Sociology at a softball game!

Playing six games this week, I got to see lots of different types of  fans. And let me just say that they are all completely different! Particularly on Friday at our Awareness game. Both teams came together and played to raise money for the Susan G. Komen fund. We had a great deal of cooperation involved among both teams and parents in order to make the game run smoothly and have fun at the same time. A lot of fans came out to show their support and it was really great to see. However, during one of the later innings of the game, there was a play that was made, and the umpire made his call and our coach did not agree. Because of the call, my coach felt the need to defend us and go appeal the call. As soon as she did this, a father of one of the players from the other team became pretty much outraged. He was yelling at our  coach to sit down and shut up and just showing a great deal of disrespect towards her. At this point in the game, we were winning by quite a few runs already and maybe the call did not need to be appealed, but our coach was only doing so to defend our team. It was obvious that both teams and parents and coaches all valued winning just as much as the other, but some took it to drastic measures. I found similarities between the father and my coach because they both valued standing up for themselves and their team because they both wanted to win equally bad. The father just took it a bit too far. As well as their values, the father clearly knew right from wrong and set an example for all the other parents there. Everyone else clearly thought that the dad was a bit out of control and needed to just calm down and be quiet, and instead of telling him to do so, they instead did not mimic his actions, and saw him as a perfect example of how NOT to act. Minus, the one incident, the fundraiser was successful and we all had a good time, with the exception of one poor father....

Sociology at a Sox game!

On Sunday I went with a friend to the Sox game and we had a pretty eventful time to say the least. At the beginning of the game, there were three boys that looked to be about freshmen in college and they thought it'd be a good idea to bring their own cans of beer into the stadium when that is strictly prohibited and they were not even old enough to drink yet. The boys knew that they were breaking the rules of the stadium as well as the law.The security guards immediately came down to the kids and they were escorted out. Later on there were a couple more groups of trouble makers that were also asked to leave by the security guards. Watching the security guards, I could see that they valued doing their job and keeping the stadium as peaceful and calm as possible. They were harsh when they needed to be, but they valued doing their job to the best of their ability in an effort to make the game as enjoyable as possible for everyone else that was there. The other sociology moment I had during the game was when I was during the seventh inning when a woman sung God Bless America. There were four older men sitting behind us, probably about in their forties. One was an ex marine core by the way. In front of us sat 4 Hispanic boys, two were 21 or older and the other two looked about 17 or 18. During the song, everyone stood in order to show respect, however, the boys didn't. Instead, they sat down and began to curse saying eff this country and so on. The older men asked them to please be respectful and silent during this time if they were not going to stand. The boys took major offense and began to start a fight. One thing led to another and eventually the boys were escorted out of the park as well. It was obvious, because we were basically in the middle of all of this, that the boys had no respect for elders, nor for the country that they currently were living in. Their morals were much different then everyone around them and this caused a major conflict. I guess everyone has their own opinions, but there is definitely a time and a place to voice those opinions, and that was not the time. My time at the Sox game was great, minus the fights. It also gave me lots to talk about and I got to see plenty of sociology in action :)

prom assembly

Today's prom assembly was a pretty good picture of sociology. A lot of norms were to be followed in order for it to run smoothly and it ended up going well. All the students had to realize when it was time to be quiet in order to give the speakers a chance to be heard. Along with the speakers, students had to cooperate when it came to filling out the ballots for prom court. In order to signify that we were done filling out our selections, we had to raise our ballets in the air for them to be collected. Being upperclassman, we all know our limits and what is expected of our behavior at assemblies. Cooperation was essential as a group and surprisingly it happened. During the guest speaker, everyone quieted down to show respect and be attentive to what she was saying. Everyone did what was expected of them and was never rude and interrupted her. Students were respectul and abided by the norms that were apparent and we all allowed the assembly to run smoothly. Finally, at the end of the assembly, we knew the order we had to leave and we filed out by sections and no one went when they weren't suppossed to. The main part of sociology that I saw today was conformity and cooperation. Everyone acted respectfully and in an organized matter in order to accomplish a successful assembly.

prom...

So I can definitely not wait until this prom drama is over! It's really getting obnoxious at this point and even the parents are getting too involved. I saw a ton of sociology this past week with buying prom/after prom tickets, and with signing up for tables. Some girls were just so catty it was mean girls 100%. If you are not in their in-group, you can NOT sit with them. It's like breaking a law to even write your name down at their table. Secondly, there was parents going psycho over after prom tickets. They were so concerned with their kid getting into after prom and they will do anything to see that it happens. There are parents literally calling the moms in charge of after proms that are willing to pay more than the original price to get their child onto a bus going to after prom. To me, I remembered all of the parenting styles and customs we have previously discussed and I thought about what American parents would do, as opposed to the Chinese woman who was very strict on her children. To her, after prom would not even be a question, it would be an automatic no. Finally, I saw sociology when I went to peaches to look for a prom dress. There was pretty much a pecking order and they were very judgmental there, I was actually pretty shocked. I went with a friend, and she had her phone out while we were looking at dresses and a lady came up to her and told her that if she would like to be on her phone, she must go in the designated area, and not while she is on the floor looking at dresses. I saw other people with their phones too and it was almost a taboo to be on their phone, and it was really frowned upon. Another folkway that I saw was like if you were to wear or try on a shorter dress for prom, they didn't really approve or understand. In their eyes they thought that if you were going to prom you needed a nice fancy longer dress instead of shorter cute one, and when I chose a short one, they didn't really care as much to service me or help me out and I was pretty shocked by that. I am just looking forward to how much sociology will be seen at actual prom and in the upcoming two weeks, it should be interesting to say the least!

final week before much needed SB.

This week has been kind of crazy for me, but maybe it's just cause I am so anxious for a much needed week off from school. Not a whole lot went on this week but I found myself in a lot of situations where I was thinking what if someone were to do this, or say this, in a situation where it wouldn't be likely or expected. So pretty much breaking social norms or folkways. On wego thru the tube last friday, there was a  perfect example of a folkway being broken by some kid walking around with a horse mask and scaring people. That is definitely not something you'd expect on a daily basis, and not a norm whatsoever. The past couple days, the temperature has dropped, unfortunately and many girls continue to still see those two days of sixty degree weather, as opportunities to wear shorts and mini skirts.... When I see that, not gonna lie, I tend to think like what the heck are they thinking? I understand a tank-top with jeans as long as there is a sweater worn with it too, but shorts when its like 35 degrees? I see that as breaking a norm. It may not stand out as much but it definitely could still be classified as that. Finally, my last example that I witnessed this week was actually today on my way to a pitching lesson. Now I am not completely sure if there was a reason as to why this person was doing this, but they were driving in their car and wearing a bike helmet. I can honestly say that I have not seen that in my life before and maybe it's just for extra safety? Who knows, but it's definitely a folkway and not something you see everyday. Not too mention it was completely hysterical and made my day :)

:(

This week has been pretty hectic and depressing for many kids in our school. I chose to pick out where I saw sociology when kids came together to remember Daniel Fulmer. I personally did not know him and I know many other people that can say the same. The other day at the beginning of tenth hour, there was a moment of silence to remember him that took place in senior hall. The hall was completely filled with students. Once again, I didn't personally know him, but I was aware of the pain and suffering that others were experiencing because of the loss, and I paid my respects because of that. Everyone who showed up was definitely abiding by the social norms that were expected. In this type of situation, I did not expect to see anyone breaking any norms or folkways because it was such a serious matter. Everyone cooperated and came together and were quiet and showed the respect that was necessary during that time. Yesterday was the wake for Daniel Fulmer and I saw most of the kids that attended on my way back to school in the afternoon. Everyone was abiding to another social norm of dress code. No one was wearing flashy outrageous outfits, they all wore pretty conservative outfits, mostly black, and nothing too eye-catching. These type of events take place pretty often with other people and personally I have been to many wakes and funerals. I know that there are definitely some important social norms that are in place and I feel personally that to break them, it would be disrespectful and rude. I believe that these social norms should not be broken and that is exactly why we have them in place for events such as these.

this crazy week in society

I feel like the more I learn about society in our class, the more I begin to see it within everyday life. Which is good cause it means that I am actually learning things and applying them. This past weekend I went to Illinois State University to watch the class 4A shooting competition as well as the girls state championship games. For the Bolingbrook vs. Zion-Benton game, the Zion-Benton team had a very large squad supporting their team. For their squad, they had a set of norms. The norms seemed to me like the dress code. Faces were painted, designed shirts, crazy outfits, but all for the common purpose of showing support to their team and school. The squad new their limits to what cheers they could do and how they could act in a public facility with lots of security. They still had to maintain themselves and be respectful to the facility and others that were trying to watch the game as well. I think that to others, their outfits may have been breaking folkways. There were girls wearing short-shorts, and it's winter time, with cut off shirts. This of course was a special occasion but it still is not a typical outfit that teenage girls wear in the winter time. Another folkway was that at half time the squad blew up beach balls and started hitting them around, however, this was not allowed and security was there to break it up right away. Because of the security getting involved I was reconsidering calling it a folkway and maybe giving it a little more serious term. I saw one particular instance where a girl did not stand up and cheer with the rest of the squad because she was busy texting, even though she was sitting amongst them, and a boy nearby who was in the squad actually called her out on it. This to me seemed like she was breaking a folkway within their squad. She knew that she should be standing up and supporting, like the rest of the students, but instead she did otherwise. All in all, I feel like the squad and the fans at the games and competition were a pretty good look at norms and groups for what we have been discussing.

Representations of America

Money- I believe that this represents American society better than anything else. No matter what your status is or how you are seen by others, money is always obsessed over and important to everyone. This symbolizes how materialistic our culture is and that we rely on money to get us where we want to go in life. It can also be seen as somewhat of a motivation to be successful. The more successful you are, the more money you get, and that is the reason we have successful corporations and industries in our country today. Other countries view us as a rich and powerful country and they are right because without money, I don't really know what else we would have to obsess over besides Justin Bieber and the Kardashians.

Diversity- I believe that when others think about America, they think about it as a melting pot. Many people of different ethnicity's have all come to this country for opportunity, and because of this, we have become one of the most diverse countries in the world. Each group has brought their own culture and traditions and therefore we have a large variety of different walks of life within our 50 states.

Fast Food -Fast pace. These fast food restaurants have done a lot for our country, good and bad. On the downside, they have been the basis for our country's obesity problem, meanwhile they are some of the leading corporations in the world that were born in America. The word 'fast' not only represents the quickness of receiving our food, it represents our country's pace as well. We are always in a hurry and never make the time to sit down for a family  meal and always resort to food places such as these. 

Technology- I truly believe that our country has lost our ability to socialize face to face and if we were to be stripped of our technology, our relationships with others would take a major downward turn. Our country has become so reliant on technology to do the work for us. We are always looking for the next best thing, as well as ways to spread new trends quickly and what better way than facebook or twitter. As our technology advances, so does our society, and sooner or later I think we will reach the point where we may not even talk normally, solely through technology.

Media & Sex- The two words combined, along with money, are probably the best words to describe our culture and society. Sex sells in our country, the less clothes, the better. We have become so enveloped in the media and the newest happenings that we don't really even care what is going on in our own lives. Between Charlie Sheen and Jersey Shore, there is never a shortage of drama or events to take our mind off our own lives and get sucked into those of other peoples. We are known for producing phenomenons constantly and people that can represent our country and what we are all about. Which is mainly sex. Even the most innocent, end up being labeled as sex symbols. Look at Miley Cyrus. No one ever thought she would get to where she is at, but as of lately she's been busted for partying too much and smoking weed. It just goes to show that our culture has a huge impact on many people and it's mainly because of sex and the media.

Norms in society

So today I went down to ISU to watch the final rounds of the three point shooting competition for girls basketball because one of my teammates was competing and I saw a couple connections to what we have been talking about recently in class. There was over sixty girls competing and I saw a lot of conflict involved where there were competing amongst each other for the final four spots. I also saw cooperation among the group of people that volunteered to work the event. They had to communicate well with each other in order for everything to run orderly and smoothly. I saw many different groups of people and a lot of it seemed to me like in and out groups. Many of the girls that were competing, brought someone with them whether it was other players on their team, their coach, or family and friends, but either way, that seemed to be their in group. Most of the groups weren't necessarily hostile towards those that were not in their group, but they weren't all the friendliest people. Another example that I saw was that even though the groups were not all buddy-buddy with each other, they still abided by the norms of society. In the arena no one was acting crazy and doing outrageous things. Of course they would cheer for their favorite shooter or show support in that way, but everyone knew that there was a limit to the cheering and what was expected of their behavior. Finally, I was with my basketball team most of the day, which I considered a secondary group and we had to have a lot of cooperation throughout our trip. We had to communicate and come to a decision on where we wanted to stop for dinner, as well as when we wanted to make pitt stops on our way their and back. All in all, I saw probably the most examples of groups and behaviors in one day then I think I would have on a normal day at school or on the weekend. It was nice to actually see real life examples of what we have been talking about instead of just taking notes and learning about these concepts. It was a success!

snow disaster!

So the main event of the week was clearly the snow storm. I couldn't think of much else to write about considering it determined pretty much my entire week. The storm caused a major period of upheaval and it took many different aspects of society to return back to normal after the event occurred. First off, clearly the snow plow companies as well as the tow truck companies, played a large roll in helping relieve many people who were caught in the midst of the storm and became helpless. Besides the obvious, I thought about how schools and teachers, as well as businesses were going to recover after this storm. No one expected it to be as bad as it was, yet there still was some major after effects.
Teachers and schools barely ever cancel a day, and if they do, they have to have a very good reason. This epic snow storm gave them one. I thought about how their lesson plans are figured out a week or even weeks in advance so that they have ideas laid out for the week and they have pretty much a game plan. Because of the unexpected two days off, their game plan was messed up. They were forced to either put things on hold, or come up with something new. Either way, things did not go accordingly. The same goes for businesses. Some businesses may have had major meetings of plans to discuss businesses deals within those two days where they were unable to go through with it and put in a somewhat binding situation. In those two days, what if the companies they were planning to make a deal with, changed their minds? Anything could have happened and they would have had to pay the price. Eventually all teachers and schools, and businesses too, returned back to normal. But in the mean time it just seemed like a huge issue and it took many efforts from many different aspects of society to return back to normal.

Martineau's thoughts on society.

After learning a lot about some of these famous sociologists, it's obvious that they would all have different takes on events that have occurred in our society. One particular aspect of our society that some of these sociologists might feel strongly about, would be how women are portrayed as sex symbols in the media. In the society we have created today, advertisers realize that sex sells. However, they resort to women to be sex symbols and bring in the money. In magazines, on commercials, billboards and pretty much every other type of advertising, women are degraded to nothing more than a way to catch the eye of the American people and persuade them into buying that particular good or using that service. This has become an epidemic and in my eyes, I don't see an end to it anytime soon. If Harriet Martineau were to see these ads, she would be appalled. As the founding mother of sociology, Martineau's main beliefs were related to feminism and those are the ideas which she is most famous and recognized for. After studying Martineau and learning quite a bit about her, I have a pretty good idea as to how she would react to this epidemic. Martineau would undoubtedly take a stand and fight for women to be seen as strong individuals rather than half naked girls trying to sell a product or service for a company. Advertisements using women to sell, may never come to an end, but she would fight for it the best she could.
Another part of our society that is problematic and an issue that Martineau would also fight for, is how women are paid less than men in the workplace. If a woman and a man are just as qualified for a job, yet the man receives higher pay than the woman, a problem arises. Harriet Martineau wants women to be respected in society and treated just as equally. Although she would be very happy that the women can even be employed and hold steady jobs and get paid, she still wouldn't settle if she knew that the women weren't getting paid as much as the men.Overall, until women are portrayed as strong, powerful individuals with the same rights and privileges as men, Martineau will not settle.

Who I am.

To many different people, I am viewed in many different ways. I have been influenced by many experiences and people as I have grown up and that has definitely impacted who I am today. I am a competitor and I love it. I have grown up with two older siblings and therefore have been around sports my entire life. Sports are my passion and that has created that competitive nature that I possess. I am also very opinionated yet open minded at the same time. My dad is a very stubborn and opinionated person and I have always taken after him in terms of standing behind my beliefs and ideas regardless of whether others agree or disagree. I have grown out of my stubborn ways quite a bit and have been much more open minded to ideas of others. I love to talk to people and hear what they have to say and allow their ideas to possibly work with my own and make something better because of it. I also love helping others. I hate to see other people fall behind and because of this I do what I can to help them. Finally, I'm probably one of the hardest working people you will ever meet. Occasionally I allow myself to be lazy, but knowing that I have wasted time doing nothing when I could be doing something to make myself better at something or being productive, bothers me and that's why I don't do it a lot.
I have a ton of goals set for myself. Probably too many. I really know what I want out of life and I want to be successful and because of this desire, I have quite a few goals. I have different goals for each aspect of my life between sports, school, family, etc. If I'm not setting a goal that doesn't push me to do better and be better, then that goal is not good enough. I have accomplished many goals throughout high school so far and I don't like to think about the future too much, but that is ultimately what my goals are set up for. Each one is set to make me better and more prepared for my future. Some goals I have for the rest of this year is to finish out this year strong academically and get A's in all of my classes. For sports, I want to get all conference and win conference for basketball. As well as go for a regional title. In softball I want to win conference for my senior year and finally win a sectional championship. I also want to make the first team all state.  For summer softball, my plans are to use that time to gets as prepared as I can for DePaul and go try and defend our national title. As I go on to college my goal is to succeed and do the best that I possibly can. I think that the way I am, allows me to set such high goals and have such a need to get the most out of everything I do. I love to do well and see others do well too :)