I am a overthinker in life so i typically think about life as a human being and what makes us who we are but i never really put into perspective the difference between me waiting in a line to buy groceries compared to waiting in that same line with a few of my friends. How different the feelings and personal vibes are. The section about primary and secondary groups definitely helped me understand more of the difference between the two. I also related to the in group and out group. The in group for me as a example would be my two best friends in elementary school that i still talk to, and the out group would be the class as a whole including the group that would bully me. This chapter highlighted how important different groups are to be able to shape us as our own selfs.

I learned quite a bit in this chapter, a dyad is the most fragile since if one person leaves it can not be considered a group anymore because it is only one single person. But in a triad it changes because sometimes two people are closer compared to the other person in the group, which I've experienced before. The part about conformity I've related to as well. Ive gone through things with groups just to look cool so i can hang out with them. A example is when i was 10 I started smoking because my mom would leave me home alone for days and there were these highschoolers in 11th grade that lived next door and i would beg to hang out with them so they pushed me to smoke with them. It reminded me of the part in the chapter talking about the asch experiment.

I think schools and jobs are considered utilitarian because you are technically working for money or a diploma, for the most part atleast. While groups or clubs like the girl scouts or a book reading club are normative because you don't joing it for any outcome other then connection and fun. I understand why we have bureaucracies, but there are definitely times where it can be frustrating to follow them. The idea of mcdonaldization stood out because things can be very predictable and easier for us to understand but at the same time it can also make it boring, or less entertaining.

From what I learned in this section, Social Stratification is basically how us as a society divides people into separate layers based on certain parts of our life like education, family background, and money. Even though many people believe hard work alone creates success, sociologists point out that social class plays a huge role in this discussion. For example someone born into a wealthy family will typically have better access to better education, while people born not in wealth will have to work harder to get the same opportunities. I have noticed this in my own life, growing up my friend and I both struggled in math and did not have thebest grades, her mom was able to hire her a tutor to help her and she ended up passing the class while I slacked because i was not able to get one on one help. Systems like caste and class show how much freedom people really have to move in society. The caste system is strict, but the class system like the US for example show how much freedom we have to move up or down in the system.

This chapter explains more about how wealth determines our access to opportunities and how we are perceived as people. I have seen that work out multiple times in my life, I have had to work since the age of 15 to be able to survive with my mother on the streets whenever i was not in foster care. I had to worry about money and having a place to stay for the night at such a young age meanwhile there are people that do not have to work a single day of their life because of generational wealth. Even now at 25 with a 7 year old, I work multiple jobs and am in school yet I can barely afford to pay my bills. The part about class traits stood out to me as well because you really can't always assume someones financial stability by the way they look and what they wear.

Its easy to focus on class differences within one country as a whole, but when you look at it globally, the gap between the poor counties and rich countries is huge. Something that is on my mind alot is the fact that there are people that have so much money that they can do anything they want in the world, from vacations to buying property. Meanwhile there is a person right now sitting out in the rain with not one dollar to their name and they are starving. It makes me angry thinking about how selfish the wealthy are sometimes, and typically they just ignore the poor. The example about Jamaica reminded of me when I was able to go on a trip to Mexico with my boyfriends family and they showed me the most beautiful beaches and towns. And then they took my to their hometows a hour away and it was the total opposite. The houses werent even fully built, most with holes in the roofs and the kids playing outside with ripped clothes and no shoes. It made me feel extremely ungrateful for not appreciating the things I have in the US even if I am considered poor.

This chapter showed me more about how inequality exists everywhere, even in jobs like the NBA. Its crazy to think how one player can make over $40 million while others on the same exact team make just a few hundred thousand. Which is still alot but compared to 40 million is a different story. The functionalists view partially makes sense since some jobs require more skill and training, but I also agree with conflict theory that its unfair how much money and power are at the top. The symbolic interactionists part also stood out to me because its so true that people wear and act a certain way to show they are a higher status. I notice it with clothes, electronics, cars, and sometimes even pets!

Race used to be more about physical features, like skin color for example, but now race is more of a social idea instead of a biological one. There are still people now who judge others by appearance, even though looks don't define who someone is as a person. Ethnicity is different because its about culture, like language, religion, and traditions. People mix up ethnicities with nationalities alot, like when they assume all hispanic people are Mexican. Another thing in this chapter was talking about how being a minority is about power, not numbers. It also mentioned how immigrants from the U.S. are used as scapegoats when people blame them for the countries problems. It really shows how dominant groups can put their frustrations on others instead of actaully dealing with the issue at hand. I found the part about multiple identities interesting, many people have mixed backgrounds and are proud of all of their sides, which they absolutely should be! It shows that society is growing to more identities!

Functionalists look at how societies stay balanced but when discrimination happens, it starts causing problems. The murder of George Floyd created tension and protests, showing how the system needs to change to restore balance. It brought a lot of people together to mourn, and fight for justice. Symbolic interactionism focuses on how peoples daily life shapes their view on race. For example some people may believe a stereotype about a certain race just from something they see in a movie, not from real genuine experiences. Conflict theory shows how large groups with power keep control of all other groups. It mentioned how Black Americans after the Civil War faced Jim Crow laws that limited their rights, and how Vivien Thomas was treated badly even though she helped make huge medical advances. The culture of prejudice shows how stereotypes are built into society. Even if you don't notice them at first, they are still there. Like the chihuahua they use in taco bell ads for example. Its sad how much racism is pushed in culture.

Something I learned more in this chapter is the fact that prejudice and discrimination are connected but not the same thing. Prejudice is the thoughts and beliefs people have about others, while discrimination is when people take those beliefs and turn them into unfair actions. For example the chapter talked about how people supported criminalizing marijuana because of prejudice against immigrants, even though they had no proof. It really shows how powerful some stereotypes can be when people don't stand up and question them. Things like signs that said " whites only" is an example of how racism can be built into society, not just individual actions. The story about Peggy Mcintosh and white made sense how she explained that privilege isn't something you ask for, but it still gives people advantages they typically don't even notice. I also learned about different types of racism, like systematic and cultural racism. The example of racial profiling in Minnesota showed how people of color are unfairly targeted by police, and the story of Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Browns death is a prime example of whats going on even now. I remember 2 years ago I drove through the U.S. with my boyfriend who is Mexican, we were in South Carolina in a walmart, a older white woman was following us all around. I didn't question it at first, but then she had a guard come up to us, he asked us to leave because they assumed we were stealing. We stated that we were not but agreed to leave, we were then approached by a homeless man, he specifically told us " I can tell you aren't from here, if you want to go to a walmart with him, you need to go to the one across town, this one. isn't for people like us" I was in total shock hearing that. Just another example of racial profiling. I really enjoyed the part of the chapter where it stated being anti-racist is about making choices, what you do every day matters. Its not just saying you're anti-racist ,its also standing up and challenging the unfair systems.

This chapter explained to me how societies handle racial and ethnic differences in multiple different ways. Pluralism kind of like a bowl, cultures keep their identities but still live together, though it can be hard to get perfect, because mutual respect can be hard to find for people when they don't believe in the same thing. Assimilation is what happens when minorities give up their traditions to fit into the dominant culture, which happens a lot, like in the 1900's all of the immigrants that lost their language and customs to fit into the U.S. lifestyle. I learned that interracial marriage wasn't legal until Loving V Virginia in 1967, which shows how absolutely unfair the laws once were. The examples of genocide, like the Holocaust and the way the Native Americans were treated during the trail of tears, are so hard to read about but need to be taught more. It shows how prejudice can turn deadly. It also spoke about how how segregation kept races apart in the U.S. and South Africa. Even after they ended legal segregation. It was still implanted in peoples heads, even today.