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Hello all!
My name is Iyanna Williams and I am an aspiring nursing student. I am currently completing all my prerequisites for nursing which is why I am taking this course. During my time in this class, I hope to gain an understanding of how the world truly functions on social level.

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The first item I ever bought myself with my own money was a car. At that time, I was working two jobs, and I used my savings for the down payment.I was so proud of myself being that I was s a young girl whom made a big purchase all on her own. Good times!

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Sociology is the study of different groups within society. As individuals, we are categorized in groups based on our beliefs, lifestyles ,and interests etc. For example, people whom are Buddhist are surround by other people whom have the same belief. Another example, would be
in high school or college many of us join clubs such as  BSU or theater because they appeal to us.Sociology also studies the three grand theories structural functionalism, social conflict theory , and symbolic interactionism. Structural functionalism can be defined as how parts of the society work together. Social conflict focuses on privilege and inequality within society. Symbolic interactionism refers to what people view as meaningful.

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My interpretation of  the reading , is that to truly understand the study of sociology, one has to look past oneself. We have to look past our own individual beliefs ,values , and morals to at least try to understand other cultures or groups that differ from our own.While trying to understand other groups or cultures, we have to stay away from passing judgement ,or thinking one culture is better then the other.

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I had a hard time digesting the material for this reading assignment. I think the just of the reading explains that history and individualism go hand and hand. People cant really understand themselves or why issues in society effect them until they take a look at the factors in history.

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Several families have this  electric object that they attach to the building . It is stored in their cookhouses on top of a flat bored with a  little door attached to it. Depending on financial status, some families have a super small  object or a big one. The object  is round and families put their trust and their flush in it to reyr ira. Spoiled Nacirema !

( air fryer)

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Culture can be defined as group of people whom share the same norms ,and rules within societies. Here in America, we have several kinds of cultures  such as pop culture, subcultures, popular cultures just to name a few. Within all these cultures, there are material and non material artifacts. Material artifacts are items that cultures can have. For example , items such as : couches , cars, clothes, food etc. Depending on the culture, possessing certain items may have rank someone in at a higher status in society. Non material artifacts can be defined as " non physical ideas"according to research. " Non physical ideas" are morals and values of a society.

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I have read the material about both Marx and Durkheimian contrasting perspectives. What I got of of the reading, is that Durkheimian ideas of what holds a society together is each other. We need our societies and friends and families to survive. According to Durkheimian, " organic solidarity" which means social order is what keeps us in compliance with our laws . When people of society violate the laws or "common consciousness" that's when the problems in society arise. Karl Marx, beliefs were that the economy determined what a society to consist of. According to Marx, problems in society happened because of status of class .The rich versus the poor.

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In the reading Sounds of silence, it talked about the ways humans communicate with one another. The book talks about verbal and non verbal communication  as well as gestures and personal space. I found it pretty interesting that our pupils dilate when we are attracted to someone.

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As human beings, we go through different trails and tribulations in our lifetime. Depending on our situations, sometimes others sympathize with us. For example, if some one losses their dad, they may consoled by someone else who has been though the same thing,Sympathizing connects people in several ways , but receiving it to often can cause a burn out.For example, If a person is always talking about mishap after mishap in their life , eventually the sympathizer will get tired and tell that person to get over it. What I also took away from the reading, is that we should provider sympathy for others as they did for us.

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I made a connection with the reading regarding types of research methods. At almost every job I worked . I either had to persuade people to take a survey or I had to take a survey myself. For example, at RTD ( our local bus station here in town) I had to physically walk around with a clip board and survey sheet and ask passengers what they thought about the bus ride and what improvements could be made. After I collected the data, I had to submit it to my manager. I think that a lot of the times, passengers were being honest about how the company could improve. For example, one passenger wanted the bus company to make an adjustment to the time of a particular bus.I guess the last bus for that route (the lady took) ran too early and she would be stuck  with no way to get her kids.So for a little while ,the company focused on the bus. After all, there was an adjustment made because the bus company got enough data ( though the surveys  ) to see that there was an issue. Now I am not sure if the bus company got the average from the mean, median or mode. I did not know to ask then.Gathering data from qualitative research can actually be very beneficial to both the company and consumer if the are willing to take the survey and answer honestly.

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As I was reading the chapter about " Doing social research" , I made a connection with the reading.I find it very true that the decisions I decide to make in my life are influenced by the people I value. For example, if I decided to quit my full-time benefited job, in hopes of starting my own business from the ground up.I would automatically think about my family's opinions . How would they feel about this transition? What would they say? My family expects the young females to get an higher education and began a career of some sort .

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As I was reading the chapter about " Doing social research" , I made a connection with the reading.I find it very true that the decisions I decide to make in my life are influenced  by the people I value. For example, if I decided to quit my full-time benefited  job, in hopes of  starting my own business from the ground up.I would automatically think about my family's opinions . How would they feel about this transition? What would they say? I demonstrated symbolic interactionism. Which is one of the three concepts the text mentions.

My understanding of  Functionalism theory. ( which is another concept) is that all parts things, people , and society flow together .When one of the topics I listed above doesn't flow properly, problems arise. On a more personal level, I think my daddy issues have cause me to be dysfunctional some in areas of my life. My parents were only together for a short period of time and then they moved on to other partners. My biological father stuck around for half of my formative years but soon after that he disappeared .I would hear from him here an there . I wouldn't see him for several years at a time.He would tell me he would come see me and never did. I think because I did not grow up in a household with both parents under the same roof, I didn't   understand a dad 's role other then reproduction. I had also developed abandonment  and trust issues. For example, in my relationship, it really bothers me when my boyfriend wants some time to himself .I start to feel that exact same sad feeling, I felt as a kid when my dad left me.

I know that families want their kids to do well life. Whether it be starting a company , starting a family or even buying a car.There is a big push in our society on being the most successful one can be. Which bring me to the third and final concept of the reading,conflict theory. I am currently taking my prerequisites for my ADN for nursing. ADN is an associates degree in nursing and when I informed my mom of that, she said to me " don't you want to be a NP? They make more money, they are like doctors" I explained to her that I want to gain experience and knowledge with a my ADN and If I wanted to further my education, then I will go for something higher.

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In one of the earlier lectures of this course, the professor explained  to us that we are a society  of punishment. I find that to be very true. For many crimes, people get jail time or hefty fines or community service things of that nature.Our society is so quick to punish people, but wont offer help in any way shape or form.With millions of people locked up for various reasons, society thinks that when they get out of jail, they are expected to be reformed and can function like regular citizens. For example, working, or buying a car, Well the problem is most of the convicts have an issue with finding employment.Most companies  don't want anything to do with people who have a criminal record especially, if you are an African  American male. I can understand why companies wouldn't want to hire an ex-convict of any color, age or gender. It could hurt the business values depending on the severity  of crime. As a society, we need to come up jobs that are only for ex-convict so that way they don't become repeat offenders. There will always be people whom love the life of crime, and there is nothing we can do to help them, but for the people who want to really reform, we need to give them an opportunity.

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I went to a park here in my home town ( Stockton) to observe folks for a period of 30 minutes.I chose to observe these older ladies walking around the perimeter of the park in exercise clothing. It takes about 30 minutes to walk around the entire park. In both of their hands, was a hand held  weight.  The women on the right side of the side walk seemed to walk a bit  faster then the women on the left. I could hear the lady on left say" please slow down,my knees are starting to hurt" The women on right stopped near a tree and waited for the women on the left to catch up. Both women took a little break near that same tree for approximately ten minutes. During the break, both women preformed a lower body exercise ( called standing hamstring curls and then drank sips of water for the remaining time .The ladies started walking again but this time they walked at the same paste and engaged in conversation. I couldn't hear the conversation, but I could hear the laughs as the distance between myself and them grew. I waited about ten minutes in total before I moved to an area near them . I didn't want to appear  as a stalker. The ladies had stopped again but this time the ladies took a break and sat on a bench. During this break, the ladies talked and checked their  phones .One of the ladies made a phone call. Both ladies got up, picked up their weights and continued on their  walk. They were about mid way around the park. The remaining time to complete this walk around the park was about 15 minutes. Both ladies reached the area where I initially started to observe them. They hugged each other and proceeded to their cars.

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My interpretation of good teaching can be broken down into three concepts. I need to be able engage with the material, completely understand  the material ,and be able to teach the material to friends and family.

l am well aware that professors and instructors have different  teaching styles and tactics. Some instructors and/or professors use the lecture approach or conduct class room disscussions  to explain material or even teach straight from the book.No matter the teaching style, If a professor and/or  instructor can somehow make new material that maybe complex or boring to me , interesting, then that demonstrates  good teaching to me.I want to fully engage.
I feel most confident when I completely understand the content being taught. I prefer a instructor or professor to be clear with explanation of the material and speak in a way that I can understand .Sometimes, I feel that professors and instructors  expect a certain level  of understanding when it comes to topics, but that's not always the case. For example, I have had instructors or professors in the past ,make references to events or people that I have never heard of and did further explain the relevance of that topic.

Once I have completed a course, I love to share the material I learned with my family and friends. I come from a big family and I have siblings that ages range from 9 to 19 years of age . I love to explain  to my mom the nature of what my siblings maybe going through. If a professor can share most of their expertise of a particular subject with me, I will walk out of that course with that much more knowledge.

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Growing up, we learn a lot about ourselves through societies and how to conduct ourselves in it.We have to learn how to communicate with others and develop social skills because we are not born with these abilities . Which is taught  by our families and friends. That's a given.I am not sure if these taught behaviors about ourselves makes us who we are.I think that the reason why we have a hard time actually getting to know our very selves is that we are trying to keep to others expectations of how we should be . For example,  like professor Harry explained in lecture we are heavily influenced by mass media, friends, family when it comes to many things. For example, I grew up in a family that strongly believes in marriage. I am to find a man, date for a while and then marry. Currently, I am cohabiting with my boyfriend which is something that my family sees as a negative thing. I should not be living with a man whom I not married to. But what if I don't want to get married  and I like my current arrangement with my partner. I hope I didn't go off on a tangent

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What I learned from the reading is that people put on a facade to makes others around them believe they appear a certain way. There is a famous saying "when people show you their true colors, believe them".As I am getting older, I find this saying to be very true. For example, when I transfered  my job from Sacramento to Stockton, the department  I went to, all of the staff seemed to get along well and were very nice to each other. Of course,the staff  put on a united front  because they wanted me to believe that they all got along. As time went on, I started to noticed some of the tactics and attitudes some of the staff members presented. For example, one of the ladies started to complain to management about a particular employees' workflow. I soon found out that these two ladies haven' t got along for the past two years. There has been a constant feud between them.So the lady that got complained  on moved to a different department. She was tired of explaining herself to management and have to fight with her co-worker often. After that situation, the same lady that complained ,tried to manipulate   the rest of us to adopt her workflows. In our daily huddles, she would say things like" my doctor and I work this way and we are able to the patients needs met and still stay on top of my messages. Well, that may be the case for that lady and her doctor, but that doesn't apply  to everyone. In my department, the doctors specialize  in different areas of work.So, to try to uniform everyone's work flows with her particular  workflow, would not work. I find that lady to be a manipulative kind of person.

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During this pandemic, mental health has been one of the major issues that several people have faced.Now, there is so much support and programs advertised to help individuals get through there mental health struggles. Prior to the pandemic, I did not see or hear as much advertisements for mental health. For several years ,there has been a stigma around seeking help from professionals . I would hear people say, "shrinks are for crazy people" or "Shrinks try to control your life , no need to talk to them". I find that very sad to put such labels on mental health personnel. I suffer from anxiety and I went to talk to my mother about what I was dealing with , she would say things like its all in your head.She would tell me things like you don't need medication or anything like that, you need to figure out a way to deal with that on your own. Well, how do you expect someone to deal with health issue if they don't understand it nor have the tools to fight it.I felt like my mother was being selfish for not being open or understanding to my needs .

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When is story came out about Loris' college bribery scandal, I just knew she was going to have to serve a whole bunch of time. Well, news flash, she only got two months. I was so livid by the fact that the government  allowed her to get off the hook so easily. It was so unfair.
Many students that attended that college worked hard to get there  and their parents had to work harder to pay for their tuition. I am sure if any other citizen tried to pull that same scandal, they would get in trouble. But because she is a white celebrity , the laws have "bent " for her.

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lori loughlin sentenced to 2 months in prison in college admissions scam. her husband

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Lori Loughlin sentenced to 2 months in prison in college admissions scam. Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, got 5 months

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Actress Lori Loughlin was sentenced Friday to two months in federal prison for her role in the college admissions scandal, a fate she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, initially tried to avoid after they were charged.

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Three ascribed status about me are:
*I am a women
*I am the oldest of all the kids
* I am black

Three Achieved statuses:
* I am a college student
* I am a girlfriend
* I am a car owner

The roles of being a girlfriend:
* being faithful to your partner
* cooking and cleaning ( if you live together)
* being respectful of your partners boundaries
* being honest
*go on dates
*experience new things together
*Listen to your partner
*  COMMUNICATE  with your partner about things that make you mad or  what you dislike
* Do something special for your partner every now and again.
* believe in your partners goals and dreams
Just to name a few

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1.Vietnam
2.Cambodia
3.Indonesia
4.Guatemala
5.Bangladesh
6. Honduras
7.China
8. Pakistan
9.U.S.A.
10.Jordan
What this says about our economy is that we are always looking for a shortcut we can make our own clothing here in the states but instead we rather ship our business overseas so we can pay workers at a cheaper rate.

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In my opinion, our economy is based on creating  “the American dream“ lifestyle. The American dream lifestyle can look different  for many people but the one common understanding is to have success. In order to  have success in this country, you have to focus solely on yourself and what you need to make it to the top.That is because America is a communist country. As Americans, we don’t really look to help out anyone else if it doesn’t benefit us. For example, if I owned a multi million dollar company, I need to make sure I have staff to work for me so that I can keep my business going while helping out others.

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I am a fairly young person but I spent a couple of my childhood years being  raised by my grandmother. She was and still is a very traditional woman, she ran a tight ship in her home. A weekly routine was to wake up early, prepare for school ,and make sure we got and put away the eggs, milk, and water that was delivered on the porch on monday mornings before school. My grandmother had gone to work way before we ( my Aunt and I) got up in the morning for school.After we put the deliveries  up, we had to lock up the house and then walk to school. After school, we then had to catch the school bus that would take us to the Boys and Girls Club where we stayed until 5 PM and my grandmother  would pick us up after work. We would get home do our homework, have dinner and clean the kitchen shower, and go to bed except when we had church days. We went to church numerous times throughout the week. Mondays,Thursdays Saturdays and Sundays. On Mondays it was women’s outreach and onThursdays is was  choir rehearsal. Saturday mornings was praise dance rehearsal for the kids and Sundays were church days. One time  I went with my grandmother to visit one of her friends and her friend had a rotary phone. At the time, I had no idea what a rotary phone was so I asked the lady what is that and she explained to me that it’s a phone and she taught me how to use it.

When I moved back with my mom, boy were things different. I did not have to walk to school anymore nor did I have to take a school bus to go to a Boys and Girls Club. My mother picked me up and dropped me off from school every single day. I did not go to church at all in the week anymore. My mother and her friends had a modern landline phone with actual buttons to dial. I did not have to wake up super early to check the porch for deliveries. Nor did I have to come home to homework ,eat , clean the kitchen , shower and go to bed I did not have to do it in the exact same order. My mother did not run a tight ship like my grandmother. My mothers rules and expectations were a little bit more relaxed than my mothers. Both of these women have taught me a lot in their households but to me this demonstrates the difference that is “between the ages“

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I come from a family of 9, 2 parents and seven children. Between my two parents ,collectively, they have three jobs. My mom works two part-time jobs and my father works one full-time job. My mother opts  to work part time jobs because she has small children under the age of 10 that she needs to tend to. During the work week, my mom works her 1st part-time job and on the weekends she works one day at her second part time job. I know my parents situation is a bit different from the nickeled and dime  reading but they share some  similarities. Neither of my parents have a college education so their wages aren’t that much. The expenses that my parents need to pay for are rent :food, cars, electricity and the water bill , plus in the needs of the children. Most of my father‘s paycheck goes towards the rent and my mothers paychecks goes to everything else in the house.  But even with those three jobs between the two of them, it,’s still not enough to cover all the household expenses. I know that if my parents would’ve had college degrees they wouldn’t have such a financial hardship. But college is not for everyone

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I have a personal example of “Hitler asking me“ to do something I know it’s wrong. Like I had mentioned in the past I am a healthcare worker. I work directly with the doctors. About a week or two ago, we had a patient come in with a high blood pressure. Our protocol is to take the blood pressure twice and if it exceeds the normal range which is 139/89 we have to chart it and let the doctor know. The doc is to adjust the meds the patient is already on or give the patient new medication and have them come back into weeks. One day ,a patient who is 22 years old had come into the office with the Blood pressure around 196/90 that was the first time in the second blood pressure was 186/94. I am from the dock and she told me to tell the patient to come back in a week. Well I went to go tell the patient doctors orders and the patient left. I know that her blood pressure was too high to turn her way so, I went to get a second opinion from the nurse who said no call the patient back and I will deal with it. I do not feel right going to the nurse because I felt like I was undermining the authority, in this case was a doctor. I think in society we know that we will be punished for disobeying authority to the figures. I think that’s why I had a hard time going to talk to the nurse about this blood pressure.

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I remember when I was younger about 12 years old I had attended a birthday party. First on the agenda, was going to John’s incredible Pizza to play for a little while then we went to the movies afterwards. It was me and four other girls. When we got to the movies, we had a vote on a movie that we all wanted to see. The choices were between despicable me and Shrek forever after .the majority of the girls chose to see despicable me ,so I just went along with the majority even though I really wanted to see Shrek ever after. I really didn’t want to disappoint the birthday girl as well as all of our mutual friends.

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I think the fight for $15 dollar an hour is reasonable wage for fast food employees everywhere.A variety of  fast food workers are overworking themselves just to make ends meet. The cost of living has gone up and there is no way that people are going to be able to support themselves and families  off of $7.00 an hour (federal minimum wage).

Should fast food works become unionized? Yes, I think that having strong a union to support fast food workers and provide equal wages is beneficial. At least in this sense workers will be paid equally and possibly have benefits. Fast food companies may not like the union because now they have to give explanation as to why workers are being underpaid or why someone was fired.

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My family often goes to Walmart to shop because it has some of everything. A little bit of car necessities, some home goods and of course food . Walmart’s slogan is “save money, live better”, so my thoughts about what the company  is teaching consumers is that the merchandise is sold here at a cheaper price to better suit pockets. Not everyone can afford to shop at target(nothing against with target) .I think by the advertising and promoting low prices that Walmart’s sole Ideology and consumers know that. I couldn’t exactly find the average wage the employees are paid , but I thinks it’s more then the federal minimum wage in most states. That’s goes to show  that Walmart cares not only about their consumers but about their employees too. Walmart corporation is almost everywhere  in the word, so I think Walmart can be seen as a leadership company

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I had bought  myself a pair of Jordan shoes just to fit in with my group of friends.They were talking about going to the mall around 5:00am to wait in line so they could be one of the first ones in the mall to purchase the shoes. I went along with them and got the shoes. I normally don’t buy these kind of shoes because they are super expensive and rather  use
that money for something else. I was excited when I bought the shoes and so where my friends.But soon after the purchase, I wasn’t happy with myself and It didn’t satisfy my sense of belonging.

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After reading the material,I opted to write about the coffee experiment  Jimmy Kimball conducted.I think the first few people that were part of the experiment , prefers  the more expensive coffee. They used descriptive words like “stronger” “richer“, “smoother” to express the taste of the more expensive coffee they thought they were drinking.Then with second  cup of coffee, some described it as bland. In this study, the volunteers were drinking the non expensive cup of coffee but they cannot tell the difference .This direct experiment correlates with sociology ,because in life most of us think that the more expensive the food,drink, or item is the better.  Most of us start to feel like we actually becoming  part of the elite group because of the things we can afford that the elite group already has.

I have a personal example of striving to be part of the elite group. I can say that I am very blessed with a great job, but when I look at all my possessions I noticed that I have only name brand things. From Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, pink, fashion nova, to vans, Nikes, UGGs, Adidas etc. I can admit that I buy these things to feel part of the elite group but I never pay full price for them.

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Before reading the material about the uses of poverty, I use to think, how are  poor people  able to contribute to society. I know that they are struggling to find a job that pays well so they can take care of themselves and their families. I can only image what it is like having to make ends meet. However, after reading the excerpt, I learned that poor people contribute to society in a variety of ways even if it’s not right For example, jobs such as  field work are be offered to poor people at a lower wage . This is a very unfortunate situation.I think people that works in the fields work much harder then people who have desks jobs. So field workers should be paid at a higher wage.

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After watching the video on wealth inequality , I was shocked by the facts that were being presented to me.The  U.S. government has come up with these policies and laws to basically keep the rich people rich. Because the elite group may have business and stocks ,they are allowed to write things off on taxes documents as “business expenses”. And the government will reimburse them for it. Companies also get reimbursed from tax  right off’s. I thought the elite group had to pay a large percentage in taxes because they earned so much. Well, I was completely wrong. To find out they pay a small percentage of their wealth to taxes felt like a slap in the face. For us middle class and poor People, the government loves to take from us. The more money we make in a year, the more they take from us, and only some of us get a refund. My question is why take from people who are struggling to make it ? Why take from people who struggling to maintain the money they have.

I am starting to look at our government in a negative  light. It seems like the “American dream” is really only a dream and not a reality Unless you were born into money or become rich. Otherwise, you will become part of the”cycle” that promotes hard work but takes all your earnings ,leaving you with almost nothing to depend on.

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Stratification has been around for years, obviously, but I didn’t  see it in action it until I got to high school. For example, I went to Lincoln high here in Stockton. In my opinion, Lincoln is a “middle class”school.Its free and open to the public and I could relate to many of my peers. Now let’s compare Lincoln to St.Mary’s high school. St. Mary’s would be considered a “upper class” high school because it college prep and most of the “rich kids” go to that school. I didn’t not relate to these kids at all, in fact , I had problems with students.Most of the students that went there had this mind set  of being better then others because of their financial abilities. Anyhow, given  the  information I just shared, let’s look at Franklin high school.That school would be considered the “lesser” of the schools. I could relate to these students but to a certain extent.The examples I provided above, relates to the book because in today’s time their are still separate  schools that the elite group sends their kids too . The only difference is there are a variety of races that are part of the elite group now.And the rest of the of the social classes send their kids to schools they can afford.

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I have made several personal  connections with this material. Especially the section about weighing the effects about gender ,race and class.As a young girl growing up,I also had to cook, clean and watch my younger siblings. I think most working-class parents can’t afford a babysitter or a nanny to help out with the kids.So, the parents utilize Their older children to help watch the younger children. Working class parents tend to focus main focus is to provide a home for their children.

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I can understand the concept of race being socially constructed. Our society influences several things in our life including how we should act or what our physical features should look like according to our race.For example, not all black people have big noses. However, I don’t agree with the idea that genetics do not biologically determine a specific race. I am referring specifically to black people. Changing the lens from a sociological perspective to a medical perspective, black people are at a higher risks for just about any disease because of our genetics.For example, black people have to check for colon cancer much earlier then other races due to genetics.During this pandemic, black communities have been hit with COVID the hardest because of genetics. When routine blood work is completed by a black person, there is a section that asks for   race to check for sickle cell anemia because that mostly affects . black people.

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As one of the members of the black community, I think it is of importance to discuss cultural appropriation with other races. That way other racial groups can understand the frustration from black people when they copy our styles. We (Black people) have been criticized for the way we look, dress, and  style our hair. For example, big or full lips is feature that almost every black person has. Not too long ago, black people would be teased about the size of their lips. Names like “ soup coolers”  or “bee-sting lips,” would be  used to talk negatively about us. In today’s time, I mostly see white girls but almost every race has fillers or Botox injected into their lips and now it is a trend to have big lips.The breading hairstyle cornrows originated from black slaves trying to escape the plantations.  They would braid each others hair in the layout of the plantation, and use it as a guide to escape. Other races braid their hair in cornrows styles and would get praise for it . While black people would be looked at as nappy headed. One last example of cultural appropriation is the way black people dress. For example, the reading stated that

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I made a connection with the lecture. Professor Henry says that almost all of us have prejudice towards other races. He then provided an example of being in the car with someone who use the term “you people“ when someone from another race did something “wrong“ while driving. About a month ago, my family and I had a fall out with one of our neighbors who happened  to be white .We had  got along really well with this white family. Their family came to our birthday gatherings as did our family  for their birthday parties.The fall out  was over the way the white adult neighbor spoke to my 6 year old  sister. She used  profanity at a kid and as an adult, that’s not how you talk to kids . So my family and I went over to address the situation, she admitted that she did use profanity towards my sister and then started raising her voice saying “you people“ have bad kids.My parents response back was we “black people” don’t have bad kids . Yes, kids can get out of line and need to be corrected but that happens in every race not just blacks.If you can’t respect my black kids or talk to them in an appropriate manner then our kids can’t play together. The white neighbor never apologized for her actions nor does she let her children outside to play with my siblings. Her prejudice has now turned into discrimination.

Reflection: This encounter opened my eyes to the harsh realities in our societies. Peoples perception of other races will never change because of what’s depicted in movies and events that happened in the last.This  fact prompts me to believe  that America will never see the minority group of people equal to the majority group of people based off stereotypical beliefs.

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I agree with the author when he said“It doesn’t matter whether or not you or I call ourselves good folk. Our actions are what matter. Real people get hurt badly  in our society by poverty and  racism” I really think this piece speaks values because actions always speaks louder then words. As a society we need to treat one another with genuine respect no matter what our skin, beliefs , or situations may look like.

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1.Iam mixed with black and white. But I identify as black

2. Because of my family taught me that I am black and the way society treats me. I did not make that decision

3.I learned what race I was by my culture. My earliest memory about race was that black  people where not treated equally.

4.I decide what other peoples race are by their appearance and culture. For example, Latino/a people celebrate quiescent

5. I think other people decide my race by my skin tone as well as the way I talk.

What is Race? In my opinion,race is group of people that identify with the same race.

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While observing toys on Amazon‘s website, I found that toys are very much gender specific. I studied the boys toys first and I noticed all the colors were dark on all the toys. Colors like:orange, red ,blue, camouflage,grey, green etc, as  I continued to look at the toy selection for boys, I noticed the types of toys available for purchase were;trucks, cars, Bow and arrow, handheld video games drones, punching bags airplanes ,dinosaurs robots ,darts, toy guns. There toys are all “rough and tough” preparing boys to get tough to survive in this society.

On the other hand, I found that girls toys are much more delicate.The colors on girls toys are pink, purple,baby blue and multi colored. The choices of toys to buy for girls were things like ;make -up bags, microphones ,plant grown kits, doodle pads, coloring books bracelet makers ,clay kids and pedicure sets. I noticed that all the toys for girls are societies ideas of what girls should grow up and be like. Girls should know how to Cook and clean and be beautiful. L

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After reading all this material about toys being socially constructed and Sex specific. I can see how those two concepts influence parents choices of what toys to purchase for their children. Growing up, I had one brother and five sisters but I would like to say my parents were ok with us children playing with some of each other toys.For example, my bother had  all the game systems that ever existed and my sisters and I played with them too. My parents bought most of the games that had violence in it but my sisters and I didn’t mind. My brother could play with our barbies but only if he was using her as a girlfriend for his wrestling action figure.Looking back at my parents actions about what toys we should play with demonstrates my parents ideas about gender.  Even though  we were able to play with the opposite sex’s toys, there was still limitations as to what we can do.

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This class has effected my life and choices by making me more aware others outside my culture. Prior to this class, I didn’t know much about other cultures,beliefs the way the government worked nor did I understand that we are all programmed and trained to act a and think in a way that benefits society. I also

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What are the specific cultural ideas of attractiveness that encourage you to buy products(example clear skin, fashionable clothes, and muscular physique)? Could those cultural ideas be achieved  without consuming?

I like to purchase some of my clothes from this website called fashion nova. It’s a very popular site to buy clothes from. celebrities like CardiB and Megan the stallion have their own clothing line through  fashion nova. I buy the clothes from that site because I want the clothes to make me look similar to those celebrities.Another example of specific cultural ideas that create attractiveness   for me is using dove soap. By using dove soap, my skin will be moisturize which will then cause my skin to glow. Glowing skin is much more attractive then dry cracked skin. People notice moisturize skin. Yes, I think that I could utilize non name brand clothes and create similar outfits. As far as soap, I could probably use a regular soap bar from the 99 cent store and use lotion to keep my skin moisturized.

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When my brother was born, I really didn’t see much of a difference between him and I. I am a couple years older then my brother. Of course I knew we had different anatomical parts and  but, We were able to play with each other‘s toys to a certain extent, plus my mother would bring my brother (with us) to the girls restroom so he could use it too.  My view of my brother  (in my formative years) were that we are pretty much the same. It wasn’t until We entered into our teenage years that I saw the difference between us. My parents had raised us on “double standards”. For example, I had a curfew to be home by 9o’clock where as my brother’s curfew was 10:30pm. Often times , my brother will come home a little later then his curfew, but my parents wouldn’t make a fuss about it. When I questioned  my parents about my younger brother’s later curfew, and why its okay for him to come home pass curfew, their  response back was because he is a boy. My brother never had to tend to any household chores other than the garbage and cleaning his room. He barely cleaned his room though. Another example of a double standard in our household was that my brother was able to go over to his girlfriends house , where as the guys that I dated it had to come over to our house so we could be “watched”. I was really upset growing up because everything my brother did whether it was good or bad was always justified because he is a boy.

I think that our society needs to stop giving young boys so much leeway and excuses and start holding them accountable for their actions.For example, Excuses such as “boys will be boys”, mentally, this phrase makes the boys feel like they can do anything and get away with it because of their sex. That mindset of being able to do whatever that they want to do also follows them into adulthood but it intensifies .In my opinion, the attitude of being able to do what they want because they are male also Creates the sense of superiority. For example, I heard a man tell someone on the phone , “that women need us or else they could not function well.” I was a bit bothered by the comment but I have to keep working because it wasn’t my conversation.

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Growing up in our society as a female is challenging. There are all these rules about how a lady is supposed to “carry herself” and aspire to marriage. As a young girl most of us are taught the very basics of acting like a lady, we are told to cross our legs and or not chew with our mouths open, pull our dresses down .As we grow into early teenage years. Our bodies have changed and we told  completely cover our bodies so that we don’t attract unwanted attention by men. Also, we are  get good grades in school. When it comes to dating, we are allowed to date but she should wait until marriage to have sex. “ I was told “ no man wants a women with a lot of miles on her.” Then as an adult women, we are to get married and produce offspring and make sure we are being tentative to our husbands. Basically, at every stage of a women’s life, she is expected to be a certain way. There is all this pressure of being a good women and mother to her family to be accepted by society.what if society put some of these expectation of men? For example, applying the pressure of not having many sexual partners until marriage, As a young women, I don’t want a husband who has been with other women. Would this kind of expectation crack down on the STD’s that men are carrying around.

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One of the elements that socialized me into my gender was my hair. Women  and young women are supposed to have hair and their hair should stay done. That was the expectation I was raised on. Growing up, Saturday  mornings would consist of my hair  getting washed, conditioned, moisturize and styled for the week. That was the routine for a long time. Now as an adult person, I still find myself sticking to that routine but every other weekend .I also find myself getting all worked up if my hair is not combed. I feel like I am braking some sort of girl code. I shouldn’t feel like I am breaking a code because hair is just hair. It doesn’t define me as an individual.but like I mentioned above, it’s embedded in my to worry about hair because that’s what I was taught. I know that there are women who  have chosen to cut their hair completely off. That doesn’t make them less of a women it’s just the way they want to express themselves.

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I  think a person sexuality depends on openness and interests . In my opinion, a person has to be open and interested to explore their sexually whether it be with the same sex or the opposite sex.As people experiment with their sexuality, I think that’s when they discover who they like and what they identified with. I also think for some people their sexuality can change.  For example, a girl that I went to high school with identified as gay and he a girlfriend  but as a adult now, she is in a heterosexual relationship with two kids.This example is kind of like the example you gave in lecture professor. Like I mentioned  before, I think sexually depends on what a person is  willing to try.

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Family :
The idea of what makes a family has changed from 50 years ago. The idea of a  Nuclear family is still pretty common in our society but we are now seeing new ideas of what makes up a family.For example my cousin, her ex-husband, and her new boyfriend all live together under one roof. They consider  themselves a blended family. My cousin and her ex husband have three small children together and my cousin and her new boyfriend only have one child together. My cousin decided that she didn’t want to raise her kids in a separate household away from their fathers. Both her ex-husband and her current boyfriend agreed to combining their families for the sake of the children.Now, for most of us, this may seem weird or wrong. As a society we are accustomed to seeing divorced parents living in two separate households, especially if they have started families with other people. According to my cousin ,this living arrangement works perfect for her family. Of course, myself and the rest of the family was surprised by my cousins decision, but we had to understand that the world is changing and we may see several more variations of families. Just because my cousins living situation is different than what I grew up with, doesn’t mean she’s wrong she is living a life that she wants to live.

White wedding/marriage:
I think marriage is somethings that is valued our society even though divorce is at an all-time high. Most of us have been taught that marriage is a must if you’re going to be with someone long-term. Well, at least in my family that’s what I was told. Just like there are different ideas about families they’re also different ideas about marriage and who should be able to get married. I can understand why society views same-sex marriages as wrong but Who are we as a society to tell the LGBTQ community that they are wrong for wanting to marry just because they don’t fit the idea of a heterosexual couple. Another example then I can provide is the white dress phenomenon.

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I have always dreamed about what my wedding day would be like since I was thirteen.In high school, I had the opportunity to actually find it out in a course that I was taking. The wedding would take place in Hawaii specifically in Maui on a beach. My colors would consist of lavender and white. The wedding ceremony will be quite simple as far as decorations. I will just have basic white chairs decorate it with a lavender bow. My three youngest sisters to be flower girls and two of my other sisters would be bridesmaids. My husband and sisters would also be part of the bridesmaids as well. I Would  invite all my close for members and friends to witness the ceremony. I would like for my wedding reception to be at a nice hotel in Maui. That’s what I would want to go all out with decorations and party favors. I would like a big ball room so all of my guest can dance. As for our honeymoon, I would like for us to travel to Bora-Bora. My plan is to stay in Bora-Bora for about five days and just enjoy what it has to offer.

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Question:
Why do you think a diamond ring is such a potential cultural symbol in a wedding? Do you think greater knowledge of the material elements of a diamond industry would  challenge its cultural prominence?

I think diamonds area cultural symbol because it symbolizes love but most importantly it  symbolizes money. When a women get proposed too, she expects for the man to propose to her with a nice Diamond ring.That nice diamond ring will show her whether the man is cheap or not.Plus, she needs a nice ring to show off to friends and family. I have seen videos of women getting upset with men because they didn’t have  a particular type of Diamond ring.Honestly it’s quite sad the way our society values the size and type of ring rather then the fact that someone wants to marry them.
Yes, I think greater knowledge of material elements of the diamond industry will challenge cultural   prominence because some diamonds are man-made and some diamonds are natural. The necked eye would not be able to tell the difference between the two.Millions of people have been fooled into buying man-made  diamonds from jewelry stores at higher prices thinking they are natural. I think if most men and women knew that, maybe diamonds wouldn’t be so popular.

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I am now convinced that  deviance is socially constructed. At first I didn’t really believe it ,after hearing the lectures and reading the Andes story . I am now sold . At my work place, there was an example of deviance not too long ago. I have a  Job that has a Union and my mangers basically tried to add on additional work to our every day assignments for less pay.I work at a doctors office and we are pretty busy. All of the staff  are working twice  as hard because we are in need of more workers awhile trying to protect ourselves from COVID.The mangers wanted to keep “doubling” us  as a permanent work flow with no intentions of hiring more staff. This type of request  goes against the Union because this what not bargained for in our contracts as staff members. There was friction in the work place because one of my co-works said this is wrong and she got the Union involved. I looked  at my management team as deviant because they tried to violate our contract. They want to double our work for less pay and tried to make it sound better saying that will be “grouped” together For support.

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To give someone a label whether it be a positive or negative, is very powerful thing to do in our society.Like Professor Harry said in lecture, often times, people start to believe in the labels given to them by society and start to act in that manner. Even if that label isn't  true.A few days ago, I was listening  to a song and the rapper said " I'm labeled as  a shooter, so I gotta keep that heat(gun) on me." This song lyric made me think back to the lecture. This is a prime example of  people accepting society's ides of them and act out in that manner.I personally don't think that rapper is a real shooter. I googled this rapper and I found that he went to jail for having an unregistered fire arm but he never went to jail for actually shooting anyone or anything. Another example of labeling is policing. In our society, cops are called "authorities" and authoritative figures have power. The authorities  have the right to pull you over for no apparent reason but will find one .They can detain  you.  They can come to your rescue.This is the power of labeling.

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I can admit, I have done somethings that could get me jail time if I had got caught. I have learned not to do those  things anymore as I don't want to get caught. I think our prison system is i.needs to be improved. I don't think stripping away someones name with a number or locking them up for 23 hours a day is really going to rehabilitate the prisoner. I think if anything ,that is going to make them go insane. Depending  on the level of the crime commeted, Plus, the correctional officers, counseling should be offered.Maybe talking about their actions and thought can maybe help the criminals physiologically.

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In my opinion, the police always use excessive force no matter what the situation calls for. After reading the material, I find that the use of  excessive force is encouraged by veteran officers.In order to be "accepted" by the department, new police officers must be agressive. Which I think is unfair.What I find most disturbing is the fact that police can get so angry that they  act off of impulse to physically hurt people and try to justify their actions.Just because they have the power to arrest people, doesn't  give them the right to inflict unessary pain.Now, the type of work that I do is nothing like a police officer but , I do work with unruly patients .Sometimes the patients makes real upset when they get pushy ,demanding or combative. But that doesn't give me the right to hit them or shove  them. police need to abide by the same rules. It is not socially okay to hurt people when one feels like it. .For example, when a police officer police tries to apprehend a suspect and it leads to a pursuit for  while, then when they finally catch the person, it is not okay to for police to release their anger on the suspect.
I can understand if a suspect if a suspect hits an officer or tries to shoot them , then by all means, that officer needs to protect himself but other then that keep their hands to themselves.

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What I find “weird“ is when men help women with household chores. I know a guy that will help with laundry as well as clean the bathroom. The norms That were violated was that a men are to do yard work not household chores. Yes I know set the norms were there. Because he is male he is supposed to do “manly” things he knows what kinds of stuff he supposed to do.If my boyfriend needed help changing the car’s oil and I knew how to change it, I would help him. Now many people would think that is weird because men usually work on cars. They probably would label me “weird”. The label “weird“ made me perceive the person as feminine. The label did not effect my feelings about the person.