Perceived

This week in class we saw a video of a man that stayed in prision for a couple of weeks.
Through the video, we were able to see how prisoners were treated and what they did in prison.
I was surprised to find out that they were required to do absolutely nothing-which was the biggest challenge.
The prisoners had to keep themselves entertained to get through the long days, weeks, months, years.
Many prisoners made up their minds to change their lives once they are released.
Sadly, the determined prisoners were unable to reach their goal which leads to another issue.

Should prison be a punishment or a rehabiliation for people? Our country had agreed it should be a rehabiliation but it's obviously not helping most people. People who have been to jail are a lot more likely to go back.

It's sad that our prison system is unhelpful and even unfair. People who are richer are able to avoid going to jail by hiring better lawyers, while the poorer people have no money to get out of jail. Our country should find a better jail system and slowly begin to change.

This week we also watched a movie on social class. We were able to see that social class may not even be about the money. That it's actually every little thing  person does, that shows what social class you're in.
For example, what foods you eat show what class youre in. Or how close you stand while you talk. All these little things show.

With the prison and social class, we learned that deviance is perceived. That how grave an act is perceived, and labeled by the community. How rich or poor someone thinksthey are is also perceived. A person may thnk that they are very poor compared to big buisness leaders, but in actuallity may be part of the higher class.

Since last week was Thanksgiving, I was able to think about this topic further. I live in a upper middle class neighborhood and go to a fairly wealthy school. Where everyone has smartphones, and use designer bags as their schoolbags. That spend twenty dollars each day for their lunch, or buy a five dollar latte every morning. Seeing all these people have made me feel a lot less rich. But I've failed to realize that compared to the rest of the country, and compared to rest of the world, i have so much to be thankful for. Maybe I should cut back on that extra coffee and spread my blessings to others.

It's Really Needed

A few Wednesdays ago I went back to the Harvest Food Pantry and Clothes Close in Evanston to volunteer.
I left my house at 4:50ish, but because of the terrible traffic, once again arrived at 6. I was greeted by the same leader, Pete. Sadly, he didn't recognize me, but that's understandable since there are so many changing volunteers every week.

There was an abundance of volunteers that day, so I wasn't needed at a certain station. But because of this abundance I was able to shadow regular volunteers at a couple of different stations. First, I started at the bagging area. Here, I shadowed Ana, a full time nurse who volunteers here every other week. I was told to put one jug of juice, one can of corn, one can of fruit, and one can of sloppy joe meat. I asked her where they get all the food--if the church supplies it. She said it's major brands donating their oversupply of food. For example, whole foods, target and panera are consistent donaters.

Next I followed someone in the line station. These people hold the bags of food for the people. I was amazed at how familiar the line volunteers were with the "customers". They were on a first name basis and treated them with so much respect. "Apple juice or Orange juice" "We have 3 choices of meat today...chicken breasts, hamburger patties, or ribs" It really felt like a personal grocery shopping assistant escorting all these people.

The night was busy, but not as busy as last week. Pete told me that the week before, they reached the highest number of families in one day:200. After there were no more families left, all the volunteers ate some leftover sweets with leftover milk (since these items spoil).

When I came home it was around 9pm. I was exhausted and not in the mood to do homework. But, something one "customer" said to me stuck. She said that volunteers are really needed and all the people who come here know and are grateful to them. Yes, at that time I didn't really feel like I was helping out much. Bagging a couple items, folding a couple clothes doesn't seem like a big deal. But volunteers are really needed. The interesting thing is, many regular volunteers used to be customers. They know what it's like to be in both positions and they know how a little help can go a long way. Because it really doses make a difference, it really is needed.

My Princess Boy

My Princess Boy.
My Princess Boy is a picture book about a young boy who likes to dress up like princesses and likes the color pink. However, in the book he is constantly laughed at for being himself.
I was reading his book to my second grade student today. The moment the plot developed, I couldn't help but connect this little boy to the sociology lesson we've been taught the past week. This boy was being mocked for being too 'girly'. Not only that, the parents were also laughed at by the society for letting and even encouraging their son to be "girly". Even more interestingly, I asked my tutor student what she thought of this boy. She simply answered "I don't like it".

This enforced the lesson we've been learning in sociology. From a young age boys are taught to be "manly". That they should not only participate in sports, but excel in that direction. They should hide their emotions-especially emotions of sadness. Yet, emotions like anger are acceptable to express-and even enouraged to do so.

The sociological influence these young boys receive have been seen to have a direct influence upon violence. Most school shootings the past years have been done by white, middle class, intelligent males that were pressured and made fun of their "girliness" or "gaybaiting".

Hearing such a strong dislike for that little princess boy from my student was a major wake up call. She's only six years old and she "doesn't like" this princess boy. This intolerance of princess boys will stay with them while growing up, and only make them less understanding of people like that.

Inner Beauty

This week we learned about sociological influences on gender roles.
We watched a documentary called "Killing Us Softly 4" which clearly showed us the influences of media on women roles. There were mulitple examples of how women's bodies are materialized or how some pictures imply a condescending image of women. Along with these offending pictures, there are myriad of pictures that suggest to girls of what beauty is.

Beauty is indescribable. It's hard to define because of the vagueness along with the limitless possibilities. Perception of beauty is up to the viewer. However, at such a young age girls have been shown that beauty is big eyes, tiny waist, stick-like legs, glamorous body, v-neck, and flawless skin. This kind of beauty is unrealistic as well as disturbing.

But still, so many girls, teens, and women think that beauty can be defined. And sometimes, nature isn't fair-so the logical thing to do is change themselves in an unnatural way. With needles and cutting and sewing and ripping. It has been estimated that 420000 Americans of all ages have done plastic surgery in the year of 2009. However, that barely compares with the whopping number 740000 people doing plastic surgery in South Korea. And these numbers are just in one year.

I know that in South Korea, the double eyelid surgery is popular-obviously because Asians have chinky, small eyes. I've always been so against this whole plastic surgery phase. My sisters and I used to joke around that every girl in South Korea looks the same because they all have the same perfect nose and same big eyes and the same shaved neckline. This joke is becoming a scary reality.

In a couple more years how many more people will do plastic surgery? It's so disturbing and more sad that so many people feel like they have to physically change how they look in order to feel beautiful. Have any of these people ever thought of having inner beauty instead?

I guess the problem is that we have a physical beauty set. And although our world supports "inner beauty", Miss.Universe always has a gorgeous body, and a beautiful face. We say we  teach children that "it's the inside that counts" but our real world doesn't prove that.

We all need to think about how we sociologically influence people around us. Small comments such as "I wish I was skinny as her" or "She's ugly" contributes to the problem. If we start with ourselves and change our view of "beautiful" we can start teaching the social world what beautiful really is.




A plastic surgery ad in Korea (for double eyelid surgery)

 


A plastic surgery ad in Korea (on nose and neckline)