Changed

This past week in Sociology class we had a classmate and a guest speaker present a PowerPoint and give speeches and take questions. The topic was Homosexuality and Transgendered/Transsexual issues in today's world and how it effects high school students. Before the presentation my opinion on this issue was a little bit of uncertainty and i didn't really like the thought of a transgendered person. Walking out of class, i knew that my vies would be forever changed on the topic, and for the better. I realized that the reason i didn't like the idea of transgendered people and transsexual people was because i really didn't know anything about it. After hearing the presentation and hearing about all the stuff that homosexuals, male or female, and transgendered people have to go through i realized how unfair and mistreated, and really just how misunderstood they are. The are people who cant help but feeling the way they feel and they should be treated the same as anyone else, they are no different. Another point that was made was about how hurtful the word Faggot, and the casual use of the word Gay can be to people who actually are homosexual. In schools throughout the US the word faggot and gay are used so casually to describe people and things, and kids grow up thinking this is OK. I know...I was one of those kids. I have taken it upon myself never to use the word Faggot, and only use the word Gay when using it as the literal sense and never as a demeaning word. I wish that everyone could hear the stories of my classmate and her boyfriend that seriously changed my view on this topic forever. The quicker that people can get educated on this topic the better because i feel that most people don't know what to think because they are so misinformed. All, i guess, i can ask is that people reserve their judgements of Gay and Transgendered people until they become informed of what these people go through every day and how they feel.

Gender vs. Sex

Asking someone what gender they are and asking what sex they are are going to elicit the same response: Male or Female. The definitions of the two may mean the same thing but deeper down they are completely different. One of my classmates this week defined sex as "between the legs. i think thats a perfect description for it, while at the same time it doesn't fit gender completely. When we think about gender and what it can imply, it goes deeper than just intimate body parts, it goes into how we treat each other differently. Even from birth we separate males from females; males get blue things, females pink. This difference is only one in a long chain of differences between males and females. Males play with GI Joe's while girls play with Barbies just because. Raising kids up with this distinct view that genders are different can lead to discrimination later in life, I believe. I say that we let kids choose for themselves what toys they want to play with, and if a girl wants a GI Joe instead of the latest Hannah Montana doll, then so be it.

The Chinese Stereotype vs American Parenting

This week in sociology class, we were assigned a reading about how Chinese parenting techniques differ from the "western" parenting techniques. This Chinese mother made numerous points about how strict Chinese parent are compared to American parents. Chinese children would never get less than an A, they would never be less that #1 in every class, they could not have sleepovers and were required to play the piano and violin, etc.  I am sorry, but really? The child cannot even have sleepovers? The Chinese parenting model may be quite successful fro creating math wizzes and other Chinese nerd stereotypes but it doesn't seem like it succeeds in giving the child happiness. Academic performance,its states in the article, is a measure of how successful parents are. What these parents don't realize is that academics aren't everything. Kids need social skills as well. How many times are there those extremely quiet Asian kids who sit in class, never saying a word, and midway through 2nd semester the teacher calls on them and the reaction is 'who is that kid?'. I have seen it happen numerous times, and I'm not trying to be racist but a large percentage of the time it is Chinese kids who have not developed adequate social skills. These social skills are crucial to being successful in life, but even more important, being happy.

Afraid of the Inevitable

Americans are afraid of death. We don't even use the word "died" when someone close to us dies. We insist on using phrases that get the point across without really saying anything, like "passed away" or even "kick the bucket". We, people, created these phrases to try and protect us from the harsh reality that we will all die at one point. Talking about death openly is usually not considered to be a good conversation starter or topic, as people don't like talking about it. Death is even used to put fear into people, for example, the picture of the skull and crossbones on packs of cigarettes that has the caption "smoking kills you". We are frightening our population with death, and not just on cigarette packs. This fear of death could be linked to our materialism, as perhaps we try to fill our lives with as many things as possible because we never know what day will be our last. But that, is a topic for another blog post.

Midnight Grocery Store Runs in America

We are known throughout the world as being materialistic, greedy, and obsessed with the here-and-now. This isn't too far off the mark, but i would argue that sometimes, all that isn't a bad thing. No one would argue against the point that the United States of America is the most powerful country in the world, and e got their through our culture of wanting to succeed. This is very different from other powerful cultures throughout the world, for example, Germany. The article "Bemused in America" explains the story of how one German man traveling in the US comes across many of our countries values, and the shock it gave him. Our grocery stores are open 24/7. Why? Because when we want something, we want it now and do not want to have to wait for the next day. This is completely different from Germany's 8pm closing law, and this particular German man seemed a little jealous. This is the freedom that we give to our citizens, to be able to get that quart of mint-chocolate ice cream at 2am, but we also pay a price; the world views us as obsessed with instant gratification, while simultaneously feeling jealous of our freedom.

How We Live

This week in sociology, we saw pictures of families from countries around the world outside their homes with their most prized possessions. I have traveled a lot in my life so far, Ive been to China, Japan, France, Israel, and I am going to Italy during spring break. I saw a lot on those trips but these pictures reminded me of what we take for granted. Some of these families slept on the ground, and one family even needed a soldier to help guard their possessions for the picture. The differences of these families really showed the technological gap between the United States, and other "western" countries, with the underdeveloped world. The difference in values and beliefs are very evident. I found that lesson to be very enlightening and I think that everyone should try to educate themselves to the culture and lifestyles of other around the world.

(Blog #5)

Passing Judgement

Everyday we meet new people, and the first thing we do is "size them up". That's become the acceptable term to use to describe judging people by their looks. This social interaction before any dialog occurs can change any future relationship between those people. Think about it the next time you meet someone. One of my best friends throughout my high school career, who is also in my sociology class, is one of those people that when you meet them your probably like...whoa..what is that guy wearing. I got to know him though, and it turned out that we would develop an extremely close friendship. He has decided to do whatever he wants and not care about what anyone else thinks. I could only wish to have his confidence, and I look up to him for that, as it has slowly given me increased confidence in myself. So that "sizing someone up" that people tend to do all too much in this society has, in my opinion, really gotten out of hand. What kind of shoes someone wears, or what brand clothes they wear do not define who they are as a person, and maybe We, as a society, need to stop passing judgment.