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Final Concept Reflection

Tyler Bond 

The first thing that I learned in class that had an impact on the way that I think was from the poverty slides shown in class. I used to think that everyone that used food stamps and welfare were just lazy and didn’t want to work. I realize that the small town that I’m from is not the best representation for everywhere else. Where I’m from it is possible to work to make enough money to cover all of our expenses, but this isn’t the case everywhere else. I am currently able to work while being a college student and make enough to pay my truck payment and have enough money left over to have some fun with. But now I realize that being lazy and not working isn’t the case for everyone.

 The second thing that I learned from the lectures that had an impact on the way that I think was the marriage/family section and the TV shows we had to watch. In my small town people don’t tend to spend a ton of money on a wedding since most people get married at their church. I never had thought much about people spending lots of money on a wedding but from the TV shows we had in class, people do. I never would have imagined someone spending $5,000 on a dress to wear a few hours but apparently this is a common thing. 

My partner thought that it was good that the class opened my eyes to the possibility that not everyone on welfare is lazy and that not all weddings are “cheap” or inexpensive.         

Matie Bayer

The thing that I took away most from our lectures this year is from the love and relationships lesson. This is something that I always just viewed as a natural process and never thought that sociology had an impact on a person’s love life. This made me think of my parents and their relationship because they are almost polar opposites but have a great marriage and 4 children. I thought about why their relationship would work in terms of sociology and I realized that their proximity to each other (they met in high school) and their morals have a lot to do with why their relationship works. This also makes me think about my own relationship and how it has grown into something different as time passes. 

The second thing that I learned was from the documentary Growing Up Trans. This documentary really enlightened me on what it is like to grow up when you’re different from your peers. I grew up completely sheltered from anyone that was different than me and this is definitely something that opened up my eyes to the LGBTQ+ community. The fact that a child age 9 can know that they don’t belong in their own body just shows how badly someone who is transgender can be affected growing up. 

The partner that I had said that I had a good point about how morals has more to do with making a relationship work than having things in common, and also grew up in a family that was sheltered, and shocked that someone so young knows that they are transgender. 

Overall both of our perspectives and what we learned are the same and we both thought each of the ideas discussed above were brought to our attention due to being in the sociology class.  

Communicating about controversial things with people that have a different opinion than you can be complicated. In order to keep a conversation like that civil we need to learn how to see things from different perspectives. Sociology is a useful tool in doing this because it explains human behavior and how to handle it. It is so important to see things from all angles no matter what the topic is. 

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Concept Reflection 8

Intro to Sociology

Tyler Bond 

These ideas are related because people are spending lots of money on a wedding that has no physical value. People are spending lots of money on the “perfect” wedding and afterwards or during the wedding their lives are going to be far from perfect. In one of the shows I watched, Say yes to the dress, one woman was spent $10,000 on a dress to have the perfect wedding, but the groom showed up an hour late to the wedding.   

Technology and social media have impacted weddings in a big way. According to one on the articles, the “craze” where people are spending so much money on a wedding was started from Princess Diana’s wedding that was livestreamed on TV. She had a 25 foot long bottom on the dress and rode in a glass carriage, the article suggested that this led lots of other people to have big fancy weddings. I think another way that social media has impacted it is that people see other peoples fancy weddings on social media then feel obligated to try to make theirs just as good. 

The wedding industrial complex differs for different races, class, gender, and sexualities. It could be different for different races because one area with different racial proportions might have better or worse wedding venues that another area. It could differ for different classes because people of a higher class might be able to afford a nicer wedding venue than people of a lower class. It could differ for people of different genders because as a guy, if I had a wedding it would be in the country, however women might rather have it in a city. It could be different for people of different sexualities because the wedding venue may not host weddings for people that weren't heterosexual, one that is local to where I am from got in trouble because they wouldn’t host a gay wedding. 

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Concept Reflection 7

Tough Guise (Matie Bayer)

The causes of violence and how cultural ideas about manhood can contribute to interpersonal and relationship violence and how it shapes political culture. Also how films and ideas about masculinity have changed over the years due to things like the feminst and gay rights movements. Men have a perceived notion that without violence they can not meet up to the social standards of being a real man.

This movie can relate to many of the things that we have discussed this year. One that stands out to me is obviously the deviance and crime unit because it explains the acts of violence being committed. One term that stands out from the social stratification movement is intergenerational mobility. This is the social movement experienced by family members from one generation to the next. This is talked about in the documentary when referring to fathers and sons discussing how to become a man and giving off the wrong impression of masculinity. These fathers are unknowingly taking away the things that make a person a person and replace them with violent ideologies of masculinity.

People have no problem blaming women when women are going to the violence and that’s the same with people of color. Their gender or race becomes the forefront. But that’s not the case with men. I also never thought about the amount that white men commit suicude with a gun. This shows how much they are struggling internally and feel that there is no way out of the constant reminder of their role in society. 

I do agree with this movie's idea about the perception of gender and sexuality in this movie. This movie shows that instead of blaming society we try and blame everything else for the actions of people committing these horrific violent crimes. Instead of trying to adapt and change to a new society where people are treated equally, men are making up for their loss of power with violence and crimes. 

The Overarching theme between the two documentaries is that power plays a role in social standards. Media and politics are a very big influence on the way that people view gender and has continually progressed as the world is changing and accpeting new norms. In Tough Guise the role of men in society is discussed in relation to violence and power. Miss Representation shows how woman aren’t viewed the same as men especially when it comes to their physical apperance and their role in politics. Both of them try and explain why and how gender has come to play such a huge role in America. 

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Concept Reflection 6 Tyler Bond

I think the most problematic aspect of race relations is that it costs people jobs or opportunities. I don’ t think it is fair that someone that might be more qualified or knowledgeable should not be chosen to do something or be able to do something just because of race. I also think that this goes against my version of the “American Dream”, which to me is that if someone works hard enough, then they can do and have anything. The reason that it goes against my version of the “American Dream” is because someone that has worked very hard towards something might be deprived it just because they are a different race. 

In my words race based critical theory is that people are racist so that they can use their race as a strength over other races. 

The racial formation theory sticks out to me the most. I think the reason is that because it says that race is socially constructed and that it mentions that racial categories are determined by political forces. I don’t think that this could be anymore true. Race is definitely socially constructed, because we fail to point out and judge people by other differences, such as hair color. I think that if someone is racist because of color, why is skin color more important than hair color? Neither are. This just goes to show that its not the color, its that someone wants to show that they are better than someone else. Secondly, Race is a big topic when it comes to politics. Politics is basically what determines what race someone is. For example, when I have to fill out government paperwork such as my tax form, one of the questions is what race I am, and I have to pick one of the ones on the form that it says best describes me. It doesn't allow people to say they are part of another group, it has to be one that is on whatever paperwork I’m filling out.

Color blindness is where race doesn't affect someone's ability to do things or opportunities given. The problem with color blindness is that it can cover up racial inequality. So in other words, if someone was discriminated against, nobody would ever know about it. 

White normativity is where one race is advantaged more and usually the ones that have benefited from racism in the past, in our country, the USA, this would be the white race. The way that this relates to the host theory is that one group feels like the host to the other racial groups. In our country, the host would be the white race. The way that this ties into discussions of diversity is that it makes the host seem as if they are not racist, but they basically admit that they are because they are respecting people that are different. 

The above ideas tie into my problematic aspect opinion because I think that they explain why people are not given the same opportunities. Basically every one of the theory's that are above are what contribute to make the problematic aspect that I mentioned above where people should be given the same opportunity regardless of race.     

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Concept Reflection 5

In my model meritocracy the top 4 most highly paid positions would be healthcare professionals, farmers, water suppliers, and construction workers. The reason that I would rank them the highest is because both of them are the most essential things to the life that we live in America right now. Very, very, few people grow or raise all of their food that they need. Healthcare professionals are also at the top because they are really good to have, although they don’t provide one of the essential things like food and water, because they help save people that might not survive. People that are in charge of our water sources would also be at the top but I’m not sure what they are called. Since we need shelter to survive I would include this on the list, although I don’t think it should be as high as a farmer or doctor.

The people that I would rank in the middle are the people that provide things for the people mentioned above to be able to do their jobs, such as oil company workers since they provide the fuel needed for farmers to do their jobs.

The people that I would rank on the bottom would be things like actors, musicians, and authors. The reason being is that we don’t have to have them in order to survive. As people we don’t have to watch a movie to be able to survive, although it is very nice to be able to. 

The credentials that I think are the most important are being able to provide or help in the production of making the 3 essential things, food, water, or shelter along with being able to medically help people. 

The credentials in the middle would be all things needed to be able to do things in the highest rank.

The credentials in the lowest rank would be things such as singing, acting, or writing books. because they aren’t needed for people to survive. 

I think the reason that people in the United states support the social hierarchy is because we have to. People that are on the top are usually wealthy and they want to keep it that way. They set the standards for people that are below them because they are usually the ones that employ people, such as factory owners. People that are lower tier of the system have to work for the people in the top part of the system. People like to have power over others and being wealthy allows them to have power over others. Like a factory owner for example, they aren’t going to pay a worker more than they make, because it gives people on top to be able to control the people that are ranked lower than them in terms of pay.   

The Davis-Moore thesis explains why some people are paid more than others. Its reasoning for some people being paid more than others is that certain tasks and positions need certain people for the job, important positions in society require people with scarce talents or lots of training, and the most unique positions get paid the most. I completely agree with this and I think it is why it applies to the American Values. The reason that it applies to the American Values is because the people with the rarest jobs are some of the most highly paid people. For example, CEO’ s of companies are paid very well, but not just anyone is suited for the job of being a CEO. Its takes someone with lots of education, training, and experience in the right areas to become one. An example of this would be the CEO of General Motors, it would not be smart to put a production worker into the job of being the CEO of the company, instead someone is hired for the job that has a set of unique skills and training. The reason that it applies to the American Values is because it takes the right person to do the job at hand.    

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Intro to Sociology Blog 4

What I did for my experiment was to interrupt someone while they were talking or engaged in conversation. Over the course of a week I tried to interrupt people that I knew and was around. If I had to guess how many times I interrupted someone would be about 15 times. The exact process that I used was to wait for someone to start talking about something and ask a question. A few examples of what I asked would be when my mom and dad were having a conversation I interrupted to ask what was for supper, or when my roommate was working on homework with his friend I asked what time he wanted to go get supper. For the most part there were only two reactions. The first is when I asked they would give me a funny look and a quick response such as: We will go eat at 2:30. The second reaction was they would put it off until they finished their train of thought. An example would be when I was told: Hold on a second. I think that it suggests that violating a social norm such as interrupting someone that is talking is rude but not the end of the world. The only time that interrupting someone that is talking would be acceptable would be if there is an emergency or something similar.   

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Intro to Sociology Concept Reflection  3

I think Robbie’s problem was a mix of environmental and biological. Obviously from a young age he wasn’t “normal” for a kid with his outbursts, but I think that part could have been fixed by punishment. I know that when I was around that age I got a spanking if I said back talked or said something rude like he did in the episode, and to say the least I learned quickly to not do it anymore. I don’t recall what Robbie’s parents did to him as a punishment but I think that his out bursts at a young age could have been stopped by spanking him. I don’t think that they did the right thing by putting him in a mental hospital at age 4 or 5 because it think that it might have caused him to be mad at them when he eventually got to come back home. I also think that it showed him that his parents no longer could control him which led to the problems that occurred later. For example, when he put the pesticides in his step moms drink, his excuse was that it was just a joke and they let him get away with it which proved to him that they couldn’t an were not going to control him. The second thing that they should have did to prevent the actual shooting was that they should have got a judge to not allow him to own a gun. Families and law enforcement can get a judge to rule that someone should not be able to have a gun with enough evidence so support it. They had plenty of evidence to prove that he should not have been able to have a gun like his drawings, death threats, and the doctors and people that looked over him at the mental hospital. 

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Intro to Sociology Blog 1 

My name is Tyler Bond but I go by Tyler. I am from Floyd Va and currently enrolled in general engineering with plans of going into mechanical engineering. I am taking this course because some of my friends said it was an interesting class.