Socio Social Issues Reflections by Desiree Blanco

The Sociological Perspective Module Padlet Reflection (Prompt Three)

desireebblanco — 2024-07-01 01:55:52 UTC

The Sociological Perspective suggests that issues and changes are more social and communal than individual. This introduces the idea of Individualism, which, “Suggests that everything begins and ends with individuals.” Individualism is flawed when using the Sociological Perspective because it isolates and divides us. The Sociological Perspective demands that we see the bigger picture of social issues, like for example, the obesity crisis. Individualism would suggest that an obese person is at fault because they lack self-control, don’t work hard enough, and are too sedentary while sociologically, inner systems and media pressure are seen as more likely reasons. According to the article Updating C. Wright Mills, “The sociological observer seeks to connect these personal experiences with structural arrangements in the social system.” Individualism can also be seen in institutional racism and individual racism. Privileged people get defensive when labeled as privileged because they don’t see that they’re actively benefiting from a system that oppresses others who aren’t (as) privileged. Just because they as an individuals aren’t racist or set that system up, doesn’t mean the privilege isn’t there. When they are defensive or disagree, they are practicing Individualism.

These perspectives stood out to me because as I grew up, my stepfather was very defensive about being white (and privileged). It’s nice to look back on the many conversations we had with this new information and perspective and know that he practices these things. Of course, as I was younger, I didn’t understand, but I know it never sat right with me. When I became more independent and mature, I took on my own opinions and stopped being defensive about my privileges as I began to understand them better. It’s nice to be able to grow from these experiences.

Education Module Padlet Reflection (Prompt Three)

desireebblanco — 2024-07-01 01:57:48 UTC

The education system is flawed as it tries to promote the idea that we need to learn these things to flourish in life, but it only essentially prepares us for work. It trains us into routines, to work long hours, and to work for bosses. Even in learning, it’s never about the actual learning, but the grades and if you ‘pass’ (the grade trap). This leaves room for cheap ways to get to the top or simply get by. Things like cheating, kissing up, having connections, money, etc are all subtly in place in our education system, and it works. Standardization is an example of how defective the system is. With standardization, the learning process is oversimplified and promotes memorization over learning styles. With this set of “skills”, we become marketable for jobs and a ‘human capital model’. With our degrees, the process of job searches also becomes oversimplified as you are indicated as capable of the job. This makes room for a competitive nature not because you want the job but because a degree means you’re valuable and to the degree holder, they can hold a more stable income than those without a degree.

I’ve felt the frustration that has come with school, especially before college. Everything felt standard, not fitted to what you actually needed to learn or how you could learn it. Everyone learns the somethings K-12 for basic needs in jobs, not even survival. It feels better during college because there is more freedom in what I can choose to do, but the standardization of each class still lingers. Looking back on my education experience so far, it makes sense that it was more to prepare us to work than anything else, and I continue to see that.

Gender Inequality Module Padlet Reflection

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:56:15 UTC

Many women feel the inequities in institutions and often experience a double bind. Due to institutions being slow to change, women seem to struggle more than men. This can be due to harassment, unfair expectations, inability to make accommodations from institutions, and the choice gap. Women are often left to feel the punishment of choosing a career over their child and vice versa, as they oftentimes cannot hold both due to institutional gender inequality. This action is referred to as “opting out” and the struggle women feel is a “double bind” (parenting and working). “The choice gap reflects the extent to which high-achieving women like Regina are caught in a double bind: spiraling parenting. [D]emands on the homefront collide with the increasing pace of work in the gilded cages of elite professions” (The Rhetoric and Reality of “opting out” 14). Due to this issue, women have fearfully spoken out about the responsibility they hold over their children and jobs. They feel that they aren’t motherly enough if they don’t stay home and raise their child, and they don’t feel supported enough to hold a job. Women are expected to be mothers and take care of the child while the father can choose to be a dad, choose work, or both. This leaves high unfair standards and responsibility on women who are made to feel guilty for the “choices” they make.

Though I don’t have a child, I would like to be a mother one day. Apart of my doubts about becoming one is because of the institutions in place. I feel that as I work towards my degree now, it might not be useful for me in the future if I become I mother. Growing up, I’ve seen many shows (fairly recent ones too) where the wife is depicted to be the perfect “stay-at-home mother”. I always wanted this because that’s what I thought was expected of me so I grew accustomed to it. There’s no judgment to those stay-at-home mothers, but I still feel passionate about pursuing a career. I fear criticism from others about which choice I make, and if I make both I’m not paying enough attention to my child or work. A scene that always plays in my head is from Dance Moms between Abby Lee and Holly. Abby always got onto Holly’s case about not being there for every dance practice like the other moms, but Holly has work as she’s a principal at her daughter’s school (and has a doctorate). She always said that she was a bad mother because she was never there for practice, only for the recitals and competitions, and too busy with work. I always felt bad because I feared the same kind of backlash.

Xenophobia and Anti-immigration Politics

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:56:46 UTC

Despite what many Americans believe and preach, immigrants aren’t harmful to us and are actually good for America. Anit-immigration is rooted in racism and job insecurity as many privileged Americans try to justify their hatred as “worry for the country and economy” and being devoted law followers. Statements that immigrants bring crime, are lazy, and use our taxpayer money are just not true. In fact, rising numbers of immigrants in the US have been shown to lower crime rates. Neighborhoods with higher numbers of immigrants see lower crime in their areas (both high and low-income neighborhoods have been considered). New York, which has been known to be home to some of the largest amounts of immigrants, has also seen lower crime rates. A lot of the time, the “crime” immigrants do is being an illegal immigrant and risk deportation. “Immigrants, and Mexicans in particular, selectively migrate to the United States on characteristics that predispose them to low crime, such as motivation to work, ambition, and a desire not to be deported. Immigrants may also come from cultures where violence isn’t rewarded as a strategy for establishing a reputation” (Rethinking Crime and Immigration 30) Economically, immigrants have helped us as they increase revenue. No, they don’t take our jobs. It’s been shown that most of the time the jobs they have are low-wage (unlivable), dangerous, and ones white people usually show zero interest in. It’s also been debunked that immigrants use our tax money to benefit themselves because, in reality, they pay more in taxes and US-born citizens directly benefit from them. Not only that but they have been linked to helping the revitalization of urban cities. So, the beliefs that anti-immigration groups and individuals push out are far from the truth and are often time about privilege and hatred.

This stood out to me because as someone who grew up having many arguments with family members and peers about racism and xenophobia, I never knew exact facts or statistics to explain to them why their actions are wrong and hurtful. Learning the facts about immigration was refreshing and comforting knowing that the small battles I was fighting were for the good. It’s also extremely important for me to be sensitive to immigrants if I want to pursue a career in social work.

Gentrification

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:57:15 UTC

Gentrification is the process in which people, typically white wealthier people, revamp a (poorer) city to capitalize off it, oftentimes displacing its original people. Displacement is due to them not being able to afford their homes anymore. Gentrification encourages rent to rise, material items to become more expensive, etc. A lot of the time, this happens in primarily communities of color. This brings the issue of white rich people continuing to overtake original communities and push them out to poorer areas. Gentrification is based on the idea of capitalism and consumption, which is why it’s been easier for rich people to build in these poorer areas to make maximum profits. A great example of this is the housing difference between baby boomers and millennials. Baby boomers have taken over a big portion of our housing today, bumping up rent and housing prices to detrimental costs, gatekeeping them, and essentially exploiting the millennial generation. “The disparaging view of millennials' failure to "grow up" is resented within the generation, fueling a counter-narrative that emphasizes how baby boomers are responsible for economic reforms that depressed wages, as well as more specific changes in urban planning policy that limited the number of new homes built in urban centers, driving up property values and decreasing affordability” (Millennial YIMBYs and Boomer NIMBY 1). Gentrification has always been in favor of white rich people and has shown its indifferences between communities outside of them.

When reading and learning about gentrification, I kept comparing and thinking about the end of Shameless. Around the end of Shameless, the “Southside” of Chicago began to see major changes to its original very torn, poor, and crime-filled city. Newer people came in, mainly white people, and took over the city and made it “better”. It completely erased the original community and culture there, and most of the original Southsiders had moved because of the high prices and loss of the community.

Labor Under Capitalism

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:57:47 UTC

Labor under capitalism has been controversial as it exploits workers. CEOs and other forms of higher-ups have profited off the backs of workers who can barely afford to live. Unions have formed in order to try and protect these workers by fighting for workers' rights and promising them living wages, safer working conditions, and adequate care outside of work. Many companies and big brands oppose unions because of these areas in which they wouldn't be able to profit as much. Places like Amazon and Walmart have even used techniques in order to scare their workers off from unions, even by not abiding by laws and indirectly firing employees who try to associate with them. Many privileged and higher-ups try to blame workers for their lack of loyalty and work effort, stating that if they simply “worked harder” they would succeed more. This practice is referred to as meritocracy, which suggests that you’re in complete control of your outcome. Many places like Disney also showcase how hurtful capitalism is as “Study finds three-quarters of Disney’s Anaheim resort employees can’t afford basic living expenses.”( Los Angeles Times). So how is it that these companies and CEOs who make 351 times their employees have a “Compensation growth since 1978 increased by 1,322% for CEOs while only 18% for the average worker” (Here’s Why Top CEOs Make 100x Their Workers 5)? They pay their employees unlivable wages and continue to profit off of them, exploiting them and putting them in dangerous situations.

This stood out to me because I found it mind-boggling that people need to work to live, yet they aren’t even being paid a livable wage, and sometimes that’s legal. I feel that we have been failed and used by big companies as they only care about profit. It’s hurtful and depressing that this is what is required of us, and there’s no other way around it. I believe that all places of employment, but especially bigger name companies like the ones mentioned should always have to have a union for it to be even slightly fair for their employees, you know, considering they’re the ones that actually doing the labor.

The Environment and Climate Change

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:58:10 UTC

In a time where we have more unwalkable cities than we should, and high carbon emissions because of our dependency on cars, we are experiencing intense climate change. The result of these fast climate changes has created a climate refugee crisis. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) defines a refugee as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence” (The Migration and Climate Change Nexus 31), leaving out refugees of the climate crisis. These people can be displaced by any sort of result of climate change, including but not limited to drought, pollution, natural disasters, etc. Due to this, people are put in extremely dangerous situations when they cannot seek asylum. Individualistic efforts aren’t enough, as often times when not being told the whole truth, we are actually doing more harm than good. For example, how we recycle is a hard effort. Signs and ways to recycle are confusing and made hard on purpose as genuine recycling is expensive and labor-intensive. Only 10% of recycled items are actually recycled while the other 90% end up in landfills. So, efforts need to be made by bigger people who hold more power, like banning 75% of single housing zones to create more dense housing as it’s beneficial to both the environment and our economy.

Climate change is a fear of mine as I grow older. Not only is it hurting the environment and threatening our safety, but it’s also dividing us and hurting us economically. It’s disappointing that the boomer generation had made it to where they created harmful decisions like prioritizing single-family housing and cars that they know will benefit them in their time, but harm and endanger generations after them. I think of it as they think, “I’m going to be dead, so I can do whatever I want because the consequences won't fall onto me”. Since the pandemic, this idea has become very apparent, especially to Gen Z. They have taken it into their own hands and have tried their best to salvage what we have left, but the damage is detrimental.

Fast Fashion and Beauty

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:58:33 UTC

Fast fashion is characterized by cheap labor that exploits vulnerable people. The Industrial Revolution brought in fast fashion as people began to have less time to make their own clothes and they became cheaper to buy because of the cotton that was being produced by slaves. As time went on, slaves were replaced with textile makers who were exploited and worked in horrible conditions. Not only that, but it has become extremely terrible for the environment due to the materials being made from cheap fabrics that contain and produce harmful chemicals. Fast fashion has also been critiqued as it has produced overconsumption and excess waste. This is how about 85% of clothes end up in landfills. Not only that but when landfills don’t have space, clothes are taken to poorer countries to dump, exposing them to these harmful chemicals as well as permitting this issue onto them.

I found it interesting what kind of battles people fought. People claim to be against fast fashion, so they put out in the media we shouldn’t be buying from places like Shein which they are correct, but then they turn around and buy from huge brands like Target and H&M. This is simply to do with them being uneducated about specifics. Though their heart is in the right place there’s still a lot to learn, to just like for myself.

Healthcare

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 04:59:19 UTC

There has always been a bias in medicine and healthcare. Even unknowingly, practitioners have had a bias for straight, cis-gender, white men. Throughout history, it has been shown in medical books and schools that that’s their patient; when reading, showing graphs, pictures, etc it was a white male figure. Even when talking about female autonomy sometimes, a male patient was observed (earlier times). Suveryers about female autonomy included men, showing a lack of research about female bodies. There have been many misconceptions about black people and their bodies like how they don’t feel some pain or are immune to certain things, leading to higher black mortality rates. “[A] medical textbook image study, conducted in 2019 by Jenna Lester and colleagues, found that while skin of color only appeared in 22%-32% of overall images, that proportion doubled to 47%-58% among images depicting symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” (Race, Erasure, and Skin Cancer Prevention Guidelines 31). There have always been inequities in treatment received as well. Many women and people of color (POC) have shared similar experiences when visiting the doctors and not being taken seriously. Some have even expressed how their white or male partner has to be there in order to be properly assessed. Though very advanced, the healthcare system still has many injustices and flaws.

A couple of years back I remember hearing something similar about how women’s health isn't taken seriously, and when going to the doctors, they never fully listened to them. I looked back on my past experiences and related to this, unfortunately. I remember going in for painful periods, to the point where I would be throwing up, and couldn’t move and it was every period all six days. Whenever I had brought this up my doctors always said that it was normal, and nothing was wrong without even doing tests. I remember the last one that I had in southern California became annoyed and prescribed me birth control which my mother never picked up. Now seeing my younger sister experience the same pain, she’s also experiencing the same issue with her doctors.

Fatphobia

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 05:00:07 UTC

The stigma surrounding fatness has peaked in the latest century. What once was wanted and deemed beautiful and a sign of health and wealth became the opposite during the transatlantic slave trade. During the transatlantic slave trade, white people wanted more ways to distinguish between slaves and non-slaves, as well as ways to point out the “inferior”. White people wanted to be the opposite of black people, so they pointed out key features, one being that a good portion of the slaves were fat. To show their superiority, they deemed fatness inferior and fragile thin bodies superior (How Fatness Became a Cheap Joke and Proxy for Moral Deficiency in Pop Culture 15). Now, people are bullied and harassed for being fat and it’s excused by “worrying for their health”. In reality, fatness has shown greater statistics of being healthy than thin people. Fatness is rooted in antiblackness and an excuse for hatred. People who are fat aren’t lazy, disgusting, etc, and deserve the same respect as others. They should be able to feel confident in themselves without others spreading false information as a way to bully them.

As a fat person myself who has grown up uncomfortable in my body because of it, it was refreshing to understand that scientifically there's really nothing wrong with my body, and social media and Hollywood put pressure on others about things that don’t matter. I’ve always found the way the media stereotypes fat people offensive, yet if I spoke out I was “soft”. Hurtful things like these stereotypes give people the idea to continue hurting these people when stereotyping. Understanding basic facts and history about trending things like this helps us be more mindful about how we treat others.

Transphobia

desireebblanco — 2024-07-22 05:00:31 UTC

Transgender rights have been a popular debate amongst many others, oftentimes with ideas separated by religion and political parties. Misconceptions have been the fuel to the fire of these debates, and understanding facts and statistics is needed when talking about basic human rights. Right-side parties argue that transgender people are hurtful and don’t exist by stating their opinions about bathroom battles, gender-affirming care, and social media pressure to be transgender (on youth). Many say that social media pressures youth to identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, saying that there’s been a huge increase in queer individuals in Gen Z. In reality, there have always been queer people, society has just become more accepting. And, “According to Gallup, estimates on how many Americans are gay or lesbian have never been below 20 percent,” (Changing Social Context and Queer Recruitment Panics 64) and only 6% of them are transgender. Right-side articles have also had a habit of stating such claims yet providing no evidence. Republicans have expressed their “fear” of transgender people taking advantage of women and children in the privacy of public bathrooms, but never gave us proof of this sort of incident ever happening. Yet, it’s a huge part of their argument. Not only does this invalidate trans women’s gender identity, but it also implies that all people who have a penis are sexual predators and that women are weak and need to be protected. Articles also express the worry of detransitioners and how the numbers are “increasing” when again providing no evidence. Only less than 2% of those who have gotten gender-affirming care and surgery regretted it, including both minors and adults. So why is it that we are so obsessed with transgender people when they don’t bring any harm, not even to themselves?

As someone with a trans girlfriend and trans friends, understanding both sides of the “debate” is helpful. To me, it’s only about hate. Though my girlfriend hasn’t transitioned and doesn’t plan on getting gender-affirming care for now, it doesn’t make her any less of a woman. She’s not a predator, she doesn’t force anyone into becoming a part of the LGBTQ+ community, etc. She struggles with hiding herself from the family she cares about, she stresses about hormones and voice therapy, and she deals with being bullied by others. Trans people don’t hurt us, but a lot of people hurt them simply for existing.