From Strollers to Workplaces

From the very beginning, we've all met our own "social agent". Agents of socializations are found within families, daycares, jobs, schools, or any other organized group. These agents contribute to the way we think as we grow up. They influence our take on gender roles as well as our likes and dislikes. As for gender roles, our parents act as agents as soon as our infancy. It is common for the father to either hold the child while the mother pushes the the empty stroller or to push the stroller himself while the baby is in it. I never realized that that was a gender role gesture. It demonstrates the security that the father is trying to provide for the family. It implies that the dad is the one who leads the family. When I was younger, this is how it was. I remember my parent behaving in this manner on numerous occasions. As for likes and dislikes, educational institutions such as daycares and basic schools provide kids with a set of rules in regards to their gender. For example, boys tend to have more affiliation with violence, even at a young age. It is very common for a 3 or 4 year-old boy to talk about fighting than to talk about something more neutral and less violent. The same goes for girls but it's more that they have softer likes and dislikes; they have the common "ew bugs are gross" and "gross blood". These types of influences are present in daycares which affect children as young as 3.

Who would have known?

Let's Do Nothing!!!

On Tuesday, I attempted to do nothing. That had to be one of the most difficult tasks that I have ever had to do. When I was standing there, my mind was racing, thinking about things that I had to do later that period, later that day, let alone later that week. It was impossible for me to do nothing. This made me think about what we talked about in class. American culture consists of constant activity and planning that once we're presented a situation where we can just do nothing, we're unable to do so for we have been molded into a non-stop working generation. Countries around the world take advantage of their time to do nothing for it's in their culture to take life slow and easy. American culture craves for efficiency which relates back to the "Bemused in America" article where even the food sold is made to be efficient. The cheese is prepackaged and everything is made to save just a little bit more time. In Europe, to get shredded cheese, one would have to buy a block of cheese and shred it themselves. That's obviously not how it is here in America.

Isn't that just fascinating?

Who Am I?

For me, hearing "where are you from" and "where were you born" are normal everyday questions I receive from people that I meet for the first time. Because I am not white people automatically assume that I'm not American or a natural born American. Because I've had to explain my ethnicity, where my heritage is from, as compared to my nationality, where I was born, I've grown accustomed to identifying myself with a Turkish, Afghan, and Indian background. I always felt that I wasn't American rather just someone with a lot of culture living in America. That all changed when I went to Turkey. The moment I stepped off my plane, I realized how American I was. I was aware of my technological attachments, my American vernacular, as well as my American manners and customs. When I had to meet someone new, I automatically reached my hand out to shake theres. Apparently, that's not what they do in Turkey. They' seemed to be more timid and shy about shaking hands. That experience made me realize that I might not have the "ideal" American culture but rather bits and pieces of it as well as some of my ancestors culture and traditions.

It's a real eye opener.

Flush Flush Flush

So for the past few days in class, we've been talking about... toilets! Although it seems as though it doesn't have anything to do with sociology, it has a great influence and reflection upon cultures and their norms. We talked about how cultures do not have a "norm" for a culture is just there. There cannot be anything normal about a culture. There isn't a circumstance that presents itself in a way where we can judge another culture and say whether it is normal or not. For example, the Japanese toilets, they have the toilet itself in a separate room from the shower and the tub because to them they feel having all three in the same room is disgusting. We think that this is abnormal but to them, our bathroom set-up is abnormal. Whose normal is the true normal? That's the idea, there is no normal. Cultures and ideas just exist naturally. There is no right and wrong in a culture.

I learned this idea the hard way when I went on my pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia three years ago. The traditional Saudi Arabian toilet, or the hole in the ground, was something very new to me. I wasn't used to such a form. I felt that that style was not normal at all. I would always look for a western style toilet every time I had to use the washroom. Because I refused to believe that the Saudi Arabian toilet was a "normal" toilet, I made my vacation less enjoyable. I didn't have cultural awareness and I thought there was this normal style of living, like my own style of living. I was wrong.

Saarah M.

"A Bronx Tale"

We watched a movie in class that had a social construction and micro/macro dynamic theme. These ideas were portrayed within the town. "C" had to put up with all this racist behavior from his parents, friends, and neighbors. He ended up falling in love with a black girl which undoubtedly caused him strife. He worried about what his friends thought as well as what his dad thought about him dating someone who wasn't Italian let alone white. "C" didn't want to be like his friends or his dad, for he knew they lived racist life. When he got into that fight with Jane, he ended up calling her the "N" word. Although it was something awful, "C" didn't mean for there to be any pain behind it. He grew up in a neighborhood where that word is a part of their vernacular. All his friends used that word in their daily vocabulary. That word is very normal for him. For Jane and her brother, it was rude, racist, and very hurtful. This plays into his social construction. His setting and lifestyle molded him into thinking the way he did. As accepting as he wanted to be, he still had these ties back to racism due to how he was raised.

This situation is not new to me at all. I know people who are in the same situation as "C". They have these racist parents yet they're trying to live an accepting, non-prejudice, non-judgmental life. When I went out with these people, they would comment on a certain race, not to be racist, but to share their observation, and sometimes their comments would have a racist or prejudice undertone. I knew these people fairly well and so I knew that it wasn't just them being secretly racist. I knew it was because of their house-life and their up-bringing (their social construction) that made them think the way they did. Although I try to understand where it comes from, I still feel awkward when I have to hear it.

You Must Walk the Plank!

We did this activity in class where we kicked people off our imaginary boat. We had sixteen people on the boat and we needed to get rid of nine in order to keep the boat above water. As we did this we started judging and evaluating people and what they had to offer. That brought forth our sociological mindset of how Americans value what a person has to offer rather than their qualifications. For example, we kicked off the poet as well as the elderly because they didn't offer the boat any physical assistance. If we had Indian or Chinese values and thinking, we would have kept them because they were educated or because they were elderly so they must be respected. I experienced this in my life through my fencing team. When we have fencing tournaments, we argue over who has the most strength and agility. We don't bother to discuss who has the best idea on defeating the opposing teams. What we look for is the person who can best perform that strategic idea rather than who can come up with it. It's pretty strange when I think about it.

Saarah M.

What to Think

This week we learned about social construction and how each and every one of us are influenced by it. Social construction is what society creates for us and which causes us to feel certain ways. What we did was spit in a glass. When my classmate did so, I was so grossed out. I felt that that was the most nastiest thing ever! Once Sal told us that we are being molded and influenced into thinking certain things are alright while other things are wrong, it made me think of my peer helper's club. In peer helpers, we learn about the stereotypical view people have on others. One of the views was that if a guy hangs out with a lot of girls, it means he's a homosexual and if a girl hangs out with a bunch of guys it means she's overly sexually active. I realized that we feel that way because of our society. I thought of my friend's French exchange student and how she had a bunch of guy friends; she wasn't labeled as a slutty girl. It's because of our society and its harsh mold that causes us to think the way we do.

I never knew how strong society's impact is on us.