14 May. 2012

Ignorance is bliss eh, recent weeks really reminded me of just how grateful I ought to be of my parents. I mean everything I've owned in life, I've been handed to, either by them or whomever, but seeing people living on budget and/or minimum wage kind of made me feel ah, I dont know. I mean even my parents don't exactly put on white collars everyday but they make do and they've given me a chance for a hell of a lot better shot at life than say one of them poor kids whose school bus comes to pick them off motels cause they've got no homes.

A buddy of mine hates the so-called "rich kids" in our school, I think when she talks about them, shes less referring their wealth but more so in terms of their behavior. I like to nod along when she goes on about how obnoxious or judgmental or annoying or look-alike/act-alike some of those people are. I nod not because I genuinely believe that I hate "those" people, but because I like to think by denying a specific class or a certain characteristics of it, I'm better identifying myself with the particular class that "we" belong to (if that makes sense). When I saw them peoples working themselves up over seemingly minute matters like what brand of bread or grocery store should they have available to them, it wasn't too hard to relate to their struggle to identify.

"I think small (business) is beautiful, I think big is cancer" - whatsername

Class is everything, it's now apparently apparent, even here in America. It dictates everything from where you sleep to what you wear to what you eat. The whole concept really gets you fired up don't it, another buddy of mine is a genuine communist, now if only she were here in our class...

11 Apr. 2012

The people here are real something, I mean the general population of the classroom seemed to share certain values of open mindedness that in a stark contrast to what you'd expect from a well to do suburban town smack darn middle of a collar county.

In class, we've discussed the differences between sex and gender and of the roles in which the later is expected to take part. We've discussed the unforgiving nature of the 'boy box' and of the roles and streotypes the society insists us guys play. Apparently, the guys can either be one or the other, those who don't play the game are branded rejects and are much more prone to becoming victims of bullying or even suicide.

Back where I am from, the box is a lot tighter. For one, when a guy turns 18, he is drafted to serve in the military at least for two-three years. Not only is this service mandatory, it is encouraged and embraced by most of the public. My dad served his years and so did all his buddies. With many good reasons, some money and lots of paperwork, one can technically avoid serving, but those that do basically become some sort of social pariahs. While I was there, I never wanted serve but I never admitted so because I was afraid that my peers, teachers, parents and whatnot would think me gutless. I mean I had my reasons to thank and love my country but not enough to risk my neck in for you know? I don't know.

A question came up, "would you let your boy wear a dress?" I said no, I mean the world knows I ain't exactly the man's man but there are lines, whether societal or otherwise. Even if the society in the future successfully were to have taken steps towards favoring a blurred division in gender expectations and to the point where this boy would not be made fun of for wearing as such, I can't imagine me letting my boy wear a dress.

Funny how when I'm pushing the box I'm easy to justify myself but when my hypothetical son is hypothetically doing it, I can't.

I'm going to make a great dad.

I'm making you because I love you, my little Inita.

23 Mar. 2012

If I had to choose one, I'd honestly have to say that media was probably the most influential agent of socialization in shaping the self I am today. Growing up, I was constantly moving, friends came and went and I never got to make too many of them or at least in the same place whilst dear mum and dad adopted the most particular philosophy of "let-him-live-his-life-it's-his-life-and-not-ours-to-(re)live" this left me in somewhat of a hands off environment. I think that media filled some of the gaps, sometimes a good read, song and shows stays with you longer than does people. I watched lots of TV growing up, scoobie doo taught me english.

Media is a socializing agent a bit harder to put your finger on to think about I think, mostly because it's something you can't touch. For one, were I to change a part of who I am in order to 'fit in' with a 'new crew', I'd feel a bit guilty about myself for giving in and sacrificing that aspect of me, yet something like media is so broad and subliminal and everywhere that it influences you without you knowing that it's influencing you, I think that's the point. There is no guilt, because you think your tastes are original, yet the senses with which you taste is an artificial construct itself pieced together by mediatic dogma.

Five dollar words are cheap, there is a point in there somewhere.

I picked up the word dogma from a song I heard yesternight.

 

26 Feb. 2012

I moved here from good Korea looking for better life and opportunities in around that summer of 03, or maybe 04 somewhere around when Katrina hit and Green Day was big (huh, how the time flies when your having fun). I still remember the day I got here off O'hare, the monkey inside my head went dookie when I walked in to that walgreens store and saw just how many full shelves there were. White people and black people and brown people slurring out something obnoxious that I swear to god sounded something like 'blah bitty blah bitty Mcblah". English still has a strange taste to it.

Yet despite the fact that everything from was completely alien, settling in wasn't all that you'd make it out to be. I felt as if the differences in language, culture and values were but superficial and that in the end, people were just people. Maybe it was because I was younger and was still molding, or perhapes the experience was the evidence and testimony to just how deep the American influence have rooted itself globally.

I don't know. Blogging is tough.

17 Feb. 2012

In class, we've discussed three different sociological theories, conflict, structural functionalism and symbolic interactionalism; these theories help analyze societies from a sociological point of view. In class, we've briefed on facebook and how the theories apply in understanding it's world and the way it functions. Similarily, with the help of our very own box TV, we've watched a pilot episode of an older show called the 'Freaks and Geeks' and applied the mentioned theories in a fictional high school setting.

But what of a real high school setting, what about that of our own. As expected of all communites, I think we too have formed a society in which can be explored through a sociological lense.

On conflict and power alone we live under layers of various struggling classes both manifest and latent in origin. Perhaps the most obvious of these cases is the student/teacher conflict, while the opposing parties are intended to work together to learn and educate, things don't always go as smoothly as they should as the individuals of the parties may have conflicting private interests. Like how in some classes the students pack and line up next to the door few minutes before the bell while the lecture is still being given.

Another everyday case is the student/student conflict. Whenever we have to form groups or partner up for a upcoming activity, the more 'smarter' and 'popular' kids are most likely to be picked first while us poor leftovers are abandonded to huddle off in the side with nothing but the shirts on our backs and the tears on our eyes. Conflict is here in our school as much as it were in Mckinley's.

It's interesting if not neat to see these theories in work and in application beyond just on paper.

I wish I was smart and popular, someday. I'm still an optimist but it is hard.



5 Feb. 2012

I like that, that things are never just the way they are, that we make things so. I used to tell people that, whenever some wiseup started complaining about how the world is a mess, I'd go and say something along the lines of, there is no world, the world is you, go and do something about it, but then again, I never did anything about anything myself so I guess that makes that.

In class, we had a game called lifeboat, some dozen of us volunteered to roleplay various characters stranded in a overcrowded life boat after a shipwreck. The point of the game was to slim the boat by throwing overboard half the ill fated passengers. Things went south as people started dropping, It was funny (not funny funny), one of the character was fat and people voted her off almost instantly "get the fat kid", lord of the flies much? I played an ex-football player and a husband, and in the end, I barely managed to stay in by leeching myself to my wife and not voting anyone off in the hopes that in turn, they won't me. Once I felt pretty settled in, I preached something about being reasonable and rainbows but I don't think anyone heard me. It was nice (not nice nice) to see the kind of things that people valued in a pretend life-death situation.

The theme of this week seemed to be about our growing dependency on technology and the effect of this change on us both as a society and as individuals. Despite the attempt given to make the subject as much as objective as possible, I think it landed on us with a negative if not sarcastic undertone. I think technology is what you make of it, Sony dosen't make TVs to make people lazy, it's people that turns people into couch potatoes. If we want to embrace values like family time and goodnight moon, I think it's rather irrelevant whether or not we have one or five TV sets, we ought to man up and look in ourselves for answers rather than pointing our fingers outwards.

Life is great, I want coffee, wait coffee is bad. I feel blah.

29 Jan. 2012

Sociology is fine, although it does get pretty intense from time to time, like when we took that guilt trip by sharing out loud some of the stereotypes we've heard before, that shook me inside.

In class, we had an activity in which we were to judge three individuals in vague words entirely upon their looks and for some of us, first impressions. This was hard for me, because we were forced to admit our judgements. We pass judgements everyday but admitting that we do is something that we don't, it's passive but lethal in that it dictates much of how we perceive others. I think it was rather productive in how we addressed this subject of judgements.

We also talked about vulnerability and how we attempt to mask our inner selves because we fear rejection. In a video clip we watched, Ms. Brown taught us that only in embracement of our own vulnerability can we truly love and be loved.

Through admitting our judgements, sharing certain stereotypes and learning about vulnerability the class seemed in unison that we must reach out and no longer rely on judgements and looks in understanding each other.

Personally, I agree and I don't. I don't because I think judgements are built in us for reasons beyond simple convenience. I have witnessed various cases in which judgements either I or others have passed landed somewhat true, like when we judged the three students, most of the words we've chosen for the selected individuals ended up being the words the individuals have chosen for themselves. Or when in passing certain racial stereotypes, myself being asian, I do not yet own a driver's license and my parents have previously owned a dry cleaners, and it's somewhat true that some asians are smart in that despite being a minority, they graduate colleges faster than any other demographics in the United States. I don't believe that judgements are in nature, evil, or that they are the root of all social problems. The problems lies in a deeper/darker places; personal, social, economic, political, racial...

I for one don't own a drivers license because my greencard isn't out yet and my dad owned a dry cleaners because the state of Illinois did not acknowledge his former degrees and licenses which allowed him to do what he do best, fix cars, because they were of foreign origin. In this case, the problem wasn't our lack of skill, but in our social and political statuses.

I do agree because judgements arn't all that helpful in understanding a person, they're vague, abstract and usually refers to a certain group of people. I'd think a person who owns a dry cleaners is poorly educated, but my dad went to four years of college and more. Although in this case, an asian person did own a dry cleaners, who cares, it wasn't for the reasons you'd think. Every individual has their own reasons and excuses and it's certainly unhealthy for one to rely on judgements alone in understanding a person.

Likewise, it's foolish to pretend these things don't exist and ignore them. We make judgements because it's our nature. We never see the world, we judge the world and there's nothing wrong with it. People are subjective creatures, we can't help our selves.

As for everything, one must find a middle path.

I think wrote too much, I hope I made sense, my head hurts, I'm tired, I'm gonna go catch a cup of a coffee, straight up black, yeah this guy.