Gender

 All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I was eating out with my aunt. She was asking my other aunt on her opinion to sending my four year old cousin to a private school because she was unsure because she didn't know if it would be better.  My four year old cousin hangs out mostly with my boy cousins and one girl cousin but she is already ten so theres a huge age difference and there is so much that both can do together.  My aunts answer was to sign her up for private school because she said that that way she would not become a tomboy and that they would teach her to sit properly and behave like a "young lady".  My aunt thought i went to a private school because when I used to live in Chicago like 6 years ago i would wear the usual white shirt and jeans or navy dress pants/skirt and my class would be in a church.  She used me as an example but i told her the reason for the uniform was that all Chicago public schools have to have the same uniform and the reason my class was in a church building was because the church was nice enough to let my school use that building and that is the reason why a school was built in front of the church. I told them both to just let her do what she wants I mean to me my four year old cousin seems pretty girly but to them shes not. This reminded me of the PowerPoint we saw in class comparing the boy and girl toys and how society tries to make us all perfect and they are the ones responsible for all the stereotypes in our society. 

Gender Roles

Before learning about gender socialization I did come to realize that while my mom was working my dad would sometimes be home and he would be the one cooking and cleaning in the kitchen.  When my dad would be at work and my mom would have her days off she would be the one cleaning and my grandma cooking.  I do remember when my friend came to my house he came through the kitchen and saw my dad cook and he was just shocked.  He thought it was really weird to see my dad cook because he thought my mom always cooked.  My response to that was no, my mom rarely cooks the person who does the most cooking is my dad.  When I tell people that my dad does the most cooking they all look at me with a weird look and I understand why.  They are still used to the guy working and the girl staying home and taking care of the house.  That same friend told me my family was weird and that he analyzes us. I thought it was weird yet funny and I asked why we were "weird", he said that in his family the men are the ones that say what goes and they dont let no women tell them what they have to do (very macho type).  In my family he said that the women are the ones that say what goes, I thought it was funny because in some way it is.  In my family even though married the women is more independent and are almost the head of the house when it comes to making some decisions.  This reminded me of the gender role cartoons and how we had to reverse them and do the opposite of the stereotype. 

Sociology in talkshows

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I was watching this talk show and the theme was young children and their problems with the parents.  Basically one part was the teens doing whatever they wanted and the other part was teens not doing anything, but hard work.  The one said teens were drinking, not going to school, doing whatever they wanted and the parents needed help controlling them and finding a way to cope with them.  On the other side the parents were really strict on the children and did not let them do anything but hard work.  They were really strict to the children and that was what the show was about taking part of one side and putting it to other for help.

Looking at it in a sociological point according to Mead the relationship between the teens whose parents pushed them to the extreme wont have the ability to form a close and happy bond and because of this it would affect their personality in the future.  Same thing goes with the parents and teens who are not doing anything good.  They both need to find a balance between being a parent and being a friend or between being strict and being lenient.

Yes? No? Maybe so?

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I saw culture clash occurring in the store.  I was with my grandma and she was trying to get the price of an item, but at that moment I was somewhere else and when I came back she was standing with the employee and she was smiling and the employee was looking very confused.  Apparently my grandma was trying to ask him for the price and he was trying to understand her so every guess he would do she would just say yes and smile.  He was very confused and did not know what she wanted.  I had to end up translating and the employee told me he was very confused because she kept saying yes to everything and he did not know what to exactly do.  My grandma thought he was understanding her and that's why she kept saying yes.  They both found it kind of frustrating the fact that they weren't understanding each other.  This showed a very good example of culture clash were the two cultures could not interact because of the language barrier.

Media influences American society

I saw sociology when I was in my lunch table and we were talking about tv shows and teen mom came up. This reminded me of how media is one thing that plays a big role in American society. We were talking about how many teens specially girls watch it and feel guided by them in good and bad ways. One of my friends was talking about how she feels it's a good show because it helps guide teen moms in the sense that they share the same feelings and have an idea of what to do and how to solve some of their problems. On the other hand I think that it's bad because it misguides teens into thinking that being pregnant is okay because you might be famous or you might have the same life as everyone else. This is an example of how media is a big part in American society because it changes the way people think and influences their actions.

Symbols that represent American society

Facebook represents american society because this is one way a lot of people especially teenagers communicate.  Facebook is a social network used by many age groups of people and it has become so big that its basically used around the world.  I personally have found it somewhat useful in the sense that instead of wasting money on calling cards to call to mexico I can simply just go on facebook and talk to my relatives being either on chat or messaging. It is now used as a part of communication that many people around the world know what it is and more and more people are opening accounts just to have more communication with each other. Facebook has become a huge part of american society.

Fast food also represent american society because America is known for having a lot of greasy, unhealthy, yet good fast food.  Fast food is also a symbol of obesity in America, a problem that american society has been facing for the past years.  There are probably a lot of fast food chains in the US that encourage us to change our diet and eat unhealthy because of the taste and affordable price.  American society is also known from many outsiders to have the most amount of fast food and fast food chains.  This is one factor that plays a big role on american society because it is a big part to identify americans.

Hygiene is a big part in american society.  There are many cultures that dont see hygiene as americans and dont have it to the same extent as we do.  One example of how hygiene is a big part of american society is when the swine flu was around.  It was just a regular flu, but everyone took extreme precautions and all of them were based on hygiene.  People washed their hands all the times, used mouth protectors, and had hand sanitizers everywhere.  This shows how hygiene is a part of american society.

Technology is a part of american society in many ways. One way is that technology is always advancing at fast rate in the US and most people seem to catch on it really quick because of entertainment, communication, or sometimes necessity.  Another way technology is that american society always wants to update and have the newest thing they always want more and more and do not conform with what they have.  American society never conforms with what they have and always want the latest things and newest things and I think technology is one way to prove it.

MTV or Media is a big part of American society.  Many people in America are influenced by media in comparison to other countries.  Media has influenced many people especially teens and that is one thing that makes up American society the way it is things seen on TV are sometimes things you might see anywhere or things that you might want to happen. I believe that media is one of the things that most influences American society.

Circus!!

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I remembered the time I went to the circus to take my little cousins.  I remember that when we got there there was a lot of people with signs and posters, at first I thought they were promoting the circus being there because we were in the car so I did not get too close to read.  Later, I found out they were people against circuses because of the treatment of animals and when I remembered this I noticed how this was a great example of two out of the four different types of crowds.  The first one would be conventional and that is because everyone gathered in a specific place to see the performance of people and animals while following appropriate behavior even the protesters that were outside they just did their thing without fighting with anyone.  The second one would be acting and this will be the protesters that were outside.  They were taking action toward a specific target and that target was to get more people to stop going to the circus because animals are not for show.  Looking back at it now I realize that if I was part of the protesters my actions would be the opposite as they were when I was watching all the performances.