Strain Theory- Blog 4

Societies are characterized by both culture and social structure. The strain theory states that structures in our society can push people to commit crimes. We all have the same goals its how we go about achieving that goal that differs. What makes Merton’s deviance typology interesting is that everyone falls somewhere of his types regardless of your situation and anyone can easily become a deviant and turn to deviance in the pursuit of accepted social goals and values.  The achievement of economic success in the U.S. is a great example that explains the structural strain theory. In Merton’s Innovation theory the innovators are the people who sell illegal drugs have rejected the accepted norms for making money and are deviant in the way they get it. They reject the traditional and/or legitimate means of attaining their goals. Though illegal by selling drugs they still share the same cultural accepted value of making money. Resulting in deviance being accepted as norms sometimes. Money can be the enemy and lead to evil; people are sometimes willing to do anything for it.

Fashion- Blog 3

Fashion is something we deal with on a daily basis. Even those who say they don’t care about fashion and can careless about it still have to get dressed every morning and pick out clothes. Based on what they decide to wear that day says a lot about that person and many assumptions can be made. We express ourselves through our “fashion” and with our fashion also the norms are expressed. Clothes separate groups of people, in high school some go by “goth, preppy, skaters, etc.” Fashion is a language that tells a story about the person who wears it. There are many reasons why we dress the way we do can be for protection of the weather, emotions, express our religious beliefs, etc. We are a part of our society and those around us by what we wear, what one person wears in NY can differ from what someone would wear in Kansas. One thing that will never change is we are constantly being bombarded by the latest trends that are out and if you try to keep up it can get expensive. What’s in today can be out tomorrow fashion is constantly changing. Instead of trying to keep up always we all just need to remember who we are and stay true to ourselves regardless of the latest trend that’s out not all trends are appropriate for everyone. What’s more important than fashion and our appearance is who you are as a person and your actions and that’s how people will remember you.

Gilman and Gender inequalities. Blog # 5

Gilman was a pioneer in the field of speaking on gender inequalities especially for those of women.  Considered a humanist, Gilman brought about the argument that the role of women in society was archaic and dated.  No longer in a prehistoric setting, Gilman argued that gender changes were necessary for women to become autonomous.

In the video we saw in class about women’s roles in society, I found it ironic that women are completely divided when it comes to what kind of agenda they wish to push.  For instance, some feminists push for independent work and equal treatment of men, but in the video, we clearly see that the goal of some working women are to live a lavish life in which they don’t have to work.  This paradox of wanting autonomy but at the same time yielding it creates an issue with gender inequality because of its split agendas.

I feel in order to complete their individual agendas, there should be two parties of feminists that fight for different reasons.  If one party represented the upper class feminists and one party represented new wave feminists, both parties could benefit from a united in their efforts to fight for their agendas.

 

House of Sand and Fog Blog # 4

In the move House of Sand and Fog, Former General Behrani played a two faced coin in society.  
According to Weber’s sociological context of class, class is determined but society and culturally observed factors that an individual presents to society.  Mr.  Behrani was of a high class because of his prestigious role as a former general, but in the movie it shows that class is temporary and varies from society to society.  

For instance in a place like America where military positions hold no significant context compared to Iran, General Behrani is forced to accept his status change and accept work where he can find it.  While holding a low status in general society however, when General Behrani meets with his daughter’s husband his status is once again elevated because of a cultured circle that accepts Behrani’s status from Iran.  

Weber would not acknowledge General Behrani’s class to be high in American society, but according I believe that General Behrani’s status fluctuates depending on who he interacts with.  His status changes based on how people perceive of him depending on if they’re familiar with Iranian history or if they’re American citizens.  

Blog #3- Fashion & Stigmas

Fashion is a timeless industry that has been shaping the minds of many since the beginning of time. With the help of social media, fashion tells us how our bodies should be shaped, the clothes we need to wear, even what our physical features should be to be considered “perfect”. No one can attain this status naturally, so people are always being judged and judge others constantly. Many people have turned to cosmetic surgery all around the world to change the way you look, especially in asian countries.

One country in particular that I have first hand witnessed fashion and the stigma that comes from it is in the Philippines. Many people believe that the whiter you are the prettier you are. Thus many people spend money on cosmetics that will help lighten your skin, or they try their hardest to stay out of the sun and in the shade. The stigma with this is that those who are paler have more money and wealth because they do not have to be outside in the sun for work. While the darkest of people are looked down upon and characterized as poor because they spend their whole day outside in the sun, which means they are doing hard labor. Also in all Filipino shows the actors and actress are all white. When I had to go on a television show in the Philippines the makeup artist used her makeup to make me 3 shades lighter than I really am. When I complained about it, she said I look better this way and the audience will find me prettier.

Its very interesting to see two sides of a spectrum when it comes to complexion and what people find beautiful. Here in America we are always trying to get tan, while in other parts of the world they are trying to be pale.

Blog #5: South Korea / Fashion

Fashion is a multi billion dollar industry and many people take it very seriously. I think it’s important to look nice and always put your best foot forward, however it seems that it has been taken to extremes recently. Models are forced to be stick thin, and then their photographs are airbrushed to make them appear even thinner. What does this do to society? It gives us unrealistic goals, promotes unhealthy lifestyles, and sends our youth the wrong message.

The video on South Korea left me stunned. South Korea has the highest rate of cosmetic surgery than any where else in the world. 1 in 5 people surgically enhances their looks in South Korea. The most popular surgery is eyelid surgery, which makes their eyes wider. People also have their jawbones shaved for a more Western look.

Everyone should embrace their differences, because that is what makes people beautiful. To go under the knife and spend thousands of dollars is scary and unnecessary. People think they are bettering themselves through plastic surgery however I think these people lose their sense of self through the process.

Blog #4: Gender Inequality

Gender inequality has been a heated topic for a long time. Wage discrimination is when workers with the same qualifications perform the same but are compensated differently. It is unfortunate that wage discrimination is largely in favor of men over women. According to Fortune Magazine, women hold approximately 5% of the Fortune 500 CEO positions. This statistic is insane and depressing. History is chock-full of strong women, such as Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria, and Joan of Arc, just to name a few. So to think these Fortune 500 companies have 95% male CEO’s is absolutely ludicrous.

Women have come very far over the past 100 years. We gained the right to vote in 1920, but there is still a glass ceiling. Women are just as skilled as men, so to think there is such a disparity in the work place is very disheartening. There is work discrimination in many fields of works. Studies show that women make approximately $17,000 a year less than men in the medical field.

These aforementioned statistics are very sad. Although we’ve come a long way, there is still so much further we need to go.   

 

Seventh Ward to Section 8( Du Bois): Blog 5

No one questions this satire (second video) or even catches the video as a satire, mostly because people associate black people with welfare and laziness till this day. These associations can stem from Durkheim’s ideas about symbolism or symbols. Many people may view a black female with the idea of the “Welfare Queen”. This intersects with the color-line, because it is known that after slavery and colonialism, people associated white with good and black with bad. If such symbols in terms of race were worshipped and stigmatized for so long, it is as if people have only ritualized them throughout their lives subliminally. For every time one sees such colorism and racism in his or her daily institution, or sees internalized attitudes of stigmata or scorn towards darker skinned person, the racist associations are even more becoming. Today many Americans deem that the use of welfare by blacks is their fault. They never think of the Tusla Oklahoma riot or other reasons behind the poverty and unemployment of African Americans. Nobody would deem that the slums or section 8 areas as shock worthy or even a problem, because for so long black people were a symbol of problems. Du Bois was a genius of his time, he used data analysis and qualitative measures to get at the heart of the “Negro Problem”, he was able to find racism, another form of oppression as the source. He mentioned that blacks were no different from once French Peasantry, probably alluding to the fact that oppression and pain projected onto one group was for the benefit of another. This pain was racism this time, not sexism or other tribal pains. We can measure the black slums by comparing them to richest the whites, and conclude that this projection of racism was arbitrary. Maybe the once Bauer and the peasants became magnificent. If sexism dissipated in the past allowing the woman to work and give American 11 trillion dollars in commerce, can one imagine the riches and the glory, as well as the solution to the Negro Problem …if Black Wall Street expanded? We can leave that to imagination, for people will deny any racism and imagine that it was other reasons that made black poor, or that even the Black “mini” Holocaust never existed. It “may” be evident that slavery or race tribalism created awful symbols of blacks, so awful that many remained arbitrarily racist. Whether it was the greedy institution or the individual, none aided the Negro in doing his or her best. “when one group of people suffer these little differences of treatment and discriminations and insults continually, the result is either discouragement, or bitterness, or over-sensitiveness, or recklessness. And a people feeling they cannot do their best” (343, Du Bois) such racism not only prevented blacks from doing their best, but isn’t obvious, if one was to be discriminated against before even work or even hated while working, wouldn’t that one end up in welfare. Many White Americans of today shake their head at welfare usage of blacks not knowing that it was that very discriminating stigma and racist view that led to the Negro problem in the first place. There are reasons why this holocaust had to kept secret, how silly and inconvenient would it be to lose so much money over racism? Maybe some said, “let them die” so that they can keep their riches, or gain cheap labor. Many black men born from single homes and welfare homes go to the Prison system later on in life. Maybe if we realize that there were real reasons by any Negro problem, we as a country could make billions upon billions of dollars, especially since the Negro is here to stay.

Blog# 4 Simmel

Fashion is something we see everyday. Where we see different trends, and styles some people tend to express themselves threw fashion. What I find extremely interesting about fashion is the constant change within the fashion industry. Even though some people may say they do not care for fashion what they wear may say a lot about how they feel or who they are. We often see how trends are constantly being advertised with new fashion ideas from magazine, television, music, videos, and cosmetic surgery. Whether it is someone’s new hair color or new shoes we are incorporating fashion. Simmel also argued that “From the fact that fashion as such can never be generally in vogue, the individual derives the satisfaction of knowing that as adopted by him it still represents something special and striking, while at the same time he feels inwardly supported by a set of persons who are…actually doing the same thing.” This is true sometimes we hear others say “I have my own style” but usually  they have seen it somewhere  and copied it and have embraced it to express themselves. After Watching the video about South Korea and how the young girls keep up with fashion and style I was in shock. The way these young girls undergo cosmetic surgery as if it is a normal visit to the dentist. I found this article called “How South Korean Plastic Surgeons Make Passport Photos Worthless” it mentions that the South Korean plastic surgeons are highly skilled at their jobs. Because the “people in neighboring countries like China or Japan visit South Korea to have work done. But when they’re ready to go home, they might face a problem: due to their passport pics.” This form of plastic surgery creates a problem for immigration officials.

http://kotaku.com/how-south-korean-plastic-surgeons-make-passport-photos-1563323919