Week Eleven: Social Institutions I: Religion

I think that our society really is secularizing. When I think about religions and people following them I think in theory they are great and important to everyone. You hear a lot of people say things like "Every man should have a religion" and things like that but I feel like while everyone is encouraged to follow no one actually does. I went to a Catholic school most of my life up until college and from when we started to when we graduated....people stopped going to church every Sunday and started to drift away. I notice with myself, that while I think I still believe and still go to church I don't always make it every Sunday and I tend to do the picking and choosing I know I shouldn't when it comes to following the way of the Church. I think many people do this not just myself, and while they subscribe to a certain religion they may not follow it so closely. But I think the same argument could be made for people of our past. I think that the kings and queens of history weren't so strict on religion either, and that maybe the secularizing is not so much a recent idea, maybe its just recently been more out in the open. But I do think that since countries like ours have freedom of religion, there is less thought put into keeping up with it. So secularizing has had an opportunity to flourish.

Week Ten: Stratification IV: Race and Ethnicity

After reading the information on Japanese Americans in internment camps I was discussing it with my mom and realized that while we look at things in our country's past and think that they were terrible and we will never let them happen again...when we think about it things like this are very much still a problem today. I think that genocide in all areas is wrong, and I believe everyone would agree with that statement, but when someone asks the question what are we doing to stop it....there is never a real answer. I think that until we all make a direct decision to not live with the possibility of genocide we will never fix the problem. This is why concentration camps still exist, and why genocide in Africa is never stopped.

Week Nine: The Social Construction of Gender

While I would love to think that gender inequalities don't apply to myself I know that I am treated a little differently based on my gender. I would say one of the most evident things that can be looked at as a gender inequality is the fact that I work at a doctors office as a receptionist a classic woman job as stated in the textbook. I came to a realization a couple summers ago while looking for a job with no luck that a lot of the easy jobs to get on Craigslist were moving furniture, and while I would be more than willing, I would be less than hired for most of those positions seeing as I lack the natural "strength of a man." I continued looking for jobs and also found my disadvantage of womanhood when talking to a friend who discussed with me the possibilites of working at the hospital as someone who helped out with patients. I was hopefull for the position until my friend cut it to me straight and said that I was probably not going to be able to get the job because they want big people who can move heavy patients around from their beds to the bathroom and the like. I wish that I could say that this statement is such bull, but being a somewhat thinner girl with a huge lack in muscles, I understood that the job would not be for me. But at the same time I have seen plenty of girls my age and otherwise with quite the muscle and ability to perform just as well as a fellow man. So I say that while some girls are more frail, so are some guys, and while some guys pack more power-so do some girls.

Week Eight: Basic Facts About Global Inequality

"Why should we care about global inequality?"

I think we should care about global inequality because ultimately what hurts one country will somehow hurt them all. If you take into consideration countries that are barely making it like Afghanistan for example you can see that the U.S. depends on that country for gas and fuel, they are a powerhouse for their agricultural export that we want, and we exploit them fully in our aids to get a finger in their oil wells. Thinking about this our exploits can and do make people of that country a little disgruntled at being taken advantage of. This could cause such things as attacks on our country and plots against core countries. In history, we see time and time again the minority become irate at thier injustices delivered to them, and finally a resolution to uprise. These country misgivings cause wars on many different scales. If there is any hope for a world without conflict there must be a world that consideres the better good of their neighbors.

Week Seven: Social Class

While I wish social class meant nothing, I think it does mean a lot in the U.S. today. It means a lot only because it really can effect the way you life your day to day life. As we can see from Karen's story on the website she moved around a lot from her father being in the military, and her social status changed with each move. When they lived in an area where her fathers job status was rare her family was looked at as a high status family, and she enjoyed going to a country club with other rich families. When they moved to an area where many people had the same kind of job as her father, she became average, and this made her almost resent her family background. This means that ultimately her social status effected her personal relationship with her family and how she felt about herself. While this seems pretty shallow and sad it is also true. Most anyone who comes from a lower income family will feel this type of need to do better. The want for more is human nature in some ways. People are always trying to "keep up with the Jones's."