is true on some cases, constantly putting people down because of a preconceived idea is wrong. Last week, I was at the airport and I overheard two men in their 20's I would say talking about the drive to the airport. One man said he was driving behind a slow car and was upset, because he was late. When he finally passes the car he explains that the driver was an asian woman on her phone. The other responds, "That's possibly the worst combination." After hearing this, I realize how much our society stereotypes on perceptions of others. This week was interesting and now I am ready to be sociologically mindful of other groups.

This week in sociology we watched the first episode of Freaks and Geeks. This episode was supposed to explain how Durkheim, Marx and Weber contributed to new ideas about sociology. Durkheim thought of the functional theory where people are affected by where they live and which groups they belong to. In Freaks and Geeks, both the main characters are involved with social groups, like the "burn outs" and geeks, but they also were apart of a school and a family. Marx founded the conflict theory, which explains how different classes control others. In the episode, Sam, who is considered a geek, has a bully. The bully has power over Sam. Also, parents and teachers have power over the students. This power shapes who we are and who has power over others. Weber's perspective was the symbolic interaction theory where people interact based on symbols. One of the many symbols was Lindsay's army jacket. The jacket represented her tomboy and rebellious attitude in the beginning. However, at the Homecoming dance she takes off the jacket to symbolize that she is "good" again. These theories not only relate to just one episode of Freaks and Geeks, but they also relate to our everyday life. My life consists of my family, my school friends, and my team. The power aspect comes from teachers, parents and my coach (who is also my mom). When you sit and think about it finding symbols in your own life can be difficult. The symbols in my life I would say are my grips or a leotard to represent the gymnastics part of my life. Being a gymnast is such a huge part of me that any other symbol wouldn't be as strong. Anyway, I liked the first episode so much that I am watching the entire season now. Hopefully we can watch another episode in class though.