Boyhood sports and masculinity

This article was based on the relationship that sports had with boys/men. The author of this article interviewed many different athletes, of different race and different classes. He interviewed them on different kinds of factors that came with the individual playing sports, such as why they started playing to people that had the biggest influence on them playing sports, and their relationships with their fathers and sports. While the answers of the interviewers (based on their class) were not shocking to me, I did learn some different views on how some see sports. When asked "Why they play sports" to no surprise by me, at a much higher rate than the middle class athletes (almost completely whites) the lower status, and class athletes (Black and Hispanics) felt that that sports was their way out of poverty, as a way to stay occupied and because their was nothing else to do. On the other, the middle class athletes saw sports for really only what is was, a sport they enjoyed playing. And many did not view sports as "their way out". Many viewed education as being more important. Maybe it is because I grew up and still am in a middle class family that I feel this way, but I completely thought that this article was accurate on the inequalities that certain classes have over others. And how based on their class and status, their opinion on how important certain things are change. I myself love sports, especially Baseball, but I have never seen Baseball as "my way out" as maybe a working or lower class individual might see it as, I always just played Baseball for the love and fun of the game. Just like in the article with the middle class athletes, I feel education is much more important to me than sports. They also mention how boys/men related sports to masculinity, such as how popular you were based on your abilities (how good you were), and how it is a boys "natural instinct" to play all kinds of sports (according to the majority of interviewers), and how you were frowned upon  and not "accepted" if you did not play, participate and excel in sports.

Beyond Black and White: Remaking Race in America

This article was about how before the 2000 census, people could only label their children for example, (or themselves) one race and how this created a problem. How was a couple from different races suppose to label their child if they only had one choice? In the article they actually had an example if a black and white couple had a baby on the census before 2000, they had to decide whether to label the baby "white or black"because there was no option to label them as being multiracial (2 or more races). I found out that the main reason for the change was the rise in intermarriage. This option of being able to choose more than one race is important because it is also a signifies the racial and ethnic boundaries that for so long have divided this country are fading away. I can't imagine especially living in NYC not having to see everyday people who appear to be of more than one race and the different cultures out there. It was not possible at this day and age to still think a majority of people only marry their race, and since society has changed this census had to adapt to the change as well. I feel that the change in the census was needed because it gives people more options now than ever before, and the increase of multiracial people out there and intermarriages that are now more common and continue to increase.

Race and Ethnicity: Racial Stratification and Education & Beyond Black and White

While reading Racial Stratification and Education, I was shocked to learn some of things that were written in the passage. I use to think that if you have people in the same social class as you, that your education level would also be similar, but reading this proved me wrong. I read that during a correlational study that "black" children at every class level do less well on standardized test than the "white" children. And this is saying something about our educational system and its issues. This is going to the bigger issue of inequality for many black children because of the lack of resources, segregation and unequal access to education. Another interesting point in the reading was that many African Americans don't feel as they are treated fairly when it comes to employment in qualifying jobs. Although I've personally never seen this unfair treatment I definitely know that it still goes on today. Studies have shown that African Americans feel that in order to take education serious, that one must then give up being "black" (culture beliefs, values,styles of speech(slang), appearance and preference). And I feel that it's an important point because it goes back to what we have spoke about this semester on what is important to us as individuals and our culture, and I can't help but ask myself, if I have to give up all the things mentioned above to get a higher education, is it worth it?

The other reading that is called Beyond Black and White: Remaking a Race in America and what this article was talking about was how we as a nation is changing our view on race. While reading I learned that before the 2000 census there was only black and white for a choice when deciding what a child was based on race if the child had intermarried parents. And now with the rise of intermarriage in our country where as in the past dating back to the 60's where there was hardly any and some states (16 in total) had even banned it (and almost at all times  back then interracial couples where frowned upon) they now are adding different races to choose from on the census. Even though in present day interracial couples are sometimes still frowned upon with certain cultures,religions and families who are very traditional, it is much more accepted now than it was in the past for many. Probably one of the most important paragraphs in the reading talks about how the increase in intermarriage, and the growth of multiracial population reflect a blending of races and a shifting of color lines among people. And since multiracial identification indicate a reduction in social distance and racial prejudice, these phenomena provide evidence of loosening racial boundaries which demonstrates how a society adapts and changes over time.

People Like Us

I found the video to be very interesting and related to what we had discussed in class this week. The simple question on what Social Class we think we fall in to. I learned on how people view you and the class that they think you belong to based on so many different things. Something surprising was that your class can based so many different things including even what kind of food you eat, as it showed in the film, that the wealthier the family was, the less white bread they ate. Even the way people socialize is somehow connected to the class you fall into. The way you stand, the way you talk, the way you walk, so many different things that they showed that according to them, had to due with your class. Depending on what social class they came from, they all gave different answers on what having class meant to them. I found the single most important part in the film to show how people in higher classes often times view people they feel don't belong in their groups was when they were interviewing that "WASP" member. He mentions wondering who were these "short, fat, ugly people"(a couple dancing) and wondering how they got in, referring to the "WASP" society he belonged to. They felt that they were better than everyone else. And then at the end of the film they showed a boy who was poor and embarrassed to show where he lived because of being in a  "lower class" family and how he was even embarrassed to walk with his own brother and introduce his own mother to friends based on their appearance. I found that part to be shocking on how in order to fit in with a certain class that boy had to lie about his own class and reject his family.

I definitely felt that this film was very accurate on social class. I felt that something of self experience that I could relate to this film was when I went to the Hamptons in the summer and stopped by a deli to buy food. Not only was the deli organized so much better then deli's around here, but they had better selections of  foods and to make a long story short, I did not feel like I belonged there, not only were the people in the deli looking at me funny, but I can tell they were judging me as well. And I feel it was based on how I was dressed and looked. And to me, what happened there is all connected to what the film was talking about, on how people judge you based on many different things and what social class they feel you belong to.

Positive Functions Of The Undeserving Poor

In this article, Herbert J. Gans talks about the things that poor people living in poverty do, their effect on society, whether its in a positive and negative way and societies reaction to them. Gans talks about issues that poor people have and are often ignored, how they are treated unfairly and explains how poor people are a threat to society due to their behaviors that are often associated with them, things such as crimes to others (mugging, robbing, etc.). After all mugging only occurs with poor people. He also mentions how most poor people violate the norms of our society and how they are often looked down upon and the stereotypes that are associated with being poor (things like they are lazy and undeserving.) I found this article to be very interesting when it came to explaining certain points on how our society views these people.I have a strong belief after reading this that not only does our society rely and view poverty as beneficial to the rich and the middle class but also encourages this to continue by refusing to help/change this. I personally feel that we all benefit from poor people whether we want to believe it or not. And probably the most 'true" line in the article is the last one where Gans says is "the only certain way to eliminate both this notion and the functions is to eliminate poverty altogether".  Probably the most important thing in the article is Gans 5 set of functions, which include 13 specific functions. The five set functions include Two Micro-Social Functions, Three Economic Functions, Three Normative Functions, Three Political functions, and 2 Macro-Social Functions.  

Deviance

In every society including our own, being a Deviant individual is not something most people would want to be. But what exactly is Deviance? Deviance is when an individual/s break a social rule, or refuse to follow them.  But if you ask me being labeled Deviant varies in alot of ways. The reason it varies is because while reading ch.6 I found it interesting that sometimes an individual can be considered Deviant without doing anything, saying anything or believing in anything bad. So that has alot to say about how our society is very judgmental one and how one thing that one person might consider Deviant another may not. Another thing I found interesting was sometimes a person's master status can be all the things necessary to label an individual Deviant, not "normal' in other words. Many times people do Deviant acts without even noticing it like myself for example, when I drive in an open space on a highway I tend to drive very fast and exceed the speed limit. Or another example can be how people might view me and think of me because I wear earrings and have tattoos, but like I said earlier it varies with people on what they think is Deviant and not.Basically people's opinions on Deviance adapt over time as societies change.

Gender Socialization

     "A Call To Men" was a very interesting short video that basically explained how men are suppose to act and feel. In the video, Tony Porter explains what the ''Man Box" is. Inside the "Man Box" are phrases that define what it means to be a man or so they say. Such phrases like "Do not show weakness or fear", "Do not cry", "Do not be like gay men" and so on. He also explained how in his life he often followed the guidelines of how to be a man. Until he finally noticed how it was wrong of him to do so, like when he got angry at his 5 yr old son for crying and told him to talk to him only when he can talk to him like a man. He also talks about different things that occurred to him throughout his life that changed him like when he saw his father crying and how his "man card" was in jeopardy when he didn't want to have sex as a child. He also mentions how we as men in this culture, in this society are taught to have less value of women and to view them as property and objects.  

     "Killing Us Softly" was a video that explained how we generally view women in our society. Jean Kilbourne talked about how advertisements are demonstrating how women should look, who they are, and how they should be. She also explains how in her views that society has not changed on how we value women and  also mentions what most women/young females think is important now a days is physical appearance.  She goes on saying the "norms" of our society on how women are often used to reflect images of  sexual identities. She also explains how our society is at fault for all this because of how they praise the idea of physical perfection. For females this starts at a very young age such as their childhood, due to the fact that our society is pressuring these young girls on  how they should act and look or what they should try looking like (example: Models). She also throughout her video talks about the different kinds of stereotypes that go with being a women. Such stereo types like how women are all passive, vulnerable, not powerful, weak, objects, etc. Something that also stood out to me  while watching this is how we have the highest pregnancy rate of teenagers than any country and that this is probably linked to how our society is influencing these young girls into having sex. Another shocking thing she spoke about were the ads that had women with their mouths shut, having no say, no opinions, and that goes back to the days when women were nothing more than housewife's and there opinions didn't matter. 

     I feel that both of these videos were very related to what we have been discussing in class. It is related because of how socialization is the process that we become aware of ourselves as part of a group, and how we learn to communicate with others in the groups and learn the behavior that is expected of us: spoken and unspoken rules of how you think, how you feel, our norms that society puts upon us, our values our beliefs, our desires and our interests. (sociology now, 127) And basically when I underlined the sentence above, I was trying to make the point of what Jean Kilbourne was trying to say about how our society sees women. Throughout her whole presentation she was talking about the unfairness that we have as men brought upon women. And to be quiet honest, I never really saw ad's this way until she pointed it out, and I'm shocked to realize how correct she is on how society has not changed much. And I believe what she is saying is true how this society negative expectations of women is wrong, unfair, unequal, and destructive. It also goes without saying that what we as adults is influencing the people around us as well (such people being children) which is mentioned in the chapter as well how children often imitate what they see as they are being socialized. And when it comes to talking about how the first video I saw is related to chapter 5, I'd say that it is also very similar as well and I feel Tony Porter makes some strong and correct points. He also it talking about socialization among boys/men and how we are expected to act and behave as men. It explains in the chapter what happens when boys/men for example defy gender expectations and what are some of the consequences for breaking the norms , and how sanctions for gender non-conformity are more severe for boys than for girls (sociology now, 146). What us men have been taught from the very beginning of time is how we should not show fear, be scared, etc, and I believe this as a man that it is completely far from the truth. The only reason this is the guideline for men is because of of culture and popular belief that men are superior than women, have more power, control everything, (although some of this can be true to a certain extent). What both of these videos come down to is defined as Gender Socialization, (from the chapter) which is the active learning of the socially acceptable attitudes, traits, and behaviors that are seen in ones society as appropriate for males or females. I believe that this ultimately what these people in the videos are trying to get the audience to understand.