Social Status

In class we learned that just because you have a respectable job doesn't mean you are the most financially stable. We set up a real life example by dividing the room into sections and creating social classes. I was in the second highest class, but I couldnt help thinking why wasn't I placed at the top? Certain people who I thought were better than me in a lot of ways were placed lower than I was. Sometimes there are things in life that are out of your control. For example the single mother who works 3 jobs and struggles to put food on the table for her children and attend classes at the same time works a heck of a lot harder than my father who owns his own company and gets to stroll into work at 9am. Certain things determine the prestige of your job. Education, how much you are required to think, and sometimes even how dangerous of a job it is. My dad was a fireman for twelve years and now he is a doctor and makes a good living to support his family. Both of these jobs are looked at as superior than most others. This article discusses how the poor do our "dirty work" and that they aren't getting credit for it. Sometimes poverty is unavoidable like the video we watched on Appalachia. The one boy worked so hard to not associate himself with his "hick" family that he even moved out and lived in his car. Once he got a football scholarship he didn't last long before he dropped out because he couldn't keep up with the academics. This is an example of how sometimes things are out of your control and you can only strive to be the best that you can be.

Freeze Tag

This weeks article is called Sexuality and Gender in Children's Daily Worlds by Barrie Thorne Zella Luria. From an early age children separate into same-sex gender groups. Boys typically play in larger groups and prefer playing outside. Girls on the other hand tend to stick in pairs and get to know one another on a more personal basis. Girls are constantly throwing around the word, "best friends." Young girls are quite selective when it comes to who they play with. After all you want someone who will keep your secrets. Boys could care less about secrets; They are occupied picking teams for whatever game they decide to play that day. Something that we discussed in class is that boys will pick teams based on who is the best, because to most boys winning is everything. Girls on the other hand will pick teams based on who they are best friends with, even if your best friend lacks skill in that area. This article also talks about "cross-chasing," otherwise known as "Boys chase girls" or "Freeze tag." Automatically when children play tag the teams are based on gender.

I can relate this article to my life because I remember those elementary school days where I would watch the girls perform cheerleading routines very close to the football game that the boys were playing. I knew all along all the girls wanted was attention, after all who doesn't at that age?

We Know Who We Are

This first article is titled On Becoming Male: Reflectinos of a Sociologist on Childhood and Early Socialization by James M. Henslin After reading this article numerous memories came to mind from my childhood that I could easily relate to. I remember sitting on the swings and hoping that I could go and play kickball with the boys. I knew that if I was to walk over and ask to play they would all stare at me with mouths wide open. Playing sports on the playground wasn't something girls did, well not unless you count jump rope-lame I know. This article discusses how parents obsess over our sex and force upon us things that are associated with being a boy or a girl. Blue balloons outside the house for a newborn boy and Pink of course for a girl. Early on we were told how to act and that is what influences us into becoming masculine or feminine. Boys were told to be rough and tough with their toys where as girls would sit inside and brush their dolls hair. Girls should be dainty and strive to be pretty. Boys would be allowed more privileges and they would thank god they weren't born a girl.

All of the things in this article are very stereotypical although I can't say that there not true. In a way it does seem like boys have it easier. There is always the double standard, especially staying out late. I know that my brother would come home late into the night and my parents wouldn't say a word, but then when I ask to go out with a boy they would say, "no."

The other article is called On Becoming Female: Lessons Learned in School by Donna Eder.

"Girls are sent a strong message that what they do and who they are is less important then how they look." This article talks about a particular middle school where the popular girls are typically cheerleaders. To be honest I'm not surprised because when I was in middle school it was the same. Reading some of these conversations between the girls aren't foreign to me. They sound like typical conversations. Theres something about putting down someone else that makes you feel better. We all do it, maybe not face to face, but we most certainly talk behind other peoples backs. Its sad to think that us girls can't be proud of who we are and that we are constantly trying to change, but for what? Is it the attention from boys that we want? Or do we want other girls to become jealous of us? I believe it is a little bit of both. Girls are sent such strong messages through the media to look a certain way. Many of these images that we see are edited. Nobody is perfect, yet we strive to be just that.

Extreme Isolation by Kingsley Davis

     Throughout this week we have been talking about feral children. The term feral children is when children are considered "wild" because they receive limited interactionism with humans. Some of these "wild" children are found in the wild others are locked up in a room where they experience extreme isolation for a long period of time. The most famous case in history is the story of feral child Genie. Genie was locked up in a room with only a crib at a child potty for 13 years. Scientists believe she was routinely beaten as well as harassed. Genie was discovered around the age of 12 or thirteen years old when discovered and was immediately taken to a children's hospital, little did she know that she would be studied for years to come.

     As far as the article Extreme Isolation two young girls around the age of six had been isolated from all interactionism. The question that this article poses is whether or not Anna for example could not make further progress because of genetics (her mother had a low IQ) or because of past circumstances such as being neglected as a child. This idea is known as nature vs nurture. Nature being did you inherit the trait vs nurture where you learned to act that way from the environment in which you grew up in. A second child is discussed in this article. Her name was Isabelle and she was said to have been born one month after Anna. Similarly to Anna, Isabelle was an illegitimate child and was set apart from the rest of her family in an enclosed room with her deaf and mute mother. Isabelle was discovered around the age of 6 and was quickly taken into rehabilitation.

     In the end both girls needed both medical attention and interaction with others. The message that this article is trying to convey is that children need love, care, and affection from an early age and without that they will not develop "normally." Because Isabelle was discovered at a younger age she was able to soon act about her age and perform daily tasks. She not only learned to speak, but she was able to run and sing. Perhaps because Isabelle was discovered at an early age she was able to make up for loss time when she was neglected. On the other hand Genie was isolated for much longer therefore not being able to progress after a certain point.

Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamo- Values and Norms

This post relates to the values and norms of the Yanomamo. In class we talked about different values and norms. The term values is the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly. Next, the term norms is the expectations, or rules of behavior, that reflect and enforce values. Some of the cultural norms within the Yanomamo include the people being fierce. The members of the Yanomamo are fierce and expect others to look at them as fierce. Aggression is another important norm that all Yanomamo members possess. If they show aggression towards one another then in turn will have power. Wife beating, chest pounding, and organized attacks on other villages are some of the ways of life. They are taught early on not to trust anyone. In the United States we were taught from an early age to treat others the way you would like to be treated. We both hold different values for what may or may not be desirable. Yanamamo people are also extremely loud and threatening when talking to one and other. They may say things such as, "Share your food with me!" "Loan me your flashlight so I can go hunting tonight!" Giving into a demand was looked at as weak. A person was to stand up for themselves. Chagnon soon had to adjust his norms-behavior in order to get a long with the Indians.

This relates to my life because if a member of the Yanamamo was to stay in my home I'm sure that some of the daily routines with my family would shock them just the same. The amount of time and money Americans spend "beautifying" themselves would be looked at as the biggest waste of time to them. Just because they may do things differently doesn't mean our way of life is wrong. Both cultures can co-exist.
  This photo is of a naked woman from the Yanomamo. 






To their tribe they look at her as being clothed where as to Americans we would say things such as "ew" or "why 






isn't she wearing any clothes?" 

Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamo

Summary: This article is about an Anthropologist who graduated from the University of Michigan. This intelligent individual is looking to study the fieldwork among the Yanomamo Indians. This particular tribe live in Southern Venezuela. They live in areas that have not yet been contacted by other human life. The people among the tribe have very different values than that of people from the United States. First of all according to Chagnon the tribe members among the Yanomamo are disgustingly dirty. "I looked up and gasped when I saw a dozen burly, naked, filthy, hideous men staring at us down the shafts of their drawn arrows!" He also stated that chunks of green tobacco was stuck in between their teeth and lips. Green slime also hung from their noses. Reading this I was appauled! How could anyone bare the feeling of being dirty to that extreme. As I continued reading I realized that the people among the Yanomamo have different cultural norms that set them apart from other groups. By not bathing regularly they are able to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time.

Relation to Sociology: This relates to Sociology because in class we learned what it means to be ethnocentric. To be ethnocentric means to view your lifestyle as better than others. Anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon thought that the Yanomamo did not meet his standards of living therefore making his lifestyle appear to be superior. Chagnon also viewed society in the United States as better because of the way we eat, where as the people there steal eachother's food and constantly beg for me. In a way we are similar to the Yanomamo because when we prepare meals we do so for an entire group of people living in our home.

Relation to My Life: I can see why Chagnon might be so quick to judge the Yanomamo. If I was to take the trip myself the first thing I would notice was the way the people lived. I would most definitely notice the lack of structure. Not only are the people filthy (in my eyes), but where is the meaning of life among these people. There is no schooling that is mentioned and without education a society or group tends to fall apart. Overall I enjoyed the article and thought it was good for me to read about other cultures norms and values compared to that of my own.

   A different cultural norm. The members of the Yanomamo wear little to no clothing!!

Are Dialects Fading?

Summary:      This article talks about two different topics. The first being that dialect differences will never disappear. The article used the example that teenagers purposely set themselves apart from their parents by speaking in a different way. For example when texting we tend to come up with slang or abbreviations such as: ttyl- talk to you later, lame-sauce- something that is super uncool or not pleasing. Teenagers almost create their own dialect to intentionally set themselves apart from adults.
                      The second part of the article discusses how there are different dialects all over the world. A professor from California referred to her dialect as "Valley Girl," because she grew up in Southern California. The mentioned professor also admitted to speaking with an "uptalk." Uptalk is the use of rising information for sentences that are not questions. For example simply saying "Ms. Castelli?" That is not a formal question. What does formal really mean? Is there a right way or a wrong way to talk? Not necessarily. After watching the videos in class and participating in the class discussions, I came to realize that people are going to naturally pick up on a different dialects that you may or may not be used to.


Relation to Sociology: This relates to Sociology because often times groups of people work together. If you were to apply for a job and you were able to put down on your application that you speak three languages this puts you ahead of someone who can only speak one because you are now able to communicate with more people.


Relation to My Life: I feel as if language is a big part of my life because not only does it help me communicate with my peers, but it allows all people to carry a little bit of heritage with them. Unfortunately after the second generation families typically lose that language. It's interesting to be able to meet different types of people from different cultures and compare them to your own.

   - HELLO IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES!!