final thoughts

Sociology has taught me a lot of things about what goes on around me and how I am influenced by my surroundings.  I have developed some sort of 'sociological imagination' as this class has continued throughout the semester.  I do look at the world around me in a different light and look at people differently now.  I try to see people for who they are and not for what class they are from or what race they are.  I also can tell more obviously how a society influences how a person behaves, thinks and interacts with people.  For example, when I visited my college in Florida, I noticed that the people from there act differently than what I am used to.  The town my school is in much more affluent than Barrington, and the only thing the people there were concerned about was themselves rather than others, while here there is more of a sense of community and helping each other.  I would have liked to have talked a little more about gender issues in our society, because they are very prevalent.  It frustrates me to see how our society, more so the men, still treat women and still act with a slight air of superiority, and that women really have little ways to defend and stand up for themselves.  This class really has taught me to look at society in a different way and to appreciate the people around me more. 

Race

A person’s race can be interpreted in many different ways, both positive and negative.  There is a difference between a sociological definition of race and a biological definition of race. A sociological definition of race has to do with how people and a society perceive a certain race and people of that race, and what traits are associated with that race.  A biological definition of race is what the genetic and biologically derived within the person, or what they were born with, not what they acquired as a result of the society around them.  The IAT helps to show how subconsciously racist we really are. This type of racism isn't necessarily a terrible thing to have, the test just shows how the society we live in and the people around us truly influence our beliefs and how we view other people.  During the test we are not trying to seem racist, we are just clicking buttons, but in reality we are being tested on what type of race we prefer compared to another.  In a society generally dominated by one race, subconsciously we are going to prefer the race we are a part of, only because our society teaches us to be that way.  I do believe that this test is accomplishing measuring what it is attempting to measure because it is testing our subconscious mind and what we automatically prefer. 

            I did believe that African Americans were biologically superior athletes, only because I am an athlete myself and I see first hand how easy sports and certain components of sports come to them.  I still do believe that African Americans have a slight edge in certain sports because they possess certain traits that are a better fit to that kind of sport then other races, but I don't believe them to be completely dominate in sports.  Just because they are African American or possess certain better traits doesn't make them automatically better at sports than another person of a different race.  There are many other aspects to sports that makes a player great, including leadership, determination, hard work and mental ability.

Class

Social class stereotypes and status symbols are everywhere around us, and are something that Americans place a great deal of value into.  We associate people’s property and how they look directly to what social class they should or do belong to.  It can be easy to obtain these things that seem to elevate your social class, but in reality, being a part of a class is a lot more than just having certain things.  As seen in the movie in class, some people try to fake being in a higher social class than they are, or are trying to move up a class but simply do not have the means of doing so.  There are many social cues and underlying cultural differences that each class contain, and it may take a person a very long time to figure all of these out and learn to use them properly.  People of lower class status tend to be more family oriented and able to maintain close relationships, while people of higher class tend to be more independent and distant from people so they can form and break relationships easier in order to keep and attain the level of success they desire.  Social class is not something most people like to discuss or like to classify themselves by, but it is very prevelent in our society today.