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I’m taking sociology, for my general education requirements. Not a very inspiring reason, I know. But I can’t lie and say that I’m not interested in sociology as a whole. The human mind is probably the most complex computer on the planet. A fleshy, tangle of tissue and electricity, receiving and outputting information. A marvel of evolution. And with this in mind, many others and I have a ‘script’, that we follow. We smile, we frown, we move, we live… and when that script is broken… It’s abnormal. It’s… ‘weird’. I simply want to know why that is. I simply want to know… what makes me human.

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A very exaggerated form of quantitative research. 

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Sociology is simply a social science. Morso is the study of human behavior. This science differs from natural sciences in the sense that it tries to understand observations, not as objectively as in natural sciences. The observations are of people and how we behave and react to each other. Sociology can be compared with other social sciences such as history, political science, economics, etc. “Like history, sociologists also attempt to establish the social contexts that influence people.” par. 12. There are varying types of sociology at that. Structural and interactional. For example, a structural sociologist might observe a group and then observe how being in that group could reflect on those people's decisions and behaviors. An interactual sociologist would observe people on the individual level. Primarily, what people do when they are in the presence of another. Qualitative sociologists focus on how people build their view of the world, their ideas and attitudes, and how they communicate. Quantitative sociologists prefer statistics or numbers to get their measurements of people's behaviors. An organized type. Concluding this, sociology is indeed the study of human behavior. And there are several ways to go about observing and measuring a society. Macro or micro. It's all up to you.

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Using Sociology on the Job. A perfect foundation.

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Openstax, Chapter 1 An Introduction to Sociology.

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Openstax, Chapter 1 An Introduction to Sociology.

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Sociology is the study of groups and group interactions. A sociological study would be something like culture. Culture is a group's shared practices, values, and beliefs, fitting a macro-level study. Cultural patterns, social forces, and influences are all pressures put on people to make decisions. For example, the “typical” u.s families consist of same-sex couples, single parents, and single-adult homes. This was considered a minority of marriage statistics, but it is now increasing in today’s world. Have values and traditions changed so much that we’re now seeing drastic changes in a family’s makeup? Those are the questions that start with a sociological viewpoint. This wasn’t a later science either. Many noble sociologists like Auguste Comte, Émile Durkheim, Charles Horton Cooley, and many more have certain viewpoints that contributed to what we can assess about today’s society. Theories play into sociology nicely, considering that the whole science cannot always provide an objective answer. People put their input, and sure enough some stand out as unanimously agreed upon truths. But some are concrete, like functionalism, the biological reasoning for our behavior. Conflict theory is a competitive race for limited resources, material, and/or abstract. Symbolic interactionism is the theory of studying on a Micro-level with individuals in a society. There are many approaches to these studies. It’s worthwhile to study sociology to gain an understanding and to have a foot in fixing societal issues.  It’s got to be well-informed on something that affects your daily life. For example, workplace usage. Use these understandings of statistics, critical analysis, and research to carry out not just work, but everyday tasks as well.

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Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Data Analysis and Research Skills: Social Awareness and Cultural Competence: Policy…

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Simple acts of living can build you up and grow as a person. An ideal demonstration of symbolic interactionism. 

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Chapter 4.2. Theoretical perspectives on Society

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Chapter 4.2. Theoretical perspectives on Society

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Émile Durkheim was a sociologist who favored the functionalist viewpoint. He believed that the individuals in a society were crucial to its stability, like a set of cogs in a bigger machine. Karl Marx, another sociologist, believed that our society is a battle between the powerful and the poor. The idea is that due to limited resources, there is more conflict and competition between different social classes. The bourgeoisie were the wealthy capitalists with the means of production, and the proletariat were the laborers, a massive part of the production. They were polar opposites. The wealthy exploited the working class as much as possible, and the working class deified them as much as possible. The working class would feel disconnected and astray from society due to so much work. This feeling would be called alienation. They feel as if their purpose in life is to be a cog in a machine. To avoid feeling this way, there are other ways to live and grow. Symbolic interactionism is a perspective that focuses on the everyday interactions between people and how these interactions shape the larger scale of society. Buying a coffee, going for a walk, and starting very boring conversations. Simple day-to-day living is the fundamental core of growing and learning about yourself and what role you play in society.

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CGI Animated Short Film: "Mr Indifferent" by Aryasb Feiz | CGMeetup

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To choose to be ignorant of the world can be beneficial for peace of mind. But… without a deeper investigation, there's a sense of synthetic bliss. The exact opposite of a sociologist.

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To be a sociologist, you must look at the good and bad from a place with no morals or values. It is not necessary to become cold, but to assess information with open eyes. A sociologist is one who is fascinated by the people around them. (Women included) They’re fascinated by tragedy, joy, and disgust. Anything humanity produces when living with each other. Sociology isn’t a journey made alone. Economists, historians, politicians, and more are cut from the same cloth. When there are people involved, sociology can be applied. Despite that, no other social science is wrong in its way of thinking. People who don’t have an interest in the world should stay away from sociology. Anyone ignorant of the mysteries beyond surface-level society should avoid sociology. Without the temptation of learning, there is nothing to gain from knowledge.

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Cypher: I know this steak doesn’t exist... Ignorance is bliss | The Matrix

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The same people denying nazi-like tendencies are making a very similar parallel. History influences certain ideas that are similar, but prettied up.

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Many people feel trapped in their day-to-day life, and it does seem that way. Not because they choose to live in such a way, but because they’re merely following a path set by their history. We walk the roads that were tarred decades and centuries ago. Peasants became workers, feudal lords became businessmen, and kings became CEO’s. There are still parallels we follow that are from centuries ago. Only now can we reflect on our history and grasp how dense it sounds. Centuries ago, when assault seemed like a reasonable response to being angry, it now just sounds like something a Neanderthal would do. However, we do gain a sense of reflection with those assessments. Do I still think that way? Would I resort to something as low as that if it weren’t for social norms? Nowadays, we gain anxiety from being in a time of leisure and privacy. With most of our values being kept and cherished, there is the anxiety of wanting to move past that. The indifference of being guided towards something different, astray from usual norms. Some of these thoughts may be jotted down as “psychiatric”—ignoring the individual thoughts for lunacy. We now know we have to make sense of this easiness and indifference. We have to know the difference between crazy and thoughtful.

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I want to be a part of someone's journey of self-improvement.  Pushing them in the right direction.

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I’m interested in a career where I can help people. I want to help people, but I don’t want their survival to depend on me, like a firefighter or a paramedic. I want my work to matter, or to fulfill my passion for helping others. Nutrition was and is constant in my life. Am I eating right? Should I eat this carb now? Is this too much cheese? Things like that. I want to help others with poor eating habits. I'm heavily interested in this field because I was once obese as a child, and because of that, I missed out on most childhood experiences, not because of my weight, but because of my self-loathing. I don't want anyone to hate themselves for how they look, like I did. Especially not children. With some help from sociology, I want to gain an understanding of backgrounds, culture, and day-to-day living that can affect one's eating habits. And help them carve new paths or form better habits that can still align with their cultures and values. Sociology will better help me by allowing me to understand why I'm feeling envious, angry, or impatient about certain things. I'd find the root cause of the negative effects and try to cut it off at the source. My life's not set in stone, so I now and forever will hold the hammer and chisel.

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Cybergoth Dance Party. A subculture that frankly… seems like a blast.

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Culture is a group's beliefs, values, and practices, whereas a society is a group that interacts with each other and shares a common culture, usually in a united area. These two ideas go together swimmingly. One can hardly exist without the other. Language and symbols are the main elements of a culture. The primary transmission of information is using symbols, such as letters, pictographs, and hand gestures. They relay our information to others, negative or positive. The way we interact can shape the way we perceive ourselves and the world around us. It can be large, like a country-wide practice, or a smaller practice, like a subculture, a smaller cultural group within a larger culture. Like cosplayers (subculture) dressing up as their favorite characters from a larger culture (comic book company). However, some don’t always align with common cultural practices in their communities. That’s when they create a counterculture. A culture rejecting or defying a larger culture’s (which they usually reside in) beliefs, ideals, and practices. They believe their way is better or less oppressive. Functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism are all perspectives of sociology. While not the only perspectives, they are the most common and influential ones that are primarily used. Functionalism is the approach of viewing society as one big machine with cogs in it. Those cogs are us, the people. We make up the society, and the society builds us up to conform to it. Conflict theory is the theory or viewpoint that sees society as a competition for resources. Mostly about the social classes of capitalists vs the working class. Symbolic interactionism is a perspective of viewing the relationships between individuals determined by how they communicate. Whether it be letters, sign language, or pictographs, there are many interpretations of culture, and frankly, most of them are subjective or cannot be proven to be inaccurate.

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The Nacirema’s tool for the daily cleansing of the oral cavity.

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87-91: Miner, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema 

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87-91: Miner, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema 

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The Nacirema people are odd in their rituals of the human body. It’s health and appearance. They’d frantically and daily scrape their mouths with the hairs of hogs, accompanied by a paste made up of a herbs and Sodium bicarbonate. They believe it to be cleansing and healing to the oral cavity. It doesn’t stop at the mouth, but the whole body as well. When sick, the natives wander into latipso’s, where they can be purified. There, they purify the sick patients by any method necessary. Whether it be drugging, mutilation of the vessel with cutlery, or capsules containing ingredients for cleansing. Then there are listeners. These listeners hear out the mentally sickened natives and their cries of demons of the mind. From there, the listener exorcises the demons by using routines and gathering information about these demons by exploring further into the sickened people’s minds. These people are, at heart, perfectionists. Though a superficial ritual-driven society… they take pride in their dental hygiene, hospitals, and therapists. Behold the American people.

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“L.A. Noire Requires You To Read Subtle Facial Clues To Tell When Someone Is Lying”. A game where non-verbal communication is essential to solve crimes.

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109-117: Hall & Hall, The Sounds of Silence

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109-117: Hall & Hall, The Sounds of Silence

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Non-verbal communication is our first language. And we use it every day, or every time we talk to anyone. It can show your comfort and or engagement in a conversation. Averting gazes, head nodding, and fidgeting are some examples of the language we use. The eyes are usually dead giveaways. They can stare at something too long, and either be considered rude or flattering, depending on the context and or background. Eyes can avert, meaning disinterest. They can dilate, showing a great attraction or desire for something. However, that doesn’t mean they can press up closer than comfortably. Too much intrusion can disturb your spatial bubble. An abstract zone of comfort that’s always changing depending on the context, situation, or emotion. Anger can make the distance needed for comfort bigger. And the more calming tendencies you have, the more tolerance you have for people closing in on your bubble. Cultural differences can keep people away, too. Being raised in different backgrounds can make people think their way of communication is fine, but it could be drastically different or considered rude in a different culture.   Maybe a middle finger here means “good morning” in another culture.  All in all, non-verbal communication is how people get their assessment of you. Words can say a lot, but actions show far more.

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“L.A. Noire Requires You To Read Subtle Facial Clues To Tell When Someone Is Lying”

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After Four Sneezes, the World Turns Against You. Basically, what happens after your sympathy credits run out.

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118-134: Clark, Sympathy in Everyday Life

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118-134: Clark, Sympathy in Everyday Life

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Sympathy is a basic human function. It’s almost a primal feeling to comfort or share someone’s pain. However, there’s a set of rules to follow and obey. Some harsh but true. And some that happen subconsciously. It’s a socioemotional economy. An economy of regulating emotion and keeping it in check to make sure not too much sympathy is given. And you must be respected. Everybody has a social margin of respect and leeway of sympathy. If you don’t have a lot of respect, you won’t get much sympathy. “Sympathy credits” are a tool to measure how much sympathy is given and how much can be given back. It’s important not to cash out on all of your sympathy credits so they don’t become worthless. No one likes a downer asking for a steady income of sympathy. Asking for too much can make those lending sympathy give less and less until they see past your cries and see your lack of initiative. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t collect sympathy. You should. One who doesn’t claim any sympathy may be deemed as someone who doesn’t need to be comforted. Then, when the time comes that you DO need sympathy, no one can really understand where you’re coming from. Lastly, make sure to pay it forward. When there’s sympathy to be lent, lend it. Let them know you can be trusted, so a steady chain of sympathy can be passed around your society. Think of it as extreme as infecting others with your sympathy. Bottom line is to balance it out. Give, lend, receive all with an awareness of how much is being taken, and or given.

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After Four Sneezes the World Turns Against You

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This person chose to modify their body with several operations and piercings. And they're not the only ones. It's an entire subculture of bodmodifying. A manic focus on tattoos.

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Tattoos are seen as something permanent to put on your body. So, it's a social norm not to ask for something offensive or distasteful. It can ruin your image, relationships, and interactions by having something horrible inked on your body. Despite that, there is a subculture of people taking tattoos to the extreme. Inked-out skin, eyeballs, and oral modifications are just a few examples of the wild body modifications that start with simple tattoos. This subculture essentially mutilates itself for the love of the look. However, in pop culture, things are much more tame. People have their interests, bible verses, family, and partners inked on them. Celebrities now show off their tattoos with a laugh, rather than being booed for them like a century ago. Tattoos can be seen as admirable or disrespectful, depending on the cultural background and context of the tattoo. A swastika on your arm from your pride and practice of Buddhism could get you beaten up for being mistaken as a nazi's swastika. It all matters in the cultural context of such tattoos. Tattoos have been more welcomed in today's society than at any time in the past. Some tattoos, like a teardrop by your eye, can lead to a loss of respect and a gain of judgment. Gang activity can be connected to certain tattoos, but a simple explanation fixes most initial judgments on your character. Nothing is at stake in this discussion. Or at least not anymore. Tattoos are thriving with the quick output of media that's pouring out of comic books, movies, trends, and stories. It is not something that can be seen as bad because of the sole reason of context. What does it mean? Who did that ink? Is that racist propaganda on your arm? Stuff like that.

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A tribe in the North-Western hemisphere has a very unusual practice of exposing themselves to synthetic doses of dopamine. They rub their fingers on a handheld mirror, lit up by blue lights, causing their brains to release dopamine with every rub of their finger. The dosing can continue or stop for as long as they decide. The doses come from a series of radio frequencies producing pictographs for their interest. Their tendencies then get absorbed by the mirror, to be later shown more of their desires. Wealth, Fame, and loyal followers can be gained from a series of flashlights of the individual. The mirror is purposely designed to make putting it down difficult. The mirror being a smartphone. And the dopamine dosing is scrolling through social media.

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Really, any field has a way to implement the scientific method. You gotta alter some of the steps to get your results. In this case, we tailor our steps to help us conclude what approach would be best for Sociological research. Is doing surveys and yielding many responses the best approach? What about field work that yields fewer results but is more detailed and accurate? Could experimenting with customs through manipulation change how we feel permanently? Maybe someone else already has data we can go off of… But where does the line draw? When do we go too far? For example, pretending to be friends with someone just to get your research seems unethical. Were they a lab rat to you? Were the pickup basketball games we've played meant nothing? But if you had told them, would you have gotten the same results? It's all very complicated, and there isn't an objective way of doing research effectively. The important thing is to remember we are studying people, not mice.

Gathering research seemed almost simple to me. Gathering information, calculating results, and so on. But apparently, there's more to it. Apparently, there are flaws in these designs that can just mess up the process and give crappy results. Not wrong results, but ones that don't really seem considerate. I don't really see the harm in unethical ways of research, but I do see when the lines get crossed. I'm unlikely to tell someone I'm studying them, only because I'd want accurate results. I'm not keeping them in the dark because I hate them; I just can't risk getting inaccurate research. No hard feelings, really.

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29-47: Henslin, Doing Sociological Research

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29-47: Henslin, Doing Sociological Research

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I usually preferred to fill in the blanks to get through most assignments in high school. Wanting the day to end and all. But it seems I can't skimp on sociological research. No one wants a half-assed report on their desk.  Not just one research method is at my disposal either. I have more than three theories to use when studying. Symbolic interactionism, functionality, and social conflict are three of many ways to approach it. None is wrong, but they differ. Is the best one the one that answers your questions at every step? Absolutely. You can hold surveys, do fieldwork, experiment… But you can't be a heartless fool when researching a heavy topic. The book using the topic of rape is a good example of how to go about ethical issues when researching. How can I go about diving into a topic as horrid as this? The book gives us steps and tips to avoid getting slapped across the face when asking. When dealing with something as touchy as rape, there had to be a careful approach and scientific method that allowed for accurate research without being ignorant. I can't imagine having a traumatic event that happened to me listed down by a person, and then that person just walking off to find more “research”. I knew that harsh topics don't have to be avoided; I just couldn't find ways to go about it. Now I know that they just have to be handled carefully.

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63-72: Pager, Would You Hire an Ex-Convivt?

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63-72: Pager, Would You Hire an Ex-Convivt?

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Depends. I wouldn't hire anyone with extreme felonies like embezzlement or attempted murder. However, drug charges seem like a different story to me. Not many drug addicts or dealers dreamt of becoming ones when they were kids. I personally would take that risk. Everyone deserves a second chance. More than two, I believe. But only so much trust can be given to them. Should I trust them as much as I do with employees with clean records? People with clean records aren't always “Trustworthy”. And yet, ex-criminals have seen what happens when you do the wrong things. Jail. Are they less susceptible to committing wrongdoings because of their exposure to punishment? Or has the correctional system given them a narrow view of success? I can trust a clean employee more. But not enough to think one is superior to the other. I want to see the good in people. Hardly anyone is born evil. Their cards and guidance have led them wrong. However, those with the righteous hand have no sense of risk for success.

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I’m sitting by myself in a comfy chair, putting my elbows on the table. There aren’t too many people here, probably because it's afternoon. Some are studying, chatting, and having a nice meal. The barista then yelps out my order, holding up my cup. I drink my iced latte with sugar-free vanilla and non-fat milk with mild enjoyment, as I rushed my order for calorie-friendly coffee. The environment welcomes people of my age with its decor and music. Dark and welcoming with just enough light to bring in hope. While vast age groups are present, people in their early 20s are prominent. A girl asks to leave her application to the barista, in hopes of finding employment, I presume. I finish my drink, still slurping on the ice cup. With this, I scan the area to add to my ethnography. Friends laugh over a game of Connect 4. A young man seems to be invested in his work. Grown men giggle like children over dad jokes. Hardly anyone deviates from the peaceful environment. They keep civilized and inviting. Despite the metal music playing over the speakers, I feel a sense of peace. The selection of syrups on display and the use tell me that they have a diverse flavor profile for their drinks. They try to cater to most, if not all, types of tastes.

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Chapter 5: Socialization Chapter AND Chapter 4.3: Social Constructions of Reality 

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Chapter 5: Socialization Chapter AND Chapter 4.3: Social Constructions of Reality 

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I guess I'm not a human unless I'm taught how to be one. Or at least, socially. The rhesus monkey isolation study made sense. A monkey hasn't been around monkeys, therefore it can't monkey. So if I were caged up since birth and fed by automated beings up until adulthood… would I BE human? Would I attack the strange being that looks like me out of fear? I hope not, but it sounds likely. I can be nurtured into having decorum, but my biological makeup wants me to eat like a slob. I want to lie in bed all day, I want to eat until I burst, I want to pick my nose. But! I know darn well all of that is taboo. Some of those things I can't do willingly are due to the desire to be proper and clean. I am an animal, but I'm intelligent enough not to be a beast. I could've turned out differently if I were nurtured in different environments. An unloving father would've made me bitter. A minimalist decor could have dwindled my creativity. A terrible teacher could have made me abhor school. I'm not me without my agents of socialization, like my peers and institutions. I'm still learning and adapting now. And I won't be done until I die. From baby formula to walking sticks, I will continue to have a new sense of self. It's cool never to be done becoming anew. I play my role as me, and if I encounter something I can't understand, I view it from another’s role. I put on eyes that aren't mine to understand what I'm supposed to be seeing.

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135-146: Goffman, The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life

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135-146: Goffman, The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life

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First impressions/encounters are crucial to succeed in gaining a great understanding of that person. The encounter moves like chess, or a really intense game of baseball, where you hit or catch on every clue given or indirectly given to you in conversations. After that, it's a show where I'm on stage, and I have my script and role to follow. I exchange my dialogue through others/co-stars like an actor. I put on the show of... well... me. And through this presentation of me, I'm trying to get the audience to have an understanding of the person I'm trying to convey. In return, I expect to look upon my co-stars for their demonstration, and get my understanding from that. Yet, I can play characters that aren't me. I can play the rugged stoic who pushes through the pain. I can play the jester with never-ending tales. I could even play as an honest man who does no wrong. All characters and roles I can show off to mask the person I want to hide backstage. My props are my materials. My accessories, my clothing, my hairstyle, and my extensions are props. These props can break, be renewed, updated, lost, or given. However, those same props can unlock new dialogue or new stories to venture into. For example, a compliment on a necklace can later lead to a new friendship. Every word out of my mouth is a part of my script. Along with every bit of dialogue I receive. I play my role, whatever role, with gusto to reel in the result I

want from that encounter. I have been acting my whole life, and I haven't taken one acting class yet. Acting is innate. That's why lying is so universal and natural. It's a form of acting. That's why, until the curtains draw (death), I will continue to be the star in my show.

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249-264 Thompson Handling the Stigma of Handling the Dead

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249-264 Thompson Handling the Stigma of Handling the Dead

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I see morticians as people who choose to work jobs so few want. I assume most morticians would lose a small sense of empathy, considering they have to pretty up dead bodies for work. Obviously, I'm not saying morticians are cold and heartless sociopaths. I'm saying there has to be a sense of loss when working with corpses. Now, most morticians, according to the text, try to neutralize the stigma that they're weird. They ARE weird, but not monsters. They prep bodies for a buck to live. They clock in for a job like us, have lunch/breaks like us, and even get paid like us at the end of the week. They are us. Would I hang out with a mortician? Hell yeah. Would I expect them to gag at roadkill like me? Not really. But I don't antagonize them for it. They're human like me, but with a stronger will to do the heavy mission, making a corpse presentable for burial, something I heavily respect and admire. But screw the funeral directors. Predators use grief for profit.

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How my interactions with various agents of socialization affected my decision to attend college. 

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How my interactions with various agents of socialization affected my decision to attend college. 

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Around May 2025, I was at my job, working in a warehouse on the 16th hour. After a 15-hour shift from a broken conveyor belt, I knew I couldn't live this life. I chose to quit my job for college. My co-workers cheered me on: “Good for you; this isn't the life, man.” “Don't end up like me, man. Get that degree and get out of here.” I was surrounded by people who hated the job, but stayed. They wanted me to avoid the path they took. My company, however, was big on loyalty. Stay for a couple of years, and they'd award you very mediocre perks. However, my entire K-12 journey consisted of the path towards a higher education. Holding career fairs, college trips, and early college class enrollment all pointed towards the idea that college was THE next step.

On the other hand, my family was ecstatic that I'd go to college. The last thing they wanted for me was to end up like them. They sent the message to succeed them with friendly remarks, motivation, and support. About 95% of my agents of socialization were supportive of the idea of a higher education. The naysayers were few or none. In fact… I can't think of anyone who tried to dissuade me from attending college. Every other agent of socialization pushed the idea that college was the right path.

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Groups can unite people with a common goal. Those goals include pushing an ideal, celebrating an idea, or working towards something greater. Obviously, some can be controversial or plainly hateful. Our political parties are groups, our friends are groups, and even the neighborhood is a group. I think it's important to listen to yourself when choosing a group, not what your environment is pushing for. What good is a member if their heart is not in the goals? Discussing something among a group is possible, but a leader should be present if too many members are present. The leader becomes the voice and representative of the rest of the members, like a state representative. I'd personally hope that my leader is my voice that can be heard. Most groups have an organization or a bureaucracy an order needed for the success of large groups. Nowadays, most of our institutions are centered around organization and a voice. However, that can lead to a lack of individuality and create the McDonaldization of institutions. While McDonald's does sound yummy, it's a model that becomes standard in most institutions. While effective for the masses and productivity, it becomes ineffective for the minorities and the quality. Same with quantitative and qualitative research.

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Milgram experiment 1963: I know it's sort of a cheat to use the experiment itself as outside material, but wow, it is gnarly to see it acted out.

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If Hitler asked me to electrocute someone, I'd say no. Maybe even ragebait him. If I were in the same experiment, I'd press the switches until they are very strong. Of course, once I hear a plea to stop, I'm stopping. Because I personally don't find torture enjoyable. That's just me, though. I do obey far more than I should, but I won’t obey someone for the harm of others. I was surprised to find out that 65% of Yale students stuck around for the final shock. In their mind, they probably just killed someone for extra credit. B-but the instructor said there wasn't harm in the subject, right? The obedience from those students and normal civilians, in their minds, led to the death of a stranger. Let's say… I DID stay for the maximum shock. And that it wasn't an experiment, but an actual chamber. My instructor pats me on the back and slips me my 20$ for obeying and following through as I stare at the burnt corpse in the other room. “I just killed a man for $20 because I was told it was fine…” Well, that's not too far from how most Germans felt during the holocaust. “Did obeying my supreme leader get 10 million people killed?”

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How trying to balance my hobby and school feels.

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How role strain and role conflict affect my life.

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How role strain and role conflict affect my life.

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Role strain in my life is very present. More now as a college student than ever. I have to study, drive, finish assignments, and show up. Obviously, that's not a lot. BUT, with my hobby of bodybuilding, it becomes a pain in my back trying to sort out my priorities. When can I squeeze in my hour of cardio? All these papers and work make me hungry for good food, but I'm on a calorie cut. Do I wake up at 6 am instead of 8 so I can do my workout before? Stuff like that makes my simple goal of exercise and diet control a hectic funnel for the best outcome. Am I so superficial that I'd prioritize how I look over my GPA? I use that question every time I'm debating what to do next. School? Or Vanity? It's very hard to prioritize a generally new status in my life over one I've been chasing for my whole adolescent life. I have to sacrifice something dear to me at times. And it pisses me off that I can't do it all. But I won't give up.

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When I get home, I usually wait for my friends to get on a voice chat so we can play games and whatnot. However, their usual games revolve around player vs. player games, where you face other online people. I don't like playing games where my only way of having fun is to win all the time. For me, it tarnished what gaming was supposed to be: a way to relax. I can't relax/have fun if I have to dominate everyone else for that rush. I stick to games where challenge is minuscule and fun is primary. But if I want to play with my friends, I must play those games with them. So I played their competitive games, to spend time with them. I had fun, but I also got frustrated losing to a snob button-mashing.

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Chapter 4.1 Types of Societies And Chapter 18: Work and Economy 

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Chapter 4.1 Types of Societies And Chapter 18: Work and Economy 

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With various types of societies, it's hard to find why money really became important. Of course, people wanted to be compensated for their work or services. But they were thinking along the lines of food, cloth, or tools. Money has value because we say so. Otherwise, cash is just green paper, and gold is a shiny rock. Maybe they can be used for fuel for fire, and/or gold for computer boards, which is a viable use. Besides that, with increased supplies came the diversity of new cultures and opportunities. Security, education, religion, and more. Following that comes inequality. Not everyone will have vast amounts of sheep, cloth, and metal with the rampant diversity.  Or maybe you will if you inherit such things from a will or business.  A modern-day equivalent would be about a lack of assets. Not owning a lot defines your status in a society. Am I worth less because I own less? When we advance, we also leave something behind. In a simple world, capitalism and socialism exist. Supply and demand affect the production of capitalism, and the government controls the economy in socialism. One is increasingly getting more diverse, and the other is a system set in stone by the producers.

I'd prefer to get stuff for free, but maybe in another life. Governments trade too. They trade their resources that seem abundant in exchange for a resource that is scarce to them. The country that doesn't extract its own resources for its wealth does worse than those that don't have to mine their crust. I'd hate to dig in my backyard whenever I need something to trade with. Nowadays, we don't work for honest labor that'll pay off. We work to live. No job? No income. No income? No home. No home? Homeless and left in the streets. I'd like to imagine a utopia where we can live and eat without a paycheck deciding if I live or die.

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So… minimum wage jobs suck, that I knew. But reading about this middle-class journalist taking up a poor man's job really shows how disconnected the wealthy and or the financially stable are from the poor. “In poverty? Get a minimum wage job. That'll for sure get ya afloat.” Maybe back in the ’60s, sure. However, the minimum wage has not kept up with inflation. Things cost more, and we get paid the same. Besides that, low-wage workers are undervalued for profit. Like in class, “profit is excess labor”. And in the book, a waitress is a perfect example. “Ketchup over here! Chicken's cold! Wipe that down!” Sure, anyone could do it. But that doesn't make it easy to do 40 hours a week. Ideally, I'd like to be paid $26 or more for such tedious work. Obviously, that can't happen. Not for anyone. No matter how smart, caring, or funny they are, they are still just a cog for the machine. I could've lived comfortably in the distribution center I was working at a couple of months prior for the rest of my life. But I knew there was more to life than waking up and falling asleep too early, consolidating auto parts, breathing for 15 minutes, then doing it all over again for years to come. I wanted to live, not survive.

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497 - 507: Leidner, Over the Counter at Mcdonalds

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497 - 507: Leidner, Over the Counter at Mcdonalds

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McDonald’s isn’t really about quality. It’s about efficiency. When people want something quick to eat, they know going to McDonald’s for a bite would be faster than going to a sit-down restaurant or cooking at home. I, of course, prefer to buy groceries instead, because of the ridiculous prices for fast food these days. Besides that, Everything there follows a design for efficient production. The list of meal combos for easy decisions, timers on the grill and fryers, and now the big screen at the main area for quicker order processing. It ain’t five-star, but it’s quick. This system is made to make money. Give the customers a burger made in 20 seconds and pay the employees breadcrumbs for their hard work. After all, you can’t make a profit off of paying your employees what they’re worth. Efficiency doesn’t stop here at cheap food assembly. It revolves around most organizations. Factories, education, agriculture, and more are aligning with efficiency. As a consumer, it’s important, but to an employee, it’s alienation. You are a cog for a larger machine that can always be replaced. If a burger falls to the ground, some would probably throw that sucker in a bag and send the customer on their way. After all, there are hundreds of other burgers ready to go. Efficiency in itself is good, but when conforming to the routinization of a workplace over your life, you lose yourself and your values as a human.

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535-546: Wishard, Caught Between the Ages

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535-546: Wishard, Caught Between the Ages

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I was born after a time of advancement. Trade between countries isn't new to me. Hell, most of my things are from Asian countries. Every modern society has money, food, family, and more universal concepts that can help carry in different cultures. For example, I love sushi. That’s from Japan. I love the day of the dead. That’s from Mexico. It’s a trade of ideas that crates a web of culture world round. Technology is and has always been a scary concept since the Industrial Revolution. “What do you mean a machine can sevenfold production rate?” And now, it got way scarier with AI. Videos that are indistinguishable with real life footage is making numbers. To the trained eyes, it’s easy to spot ai slop. But for old people, it’s a very easy thing to fall into. It is still developing and in its infancy. Only after 2 years of learning, it has come from a terrible slop of colors and very vague shapes, to a software capable of generating studio quality cartoons in a couple minutes. Laws are going to have to be set in place for the right use of ai. I hope there are. Now with spiritual and psychological change of this new world. The world’s moral compass has never changed. Jack the Ripper and Jeffery dahmer are set almost a century apart, and yet both were evil killers. We didn’t lose nonsensical violence as we advanced. We just tolerated less. It’s hard to stay a good person with so many losing faith with the advancing world. Leaders are ignorant, our shorter gratification pursuits abandon traditions of patience, and reasons for living have objectively decreased for most people. When we advance, we leave behind something. Whether it’s a value or a tradition, it can’t align with the new world.

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My shoes, stuffed cat keychain, iPhone, and Apple devices are all made in China. The air purifier was made in Vietnam. The journal was made in China. Kleenex tissues were made in Canada. My fan was made in China. My monitor was made in China. My shampoo was made in the U.S. Lastly, my guitar was made in China.  Well… most of my things are from China. Not really surprising anymore, but always a treat to see how much I have that isn't US-made.

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I feel the minimum wage should be higher. The federal minimum wage hasn’t caught up with inflation. And because of that, living paycheck to paycheck has gotten harder to achieve. Groceries have skyrocketed to almost double the price. Rents are going up and up. And now the economy has gotten worse, as soon as it’s my turn to become an adult. I mean, what happened to my 5-dollar footlongs?! Going homeless or not being able to support myself should be the least of my concerns, living in the wealthiest country in the world. I can’t flip burgers for a house and a family anymore. I need to climb the ladder so as not to sink. It’s do or die. So I'll reach out for a higher achieved status. My SES won't have a great foundation, but I will mold it to my potential. I'm not the most intelligent or skillful person, but I'll do it anyway.

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Acting rich can only give the illusion that I come from wealth. But when I'm put in an upper-class institution or environment. I'm lost. Only those who grew up, or were taught by people in those institutions and environments, can understand protocol and deliver what’s expected. For example, if I were put in a private school, I’d probably be breaking dress code on my first day. Of course, I don’t intend to break the rules or disrupt the system; I was just raised and taught in a different social class environment. I’d be an outcast in a country club. People will know I’m not usually around this lavish environment as I ogle at the decor and amenities.

The social hierarchy is made to keep people where they are. If you’re born into wealth, most likely you’ll end up wealthy. If born poor, you’re unprepared for a good start to wealth. And yes, it’s possible to move up in wealth through receiving the cultural capital, social class infrastructure, and, more importantly, money. But let’s say I get a million dollars from a lottery ticket. Would I be rich? Or would I be wealthy? Will I always be a cheapskate at heart? Or will I indulge myself in upper-class culture? I'd probably still live the same with that money. Sure, there's no hunger in me for that life if it would benefit my future kids. But right now… I like this life I have.

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I believe myself as upper lower class. I can still do fun things, but I have a budget. My social class allowed me to follow the steps to become successful. My entire public school journey was centered around college or work. After all, that's the best way for me to succeed. If I were in a higher class, I wouldn't have to worry about such a thing. Success would be promised to me. But in the upper lower class, my lowest point would be working a 9-5 job I hate for my whole life. I'm poor enough to worry, but rich enough to do something about it. So I'm not wasting my privilege of having just enough. I won't end up like my parents, who work endlessly at jobs they groan at. I'm able to go to college. That's a massive win for my family. That's why I'm at Delta. I'm here to get the degree, the job, and the life I want. I want to be “happy” with my life. And my options are limited with a high school diploma. Do I want to be wealthy? No. Do I want to worry about money? No. Success will never be handed to me. I have to take it.

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Wealth inequality in the United States: reaction and thoughts. 

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Wealth inequality in the United States: reaction and thoughts. 

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I didn't realize the gap was that egregious. It shocked me. Plain and simple. I knew the gap was massive, just not generational. It would take me 15,752 years to reach a billion dollars from working at minimum wage. Those are 215 human lifespans. It's a jarring comparison to take in. I can't even fathom what I'm talking about. I can say it, but I never realize it. It's an unequal distribution, scaling from the bottom 80% only getting a fraction of the nation's wealth. Meanwhile, the top 10-1% have more than 80% of the wealth.

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I'm being honest, I thought race was biological up until now. Not that I saw other races as a different species, but rather as a genetic difference among people. Apparently, it's only a social construct. Still learning new things… Anyway, I entrust myself to remember myself as a human being first, and then as someone of Hispanic descent. I am clear about my stance on the census, information sheets, and surveys. I'm Hispanic. Whether or not that term means anything in a biological sense, I don't believe myself to be of any other race. It's nice to know that I can always have a place where I belong, one that most people agree I'm a part of. I never really experienced genuine racism that negatively affected me. Unfortunately, many other Hispanics or Latinx communities are now being prosecuted by their own government, or at least those in government with power. I can only be grateful and pray that my family stays in their home, the U.S, as Americans. Moving on, I could be black. My possible 1% of African blood can give me the identity of being African American. As said in class, the slightest dip from “white DNA” can make me legally a minority. I assume we all conform to the race with which we find the most similarities. Either that, or become a certain race where most people in your ethnic group fall into. The difference in our races is only skin deep. We bleed, cry, and laugh the same.

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To not see color is to avoid the conversation of being different. Everybody is different. Sure, you can and should treat people of color with the same respect as white people. But you can't turn a blind eye to our racial differences. “Don’t be showin’ yo’ color” was a phrase used by Page’s parents to stop him from being “too black”. To me, this means and implies that falling into a characteristic that matches your racial group's stereotypes means to be seen as “those people”. “Those people are so loud”. “Those people are so hot-blooded.” When you intentionally or unintentionally follow a stereotype, you become a statistic for the majority to point at. That is the type of superficial discrimination we have to have honest conversations about. Instead of staying silent or feeling guilty for the sins of our fathers, we should directly call out these modern faults to progress further as a society. Equality, yes. Ignorance of difference, no. We aren't equal, and probably won't be for a while. But it starts with acknowledging differences and issues among minority racial groups, and then the acceptance of those groups.

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I never met a klansman. Nor would I want to share a space with one of them. But I do find the bond of hatred interesting. Evil hardly originates from a single source. It spreads like cancer. This cancer consumes people entirely; it's a plague on society. Despite that, their hysterical views are unified into a brotherhood. Their brotherhood was a product of fear and insecurity of these rising minority communities merging into American culture. Where most fall short, they try to make up for it by associating with their Aryan belief that they were indeed the “superior race”. Racism is fear repurposed to deter the “threat”. As messed up as it is, racism unites people. Instead of going to the orthodox church, these people go to cross burnings. They're brothers in spirit and a family of hate overall. However, the hate can't be excused, nor should it be tolerated when it harms people and communities. They're people. Ignorant people, yes… but still people. Don't go hugging Klansmen, of course. But acknowledge their hateful beliefs are products of fear, insecurity, and isolation.`

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I am Hispanic. I understand that Hispanic isn't a race, but it's easier to acknowledge my background as Hispanic than the official term as “white”. So… for the sake of this entry, Hispanic is an honorary race. I know this because I come from a culture and share characteristics with people who are also labeled Hispanic. I made that decision when I found pride in being part of the Hispanic group. Although socially constructed, it feels natural to conform to the label that best suits my characteristics, traits, and appearance. I learned what race I was when my parents told me what to enter on forms that required my ethnicity/race. I'd have a whole other checkbox for my ethnic background. I was told at an early age to understand that while we were different in appearance, I was to show the same respect to individuals. I decide what race other people are by their appearance. Essentially, I racially profile people by trying to see what traits, complexion, and features they show at a glance. Then I see what race best aligns with those traits. For example, if I see a man with dark skin, I'm going to assume African American at that instant. But of course, the man can identify as whatever he feels true. Other people decide my race by the same method of racial profiling. Natural perm, stocky build, and nose structure (which all I have) all point to Hispanic appearance traits. Most likely, I'll be either Hispanic or white in their judgment.

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1. “I'm black. Nah, wait, African American. 2. I know that because of…— it's the the group I look like the most. Um… my skin color? 3. I guess… everybody I grew up with said I'm black, or African. I remember watching Vines where the black Viners were making jokes about being black. Y’know, like… watermelon, and chicken shit. I guess those exposed me to how I could be stereotyped. 4. Shit… this gon’ sound fucked up… but like… how they look? 5. Well… look at me, I'm black.

1. 5/5 were confident in what race they were.

2. 2. 3/5 were gesturing to their appearance. The other two said it was because of heritage and foreign roots. 2b. 5/5 shrugged and gestured to the appearance again.

3. 3. 5/5 told me that's just what they were described as growing up. 3.b These answers varied because of different races. 4/5 individuals expressed their exposure to stereotypes through internet comedy or the internet in general as kids. The One told me they were taught to avoid trouble with the police because their parents worried they'd be shot or killed for being African American.

4. 4. 5/5, all agreed it was based on appearance. Some were hesitant to say it outright, and some were blunt.

5. 5. 5/5 said it was their appearance that let other people decide what race they were. They all were avoiding being seen as racist for racial profiling as their way of determining. They refused to answer. But I had a gist.

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Race is a social label to segregate us in a positive or negative light. Our labels of race can help us see that beauty doesn't come just in one appearance, one skin tone, or select traits. It creates diversity that allows good and bad institutions to thrive. Culture, bonds, and blood are something everyone has. But many ignore it to point fingers or pursue superiority. Race isn't something that exists biologically. We're all the exact same species, no variations. We aren't divided by grounded groups of set races. Instead, it's a spectrum of genes that produce variable outcomes of appearance.

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One way I was socialized into my gender.

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One way I was socialized into my gender.

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As a boy, I was always encouraged to flex my arms as a trial for laughs. Fathers and uncles would squeeze my bicep and preach about how strong I was getting. Of course, I then adopted the idea that I was supposed to be strong. Even now, I pray and hold strength as a virtue. Not just physical strength, but the strength to not ask for help when I could use it. Logically speaking… It's dumb. Accept all the handouts offered. But it's an unconscious practice that flows throughout my life. Strength is something I need to bear the weight of my mind coursing through overthinking, meltdowns, or bad health.

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Sex and gender to me get, mixedup at times. Of course, I correct myself before I say something stupid. The distinction is that sex is biological, and gender is social. I am a man. I feel that everything about me aligns with being male. I don't feel the need to question my gender, so I leave it as I was socialized to. However, I do find the expectations of men to be heavy. I don't mind being a gentleman, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how strong and intelligent I'm expected to be. I'm unsure, I get emotional, I'm less intelligent than others, and worst of all, I get sensitive. Of course, nowadays, men can feel this way and still be respected as men. But to me… It's a blow to my pride when I think less of a “proper man”. I hate carrying these subconscious ideals. I know I can stop conforming to them, yet it's a leech that always burrows back without my knowledge. But when it comes to sexuality, I'm certain I'm heterosexual. But I'm not blind to another man's attractiveness. I find women attractive, but I don't look at men the wrong way when they say they find men attractive. I get it, I just don't practice it.

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Growing up as a little Hispanic boy around conservative Hispanics really reinforces gender norms. I grew up with parents shunning me for the curious lad I was. Even now, I have a dad who thinks hybrids or fuel-efficient cars are feminine. Of course, I don't buy into that crap, knowing I'll save about 35mpg in the “woman’s car” compared to his obnoxiously loud pickup truck that chugs gas like no one's business. Besides that, I knew the values and norms of what boys and girls are supposed to like and behave. Of course, I was born in 2006 with most of my media becoming more and more progressive with gender-fluid interests and highlights, like the Powerpuff Girls. Of course, I refrained from watching it because the main protagonists were girls. Now I wish I had watched it. It's funny. “I don't want the yellow one, I want the blue one,” a vivid memory of my selection of toothbrushes. I grew up thinking blue was a boy's color. MY color. I wanted to stand tall as a man. I wanted to be like my father. Firm, smart, and steadfast. And that started with me being strong. Strength always became a priority. “Suck it up”, “keep your head up”, and “work hard” were notions engraved in my soul. I grew up wanting to become better, now I want to know what I mean by that.

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When it comes to the nasty pressures about beauty, behavior, and peers from a girl growing up in this society… all I have to say is I can't experience it. I can't honestly say I understand it; all I can do is imagine the pressure that comes with growing up as a girl in a society that conserves norms of beauty. I couldn't do the things I do as a man if I were a woman. Or at least in a conservative view. For example, growing up fat as a guy was bad enough, but it'd be far worse if I were a girl with the same issue. I wouldn't be the butt of a joke anymore; I'd be the target of gossip and insults. I couldn't express crude humor in my sexual interests without being labeled as a “whore”. From birth to adolescence, girls learn what it takes to be a lady. Most of the stuff is suffocating, look pretty, nurture, and be clean is just one of the few behaviors to conform to as a lady. We've gotten more progressive past those ideals, but it's not entirely dead yet. Sure, we have girl power moments in media, gender neutral opportunities, and more “masculine” traits in women these days that are seen positively, but it'll be a while before those past norms for women die out in the generations to come.

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180-191: Thorne & Laura, Sexuality and Gender

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180-191: Thorne & Laura, Sexuality and Gender

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When I was a kid, my classmates often teased others about “relationships”. Back then, the idea of kissing a girl was icky. Now it's revered as we turn into adults. We were always following the notion that boys and girls were supposed to be heterosexual through play, teasing, and classroom dynamics. “The boys got rowdy, let them off with a warning”. “That girl's volume isn't cooperative”, and most familiarly… “Timmy and Amy kissing on a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g”. We were essentially programmed to act a certain way, and to like only this “half” of the population. It's carries over to middle and sometimes ends in high school. The boys share soft pornography in middle school. The girls gossip about crushes at the same time too. It all guides the path to a heterosexual future. Making homosexuality seem taboo or shocking when it arrives. Of course, most of the dynamics are unintentional and happen from the tradition of teasing and play.

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Having a miscommunication problem is common. We usually mean well when we speak. But it can come across as dismissive or rude to people from different worlds. For example, a heterosexual man could help his partner by trying to solve her problem. He means well, but he's going to have to learn that he's not entirely validating her feelings. And that by solving issues, he's unintentionally being dismissive. It's not a matter of biology; it's a matter of talking to a gender you don't spend the majority of your conversing time with. Let's say you're a man. Talking to women like you speak to men can yield variable results. Some women find it clear, but some women misunderstand certain aspects of your conversation. For example, some men are blunt when addressing an issue about someone. Women usually are indirect to conserve relationships. So when a man addresses criticism directly to a woman, it's shocking for a woman who's been receiving vague criticism from her friends. Reverse it. Women typically apologize more than men do to show compassion and consideration among their peers. Men apologize less as it's felt as a sign of fault or admitting weakness. Nobody means to offend people in everyday conversations, but it happens unintentionally. I personally don't have this issue, but good luck to the men who can't code-switch when speaking to women, and vice versa.

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341-348: Katz, The Importance of Being Beautiful

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341-348: Katz, The Importance of Being Beautiful

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I knew that being more “beautiful” was an advantage in society/everyday life, but I never liked to believe I lost so many valuable things because I wasn't handsome enough. No one has called me ugly, but no one snaps pictures of me for being immaculate. When the book describes how beauty can affect success, I ponder. I ponder if one bad haircut can stop me from getting the job. When I'm supposed to be evaluated or interviewed, I make sure to look my best. Standard grooming, hygiene, and fashionably tasteful attire are all things I can do to make myself appear more beautiful. But I can't change my facial structure. Not naturally, anyway. And I can't imagine losing opportunities because I don't look good enough. But it's a real occurrence in society to favor those who are beautiful. It's a standard I have to abide by if I want the best outcomes. I can only hope my career isn't affected. I'm not six feet anything, but I'll still fill in that application. As in the book, an Israeli female broadcaster was fired for not being beautiful enough. That part makes me paranoid that I can lose jobs and careers for subpar looks. The best thing I can do is to look my best for a better outcome. It's engraved into our minds that beauty is best.

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This book shares an understanding that women in the military are becoming more and more common, if not the norm. Despite that, they're still subject to hardships, threats, and barriers. Barriers that men are usually Exempt from. Those women serving inspire me that even those who are deemed weaker than men by fitness standards and society still serve to protect. This gives me the dismissal of any excuses or hesitations about being too afraid to get what I want. Not only are these women faced with physical tribulations, but also with social barriers along their military career. Stereotypes about their abilities, concerns for being frail, and sexual harassment in all forms are obstacles women have to face more often than men. It can be seen in the book, when threats of rape were warned by men to women who'd dare enter their infantry or armor units. Most of these women receive equality to succeed, and not equity. They're given a start, but not always a good journey. I can't complain too hard or at all, knowing there are women out there facing dangers I can only imagine. And that's my invitation to keep pushing. I push knowing there are people with less respect, shooting for the same, if not bigger stars.

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From my experience. The toy race cars were usually in blue packaging. Dinosaur toys were also in the same aisle as the race cars. The poster child playing with the dinosaur is a boy, along with toy guns. Some are fictional weaponry, and some are carbon copies of the real-life firearms in toy form. Indirectly starting off someone's childhood with knowledge on how to use a gun. In contrast, all the bedazzling kits feature girls on the cover. As well as dolls/Barbies, which are entirely packaged in pink. There wasn't an outright "boys" and or "girls" section. But the distinction was very much there. But I did find a playset in beige packaging with both a girl and a boy on the package. In order to stay gender-neutral.

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Beauty Magazines and websites' beauty standards

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Beauty Magazines and websites' beauty standards

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After scouring through different sites about beauty-based swimwear, products, and lifestyle, I saw a surprisingly diverse makeup of models. Some were thin and plus-sized, but most were at a healthy weight that didn't seem to sacrifice health. Race kept varying per image, so diversity wasn't an issue. All of them were female. None of the males showed up to represent beauty in the neutral search for “models”. Despite this, most, if not all, those models were at a similar body weight. Only some pushed the barriers by modeling at an “obese” appearance, but most stayed lean or at a low body fat. I think these differences exist to present that beauty can be expressed in all forms of race, body weight, and sex. Granted, most of the models were lean, giving the impression that only lean is beautiful. When this idea is buried in a consumer's brain, they tend to believe they'll only be beautiful if they're lean. Barbies, movie stars, and action figures were hardly ever depicted as overweight. And the times an overweight person was depicted, they would be depicted as evil, a side-character, or comic relief. Only now are we looking forward to seeing the beauty in imperfections.

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Chapter 14: Relationships, Marriage, and Family

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Chapter 14: Relationships, Marriage, and Family

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When I think of family, I think of people of a close emotional bond or tetherment. Good or bad, a family doesn't have to be welcoming to be called a family. Despite that, it can be a positive relationship too. People can be considered family even if they don't share any DNA. Some of those bonds are stronger than those with blood. Marriage is a tricky thing to be confident in. A legal contract stating that two people are to be recognized in a personal relationship is the outright meaning. But many people prefer to see the emotional side of marriage. Eternal love is something a lot of people chase when looking for marriage. Despite that, 40-42% of first marriages end up in divorce. It ain't easy finding a soulmate with limited time. Marriage and family can vary, too. Heterosexual couples or gay couples. Single-mother or three dads. There isn't a steady ideal family anymore. Back then, it was the dad, the mom, the son, the daughter, and a dog. Now, any of these can vary greatly. But with marriage comes the very plausible risk of divorce. Most endings are because of cheating or harmful actions. Divorces that end peacefully are often beneficial for the children and family members involved. Why make a relationship work when it can't function as autonomous love? Breaking a bad pair off can take emotional weight off the shoulders for everybody involved. Yes, it hurts to let go, but life becomes easier to bear when your wife, who hates your guts, is now your ex.

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When I picture the ideal "American Family", I have the image of two or more adults with varying numbers of children. My original family of a father, a mother, a sister, and pets soon changed after the divorce. My parents split, and I now have a stepfather and about a dozen step-siblings. But the overall changes revolve around financial roles. Nowadays, instead of the usual breadwinner being the man/husband, the wife (or second partner) also has to have an income to stay afloat as an ideal American. Being a stay-at-home parent is a luxury now. But we got more freedom in who we could marry as a trade-off. yay... Despite all of this, the love given and received is still the same as it was 100 years ago, as described in the book about fathers being more present in their children's lives. If I were born 100 years ago, I'd be at a higher risk of having a cold father. Still, there are and probably always will be absent fathers in children's lives. The issue could and probably will span for centuries to come. But it's undeniably better than most "love" given in the 1920s. If anything, we tend to have advanced in our love with the freedom we now have. With this love, we've come to have open minds to the idea of adoption, same-sex marriages, and exits through divorce.

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Think about a TV Show that you have watched that focuses on a family.

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Think about a TV Show that you have watched that focuses on a family.

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I rewatched an episode of Young Sheldon. Branaic child living in southern Texas with a sassy little sister, a rebellious older brother, a god-loving mother, a very sassy grandma, and a football-loving father. All recipes for multiple scenarios for a good series. It's supposed to tell us that, despite opposing beliefs and lifestyles, family members may still have. They're still family, and unconditional love is their standard. Even when they're chewing each other's ears off. My family wasn’t wacky or quirky like the characters on these types of shows. My family was just… people working to keep a roof over their heads and their children's heads.

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Chapter 7: Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

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Chapter 7: Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

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Like most things in this course, deviancy is socially constructed. Deviating from a norm can be as taboo as kissing relatives on the lips, or as extreme as murder. Regardless of extremity, all are socially constructed. Driving a hearse as a daily car is an example. Would I do it? No. I wouldn't really have the need to have coffin-sized trunks for stuff. The majority agrees that murder isn't okay, that deviancy is shown to be punished time and time again. Some interpret deviancy punishments in different ways. Whether it's to discourage future deviance, or to think it's a way to keep balance in social and wealth classes by varying punishments, or to put labels on things most find abnormal. For example, our president has 34 felonies and is still in office. Meanwhile, anybody lower in class would be sent straight to prison. And being in prison upholds the criminal justice system that punishes deviancy the most. Corrupt law enforcement is a real threat to Americans who are now not sure if they could get shot over things like counterfeit bills. Incarceration rates are dropping, but still an issue.

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277-286: Henslin, Eating Your Friends is the Hardest

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277-286: Henslin, Eating Your Friends is the Hardest

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Now this was a chilling story to read. The plane crash and all the deaths were bad enough. But to have to resort to eating other people is a new low. Some would prefer to starve rather than eat human meat. I'd have to chow down on some people if I want to make it back to my family. Of course, that would end up pointless if I died from hypothermia. But still a choice I would make. In the book, they try to dissociate the bodies by using terms like “meat”. I wouldn't eat a human leg, but I'd like the sound of a vague cut of red meat. Despite cannibalism being a social construction, the effects it can have on the mind are very much real. Most people won't be able to move on from the day they ate someone's child. But in this situation, we can't afford to die because of something that's not objectively bad or harmful to us in nature. We have to let go of such a powerful social construct to survive. It's so powerful that eating someone can physically make us Ill. Not because it's harmful to the body, but because the mind is under attack from the action of eating the body. Almost all of the survivors who refused to eat the bodies died from starvation. They died somewhat content knowing they didn't eat a body. But still dead. People preferred to die rather than to sin against a social commandment. They still would’ve survived if they did, but living past that is difficult.

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315-321: Zimbardo, The Pathology of Imprisonment

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315-321: Zimbardo, The Pathology of Imprisonment

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When people are kept in cages, they're going to act like animals. When people are stripped of their identity and individuality, they become dependent on cruelty to feel anything remotely close to having power. Normal people will resort to violence if met with abuse and in dehumanizing institutions. When you strip someone of their identity and individualism, they get crueler and lose themselves as someone with morality. Rehabilitation becomes far harder when met with abuse and cruelty by not just the prisoners, but by the guards using abuse to keep prisoners in line. We can hopefully avoid this by addressing the individuality and identity of prisoners while using less cruel methods of discipline. Would I break and crack under abuse? Yes. But I'd be more likely to restrain myself when the reward of getting out is a delayed gratification, I'll have to endure. When dogs are hit for discipline, they learn that violence is used for power.

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322-334: Rosenhan, On Being Sane in Insane Places

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322-334: Rosenhan, On Being Sane in Insane Places

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Being mentally ill is bad enough. But to be gaslit into thinking you are is far worse. In the book, and in class, I read about how those staff insist that people who have never had any records of mental illnesses be labeled as having one. Being told that you're mentally ill when you're not can induce paranoia. You, who knows yourself the best, should be 100% sure you don't have a mental illness. But after that evaluation and being labeled as a person with schizophrenia in remission, it's about 90%. Then 85%. Then 75%. Until eventually you are driven to form a mental illness by the people who are supposed to help you with one. The labels are then lifelong stamps that tell employers and everybody else who finds out that you have a mental illness, which plummets job application approvals, positive views of your image, and self-identity. The better approach would be to evaluate behavior in the real world, and not in white walls. Even the patients in there knew that the students undercover weren't “crazy”. The patients retained enough memory from before to distinguish how “normal” people and patients who are labeled with a mental illness act. This implies that no one in the institution has improved or resembles someone close to rehabilitation. The patients were only able to identify someone's normality because they knew the undercover students had never been in an asylum before.

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470-480: Hunt, Police Accounts of Normal Force

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470-480: Hunt, Police Accounts of Normal Force

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Wow. After reading these stories, I'm even more worried for most suspects when they get caught. Those who’re not cruel anyway. I can understand losing tempers during a high-speed chase with an asshat. But is it too much to repeatedly beat a surrendering man to a pulp? I'd think so. And one of the stories disgusts me. The one where two officers think they've killed a drunk man because they tried slamming the brakes as a joke, not knowing the drunk man was lying on a stretcher with his head facing the front of the vehicle and effectively bashing his skull against the gate between the driver and passenger seats, and the back of the trunk. The drunk man wasn't dead, but the only lesson learned was “feet first”. That's it. No “don't treat suspects like beat up dolls”, but remember not to injure the suspect when you’re beating on them severely. That's dark. I can understand beating up rapsists and child abusers during arrests. But I can't understand the casual cruelty of beating up surrendering suspects. There's no justification for violence because you lost your temper.

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There's a homeless man who is a regular at a bus bench near the Target. He's harmless. Well… from what I seem. Anyway, he used to flip me and pass cars off with a middle finger. A sign of disrespect. Obviously, I didn't take it personally and just walked past.

He flipped me off when I hadn't disrespected him as a violation of a norm. I knew those norms were there, and “there” is referring to the globe. Usually, signs of disrespect need a reason to be given. These norms were specific to the homeless man, especially because most homeless individuals ask for money or food. Don't make potential contributors pissed off. It would've been rational if I refused to give change when I obviously had several dollar bills in hand. But I didn't. There has to be a cause for disrespect to be significant. I wouldn't use the middle finger for most reasons, mostly not wanting to fight… but if I DID. It'd have to be when I'd be harassed without halt. That seems rational. The label “weird” is strong. It separates this homeless man and me, and puts us in different standings. My acknowledging that he's “weird” implies that I am superior, and or “normal”. A couple of seconds passed after I was flipped off, then I left with a cloud of pity. Most likely, he'd probably been refused help for days, maybe weeks. Eventually, he probably grew to assume the worst of a stranger, inciting his immediate disrespect. I didn't hold a grudge for a second. It'd be like being mad at a prisoner who'd done nothing wrong for being grumpy.

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Regarding what's said in this chapter, education becomes a luxury for most. At least… education without worry of how to pay. Of course, student loans and financial aid have given those who wanted a degree without a wealthy background a chance. But when we go back to elementary school or high school, we can see how an area can affect funding. Higher-income areas have better infrastructure, better supplies, and more opportunities for private schools. Would I have come out more intelligent if I were allowed these luxury standards? This continues in college, with other colleges having nicer commodities than others due to the area or the prestige of the school. Then we move to what colleges do. They prepare us for later roles we usually major in; whatever the field, there will be someone to answer to. It's how we are labeled, too. We receive the label “college student” to later be eligible for “college graduate”. Then some chase a prestigious label in their fields, looking for a new chapter. For those labels, we need to meet a standard of intelligence to get them. That's where the funding issue lies. Less prestigious schools, schools that do poorly on SATs, and poverty-stricken areas get less funding, making the quality of education worse for the students. It makes me wonder if I would've been more lenient with my schools if we were granted commodities and prestige.

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446-460: Gracey, Kindergarten as Academic Boot Camp

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446-460: Gracey, Kindergarten as Academic Boot Camp

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Students are exposed to rank-and-file routines. Sit still, follow directions, obey authority, etc. All good qualities of a student, employee, or soldier, regardless of how high an education you have. They're exposed to group projects, hierarchy, and schedules. All the likely institutions they will face one day as an adult or an excelling student. The hidden curriculum we talked about in class comes into play here. Is it happening? Yes. Is it acknowledged? No. Transmission of knowledge is the main motive for these schools. Nurturing children into employees is just a standard in capitalism. There's no ruler slamming or cruel methods of discipline. The children just have to learn what's expected of them after high school, and or the workforce. Serious consequences can happen to adults with minds like children before an education in obeying bureaucracy. Adults who shout when they don't get what they want are escorted. Adults who don't wait for their turn are prosecuted. The boot camp kindergarten to me feels necessary to prepare children for when they become sirs, madams, or Mix.

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I found myself actually taking an interest in this field. Not enough to major in it… but still memorable. Despite any feelings towards actually DOING the assignments, I enjoyed this course. I did manage to learn things like sex being loosely biology, god being on our money only recently, and the shows we put on for people daily. Yeah, I groaned at the beige pages most of the time, but I did learn. It's what's expected of me, yeah. However, this course and tidbits of information I picked up in my thinking are going to give me a broader vision of life around me. I can't look at our history, the world, and future the same way again, for better or worse. I'm really glad I had a phenomenal and engaging professor during my lounging in class. The manner in which the mouth speaks is just as important as the information it disperses. I'm now ankle deep in sociology. Not too much to feel like a madman, but just enough not to pursue the depth. I had fun, thanks, Harry.