No Right or Wrong Way

We started off this week in class by playing a card game. We were given a set of rules and played within a group of 4 or 5 people. The hardest rule of all was that we were not allowed to talk-at all. We were having so much fun and becoming so competitive that we almost forgot that our teacher has a lesson planned for us-almost.
As the winners and losers rotated groups and a new game was started. As soon as it began, something was wrong. There were disputes over who was the winner, however, we weren't allowed to talk so we only made some helpless gestures.
The game was stopped and our teacher told us that he gave us different rules.
This was the intro to our cultural unit.
Each different rule represented a different culture. We were all taught different rules, just like how we were all taught different lifestyles. None of us were necessarily wrong or right. Just different.

As the week progressed we learned examples of cultural differences. For example, the toilet is different for every culture. The Japaneese value sanitation, therefore their toilet requires no contact. Also, different hand gestures mean different things. An "ok" symbol in America may be a very offensive symbol in a different country.

We learned that we must be culturally relative of other cultures while living. We need to set aside our ethnocentric minds and be more understanding of other cultures. What we might perceive as bad might be totally acceptable in a different country. For example, in Korea many streets are narrow, therefore people naturally bump into each other while walking. It has become so common that people don't apologize-just assume that it was an accident. However, in America it is almost an unspoken rule that you must apologize to someone you bump into. Many people in America have misunderstood that Koreans are rude since they bump into people without apologizing. But in reality, they have failed to be culturally relative.

When it comes down to culture there is no right or wrong way. We just all have to be more understanding.

Movie Watching, Never the Same Again.

This week in class we watched a movie based on a true story called the "Bronx Tale".
It was a story of a boy who grew up in an Italian neighborhood in a time where racism was still high.
Ever since he witnessed a murder, his life was never again the same.

Throughout the movie we can see the idea of sociological imagination.
There are numerous groups all affecting the main character "C", and his actions.
One group was his mother and father. They emphasized that the strongest man is the working man, not a man who kills by simplyl pulling a trigger. They both encourage him to work for a living instead of earning "dirty money". Another group that influences C is the neighborhood mob. C befriends the mob's leader and soon becomes part of the group. The mob's leisure time is greatly spent by gambling and playing dice, and are pretty violent. The last major group that adds to C's sociological inmagination are his friends. They are very racist and violent. Many times they act without thinking of the serious consequences to follow. All these groups affect C, even though he doesn't try to be like a certain group. For example, when C was having an argument with an African American he became so angered that he uses the word "nigger". Although he usually doesn't use such an offending term, his anger brought out his unconsciousness and he used a word he didn't mean. The racist atmosphere C is part of daily has made him become like them despite his efforts to be different.

In the end of the movie, C becomes sociologically mindful. He realizes how his actions can affect others and their lives. Due to this realization C begins to live his life with more meaning, and more thoughtfully. The main character continues to pursue his dreams and eventually makes it to Hollywood.

This movie reminded me of a Korean movie I saw once. Throughout the movie there was a boy who hated his father. He thought his father was selfish and cruel and unreasonable. The boy eventually grows up and starts a family of his own. Through conflicts with his own family, the boy realizes how he is very similar to his own father. The boy was sociologically influenced by his father even though he didn't want to be. After the boy realizes this, he becomes sociologically mindful of his actions and tries to become a new person, far from alike with his own father.

After watching this movie and having our teacher point out how characters are sociologically influenced, I don't think I can watch movies without thinking of how characters are influenced.
Movie watching will never be the same again.

Stereotypes

We started the week off by reading an interesting story about a sociologist studying poor,young African Americans in Chicago. Originally, the sociologist was going to conduct surveys on how it feels to be "black and poor". But during the process, he came to realize that conducting surveys won't be as effective as a qualitative data-which is data gathered from observing. Through this sociologist we learned that a research doesn't have to be conducted by surveys, but can also be a first person observation we analyze.

The second day we made identity molecules of ourselves. We started with just our name, but then connected it to certain groups we assosciate with. As we create more bubbles, and more gruops that we belong to, we started to realize how all these groups affect us and make us who we are. Then, we listed our statuses in each of the groups. For example, one of my groups were family. Inside my family, I listed my statuses as a daugther and a sister. When we finished listing our groups and stasuses, we talked about role conflict. Role conflict is when we feel obligated to do a certain thing in one group, but it directly conflicts with a role in another group.

The most valuable lesson I learned this week was our lesson on stereotypes. The scariest part of stereotyping, is that many times we unconsciously do it. If a guy dresses nice, we automatically think he's homosexual. If there's an African American we assume that he or she is not as smart, or rich.
We saw two videos in class: one about the angry eye experiment, and the other about a violinist.
The footage of the violionst clearly showed our problem of stereotyping. The violinist was playing at a station with a shirt and pants. He had his violin case open, and added some change to it. Just the night before he sold out a big theater. However, throughout the hours that he played, everyone just assumed he was another homeless, poor, man playing for cash. Very few people stopped to see and appreciate the expensive, exquisit violin playing, and instead just walked past. Due to the fact that he seemed like a homeless man, people didnt appreciate his playing as much.

This made me reflect on the unconscious stereotyping that I do everyday. The violin footage really stung, because if I was in that station I probably would've acted like the majority of the people. Recently at our school, there was an assembly with speakers from different support groups that we have. One of the support groups was the minority group. An African American girl explained all the subtle differences in treatments she receives because she's Black. For example, if a white student is goofing off during class people just think he's funny. But if a Black student does the same thing, people think that it's because he's stupid or doesn't take school seriously. These subtle ways that we have trained ourself to think are stereotypes. I want to become more mindful of the things I think or say about others based on stereotypes.

Because Society tells us so.

We started out this week by learning about three very important figures in Sociology: Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber.

We used their fundamental ideas of Sociology (large scale patterns, patterns of power, and small group interaction) to analyze an episode of a T.V show called "Freaks and Geeks". Through the episode, we were able to observe how groups in the main character (Lindsay) shaped her life. For example, her family had their own values, and encouraged her to do well in school while also encouarging a social life by forcing her to go to the Homecoming Dance. On the other hand, the "freak" group tried to shape her by convincing her to skip school and smoke. We learned that her family is the group that has greater power in Lindsay's life because they provide for all her needs such as shelter, food, and clothing.

Also this week we learned about social construction of reality which is when society creats our feelings and experiences. We were given an example by comparing what the difference between "spit" and "saliva" are. Saliva is something in our body that helps us digest and even cleanse our throats. Spit is something sticky and gross that come out of people's mouth. In reality, they're the same thing. However, society has made it that spit is something gross while saliva is a biological term.

One example of social construction of reality is Americans' diet compared to other countries. Our American society has made it clear that we should not consume "man's best friend". However, its natural and common in certain Asian countries to eat dog for dinner. Many parts of China eat insects, and insects are well known for the protein that it provides. But in the U.S eating insects is a courageous act, or an act to be frowned upon. In these ways we learn that our society has views on what's "right" or "wrong". What's "good" or what's "gross". Different societies have different opinions on the same matter and have set a standard for the whole society that most people are expected to follow.

Changing the World one Smile at a Time (:

This week in class we started to learn about sociological imagination. Sociological imagination is the idea that all these different groups and thoughts are affecting us as an individual. Things beyond our control is included in this sociological imagination and it makes up who we are and how we act. We were able to get deeper into this idea by reading an exerpt about the people of Roseto. This small, isolated, Italian town had an extremely low death rate. When medical researchers went to see why, they discovered that their society was causing a long life. The family-like society where everyone cares for each other, allowed the people in Roseto to live a happy, long life. This also showed that we are affected by sociology and we might not even know it.

The next few days in class, we started to discuss what sociological mindfulness is. Sociological mindfulness is being aware about how we affect others. It's knowing that we are also one of the driving forces that affects others sociological imagination.

The idea of sociological mindfulness has really affected me this past week. It made me wonder whether my small, inconsiderate actions were hurting others. A small action such as laughing when someone is getting bullied can really hurt others. But it also made me think about if my one smile can make another person happy. This can lead to a chain reaction of smiles, and maybe a happier community. It seems so unlikely that a small, effortless action from a small, regular person can change the world.

Therefore, I'm really looking forward to our service project. I've done some minor community services, but I don't think I've ever went out of my comfort zone. I hope through this project I'm able to learn more about my society and the impact that I can make.