CRASH

1. The cop (Matt Dillon) from the movie "Crash" demonstrated very different racism than the other cop he was first paired with. When Matt Dillon's character pulled over the African American couple on their way back from a party, Matt Dillon basically only pulled them over because of their color. Then, he looked for reasons to get them in trouble, and he then continued to harass the man's wife. He knew that he was a white man, a cop, and a very recognized cop in his city, so he couldn't get in trouble. He treated the two that he pulled over like they were dirt to him. The other cop who was there during this scene just stood there, amazed. He was witnessing something he had never really seen before and at one point he tried saying something, but then he was shut down. Compared to Matt Dillon, he wasn't racist. He went back to the office asking for a new partner because he couldn't take it to be paired with Matt Dillon's character. However, he wasn't able to switch without having terrible rumors and reasons spread about him. Matt Dillon was not a respectful person. When he was trying to get medication for his father, he took out all of his anger on the women on the line after learning that her name was Shanequa. He judged her by her name and by her race and freaked out at her. The other cop was respectful towards his boss, who was African American, when he asked to change partners. Although the other cop did not agree with his boss who was not letting him trade partners, he didn't insult him and freak out like Matt Dillon's character did when he didn't get his way. This just shows that there can be two people who are the same color, have the same profession, and are both put in similar situations dealing with people from the same background, but they can handle it completely differently just based on their levels on racism.

2. The hispanic lockman was negatively stereotyped in the movie as well. The first instance we witnessed was when Sandra Bullock's character wanted the locks changed once again after the Hispanic man changed them. She thought that he would sell the spare key to his buddies, and when she was expressing how she felt to her husband she was screaming and the man could clearly hear her. She was judging him just because of his ethnicity. She knew nothing about him, yet she still thought that he would want to do her wrong because of the way he looked. Also, when the same guy was changing the lock's in the other man's store, he was negatively influenced again. When the hispanic man explained that he replaced the locks, but the whole door had to be replaced in order for it to work, the owner of the store freaked out at him. He thought that the lock man was trying to ruin his door on purpose and he was trying to cheat him of money. The hispanic lock man was not, however. Just because he was hispanic, two different characters in the movie questioned his abilities and his intentions.

3.In the movie "Crash", the majority of the people were racist in some form. In the beginning of the movie, we met each character and they all had some run-in with racism, whether they were racist, or others were towards them. In my opinion, I think that this movie accurately depicts the racism that takes place in our country today. As humans, we automatically pass judgement about everybody and everything that we see. It is natural for us to form opinions quickly without having previous knowledge about what or who we are judging. In the beginning of the movie, Sandra Bullock's character had her car stolen at gunpoint. You could tell by her facial expressions and actions (like grabbing onto her husband's arm) when she saw the two African Americans that she was already uncomfortable. After the theft of her car, her racism grew dramatically. That night at her house when the Hispanic worker was replacing the locks on her house door, she freaked out that he was replacing them, and she wanted all of the locks replaced again in the morning just because of who was replacing her locks. She thought that he was going to take the spare key and sell it to his friends. These two scenes displayed how racism can grow in a person. Before Sandra Bullock's character had a gun pointed at her and her car stolen, she already displayed signs of racism. Just because she saw two African Americans walking down same side of the road as her, her body expressions showed that she was uncomfortable. The grabbing onto her husband showed that she wanted protection- she didn't feel safe. I feel like this is common for the people in our country today. It is the small, small signs of racism, such as just grabbing onto another person, which show that racism still exists in our country today. After Sandra Bullock's characters run-in with the two robbers, her racism expanded. Since two African Americans did her wrong, her racism expanded to all forms of different ethnicities. The hispanic man who was changing her locks didn't do anything to her, he wasn't going to do anything to her, but she still had a meltdown and severely insulted him while ranting to her husband. I feel like this is how racism grows and doesn't decrease in our country. People hear about something happening to someone, or experience something happening to themselves, and then their views grow and take over all types of ethnicities. I believe that it would be very hard for it to stop, because of who humans are. I think that people judge others based on small things from their clothes, to their skin, by just looking at them. It is just a trait that all humans have. For the racism to end in our country, the people living here would have to realize that we are all the same and equal. I know that sounds cheesy, but if people could just wrap their minds around the fact that it doesn't matter what other people's outside shells look like, then we wouldn't have any more issues. And I think that this concept would be almost impossible to try to explain to the people in our country today because we are all so opinionated. I just wish that our country could understand that bad things can happen to anybody and they can be done by anybody. Just because somebody is from a different background, that doesn't mean that they are out to get you or that they want to do you wrong. I think that the movie "Crash" was accurate when it came to demonstrating racism and why people formed their opinions about other races, but I wish that it wasn't. It is sad that our country is still racist even though most people claim that it is not a racist country.

4. I think that all stereotypes originate from just one incident. There are small stereotypes such as "All blondes are dumb" or "All asians are smart" which are completely false. Nobody can have more intelligence because of their outside appearance. However, I think these stereotypes formed from just one time when somebody said something. One time, some blonde haired person probably said a stupid thing, and then it just stuck. As for me, I remember distinctly in 6th grade when I said a dumb comment without thinking, and then I was labeled as a dumb blonde, which I'm not; I'm smart! There there are the stereotypes like "All middle eastern people are terrorists." This stereotype really bothers me, because I cannot even begin to feel the hurt that those people who are stereotyped feel. When the father and daughter were trying to buy a gun at the gun store in the beginning of the movie, the salesman was being racist towards them. He accused them of being terrorists and he was giving them such a hard time. All stereotypes originate from one problem in the past, and then they stick. It is unfortunate.

5.I don't know if I think it is natural within our genes to be racist, but I do think that is is natural to form judgements very easily. We look, and we decide. I think that since we are naturally judgmental, that leads to racism. Different color skins and facial features cause people to draw judgements, and then they stick. I don't think it is possible though, to be born with a racist gene where we don't like anybody who looks differently than we do.

6.I think that race is learned through school, our family member's opinions, and the way media depicts different races as well. We learn from a young age about the racism that used to take place in our country. We learned about the slaves and the way they were treated. So from a young age, we were educated about it. Then, families all have different views, and they are passed on to the different family members. If there is a racist family member, then those opinions are generally passed on to the other people in that family. I think that the media also greatly influences the public's racist opinions. The media reaches everybody in our society, and so if there are racist messages being broadcast, then everybody hears about it. I believe that racism exists in our country today, and we all hear about it through multiple forms. It is hard to escape.

7.Like I mentioned in question number 3, I think that the only way to end racism would be for every single person in our world to understand that racism is stupid stereotypes based off of our ethnicities. Nothing good comes out of racism, and it needs to end. There is no point to be racist, it isn't helping anything or anybody. The world needs to understand the concept that we are all the same exact human. We all have two eyes one nose on one mouth, they just look different. I think that sadly, the world will never understand this. Therefore, I don't think that racism will ever end. People will always continue to judge what they see.

Games and Class

After we played the penny game, Monopoly, and watched the "People Like Us" video, I got a better sense of what wealth gives us in the US. Being born into wealth is a huge advantage. After playing the Monopoly game, I realized that it was much easier to win and succeed if you started off with money. I began with only $270, and in the end I finished with around $100, while the other players started with a lot of money and ended with even more. When you have a lot of money, it is easier to take risks and succeed, because if you lose, you still have a lot of money left over. I think that this concept exists in our world, outside of the Monopoly game, as well. When you begin with less money, it is a lot harder to move up in society and make more money. An advantage of having wealth in our society is socializing and networking with other people exactly like themselves. It is all about getting your name out there, and knowing the right people, and people with wealth have a much bigger opportunity to get what they want by knowing everybody that can benefit their name and their lifestyle. Also, the wealthy don't have to worry as much about their financial situation andhaving it all just disappear in one day. They have enough money to take financial risks and not have to worry about losing it all. I think that the only way to limit these privileges would for everybody to begin with the same amount of money when they were born- but that is impossible. Therefore, I don't think that there is any true way to limit the wealth that different people possess in our societies. As much as people claim that we don't have social classes and everybody is equal, everybody isn't. We can't change the privileges people have and the wealth people have, but we cantry to help the less fortunate and share our privileges with them.

"What a man is depends on his character; but what he does, and what
we think of what he does, depends on his circumstances. The characteristics that
ruin a man in one class made him eminent in another."
I think that Shaw is saying that opinions about people can change based on their environment and class. Something that is considered good in one society can be viewed as bad in another, just based on where those societies are. An example of a behavior that can be compared to this quote is "the idea of an aggressive real estate developer with an aggressive sanitation worker. Both are in business, but their qualities may be judged differently." This idea demonstrates that in an affluent area where the real estate is competitive and the hunt for housing is difficult, somebody would want that aggressive real estate developer. The customer can afford whatever the developer throws at them because they are wealthy, and the developer is trying to make good money as well. People are open to new ideas and new developments. However in a less affluent area, an aggressive developer can be a burden on people. If people love their surroundings, are against new housing projects, and can't even afford it, the aggressive developer would really bother the members of that society. This quote is just saying that the same person can be viewed different under different circumstances, and they can be positively deviant in one area, while negatively deviant in another.

Social Class

Social/economic class is the social category which you fit in to. I think that it is based on yoyur income and what you can afford and where you live. In your life, I think it influences who you are friends with and what you can accomplish in your life. People are generally friend with those in the same social class, because they can relate to each other. I also think that there is a tendency for people to judge others if they stray out of their designated class as well. I think that class and deviance correspond with how you live within your social class. I believe that sometimes it is negatively deviant for people to leave their social class and to befriend those in other classes. However, I think that it is seen as positively deviant for those in the higher classes to reach out to the less fortunate and the people in different classes to help out. I believe that there are unwritten rules about how to act within your social class and if you act out of it, then you are deviant and the public opinion made of you will negatively be affected.

Deviance

In my opinion, punishable deviance a societal construct and I don't think it is avoidable in our society. When people are negatively deviant, since it is against the norm we feel the need to punish them. I believe that we regulate the punishments through our court systems, but they aren't always fair and equal. Sometimes punishments which are given to white men aren't the same given to men of different ethnicities just because of their background. I believe that if we are going to punish those are are negatively deviant in societies, we need to punish fairly, and also with punishments that are able to help. Our punishment/penitentiary system tells us as sociologists that we judge people and and don't try to give them help because they are different than the rest of society. I think the rehab aspect of our jail systems are clearly lacking after watching the 30 days episode. I think that if these people were able to get the help they needed, and actually finish out the sessions, that they would come out of jail as better people and they would be less likely to get back involved in their old ways. In the film, the inmates weren't required to finish their rehab. If they were able to leave before it was over, they did. But I think if they were required to finish once they've started, they would be better off. I believe that the deviants who are in jail can be helped and improve their lifestyles if they just had the access to programs that could help them. They are are deviant because they don't know any other way, and if we could help them properly we could teach them the right way.

2nd six weeks

So as a disclaimer I missed school on Friday and when I went to update my blogs on Thursday after school I did not see the 2nd six weeks post that I was supposed to respond to, so when I was in Ohio until late sunday night, the blog had slipped my mind.
1. First, today I wore the classic Ugg boots, skinny dark jeans, a white tanktop, and a purple DC zip up. For my accessories, I wore a brown, think leather bracelet, and two silver rings. Second, my future plans consist of going to college, moving out west- hopefully to California- and begginning my career. Third, I love to snowboard, surf, listen to music, and hang out with my friends. I think that what I chose to wear is more nurture, because through how I was raised I developed my own style. I think think that my future plans are both nature and nurture, because even though one of my parents didnt attend college, I was still raised with the desire to go to college and be successful. I was also born into a family who provides me the opportunity to be able to even go to college. Lastly, I think that my favorite pastimes developed through nature, because I fell in love with surfing and snowboarding through my friends and from my love to be active during both seasons. I wasn't born with the love for snowboarding and surfing in my blood.
2.I think that status power in adolescents is so important because growing up they want to be the best and they want to be the most successful. Highschool is full of competition and the strive to be the best, and that is why teenagers want to the highest status power and they want to be better than everyone else. For most teenagers, they don't have very big problems to worry about, so they just strive to be the best.
3. Today, the socialization process for most teens is different than the previous generations. Today, kids are hardly around adults and therefore don't develop the best social skills or know how to talk to adults. For me, I work a job four times a week where I am constantly socializing with only adults - I only have like 2 coworkers who are younger than 18- and through that I feel that I have developed strong social skills and I know how to be mature and interact with adults. For other kids though, they don't always have the same situation. Not knowing how to communicate with adults I feel is slowing the maturity process of children today. Also, some teens hardly socialize at all. TV and video games overwhelm children and they spend more of their time staring at a screen than in the past. While kids should be out and playing and socializing with other people, they are sitting inside either by themselves or with a few others but not talking. I think that overall, technology influences the socialization process for many children today.
4. Some gender differences in the socialization process are developed from the toys that kids grow up with. Girls grow up with frilly, girly toys, while boys grow up with macho, manly toys. From the start, girls grow up by developing different character traits, while boys grow up developing character traits such as strong, tough, and rough. So, the toys that children grow up playing with affect their socializization process. Also, boys tend to like to play big group games, such as football and baseball. Big team sports force the boys to socialize with all different types of people. Then, it is more common for girls to be involved in sports such as dance or other sports where they are more to themselves and involved in their skills, so girls grow up with different groups of people. I think that these differences affect me and my friends personalities and abilities to socialize. Our characteristics were developed by being involved in different activies meant for different genders as children.

Adolescense.

The society that we live in today treat us like adolescents sometimes, and expect us to act like adults other times. It presents us with confusion; how are we supposed to know how to act or who to be when society is constantly switching up it's expectations? Like Sociosmith said in his blog, we are aloud to vote, drive, and even get married at 18, yet we still aren't aloud to drink. We are now seniors and we are aloud to drive to school, yet we aren't aloud to drive year round. It is difficult when you are expected to be an adult, yet you are still considered a child.
Also, status power overwhelms teenagers today. Status power is the want and need to have a higher status. I think that status power impacts teens and how we adapt because we are constantly trying to be better than everyone else. We strive to be the best we can be, as long as we overpower the others who are trying as well. I don't know why we feel the need for the status power, and I think that there is no way around it. Humans are very competetive people by nature, and I think that the want to be better than everyone else is always going to be there. I do think that it is not necessary for some people to take it to the extremes, but in my opinion status power will always be there.