Sumblog #13

Immanuel Wallerstein was a social therist liked to base the world off of and economic status. He wanted to help explain how history has changed. Modernization is on the rise in his opinion. He would categorize them into groups. The core-periphery, periphery and semi periphery. The core periphery was the dominant one and was known to be about the wealthier countries. These countries did well economically and were able to communicate well with other countries. The periphery was known to be in the middle, meaning that they lacked a little bit when it comes to economics. The last is the semi periphery this is a little bit of both. It has a little bit of core and the periphery.

I believe that this world is all about what class  you are in and this is just showing that we seperate the countries into different social classes even between different countries.

I posted a pyramid of the groups it is the same one that we have seen in class but I believe that it is a great reference to fall back on in this situation.

 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.irows.ucr.edu/cd/courses/10/socchange_files/image004.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.irows.ucr.edu/cd/courses/10/socchange.htm&h=432&w=576&sz=28&tbnid=-hbnfcCnqJF0XM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=147&zoom=1&usg=__sHmE5iHQzHBHWnc8Evmb5HRQDOw=&docid=DQLfnPbVy-LuqM&sa=X&ei=4IKnUpT6AYaKqAGa0oDwBw&ved=0CEoQ9QEwBA

Sumblog #11

Dorothy Smith was the person who talked about the standpoint theory. The standpoint theory was ne o the main theses that we talked about in Theories class this week. Standpoint theories tend to help people understand places, ideas, and other concepts of places or things they don’t know much about. They are seeing it in an outsider’s perspective. To help me understand this I always think about someone in a relationship.  While someone is in a relationship they will always have those people who like to voice their opinions about it. People will always have their parents, siblings, friends etc. in your face about their opinions. They will constantly be saying stuff like, he doesn’t treat you right, he doesn’t make enough money, he isn’t right for you. But who are they to say those type of things. They don’t know what happens 24 hours of the day or how you feel about that person. I believe this is why people do not understand why people get back together with someone who cheated on them. Everyone on the outside is going to think that you are insane and once a cheater is always a cheater. But the outsider has no right to say anything. It is there life and they can do what they want. The outsider doesn’t know how good that person could have made them feel. And maybe getting back with that person was the best decision they’ve ever made. I feel like people are so bored that they feel the need to get in your business and voice their opinions for no reason. We can also see this when it comes to gender and race. People are constantly having stereotypes against genders and races/cultures. I feel as if we cannot judge someone completely until we have been in that persons shoes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDDWvj_q-o8

Sorry about the depressing video but I thought it was interesting to see the different types of situations people are in. And from the outside you can’t tell that they are going through a hard time.

Sumblog #10

In class we talked about the theories Peter Berger. Peter Berger was known for the Society as a Human Product. He believes that everything that happens is because of humans. Every idea, society’s and cultures were created because on humans. He tried to explain this through four components. Those four components were Social construction of Reality, Externalization, Habitualization, and Institutionalization. Social construction of Reality is explained to be that we create our own reality. We decide how we want to live and how the outcomes of our lives will be. Externalization is when you interact with other individuals. Humans create their own social interactions with other people. They choose how to speak and act. Habitualization is pretty much a longer word for habits. Everyone has their own habits in one way or another. When you are born you slowly become more independent and begin to grow your own habits. Having a habit about something doesn’t mean that it is always right. We just feel as if they are because we are used to doing it. Institutionalization can be explained about being a part of something and committing to something. For example you can be a part of social club which you can be institution into that pacific thing. This seems to be legit in my eyes. I believe that everyone has the chance to improve themselves. I also believe that everyone has a filter to make them better. What you do in your life if your choice and yes there will be some bumps in the road but you need to stand up tall and appreciate what you have in life. And if there is something you do not like about it you have the power to change it. Society should not choice how you act and treat people. It’s your life and your decisions being made.

I thought it would be interesting to posted quotes about how you can be yourself no matter what.

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/being-yourself

Sumblog #9

The last theory classes have been the most interesting for me. I say things because I thought it was interesting that we talk about power of audience. It was funny to be that Violince guy played in a subway and went unnoticed for a very long time. Even though he performs his own shows that tickets are often sold for 200 dollars.

I also was interesting that we brought up the fact that all most everything is a stage. Everyday people are preforming in some sort. The way people interact with some people can be a way of getting there approval. I remember when I was growing up my grandpa was a very intimating man. I would go in their how with the impression that I need to perform an act that he would approve up. If my grandfather knew that I drank before 21 years old he would not see me as the person I acted like toward me. He saw me as a classy young lady who only focused on school work and sports. When in reality that was not all that I focused on when I was in high school, But something’s were left unsaid from him. We were also told that we needed to dress nice when we went over there and I always got confused because why would I dress up to go sit and talk. He shouldn’t care what we looked like, he should care that we even came in the first place. We obviously live in different generations but I still found it silly.

I am sure that a ton of people have posted from the movie “Mean Girls” but I thought that the charractor of Regina George worked perfect for this. She puts on a performance daily and at the end of the movie we get to see the real her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1lZKwggG0c

Sumblog #8 "I" "Me" "Self"

In this week’s classes we discussed George Herbert Mead’s concepts of “I” and “Me” while also discussing “Self.”  The concept “Me” can be seen of how someone wants someone to see them and “I” is how the person really acts. I liked how we use the liar liar video to explain it better. Jim Carry was showing his real “I” toward his boss because he could tell a lie. When in reality he would have put on his “Me” personality to filter what he was actually thinking about saying. There are a million situations that people use “Me” instead of “I” and I liked how we compared it to Facebook. I feel as if Facebook it a place where people can us “I” more often. For example, people on Facebook aren’t afraid to start fights or call someone pretty or ugly. In real life people usually aren’t that confident. There also can be the duality of the self; this was seen with the Stanford Prison Experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment was a group of college student who were put into a prison setting and were forced to act like they actually committed a crime. Well by the end the students began to change into thinking they are actually apart of the prison. It is crazy to think that this can happen to anyone. Some people can change because of their job; they seem to start thinking that it is the most important thing and start to lose their sense of self.  Finding one’s self can be challenging to many people because they can feel lose and feel as if they don’t mean anything to anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNC9cc5ZsyU

I posted a video about how people see themselves and how they think others view them. It explains some concepts of self and how people have different a “self.”

Sumblog #7 Julia Cooper

A great leader named, Julia Cooper was an African-American woman who that racism was societies fault and not the fault of the individual.  She would explain this through different theories of power. One theory is the power of pluralism. This is meant to be in a positive way. It helps celebrate diversity but it can sometimes be seen in bad ways. It seems that people want everyone to become more Americanized which can be known as the “melting pot” which is the blending of all nations into one society. But a better way to explain this can be the “fruit salad” this way everyone can be in the same society but can portray their own individuality. Another power is assimilation, and this is when things only go one way. For example Americans often expect cultures to change in their direction, by changing languages and practices. The other power is segregation; this can often be seen as either informally or formally. Formal segregation is when people are not allowed into buildings because of who they are. This works at schools as well. The informal segregation can be where different minorities gather together and group together. Like in a lunch room at a school they will all sit together. The last power is genocide; this is the worst of them all. This involves killing of people who belong to a racial cultural or political group.

The video I found was about genocide. This was extremely eye opening and brings out the facts behind it all. Sorry about the graphics but I thought it was necessary to have people see what would go on in different countries? This also shows that this can happen in any country and culture. It is also crazy how this can still be happening in today’s society. You would think people would have been disgusted by how things used to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SI8RF6wDE

Sumblog 6 The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is one to try and figure out the roles between men and women. She would express that men were the independent of the two because they would never need to rely on the women. They were able to provide for themselves with no help, especially not from a woman.  She would say that the women are supposed to be supported by the man never the other way around. With that being said women would be known as the dependent person because they would rely on someone else. Housewives would be an example of this, Gilman would say since the men are supply the money and working all day that the wives should do the housework like cooking and cleaning.

There also is interdepended which is where people would rely on each other, For example using two incomes. This is seen more and more common in today’s society. Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper. This was a collection of journal entries that were written by woman who lived her life according to how husband wanted her to. This woman was confined to the upstairs bedroom; she was not allowed to work and was forbidden from her journal. She becomes depressed and begins to have an obsession with the pattern and color of the wallpaper in her room. She begins to also see thing like a woman who lives in the wallpaper and realizes that it is her that is living in it. This story was a great example of who woman were sometimes treated back in the day. From reading that story I was defiantly surprised because of how things have changed in my day and age.

I posted a video of the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” I thought it was interesting being able to watch the story instead of just reading it. I feel it brought out a lot of emotions!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1eXAle7mgk