desperate housewives

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I was watching this weeks episode of desperate housewives.  There were tons of examples of sociology but I'm going to focus on mobs and riots.

This season, one of the major events is that Paul (the creepy neighbor who was in jail for murder) is opening a halfway house on Wisteria Lane.  All the neighbors are against the opening of the halfway house because of the fact that their are many little kids in the neighborhood. When the mayor comes to speak in favor of the house, all the neighbors come together to protest.  The families from Wisteria Lane bring signs and plan chants, but a near-by street brings bats and their willingness to start a fight.  According to our textbook a mob is " and emotionally stimulated, disorderly crowd that is ready to use destructive violence to achieve a purpose."  The group of neighbors from near-by streets could be considered a mob because they were angry about the halfway house and were willing to use violence to get what they wanted.

As the protests started to heat up, someone from the crowd saw Brie's ex-boyfriend punching his dad in the face. He was wearing his work clothes (he's a carpenter) so the crowd member thought he was one of the residents of the halfway house beating up an innocent guy. He shouted to the crowd "hey one of the con's is beating that guy up!" Immediately, a group began attacking Brie's ex.  When Brie walked out of her house and saw the commotion, she fired her gun into the air to get their attention. In doing so, she startled the entire crowd of protesters that weren't aware of the fight going on in Brie's yard. As soon as people realized someone had a gun, the crowd turned into a riot.  People began pushing to run away, some were trampled, cars were destroyed, ex-convicts were beaten with bats.  Since the crowd was still creating deliberate violence but no longer had a common purpose, it could be called a riot.

All of a sudden, I found myself thinking sociologically when I went to the after school workout for softball.  The first thing I realized was that the people I work out with is a secondary group.  We are all their to get stronger to we can be a better team.

The second thing I noticed was that the coaches use positive informal sanctions.  If they see you working hard they tell you that you're doing a good job and push you to work even harder.  Teammates also use informal positive sanctions when they give high fives and cheer for each other.

Third, I realized that the players who make the team in the spring are receiving a positive formal sanction because they are being specifically rewarded for being a hard working player by be given a spot on the team.

"I'm stuck in Folsom Prison, And time keeps draggin' on"

I found myself thinking about sociology when our class took a trip to the county courts and jail.  The first thing I noticed was how many symbols there were.  Symbols have a meaning that is mutually understood by a society.  Clothing is a major symbol at the courts and jail.  It is understood that anybody in a bright orange jumpsuit is an inmate, anybody in black robes is a judge, and any body with a badge and weapon belt is a type of officer.  Clothing is important at the courts and jail because it provides people with a way of knowing who should be respected and who should be feared. 

The second sociology topic I thought about was Social Darwinism.  This theory would have an interesting way of explaining why most people who go to jail once end up back in jail again.  Social Darwinism would say that while some people are just born to be successful, others are just born to fail and will continue to fail their entire life with no chance of ever becoming successful.  

The Little Prince(ss)

The article "Clothes encounter provides poignant lesson for son," was almost heartbreaking.  The three year old boy loves all his clothes and toys, whether they were meant to be for a boy or a girl. He loves dressing up like a construction worker the exact same amount that he loves dressing up like a princess.  However, society has told him that it's not okay for a little boy to like princess things. I believe the individuality in the kid's interests should be embraced and he should be able to wear the clothes he likes without being teased or judged by other kids. People in today's society care to much about judging what other's do. Too often people are put down for not following society's rules about gender roles. If everybody replaced their criticisms with compliments, the world would be a much better place for today's youth to grow up in. 

Lily In The Dugout

All of a sudden, I found myself thinking about sociology when my softball coach brought her 3 year old daughter Lily to my team's tournament in Indiana. Lily has come to many of our tournaments over the past year and I have been able to watch the process of her being socialized.

This morning, Lily brought her new coloring book to our game and sat in the dugout coloring the whole time.  She was able to sit quietly and do her own thing without much help from her mom or any of the girls on the team.  She need to be taken to the bathroom once.  Last year, everyone on the team would have to help keep an eye on Lily during games to make sure she didn't run out of the dugout onto the field or wander off and get lost in the park.  Lily has been socialized to sit in the dugout during games and not run away and also to "hold it" until she gets to a bathroom.

Lily's agents of socialization are her parents, specifically her mom during softball games, the girls on my team, other parents on the team who sometimes keep an eye on her when she gets to be a distraction in the dugout, and the toys and games she brings with her to our games. According to George Herbert Mead, Lily's significant others right now are her parents and her generalized others are the girls on our team because she has a very close bond to her mom and dad but my team is just a random group of people that influences her.

Veggie Straw/Chip Nutrition Facts
130 calories per serving.

All of sudden, I found myself thinking about sociology when I found myself reading the Nutrition Facts label on my bag of Veggie Straws.  I realized that the Nutrition Facts labels that can be found on virtually every food product in our country are a symbol of  American culture.  People have become so obsessed with monitoring their calorie intake that they forget to look at the overall healthiness of a product.  When making a decision on what types of snacks to buy, many Americans base their decision on which product has fewer calories. The ignore the fact that while one product may have fewer calories than its competitor, it may have higher amounts of artificial flavors, sugar, sodium, and fat.  The calorie craze causes many people to think they're eating healthy when they're actually eating some of the worst food out there.

"One nation controlled by the media, information age of hysteria." ♪♫

You're sitting in a dark room.  There's 200 other people sitting all around you.  As you reach into a large tub sitting on your lap searching for a bite to eat, the wall in front of you lights up bright white.  This little lamp hops across the screen, "clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk."  It bounces on the letter 'I', "squeegee, squeegee, squeegee...POP." The 'I' is gone and as the lamp looks at you in confusion you know you are about to watch an awesome animated movie thanks to a team up between two of the richest corporations in the world- Disney and Pixar. 

Facebook: the ultimate symbol of social networking.  Teens and young adults rely on this website for almost everything.  Want to stay in touch with someone? Facebook them.  Want to know when someones birthday is?  Look it up on Facebook.  Just had an awesome weekend with your friends?  Better get those pics up on Facebook pronto.  Planning an awesome party?  If you want people to come, you ought to create a Facebook event.  All sorts of information is communicated through Facebook.  Basically Facebook represents all things social-life related. 

Many Americans can recognize this symbol in an instant. It is, of course, the logo of the sixth largest food company in the world, General Mills.  This symbol can represent many things: cereal, box tops, Pillsbury cookies, Yoplait yogurt, Green Giant veggies, delicious Haagan-Dazs  ice cream, Nature Valley, Fiber One, Hamburger Helper, etc.  For many reading this blog, it represents the delicious air that gives us a reason to go to school each day.

Pac-Man, Mario, and Frogger are all symbols for the video game craze.  A concept that began in arcades has now spread into homes across America.  Young children's minds are being wasted away by hours upon hours of video game use. 

The #2 pencil.  One of the simplest objects in the world.  Yet it means so much.  What does it represent?  Scantrons, bubbles, stress, ISATs, PSATs, SATs, ACTs, A, B, C, D, true, false, yes, no, multiple choice, paragraph on the back, this: , not this: , "teacher can I borrow one?", high school, college.  The list is endless.