Final Blog

Upon reviewing my beginning of the semester blog about who i am, i realized some critical flaws regarding my definiton of myself. First of all, i started defining myself with the fact that i am an athlete; i presented that information as the most important compontent of who i am. Althought it is a very important part of who i am, it is by no means the most important. I realize now through sociology how much more of an impact my family and friends have made on my life, and that i wouldnt even be in sports if it wasnt for them. I also realize i didnt even mention academics in my first blog, and that is what my whole future is based upon. Let me repost the definition of myself with my newfound knowledge of sociology.

I'm Matt and this is my first blog ever. I physically do many things that contribute to the person i am today, but nothing defines me better than my family. Ill start with my dad, who is the biggest influence in my life. My dads dad died when he was 13 years old of an illness, and my father remembers feeling helpless. From then on, he dedicated his life to medicine and is now a very successful surgeon. In addition to that, he stays in brillinat shape and eats healthy. My dad is my biggest role model because of his tireless work ethic and his continuous hunger for knowledge. He has inspired me to be the best i can, to excel in both academics and sports. Getting into U of I engineering was the pinnicle of my academic life, and he coulndt have been more proud. He leads the life i want to live, and has been the most important person in my development. I also have two siblings, a sister and a brother, who are both athletic. Without them, i wonder if i develop into the athlete i am today. Their involvement in sports only encouraged my involvement in sports, and today i am a starting catcher on the varsity baseball team, a position i have worked my whole life for. Sports in general have contributed to my character because of the constant exposure to failure. No weak man can make a living playing sports, and it has taught me many lessons about failure and success as well. My family- not my class, my race, my status or my religion- has shaped me into the person i am today. Of course, there are several other minor factors that have built me, but nothing more important.

Mixed Blood

The mixed blood article was a unique account of race in the world. The author contended that race itself does not exist, its just something people create to organize us all into groups. As Americans, it seems obvious that race is a concrete thing, skin color, and how can something that clear not exist? Race is more about the perceptions of people based on their skin color than their actual skin color. And because it is all perception, the actual thing does not exist. For example, someone who may look white can very well be black, if a parent was. According to our society, the offspring of any couple where one of the parents is black is automatically black. Even if the dark skin was recessive and the baby appears white, the baby is still technically black. However, society will not treat this child as a black person, because it does not appear so. If race was truly only skin color, perceptions would not matter. 

Race is different all across the globe. In Brazil there are many different categorizations of people based on much more than skin tone. Brazillians take into account eye color, hair color, body stature as well as skin tone. So, its possible to leave America one race and arrive in Brazil a different one. Race is fabricated to make it easy for Americans to distinguish people, but really it tears us apart.

Crash

This week was the first time i had ever seen the movie crash, and it really laid an impression on me. Its all about different accounts of everday racism, profiling and discrimination. Its amazing how much horrible action goes on everyday, but the ironic part is some of the worst crimes are committed by people who dont claim to be racist. The best example of this from the movie is when the off duty cop picks up the black guy as a hitch hiker, which is something a racist would never do. However, his implicit feelings take over and he cant avoid having hostile and cynical feelings about this man. He ends up shooting him dead because the cop thought the man was reaching for a gun out of his pocket, when in reality he was reaching for his st christopher amulet to relate to the white man. In lincolnshire we are not really exposed to this kind of overt racism, but we know it exists. The movie provided us with a visual, an alarming one at that. overall i liked the movie, even tho i missed day 1.

30 days in minimum wage

Morgan Spurlock has a lot of courage to do all the things he does. He experiances what average americans go through every day, from prision to minimum wage. His show has no strigs attached- he pretty much leaves his real, successful life behind him in every way and ventures out into the world to experiance things in a genuine fashion. I always figured it would be hard to survive on minimum wage, especially if there is more than one person in a household, but the extent that Spurlock went to to save money was astounding. His fiancee walking to work every day to save on bus money, eating rice and beans every day, and passing on a 6.50 conservatory ticket are little things that he had to go through. And he did it for just thirty days. Imagine an entire year, or an entire lifetime trying to save money, living paycheck to paycheck. I know we are blessed here in Lake County, but its really eye opening to see (almost) first hand what a minimum wage life is like.

Those poor people

The video in class has really opened my eyes to a less fortunate America that I am not exposed to in any way at all. All my life i have been very priviledged to grow up in the area that i live with the family that i have, with no dysfunction at all. It is very eye opening to see these families in trailors struggling to get by on a Burger King salary, without even a car to get u there. Its a shame because these people are in fact hardworking, and they dont know any way else to make a living, in part because of a lack of education (which might not have been their fault) or a lack of support. And the number of people living like this is greater than the number of people living like us. Poor/working class America is something i have no exposure to, because i have been sheltered my whole life in a very blessed neighborhood. The community service project and this video has deepend my exposure and my understanding of these people, even if it is to a smaller degree.

Deviance

Society is too proper. Way too proper. Not just in Lincolnshire, but in general. So much of society is based on image that people change their normal behavior just so they are perceived in a certain way. For example, I was reading an article in ESPN The Magazine about Alex Rodriguez discussing how obsessed with his own image. The author mentions how he went to dinner with Rodriguez, and Rodriguez ordered his meal based on how the reporter would perceive it, and not what he actually wanted to eat. That is very deviant. Its not normal. Its weird. Its all because society has these boundries on normalcy and ARod doesnt want to do anything that could ruin his reputation to the extent of ordering a different meal. This is ironic because that in itself is weird and makes people think ARod is a nutcase. He is. 

But this offense isnt that serious at all. So what if ARod orders a normal meal when he wants something weird, its not against the law. Society goes to the length of making extremely deviant behavior against the law, and can make u do seriuos time if you are caught in the act. Its stupid. Im not necessarily saying all laws are stupid, because many are necessary. But just because Illinois thinks marijuana is deviant they can have a state wide ban on it while in California just a short 1500 miles away its 100% legal (for medicine). None of it makes sense. Have some uniform laws and let people decide their own fate. 

Gender

I'll start by sayin this is last weeks blog, sorry sal for not bloggin. Last week the primary focus in class was on gender. We talked about different roles and characteristics of the two different genders as perceived by society, and many of the girls were outraged. The characteristics list for females seemed insulting, listing unintelligence, passiveness, physical weakness, among others. Males on the other hand were listed as dominant, competitive, primary breadwinner, intelligent and creative. Needless to say this made girls in the class angry while the guys in the class were demonstrating their competitive nature (because they seemed to win the gender battle on paper) by shouting praise. This list is no doubt controversial, but it is at least fairly accurate. It would probably be more accurate in the 50's, with the classic stay at home mom taking care of the children while the father was working. Fifty years ago, not many women challenged their apparent duties as a women and did different things. It wasnt necessary to have a proper education, or to be decesive or to have a job. But now, more and more women are changing their roles in society and becoming more career oriented instead of being family oriented. Roles for males has not changed much. Still today, as with 50 years ago, men want to be the primary source of income for their families and support them. Its a sign of worth and importance that no man wants to give up.