Chapter 14: End of the Class

Although I have taken other Sociology classes for my Criminal Justice major, I still had not learned the basics until now. This class has taught me many things and has provided me with a quality base of the Sociological perspective that I hoped to gain in order to carry my studies further. One thing that stuck with me and that I learned the most about was the structure of society. Through this I was able to broaden my knowledge on the importance of organizations and how they impact how the world works as a whole.

We all have roles in the world that are brought together by the concept of organizations. Organizations form to provide over all order for communities of people. They are created to offer a form social structure that provides a framework of society that adds order and predictability to one’s private life (278). When we are young, we do not consider how the impacts of the organizations form how we are expected to act in society. One form is education, and the expectations we have for children in our society to learn in a certain way. Educational organizations expect children to fall into the system and to morph their unique qualities into one track for success. This form of education provides benefits for our society because it provides high quality educated individuals to participate in society.

Although I knew about the impact of the education system there are components that I learned about organizations that I was not as exposed to. It is always surprising to learn the impact of bureaucracies, which are large hierarchical organizations governed by formal rules and regulations and having clearly specified work tasks (287). These bureaucracies have control over the overall impact on others’ lives and how certain components of our communities are produced.  They play into how our communities are controlled and how people fall into their everyday roles.

I think one thing that is rarely contemplated is the hierarchy of authority, where there are a few people at the top controlling most of the outcomes in society and then there are many at the base that have very little power (288). This is a prime example of how the Occupy Movement occurred. The whole movement focused around the hierarchy of authority and how there is 1% of the community that earn most of societies profit. Then there are 99% of the communities that are working for the people at the top and have very little power.  Although I participated in this movement, having the reason why it came to exist made a lot more sense to me.

People usually take their position in society among organizations and do not look at how other people impact their role. Many tend to focus on one’s own role and do not think about how it is essentially a conveyor belt of roles that get us to where we are in society. There are people at the bottom that have very little power but their roles carry to the top and provide us with our everyday needs. This is something that many do not take the time to realize on a daily basis.

With this chapter and concept I was provided with a more thorough understanding of how organizations impact my life. I have a role in the machine of society and there are other people that have other roles that provide me with my basic needs. It is a complicated system that is harder to understand because we rarely take a step away from our lives to realize where objects come from and how they come to be.  

This class has given me a better understanding of how our society works and how different components make up how we act. I have learned a lot that gives me an overall understanding on society and prepares me for further classes in Sociology. 

Chapter 13: My Dad's Journey

My dad’s immigration story has been told to me throughout my life and over the years I have been able to appreciate his travels even more. My dad, Eric John Benson was adopted from Korea when he was five years old. He knows that he is not full Korean and does not know what the other half of his heritage is. He was adopted by a Caucasian, Scandinavian, Texan family and his first memory was running away from the flight attendants with his “brother” on the plane coming over to the United States. Being a Korean adoptee in Texas was not the easiest life for my dad. Although he does not know much of his family history, he has a lot of memories of coming to and growing up in the United States. Newman explains migration to be, “moving to another place where prospects for a comfortable life are brighter “(452). Since my dad and my uncle were young to understand they did not realize the impact of migrating to the United States would have on their lives. They would be provided with opportunities that they would not have had in the orphanage in Korea.

Korean Orphans in the 1960's

My grandpa was working with the military in 1966 as a doctor. He heard a rumor from one of his colleagues that there were Korean children that needed homes. They traveled to Korea to see if they could make additions to their family. When they got there they discovered that there were two boys that needed a home. My dad and my uncle were two energetic little boys that were just waiting for someone to adopt them. My dad said, “So they came to the orphanage and found my brother Mark and I. They visited us for a day and decided they wanted us.” My grandparents decided to adopt them and go through all the paperwork to adopt them. It took two years to adopt them into their family and get them to the United States.

This video shows the beginning of Korean adoptions and how they started:

When my grandparents adopted my father they replaced his given Korean name with Eric John Benson. They chose a Scandinavian sounding name to counter balance the Asian background. They wanted to give my dad a chance to not be profiled when they read the name off of a piece of paper. My dad said, “It gave them the view that I was white before coming to the classroom.” By giving him a white sounding name they could postpone the predisposed opinion that they had of the Asian stereotype. Newman states that, “even though laws in most countries ban discrimination against immigrants, anti-foreigner resentment and prejudice are global phenomena” (454). My grandparents were trying to combat that stereotype because he was one of the few Asian children in the Texan community. My dad said that it did not help much though, “I don’t think it helped much because I still looked Asian.” Even so they tried to make him as White as possible, taking away his Asian heritage.

My dad was never linked back to his Korean heritage while being a part of a Scandinavian household. He was brought up as Caucasian and in that society instead of learning about his ethnic background. My dad expressed his feelings about being Asian, “Growing up I was embarrassed being Korean. There weren’t a lot of Asians back in Texas.” He was not exposed to anything that had to do with the Asian culture. When he was growing up there was not a lot of as much integration of races today. He was surrounded by predominantly “White” culture. He did not know where he came from and did not thrive to start learning about that part of his background. Although he felt out of place in his community he did not look for a solution. The resources for that exploration may not have been provided in a predominantly white community as well, making it nearly impossible to learn.

Needless to say my dad is a dork.

Although I am just a quarter Korean I am extremely proud of my heritage. If my dad had not been adopted and came to the United States from Korea I would not be in exist let alone be American. Even though parts of his culture were lost in his immigrating to the United States he has been able to recover some of it as he has gotten older. He tries to incorporate parts of his culture by encouraging his children to take part in things such as Korean dancing and eating traditional foods.   Though the Asian culture has been reduced through assimilation in the United States it still exists in small amounts. My dad’s history is not uncommon but it is unique to my family and how he came to become an American citizen. It makes my family different from others and the pride we have for our heritage is immense because of everything he has gone through to discover where his roots are as an Asian American. 

Chapter 12: Learning Gender

Society has many definitions that play a role in how people express themselves. The first boxes that people tend to put people in, is their gender. There are two boxes that can be filled male and female. It is harder to bend those definitions that society has put on people since they have been so ingrained in the way we look at people. We raise our children on these definitions on what gender is defined as and set them up for a future in a society that has expectations for both of them. Children start to be raised in a binary world from birth.

Girl baby on the left. Boy baby on the right.

When a baby is born the doctors set them up for how they are going to be treated for the rest of their lives. Boy babies get blue blankets and girl babies get pink blankets. From then on they are going to be treated differently by society. When the parents bring their babies out of the hospitals the baby’s gender is celebrated by many expressions. These expressions tend to be different based on what gender the baby is. Girl babies tend to be surrounded by expressions such as, “she is going to grow up to be a beautiful young woman.” Boy babies will be addressed as, “he looks like a tough little man.” You will not usually hear those expressions being used on the opposite gender. This sets the children up to have different sets of expectations on the way they are going to grow up. They are set up for two different tracks in life. Girls are expected to be delicate and “lady-like.” Boys on the other hand are expected to be tough and “manly.”

This video explains the different ads shown on cartoon network and how they play into gender norms for boys and girls:

As the children grow up the toys they play with set them up for different walks of life. Boys are set up with things such as Legos and model power tools, to set them up for jobs where they are going to be out of the household. They are set up for man-dominated fields where they are expected to use their hands and be tough (430). Girls are given toys that are focused on preparing them for life taking care of the household. These toys are objects such as baby dolls, kitchen sets, and when I was little things such as toy vacuum cleaners. This emphasizes the inequality in the family structure, where the women stays home and takes care of the house while the man goes off to work (425). Though toys have started to blur the gender binary, children still are strongly set up for roles that society expects them to fall into as they get older.

Gendered Toys

As children start to get older they have already been immersed in a sexist society. They have beliefs that each gender has a certain roles that they must fit into and that one may be inferior to the other (407). They learn that there are two roles and two genders that they must fit into. Boys that exhibit more feminine qualities that may want to play with “household based toys” are viewed as being “fairies.” Girls that are more masculine and love to play with cars are labeled as “butch.” Endless teasing as a child for breaking out of gender norms is a strong encouragement to fall back into the life path society has for them. Though there has been an emphasis on trying to stop the bullying, society still sets up those expectations that children have for each other. The children are being taught that stepping out of the boxes for gender is wrong.

This poem done by spoken-word artist Guante shows the stereotypes that are placed on men and how it is hard to break out of the norms of what masculine is. Although it is not as related to children I still think it shows a good example of how society expects boys to "man up" and to suppress any form of "femininity" that they may have.: 

Gender inequality starts early. Children are set on two different paths the minute that they are born. They are given boxes that are hard to break out of and when they are challenged it makes people uncomfortable and the parents are questioned on how they are raising their child. The social construction of gender has affected many children and provides a framework for how they should be raised in today’s society. Being a child that broke many of the rules I know that it is difficult to fit into a society that believes that we must raise our children in a two gender world. Until people start being able to blur the lines of “what is right” for each gender to “play with” as a child they are still going to have those expectations hanging over their heads. 


Work Cited:

Newman, D.M. (2012). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday life. 9th Ed. Pine Forge Press: Thousand Oaks, California.

Chapter 11: Racist Jokes

Jokes tend to be part of everyday culture. One question tends to be with racial jokes, where do we draw the line with what is and is not socially acceptable to say out loud? With taking many classes that focus on race I have found that I am really sensitive to jokes that are tossed around when it comes to race because I know the implications behind them. I feel as if they perpetuate stereotypes that have been institutionalized by our society and they are a lot harsher when you know their history. When you think about the inequality in our culture the jokes become less funny. Yet a lot of jokes are told within each race and help establish an individualized culture. Many of my friends have told me I have lost an aspect of my humor because I am a lot more careful around the topic of racial jokes. So the question continues to be where do jokes become harmful to society and how do they play into everyday racism? If the jokes are defined as racist it creates the belief that humans are divided into groups that are different in their social behavior that can be ranked as superior or inferior (405).

I thought this meme emphasized my point.

When I grew up my dad continually joked about his Asian background. He would make jokes such as “Why do Asians have slanted eyes” and he would push his eyes to become more slanted then state, “Oh no more rice!” We would always laugh about this in our family and it became a running joke. Yet he warned us that we should be really careful of who we shared that joke with because it may be less funny to someone else. He also stated that it was okay for him to joke about that because he was Asian. This became something that we could bond over as being from Asian heritage. This attitude changed when someone else used jokes that were similar but they were not within that race. For example, one of my friends would call me Chink on a regular basis, which refers to someone of Chinese background. First of all, I am not Chinese but I took this as a nickname. It was offensive to me but since she was my friend I accepted it as friendly teasing. Looking back on this I should not have let her use this phrase as a nickname, it ended up making me feel really bad about myself just because she was using a name that had so much history behind it. There are jokes that become only acceptable when they are used within a race, yet even then there is still the question of whether or not those people are marginalizing themselves through their jokes. If they are playing into the stereotypes other people have for them are jokes ultimately healthy?

Throughout school jokes are tossed around about race and you never know when to step in to say that they are not okay. Where do we individually draw the line of what form of discrimination is okay? Jokes about people’s intelligence, color, or skill levels tend to be an everyday topic. People tend to accept discrimination within jokes because they are “just jokes” and people can brush them off. They expect there to be no lasting impact of their jokes on the people they are talking with. While they are “just jokes” the minorities that are being targeted tend to walk away feeling as if they fit that stereotype or not knowing how to react. It is harder to stand up for yourself when racism is in a form of a joke and people do not want you to take it seriously.

This becomes a larger issue within the realm entertainment. Comedy is full of jokes that are focused around race and ethnicity. Comedians have full range to pull out racial and ethnic stereotypes to get their audience to laugh. Of course in history there have been comedians that are called out for taking their comedy too far. People remember “Kramer’s” Racist Tirade, where Michael Richards went on a racist rant in a stand-up act which offended many people. He apologized to the community, yet people stated that was just the beginning of the healing process. As a society what makes that rant cross the line into too much? There are plenty other comedy acts that we call “off color”, yet we accept them and even laugh at them.

As a society I think we need to take a look at where we draw the line of what is socially acceptable and how we are impacting the outlook of different communities of people through our jokes. We make excuses for our discrimination of people and expect them to keep their true feelings hidden about the situation for a few laughs. Jokes are a huge part of our society and laughing keeps us light-hearted but we need to look at our forms of institutionalized racism through these acts. We tend to lace our jokes with customs that have racist intentions whether we realize it or not (405).

Work Cited:

Newman, D.M. (2012). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday life. 9th Ed. Pine Forge Press: Thousand Oaks, California.

Chapter 10: Family Expenses

For my family of four here are my wages and expenses for each month:

Income of parents: $2,772

Car Insurance: $35

Fuel: $200

Medical: $190

Dental: $38

Daycare: $375

Food: $300

Clothing: $100

Entertainment: $50

Energy: $100

Apartment rent (2 bedroom) gas and water included : $925

Annual Substance Budget: $27756

I based a lot of this information off of what my parents budget out on a monthly basis.

For this budget I could reduce the amount of money we spend on Medical, Dental, Entertainment, Clothing, and Fuel. These things could be reduced based on how much we spend on luxuries. Also public transportation can be used to reduce the amount spent on gas. These things will cut out the benefits of having things that are considered to be a privilege for some people. Shopping at thrift stores will reduce the amount spent on clothing as well. The need for health care is essential but when budgeting out necessities there are other things such as a place to live and food that take priority. The medical costs can be cut by applying for Medicaid (335).

This sort of lifestyle is hard on the average family. Families need to determine what necessities are and what can be defined as luxuries. To a family that is more well off the things that are determined to be luxuries to one family may seem to be absolute necessities to another. This shows the difference in class structure and how each of them views life on a day to day basis.

My hypothetical family will struggle to make ends meet on a monthly basis. They will not have much money to spend on fun things for the kids that other families may have. They will spend time budgeting their money to make ends meet and probably have to ask for help once in a while. There will be very little extra expenses month to month. Trying to put away money for extra things such as vacations and savings accounts will be rare.

This type of lifestyle will make it harder on the children. They will not have as many luxuries as other children in their classes. They will be enrolled in public schools that tend to be held at a lower standard to private schools. They will be given hand-me-down clothing and may be spoiled once in a while with new clothes. When they get older they will have to find their own jobs to pay for their own entertainment and the clothing that they would like.  Their parents will have to pay for other things such as rent and food so they will not have much extra money for the things their kids want. The kids will most likely have to pay their way through college or find loans to cover the expenses. Their parents will not have been able to save up much for their college education throughout their life but will help where they can.

This hypothetical situation is reality for a lot of families throughout the United States. Many of the United States families live below the poverty line, which identifies the amount of yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs (335). This family may be defined as being within the working class where the jobs are at high chance of being replaceable and a chance of being laid off.  The realities of expenses are scary and as kids grow up they realize the impact of what money really means to society. It determines where you live, your health, and how comfortable you are on a day to day basis. In the end money really does hold importance in the way people function throughout their lives. 

Chapter 9: Successful Students

Good Student Award

Throughout most of my education I have been told that I am a really good student. That is not me bragging or anything; it was just what I was constantly told. Throughout my early education I did not think much about the tests that we were taking to analyze our skill levels. I remember being exposed to the standardized tests and having competitions with a boy in my class on who could get our tests done faster. We took turns being the first and second ones to be done and it was more of a joke. When the test scores would come back my parents would praise me for my results. I apparently scored higher than my grade level constantly and that was something to be praised for. I had gained the status of a successful student early and that role followed me throughout my whole educational career.

As I got older I became more aware of the educational structure and how it impacted other students around me. I had friends that were in lower level courses and were struggling to maintain the grade level work that was given to them. My best friend and I in middle school followed the path of working above our grade level in math and reading. Since we were in charter schools the learning styles were more unique and allowed the teacher to give us a little more leeway to teach ourselves the material.

Standardized Testing Cartoon

When I went to Crosswinds Arts and Science we were told by our English teacher that there was a lot of pressure from the school board to pull good scores on our next standardized tests. Our teacher explained to us that we were at risk for losing our charter because we were not keeping the standards that were stated in our contract. We set aside all of our materials that we had been learning and picked up practice tests. Our teacher ran through how to take tests and reviewed a lot of the material that we had been learning. She said she expected the best out of us and that she knew that we could pull the scores that the school expected out of us. When the tests came back my teacher told us that she was so proud of the work that we had done and that we had excellent scores. That situation showed has although we were a charter school we still had to follow the rules that an institution had for us. We had to set aside our personal learning to achieve what the state believed we needed to achieve.

Standardized Testing Cartoon

After Crosswinds I moved to Central Senior High. I could see the difference in the way the school ran. I noticed the distinct separation between the kids that were succeeding and the students that were not challenged. The students called them tracks and if you were to go anywhere with your high school career you were expected to take challenging classes. So I entered into as many challenging classes as I possibly could knowing that it was the best way to set myself up for college. I took Advance Placement classes and International Baccalaureate classes to ensure I was on the track to college. The school encouraged the successful students and encouraged them to keep up the good work. They did not concentrate on the lower level classes and how it might impact their future. The structure of this institution was concentrating on pushing already successful students to be extraordinary students. Newton mentions the example of the having competition, although you see your fellow students struggling, you know that you are at least succeeding (279).  

This video shows the process and the explanation of the tracking system and how it affects our education system.

In the long run, as you grow up you learn that schools are just another organization that is deeply a part of your life. You learn their norms and how to function among them to either be successful or fall below their expectations. Learning to navigate those aspects of education is part of growing up in the United States and you discover where you fall within those definitions. You also learn the realities of the achievement gap and how that plays into your life. Tests become regularity and figuring out how you can get past them is part of your training. Education is a necessity and my experiences are some of my favorite memories but there are a lot of faulty aspects in the way our society addresses education that I realized as I grew up. The pressure to succeed is intense and a lot of students can not fit into the box that the educational institution expects them to.

Work Cited: 

 Newman, D.M. (2012). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday life. 9th Ed. Pine Forge Press: Thousand Oaks, California.

Chapter 8: TV Shows

Labeling theory characterizes a deviant person as someone to whom the label “deviant” has been successfully applied (252).

When you turn on the T.V there seems to be an increase in reality shows to watch. Oxford Dictionary defines reality TV to be “television programs in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.” While these shows tend to be entertaining to the general audience many of them tend to define what deviant behavior is acceptable to their general audience. It labels things to be socially acceptable and others to be acts that result in arrest. There are two T.V shows that tend to come to mind that display society’s acceptance and defining what will get you arrested.

 One show that defines norms of deviant behavior is Jersey Shore. This show started showing in 2009 and ran till 2012. In this show viewers have access into the lives of eight housemates that spend their summer at Jersey Shore. These members of the house are known for their getting drunk and sleeping with random people every night. This show is full of belligerently drunk moments and fights. This show is known for its portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes and their deviant behavior. The show quickly became popular and had a dedicated following. Although the show had many behaviors that may be considered “delinquent” like assault or public drunkenness, people fell in love with the characters. It glorifies the party lifestyle and the acts that come along with it. The members of the show were labeled as being celebrities rather than delinquents.

Another show that shows society what is defined as criminal is Cops. Cops is one of the longest-running shows on Fox, debuting in 1989. This show follows police officers with camera crews while they bust criminals throughout various cities. The show is the definition of what criminal acts will result in being arrested. The show starts with the song “Bad Boys” which sets up the shows purpose of catching “bad” individuals. They are showing viewers what criminal society looks like through showing arrests of local criminals. The show is filled with individuals that are part of minority populations highlighting on street crimes rather than capital crimes. Viewers are exposed to drug crimes, car chases, and bust ins. Though there is an announcement at the beginning of the show that “all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law”, they tend to frame the suspects as a nuisance to society upon arrest. Suspects are shamed on local television and their acts are displayed to everyone watching the show. This is an example of deterrence theory because it allows viewers to judge the costs of the act they see on their television and outweigh its benefits (250). The show is a warning to the general public that if you commit any of these acts that you could end up just like the individual on your television.

These shows are two examples on how society forms its opinion on what is deviant and what is not. We label decide to label individuals as a nuisance to our society so they deserve to be punished. Others we view their acts to be entertaining and funny rather than a problem. Relativism states that deviance is not inherent to any particular act, belief, or condition; instead, it is socially constructed, a creation of collective human judgments and ideas (240). We create television shows out of people’s lives and this forms society’s views on acceptable behavior. The way the show is constructed forms our judgments on individuals and their decisions. We then decide to label them to be socially acceptable and whether or not we can approve of their behavior. 

Work Cited: 

Newman, D.M. (2012). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday life. 9th Ed. Pine Forge Press: Thousand Oaks, California.

Other Resources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore_(TV_series)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cops_(TV_series)