Week 1: Introduction to Sociology

5/30/2012

Photo by Steve McCurry (2011)

During the introductory week of this course, we discussed C. Wright Mills' concept of sociological imagination, as well as our basic understanding of what sociology is. Deriving from your personal understanding of our discourse in class this week and your own knowledge on the topic, please explain how you personally believe both sociological imagination and sociology (in general) are manifested or relevant to your own personal life. Please provide an example (or more, if necessary) to make your point(s) clear.

Your response should be posted below via the "Add Comment" link below. Please also make sure to include your name and email address as prompted (Note: your email address will not be published online). Each student is expected to "reply" to at least two comments posted by his/her peers by the following Sunday (June 10, 2012).

This blog assignment is due: Monday, June 4, 2012, 12:30 p.m., EST

55 Comments

Yana Vierboom

5/31/2012 11:58:35 pm

I grew up with my grandparents, so I spent a lot of my childhood frustrated with them for "not getting it" (and them frustrated with me "for being stubborn"). There used to be a lot of things they did and believed that I didn't understand (why were they so into saving food? why did everything have to be so neat all the time? did they really think that skirt was too short?).

As I grew older and learned more about their past (growing up during and fighting in WWII, living with strict parents, not always having everything I'd been privileged to have), I learned to better understand the sociological pressures/influences/norms that had shaped them. Putting myself "in their shoes" (to the extent that that is possible) has allowed me to "see where they're coming from" (please excuse all the cliches!)--I now know why my grandfather saves every plastic bag he comes into contact with and why my grandmother doesn't think a woman should leave the house without makeup on. Using sociological imagination has been incredibly useful for building and maintaining a healthy relationship with them.

mariama sandy

6/10/2012 09:32:20 am

I totally understand where you're coming from cause I was raised to believe the same about gender roles and differences. And sociology encourages us to have an enlightened mind. And because we live in a modern world and times have changed, I believe people or our cultural people should think differently and stop trying to put women in boxes and limitations. Women have so many roles these days and it shouldn't only be in the kitchen or to take care of the home....no. we become presidents, ministers, carpenters, it specialist and so on.

Chim Mtika

6/1/2012 01:13:12 pm

When i was a little girl, i used to know that a family should have more than 5 siblings. i grew up in a family of 8 and i am the sixth born child. The first five are boys. Well, u can imagine. Anyway, being the first girl, i have to take care of all my older brothers in terms of cooking and cleaning. Yes! it was like hell. my mother used to tell me that a woman is responsible to take care of the family.

In socialogical immagination, it is well understandable to me now that during those accient times, women had less opportunity to be educated as to men. Men were the providers and women were house wives. From my experience as i grew up and travelled in different countries, i have come across different cultures. Also, being in the United states have tought me alot. One of the things that i have learned is that having a family does not need to have several siblings. One can have a dog and say i have a family while from where i come from, thats an insault. A dog belongs out side not in the house.

Also due to socialogy, people from different countries coming to visit my beautiful home country, my people are trying to understand so many different life style, Like not having so many children, women should also go school and become the providers, men can also take care of their wifes and children.

Thomas Smith

6/9/2012 11:44:37 pm

I wasn't completely raised by my grandparents but they defintely played a big role in my up bringing. I understand the confliction with trying to make them understand different viewpoints about how todays society works and they would just shake thier heads at me. I always thought that they MUST be crazy for seeing so many things through out thier lives. Just from a sociological persepctive, they have seen so many cahnges through out thier lives from the 1930's to present day. Once I actually thought about what they have been though (Depression, segregation, Pearl Harbor, DC riots, Presidential assasinations, WWII, etc.) I just respect them for what they have made it through.

dagim

6/10/2012 10:23:58 pm

sociological immagination is a wider concept and should be understood
from multiculetural veiw. for me having many childrens for a particular socity is one way of reflecting its Coulter even for some society it taken as wealth or as assets

oumou diallo

6/2/2012 04:05:57 am

As grewing up in my country only few girls were allowed to go to school because people were thinking that a women who are educated cannot respect her husband. In my dad family side for example, my grand-mother have suggested to all her children to not put their children in school because women must be housewives to have babies, take care of her husband and cook. I was lucky that my mother sent me to school because she would not wanted me to be on men mercy. She wanted an independant daughter who could make her own decision. Studying Socialogy Imagination, it is well acceptable for me now because my grand-parents didnt know the importance of school and that at this time people do not only sleep and eat they have their ambitions. However, i respect their decisions everyone should go to school to have a better life.

Yodit

6/16/2012 01:02:04 pm

you are right,long time ago, in many countries, particularly, in developing countries, girls never had to go to school. They were not allowed to get education. We are lacky that we are benefited from school.

Yodit Emiru

6/2/2012 01:28:41 pm

Wright Mills notes that sociological imagination is an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past. Therefore, sociological imagination helps people to differentiate, for example individual’s and public’s problems. As my understanding sociological imagination is a consciousness of relation, for instance, a student failed the exam because he didn’t study well (this is an individual case), whereas all students failed the exam because the exam was very hard (this is public issue). When I come to my own life, in our culture men usually do not work at home since earliest generation. This culture influences women because married women are responsible for all of housework. I am also responsible for all of housework as a wife and mother.

Keeley Mahoney

6/3/2012 02:33:27 am

Sociological imagination and sociology in general are very relevant to my own life. Mainly in the form of relationships. My ex-boyfriend, Hayes, had only ever had one relationship before me and that wasn't a very good or healthy one. His ex had made it all about herself and never catered to him, just kinda used him and then left him. So when Hayes and I started dating he wasn't used to having a partner who made it about not only herself but himself as well. There would be times when he would say or do something that was very brash or hurtful but he didn't realize it. Whenever that happened I put myself in his shoes to try and see where he was coming from (based on his experiences and inexperience) before approaching him and talking to him about what he did and how they came across and how it made me feel. Sometimes it surprised him on how it had come across and you could tell he hadn't even thought of it that way. He was always very apologetic and worked hard on not doing it again. I knew he never meant for those things to hurt me or to come across so negatively based on what he had told me from his past relationship and his personality in general (favored logic over emotion and didn't deal with emotions very well because he felt helpless). If I hadn't used sociological imagination things would have turned out worse.

But it's not just with romantic relationships that I use sociological imagination, it's also with friendships and working relationships. In the Air Force there are so many people from all different parts of the country all having to work together. I feel that you have to try and see where everyone is coming from to understand why they may be struggling with something or have a particular way of doing a task or solving a problem. Not only that, but in order to work more efficiently and just generally get along you should take into account what they were taught and what is considered normal for them. One of my best friends from the Air Force is from Alabama- born and raised. We have different religions, different ways of doing things,and slightly different outlooks, but we work together very well and are open-minded and can have a discussion about ANYTHING and not try to force the other one to change their opinion, but still see the other person's point-of-view.

Desiree Rodriguez

6/3/2012 02:39:01 am

I believe sociological imagination or society in general influence the racism that is still alive today. Not just the typical black and white racism but a lot of the difficulties people face today can be manifested into racism because of social class/stereotypes society creates. It greatly impacts how we react to certain classes of people , whether it's due to the color of their skin or the social class they fall under. Take for example the first assignment we all did in class Wednesday night. We were all asked to write down, in any order, 2 truths and a lie about ourselves and asked to guess anonymously which one was the lie. Once we 'saw' who each belonged to, a lot of what we initially assumed was the lie then changed up depending on who we now knew it belonged to.

erik

6/5/2012 10:29:05 pm

I agree with you on the fact that much of the racism I see nowadays isn't necessarily one person calling another person a name but more the stereotypes that have been attached to each race in the last decade or so. I've seen instances where someone assumed something about someone else based solely on their race and ethnicity and the stereotype that comes along with it

Chim

6/6/2012 10:52:17 pm

Racism is the number one barrier between people. i will give you some examples, when someone does not speak clear english based on English bieng the second language, we intend to judge the person they way they speak. Socialogical immagination is all about interuction and learning new ideas from different parts of the globe. when i was attending my high school, when a teacher rise a question, students were scared to answer not because they don't the answer, but they were afraid of being judged by fellow classmates. So yes, stereotypes and racism are playing a big role in people not interructing in a nice way.

erik riley

6/3/2012 03:12:37 am

I believe society today and peoples particular beliefs come mainly from family and parental influence and the influence the media puts in our heads. I personally try not to be influenced by the media because the stories are usually not factual like they claim to be and I don't pay attention like enough usually to even care. Coming from the military its really frustrating seeing the kinda stuff that ends up on the news thats relatively not that important. For instance, when a celebrity dies, many times they're portrayed as heroes yet when a buddy of mine is killed it doesn't even make the news and alot of times it seems as if know one really cares.
When it comes to family I've always been taught to treat others as I'd like to be treated and first impression means everything, and not to judge a book by its cover. Its these basic principles that in my opinion have led me to not get into debackles with individuals. I've also learned not to take anything too seriously. Alot of times its really not worth the argument.

Yana

6/7/2012 01:16:17 am

I totally get what you mean about the media fixating on ideas that are rehashed over and over again (like when Michael Jackson died and there was 24 hour coverage speculating how he died--I love his music and all, but it was like nothing else in the world was happening).

I think it's interesting how you bring the military and the war into this, too--for many Americans (including me), the only information/socialization we get about the war and the military comes from the news. As a member of the military, how do you feel about media coverage of the war? If there are parts you don't like about the coverage, how have you learned to deal with it? (Also, please don't feel pressured to answer my questions if they're too personal.)

Keeley

6/10/2012 12:23:08 pm

I agree that family plays a huge part in shaping our beliefs. I too was raised on the golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I still try my best to hold to that standard and never ask anyone to do something that I am not willing to do myself.

celine weladji

6/3/2012 04:24:57 am

sociology imagination influence my relation with my children because where i grow up back in Africa children do not talk back to their parents. parents do not give freedom of choice to children especially when it comes to food. a child will eat what ever her mother cook that day without asking any question. today being a mother myself in this country where children are told that the have the right for everything is very challenging for someone like me, but with my understanding of sociological imagination i have to work with this society who want us to involve our children to almost everything that we do. children in this country have the right to tell their parents that they do not agree with their decision. I learn every day to cope with that when my children tell me that they do not like what I cook for diner.

Chim

6/5/2012 04:48:24 am

Celina,
I agree with your blog, i grew up in the same situation a child has to a bid anything his or her parents are saying. When i was a little girl about 5 may be until i finish my middle school, i had no choice on what i should wear and eat. my parents had control over my life. But siciological immagination has transformed me and my family into different human beings. Now my parents are giving thier grandchildren freedom of dressing as well as what they would like to eat. The community is changing due to socialogical immagination.

Irene Washington

6/7/2012 03:02:33 am

I disagree. This is not true for a lot of American households, especially in African American households. I was raised by my Grandparents who believed that a child has no say in anything. If you were told to do something it had to be done immediately, without attitude or a word spoken back in defiance. If you didn't like the food that was prepared, tough luck.
Due to my upbringing I enforce the same rules upon my children. I believe that you can keep your family's traditions/morals/values the same regardless of you moving to a different country.

Benard Azifack

6/9/2012 04:00:08 am

I think if i understood what Celine is saying, about not giving the freedom of choice as children back home then i will say i gree with her bcause i grew up in the same settings. But on the other hand, as long as you want your children to be happy, you can also bring them up as it pleases you nt as it peases them. Thus nrms and values can be kept no matter where we ar.

oumou

6/10/2012 03:44:24 am

Being in this country for me is the best things which can happen to me and certainly for my futur children.Because what you said is the truth because back home in Africa children do not have any choice of food or even any decision to take in their life.I am very glad that your are in the good path to let your children take their own decision and decide which food they want to eat because they have this freedom but also their in the good place where food is not an issue.

Yodit

6/16/2012 01:16:01 pm

It is a big difference between America's society and Africa's. You can't even compare. This difference comes because of the living standard here and there has a wide gap. children in America have many opportunities, and they are in rich country. But children in Africa are living in poor country, so how can they choos that they want? For this reason they are forced to eat that is on the table.

Irene Washington

6/3/2012 06:54:24 am

Social imagination and sociology is relevant to my own personal life because it has given me an open mind to learning about different religions, as well as not forcing my own children to choose a specific religion to follow. My husband, who is Dominican, was raised in a strict Catholic family. On the other hand, I am African American, raised in a Baptist household. While pregnant with our first child, my husband and I had a discussion about which religion we were going to raise our children in. We truly couldn't pick one or the other because that would exclude the other person's religion/beliefs, so we decided to alternate each week between the two churches. Against both of our parents wishes, my husband and I also decided not to Baptize/Christen our children, allowing them the choice in if/when to do so. Though the two religions have some similarities, we still do not claim one over the other. When the question arises as to what our religion is, we simply reply "Baptholic," a combination of Baptist and Catholic.

After opening my mind up to the Catholic religion, it has made me inquisitive about other religions and their beliefs. I frequently ask questions to people from other nationalities about their religious beliefs, comparing the differences and similarities to my own. Whether I agree or disagree with what that particular religion practices, I will never be the one to say that it's either right or wrong; More so, it's intriguing.

celine weladji

6/8/2012 02:11:45 am

i face the same problem with my own family . my children have not being baptize yet because my husband is catholic and i am universalism, so we decided to let the children choose for themselves when they will grow up. since i can not find a group here in the U.S in which i can fit with my believe we all go to the catholic church on Sundays and Christmas because i believe that we all worship the same God

Irene Washington

6/9/2012 04:54:06 am

I certainly do agree that we worship the same GOD/Spirit. We just worship in different ways which should never be labeled as "right or wrong."

Chihiro

6/10/2012 02:58:30 am

Your story is very interesting and it is a good example that indicates that not only communities, but also families often share multiple cultures, beliefs, and experiences.
When you mention "we worship the same God/Spirit" in your comment to Celine below, I was wondering how we would use social imagination to engage agnostics, atheists or nonbelievers, for example. I agree with your last paragraph above that we shouldn't judge people's religions as right or wrong. I also think we should consider that a person's "beliefs" may lie outside of any organized religion (e.g. agnostics), and we should try to learn and understand people's culture/history/experiences, even if they are not religious, without judgement.

Keeley

6/10/2012 12:33:12 pm

One of the things that I'm thankful for my mum doing was not raising me to be very religious. I was never forced to read the bible, or go to church (except on Easter and Christmas), and while I was baptized I never got confirmed because I didn't want to. For a long time she thought that she failed me as a parent because she never forced religion on me but I told her that I was grateful. I ended up taking a comparative religion class in high school and I found it very interesting since from what I could tell most religions have the same general rules: don't kill, don't steal, treat people nicely, etc. I then was able to form my own opinions and beliefs on religion. I went to my mum and talked to her about it and we have had many open discussions since on religion. In fact, based on what I learned in school and shared with her she started looking into various religions on her own and has even changed her opinion somewhat on her religion (we were raised Lutheran). I feel that because I was allowed to form my own opinions that I was much more open-minded on a lot of issues.

To this day I think mum still feels a little bit guilty for not having raised me to be very religious, but she understands that I am happy with how I turned out and she is proud of that.

Benard Njuazab

6/3/2012 06:56:13 am

Growing up as a child in my country has not always been an easy thing in life. Life was like a war that only thoes who could fight really hard could find it easy or make it. Only the children of the rich parents were able to go to school and have some education which was suppose to be a thing for all. Talking less of other social aspects of life the children of these rich people were always given the privilege over us. For example there were certain places like the movie and some clubs which were only for those group of people and if you were not one of them the you are out.

So I really use to wonder why in this small world where we are God will create people with such differences in social class and background. But now applying the knowledge of social immagination, it will be seen that there are alot of different reasons why things happen the way they do. why some people consider themself rich and others poor, why a particular group of people live and concerntrate in one area sepreted from others, why a group of poeple will only speak a certain language different from what a large population would do. Social Immagination is the answer to all this questions.

Yana

6/7/2012 01:32:13 am

Bernard,
I really like how you used the phrase "some people consider themself rich and others poor" (like how it's kind of up to the individual to identify themselves as rich/poor/inbetween). It reminded me of something my grandmother says: "there are many different ways to be rich. We are rich in love." To a certain extent, "being rich" is relative and depends on one's outlook.

I don't know if I completely understand what you mean that sociological imagination is the answer to all those questions. Do you mean that you can use sociological information to discover why some people are financially better off? Or do you mean that people live in segregated areas apart from each other because they don't have sociological information? Thanks for clarifying!

Benard Azifack

6/9/2012 04:11:24 am

Yes Yana thank you very much for adding more flesh to the bone. Now to clearify you, here i meant sociological immaginton will go a ong way to discover for oursleves why some people are finanacilly better than others and why they segregate from others not that they don't have the knowldge of sociological immagnation. Thanks. Hope i answer your question Yana.

Yana

6/11/2012 02:16:30 am

I get it now! Thanks for explaining, Bernard.

tmerella

6/3/2012 10:02:51 am

When I was younger, I lacked social imagination, and would talk amongst friends about guys we found attractive. One of the things that I noticed as I got older is my perspective of what is attractive has changed and diversified. In my younger years, a friend would describe a guy as dark skinned, and immediately the question would be raised of “What does he have to make up for being dark?” Does he have long hair, is he tall, and so on. If a guy was described as light skinned, I didn’t need an explanation for his complexion, it would automatically be assumed that he was attractive.
I know now that my perception of what attraction was ignorant and greatly influenced by what was said in my community and what the media portrays as attractive. I was constantly fed the idea that lighter skin was better than dark skin. My views on attraction have changed and I no longer weigh a person’s attractiveness to what is portrayed in my community or the media. I realize now that everyone is unique and different in their own way, and that’s what makes them attractive.

celine weladji

6/8/2012 02:00:43 am

i am so glad someone realize that beauty is far from what people see physically in front of them because we are all beautiful and unique in our own ways. i also thing that the media are still influence a lot of us because for instance most of the women do believe that being pretty mean being skinny, and they are ready to have a lot of surgeries to look like those that we see on the media.

Benard Azifack

6/9/2012 04:26:41 am

To me i think this aspect of beauty shoud not be capitalize on some certain features that we can see leaving out those we can not see. something being beautiful will depend on who so ever is goin in and what h or sh is going in for because what might be consider beautiful to someone might not be to another. So beauty depends on what so ever an individual's eyes can see and apreciate as been beautiful.

oumou

6/10/2012 03:38:19 am

Good point!!! because for me someone who is pretty and do not have kindness which mean that person do not have a good heart that mean this person lack of beauty.We are all equal in this word because we are all God creatures but some people are just lucky to be born in a country where is the abondance.In my country for example,we lack so much primary necessity like water,food or clothes.In my country someone who is fat is attractive because because people thing he or she have money because he eats well.In my opinion,being fat, tall, thinn does not mean attractive the person has to have a good behavior with others and kind.

Chihiro Minning

6/3/2012 10:46:21 am

Being from Japan, there was not much interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds. Living on a isolated island, it could shape your perspectives of the world, but I am thankful that my parents taught and showed me not to assume or judge anything before observing and trying to understand people and situations.

Learning to speak English and use it as a common language to communicate with people from all over the world is a life changing experience, and better enables me to be able to see other people's standpoints.
I realize that it is still hard to truly understand people's standpoints unless I were in their shoes, yet I believe that having a good understanding of sociology as well as being flexible to have a great sociological imagination, instead of applying one-sided perceptions, would open so many doors in many situations because we are living in such a diverse society.

Thomas Smith

6/3/2012 11:46:54 am

In my experinces in this crazy place we call life, Social Imagination and Sociology have always been an interesting and intriguing part of my life. Growing up in a very diverse area (DC, PG county, Baltimore) I have constantly encountered people from different countries, religons and morals. I am very grateful to grow up in a country that offers such a diverse population. Recently, working in a hospital I communicate and interact with all different types of people once again, which I throughly enjoy. Although some things can get lost in a "communcation breakdown" I dont allow it to frustrate me, but rather learn from other people. In light of this, I enjoy learning different languages and cultural activities from all types of human prespectives. I feel that this "melting pot" of cultures in this country is what can truly advance society in many aspects from politics and other social ethics that are in constant question of being virtuos or not.
In conclusion, I feel that it is very important to remember the principles of Social Imagination when encounteering people from different cultures, and to be understanding and have a yearn to learn from them, and not to scold them or have a negative attitude because they are "different" than you are.

Irene Washington

6/7/2012 06:24:41 am

I fully agree with you. Having the privilege of going to school with a very diverse population and working in the medical field, has allowed me to have a better understanding, appreciation, and respect for other cultures. Understanding brings acceptance which leads to unity.

Chihiro

6/10/2012 01:38:06 am

I feel the same way.
It is ironic, but true that some people do not realize and appreciate being in the diverse society.
I think we all should take advantage of this because there is such a great opportunity for everyone to expand their own social imagination, since our society is made up of people from many different backgrounds.

David Perez

6/3/2012 12:01:39 pm

I am the fourth child of five siblings and second out of two boys. Although not apparent to me at the time, my mother was much more easy going with me as I grew up. I was allowed to go out on weekends and after dark. I was allowed to have friends over my own home, even females. I was allowed to take trips and leave home for long periods of time without any issues.

Not until my young adult years did I realize how much more easy my adolescent life was compared to my older sisters. Neither was able to enjoy those luxuries. They would always tell me how lucky I was and that they had it hard, but at the time I never understood what they meant.

Currently it seems that the social norm is to shelter the older children from the "sinful" world and attempt at preventing any influence from evil or wrongful sources, especially the females. Sometimes parents can easily get carried away however, and end up putting these specific children (daughters) through an artificial home prison-like experience.

My sisters always needed to be at home, for in my mothers eyes, they had nowhere else they needed to be. Hanging out with friends was limited to specific times and locations, always during the day time only and hardly ever far away from our home. Boys were nonexistent and never, EVER, ever allowed within a mile of the house (obviously an exaggeration but it sure did seem like it was the case). I can say that they definitely paved the way for my brother and I to have an easier environment to grow up in.
This example demonstrates how sociological imagination is manifested within my personal childhood experiences. If overprotecting one’s children (daughters specifically) weren’t seen as a necessity, then many of these first borns within families would be able to experience the same laid back lifestyles that later become norms for their younger siblings.

Thomas Smith

6/9/2012 11:54:07 pm

David, your situation sounds very similar to a one of my best friends house hold situation growing up. Sadly, he passed away earlier this year, but he was younger than his two sisters and they(the mother) always had a close eye on them growing up while he got to do pretty much whatever he wanted. It's even more similar because they are spanish as well. Guatemelan actually. Do you think that most families of latin decent focus more so on the females in the family rather than the males or is this just a coincidence?

Thomas Smith

6/3/2012 12:11:39 pm

Adding to what I was saying about being consciense in terms of sociological imagination through out my life... reading these comments now after posting mine is another example where there are so many different types of backgrounds, cultures, and views on life that I am seeing in my class. Understanding and trying to empathize with these true stories are interesting to read and impossible to not use sociological imagintion when considering everyones comments. Thats all.

Nathalie Rivera

6/3/2012 12:35:36 pm

Throughout life we are faced with a variety of different ideas. These ideas in many ways influence our perception as well as the perception others hold of us. Personally these things varied, to some I was not Hispanic enough simply because I did not speak perfect Spanish or dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt or acted in a certain way. To others I was emo simply because I had dyed my hair in a variety of colors ranging from electric blue to bright pink even purple. I was labeled a tom boy for being active and into sports. Personally I didn’t understand in my younger years why it was odd for my family that I didn’t want to play dolls but soccer with my cousins. Why I was referenced as the “ black sheep.”
Yet in my sophomore year in high school I finally began to understand why. That year I had signed up for a summer aboard program in which I would venture to Costa Rica to work with children and explore the country as a whole without my parents or family. To which my grandmother expressed that “Women in our family don’t do that and you shouldn’t.”
Later that night I came to the understanding that my grandmother couldn’t understand why I had decided to go on this trip without my family because women my age in her view shouldn’t be traveling by themselves let alone spending months away from family because it just wasn’t done in a respectable catholic family. That being it didn’t stop me from going it only furthered my desire to understand why limitations like these were established and what caused these influences its one of the leading reasons I decided to take this class as well as chose Anthropology as my major.

Nestor Ruano

6/3/2012 10:51:12 pm

The first time I had ever visited my father's country, I can honestly say that my perspective of how I see things here have changed drastically because of the conditions of some of the things I saw over there. To say that I was naive back then would be an understatement because I always had assumed until that point that everyone lived the way I did seeing how I viewed my life as "normal." I was never exposed to much.

As soon I arrived, I was met by cousins that I had never met before and just by noticing the way they stared at me, I already knew I was viewed as deviant because of how I looked and carried myself. I was very bothered by the way they looked at me as if they felt like I was better than them because of what I looked like but this was not the case. As I grew older, I learned that I had acted in a pretentious manner and that it was actually me that implemented a facade that made it seem like I was on a high horse. I analyzed the situation like I earned my image and they failed emulate my image because they didn't deserve it. I didn't see the bigger picture such as, the economy, unemployment, crime rate, etc. had a direct impact on their lives. I wasn't validated to have that kind of opinion on their personal character/image without knowledge of what they've been through. Unless they had my opportunities, then I could form some sort of opinion.

Ryan Johnson

6/4/2012 02:11:51 am

This will be my first sociology course. One of the things that I am most excited to learn observe are the way family interactions influence the way a family member interacts with an external community (society). Growing up as an only child as well as only grandchild on my mother's side, I was privileged and my behaviors certainly reflected this. I would honestly say that I was somewhat bratty. There are certain things that I wish I could have experienced everyday that I will never fully be able to understand due to being an only child, such as the bond between siblings. I have always had many cousins and yes, growing up they were the closest thing I had to siblings, but it's not the same as having someone who you know is always going to be there, someone who has gone through the same household pressures and environmental pressures. Only children may get more material benefits but there is so much pressure to be perfect, kind of like your parents are putting all of their eggs into one basket, that basket being you. I would love to study the difference between household that have nuclear families vs. a household where there are many relatives and see how much of a difference having a crowded household plays a role in how someone interacts with others outside of the home.

Kebah

6/7/2012 07:59:55 am

I was 12 when my little sitter was born, and I remember wanting a sibling so bad. When I finally got one - it wasn't at alll what I expected. The topic of family dynamic is very layered and interesting. I"m sure lots of your cousins who had siblings wanted to be the only child - I know I've wished it on occasion. The grass always seem green on the other side right. TV shows, movies, magazines and today's media perpetuates this image of perfection. We by into it and think "if only I had this, or If this where different". Regardless of household nuclear - its important that kids are exposed to different "norms" so they know there isn't one "right" to live and it should help when they do intereact with others.

Abby Asante

6/4/2012 02:25:21 am

My idea and belief about socialogy and socialogical imagination is just simply the way we learn and live life in relation to one another. It helps us to be able to understand how and why we all do certain things based on how we grew up and what we were thought about life. As a child my mother would always say "do unto others as you would want them to do unto you". As a child it sounded like another language to me but as an adult i realized that it is important to treat people with respect if you wish to be treated the same way.

erik

6/5/2012 10:24:31 pm

My mom used to say the same thing to me all the time and to be honest it got really annoying but I find myself telling younger kids the same saying all the time and even telling my friends in their twenties when they get into certain situations.

mariama sandy

6/4/2012 06:21:09 am

I would wanna say that for me it is a bit controversial because of my religion but at the same time I'm also exposed, therefore I would say that sociology and sociological imagination are just everyday lifestyle. The way people look at things, feel things and even judging things depends solely on their backgrounds and experience. How and where they were raised.
Coming from an African background, my judgement of things really changed when I went back to Africa in 2009. The last time i left there was at a young age of 11 and wasn't really aware or experienced in life. But when i went back it really humbled me because I found myself at a place where I wanted to give back because i was so touched by what I saw. I wanted to get involve in every and anyway necessary. My perspectives of things and foreigners changed. Whether is in a good way or not, I believe its subjective.

Joseph

6/6/2012 12:49:51 am

I would say that like you and also me Mariama, All people have some form of bias (prefered or not).. I too have deep beliefes, morals and values instilled in me by my family culture. Some times we do have to step outside of the box, or situation that we are in for us to see the picture a lot clearer. Open mindedness is the key to problem solving and situational awareness. Looking at things purely objectively as you were able to see your old home vs your new home's Social imagination. You like anyone else in your situation with an ability to accept discovery. Are able to if not change your personal norms in route to catering to new ones, but are also able to adopt or learn new values along the way inturn giving you more power over you. I think that's great. Good job =)

Joseph

6/5/2012 12:28:15 am

I believe there's a heavy since or dose of Socialogical Imagination In the public's eye concerning Active military and veterans.
People tend to fathom Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen as thier hero's, but when the hero comeshome down trodden and weary from battle. Instead of understanding and help. The Warrior is met with Fear and shunned to a life of solitude. I think Imagination verses understanding concerning the many,many elements of a heros character,and job need to be made aware and unquestionable to all. It is the only way to effectively rehab a mentally and physically empaired Wonderful memebr of society.

erik

6/5/2012 10:21:50 pm

I agree alot with what your saying but I've also seen in the last couples years a huge change in the publics view as far as trying to help veterans when they're on their way out of the military and many new agencies are using the media to publiclyask veterans to come and work for them. There's alot of programs out there you just need to know where to look

Joseph

6/6/2012 01:12:44 am

Yes Erik you're absoloutly right as well. I must clarify. I'm speaking more along the lines of The general publics opinion of the military and if they actually "Know" why we do what we do. It's actually hard to understand the intangibles such as loyalty to country, Honor for your family, Pride in oneselfe, Dignity, respect, integrity, and duty if you can't percieve it or associate it on that individuals level. With that being said, I'm not taking away from any individuals beliefe that they do or don't attain these intangibles however they may have attained them for whatever reason. What I am saying is that outside of a Military post, or even the city connected to the military instalation, and the family members of service men and women. Most people have no idea past a uniform what makes up a Soldier/Airmen/Marine/ or Seaman. Last I checked. .1% of the US makes up the combined Military. It's no wonder when Active members become vets they feel alone. Through Social Imagination, people feel as if they know what the military is like and that they understand what a Service member goes through, But they don't.They can ask us to work, or councel us, but isn't that just filling a gap or a void left by the departing of a service member from a world they desired more than anything? Not much of a consilation if you ask me. Then when you're at these jobs' or talking to these counselors', Social imagination meets Reality and then.... Thier prescribing you a pill and saying thank you, I wish I could understand. It sucks, But I guess that's just the way it works. Some things are understood, and some things not so much. So society copes by rationalizing a situation to pacy themselves and as long as we don't see the problem, then I guess it doesn't exhist...

Kebah Boykai

6/5/2012 04:34:54 pm

I've recently started attending a Nigerian church and a lot of the member are from a specific tribe in Nigeria. In this tribe they "prostrate" to elders, leader etc.. to show respect and humility. I had never really heard of this and In my culture prostrating isn't something we do, and I personally always thought of it as humiliating. After observing and talking to the pastor and several church members ( who are part of this particular tribe), I feel like I have a better understanding of the meaning behind the act of prostrating ( for this tribe at least). This is where Sociological imagination comes in - empathizing ("putting myself in their shoes") and getting a better understanding of this tribes custom. I now find myself prostrating as well to members of the church.

mariama sandy

6/10/2012 09:11:42 am

LOL....this is too funny because I'm married to a Nigerian and when I went to Nigeria I was so amazed by their culture because Nigeria as a whole is so misunderstood by outsiders. But the culture is so rich, different people or different tribe have their different culture and together its beautiful, I was thought respect in a huge way. Respect both for elderly and outsiders. So sociologically my insight changed. Therefore I totally understand where you are coming from and I found myself doing the same thing after visiting couple times, and I love it.

dagim

6/10/2012 10:45:03 pm

I personally agree with Oumou becuase different socity in defferent countereis have not the same undertanding about girls education. but my quation is how about the time ? as the time changs do you think this socal culter stay as it was? for me the post industerial socity and modern socity are not the same means as the time changs socites awerns to wards girls educations also changs

Week 1: Introduction to Sociology

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