Week 10 Social Change

Out of the 23 classes I have taken at De Anza, this class is definitely a class that has impacted my life and way of thinking. I will continue to use what I learned in this class this quarter to better myself and the people around. One of the most important things I have learned from this class to be sociologically mindful of everything going on around me.

Learning how to be sociologically mindful of everything and everyone gives you the ability to understand that not everything is what it seems. For example I feel that now I have the skills and knowledge to understand that everyone has a different situation and not everyone has an equal chance of meeting the same goal. I have also learned that the reasons these people may not have an equal chance of meeting a certain goal is not because of the person they are but because of the resources that are available to them. I believe this is a very important lesson to learn because people often have the misconception that everyone has an equal chance at success.

Another thing I have learned from this class is the concept of reading indexes. I never realized how a small action could have so much meaning and effect society as a whole. Knowing this allowed me to think about all the small actions the people around me do that effect everyone in the larger picture, such as smoking. I learned that smoking is not just personal choice because it effects everyone who comes in contact with the person who has made the personal choice to smoke.

I hope that with the knowledge I have gained from this class and all the readings we did that I can better myself as a person that can then better the people around them and make progress to society. Just by me being more aware and sociological of the things around me I will be making a difference to society. Change always starts with one person's action being different than everyone elses' around them.

T.O.U.C.Ch. Update

I did all of my T.O.U.C.Ch. community service hours during the first half of the quarter but I did only posted one blog. Therefore I thought I should post another blog as a follow up of how I felt about my experiences with the kids in Watsonville.
First of all I went to the Calabasas Elementary School five times and each time was more interesting than the last. I really enjoyed the last few times I went because the kids began to recognize me and each time they became more comfortable with me and I found it easier to get them to cooperate with me to help them out.

On one of trips I worked with two young boys in the fourth grade with their math homework and then reading. I realized while working with them that they the kids are exhausted by the time school is over and it is really hard for them to be serious and concentrate on their present assignment. After noticing this I tried to make the assignment more fun to do by talking to them like a "kid". Instead of seeming serious and authoritative like their teacher usually are I tried to joke around with them just to losen them up bit. After they had a few laughs I found that it was easier to get them to think about the question they were working on and it was easier to get them to work together to figure out the solution.

After all the hours I spent at Calabasas Elementary School I learned that these students have all the same capabilities as other students. They just need someone to understand their situation and help them overcome their fears of working on a problem and getting it wrong or reading a book and not being able to pronounce some of the words. I learned that if you can be understanding of these kids they tend to appreaciate your help more and they gain more from your prescense. Working with T.O.U.C.Ch. is definitely an experience that has impacted me for the better.

Week 8 Gender

I am a female and therefore fall in the female gender category. I would say that I am attached to my assigned gender because I follow many of the gender rules for females. I wear "girl" clothes, I wear makeup, I pluck my eyebrows, I shave my legs, and so on. These are some of the simple actions that help solidify my gender so that there are never any doubts as to what gender I am. Apart from doing these things I do also do some things that are not considered "lady-like". For examples I have always loved climbing fences and jumping off swings. These usually actions associated with boys. Also I tend to talk like a guy, which means that I speak pretty bluntly. (So I have been told.) Although I wear "girl" clothes I wear all types. I will not always be in a dress or skirt, I will most likely be in jeans and a t-shirt and converse.

There are advantages and disadvantages to being a male or female. In addition the advantages could be described as disadvantages and the disadvantages could be described as advantages. For example one of the advantages of being a female is that people tend to be kinder towards you, they open doors for you, they have more sympathy for you, and there is always that rule, "ladies first". Some of these can be seen as advantages but they can also be seen as disadvantages. They can be seen as numerous ways that woman are treated like delicate creatures rather than the independent people they are, just like men.

One of the biggest disadvantages of being a female is having to be aware of your surroundings all the time. In general everyone should be aware of there surroundings, but females must be extra careful because they tend to be victims of violent crimes more often than males. Therefore if I were born a male the biggest difference to my life would be that I probably would not feel as scared walking to my car at night or going anywhere alone.

Week 7 Race

I am a multi-racial and multi-culture person. I am half Pakistani and the other half is a mixture of Hispanic and Native American. My dad was born and raised in Pakistan and my mom was born in Pasadena and moved to San Jose. Therefore both of my parents have very different cultural backgrounds.

I was born in San Jose and have lived there my whole life. I can honestly say that I did not become aware of the different races I was until about seventh grade. Before seventh grade the majority of my friends were of Hispanic background so when people asked what race I was I tended to identify with that. Plus kids would always assume that I was Hispanic anyways. Since almost everyone was Hispanic at my school I would not say that I was exactly aware of my race.

Then in seventh grade the 9/11 attacks happened. In one of my classes we had a substitue teacher. I used to always dread roll call when we had a sub in one of my classes because it meant that I was going to have to explain my name because usually the teacher could not pronounce it or they would want to know where it was from. Well this substitute teacher asked me like all the rest what kind of name it was and what to call me. So when the teacher asked me I told him it was a Pakistani name and that I go by Cori.

I guess the substitute forgot my name because later on in the day he referred to me as "Pakistan". He literally just said "Hey Pakistan" in front of the class. At the time when he said it I felt really embarassed and ashamed. I did not really understand why at first, the embarassment just kind of came. Later when I got home I told my mom and she was very upset about it and said that what the teacher had done was wrong and explained to me why. After that experience with that teacher I became aware of race.

I realized that by being half Pakistani some people saw me different than everyone else. I also realized that my race was recieving hostile attitudes considering the recent events. I became aware of my race even more when my stepmom, dad, my sister, and I went to Red Lobster and a woman asked my stepmom 'Why we did this?' She was referring to 9/11. My stepmom simply told her she did not know why because she did not do anything. I cannot remember what the woman's expression was after that.

Ever since these two experiences I have described I have always been aware of race and the different races that are in the world. I have also been aware that different races means that certain races get treated differently (for better or worse) depending on where they are.




(I could not find a picture I liked, but I thought this was cool!)

Week 6 Social Class

The mall that I chose to observe is the Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara. The Valley Fair is made up of a variety of stores. Some of these stores are Nordstrom, Macy's, Gap, Gucci, Forever 21, Louis Vuitton, Payless, Betsey Johnson, Abercrombie and Fitch, Guess, Armani Exchange, Hot Topic, and many more. There is a price range from low to high between these stores, but the majority of these stores' have high prices.

The three stores that I am going to assess in detail are Forever 21, Nordstrom, and Gap. In Forever 21 the clientele the stores is designed to serve is teenage girls and young women. They do this by making the store a shopping wonderland with clothes everywhere in every color, shiny, and sparkling. the organization and layout is to make the store look like a dream closet of clothes. the prices range from low to a little high but still affordable by the females that shop there. To top it off most of the music is upbeat music, which usually puts females in a good mood to shop.

Nordstrom tend to serve a clientele that consists of middle aged sophisticated married women. At least that is what it seems like in my opinion. The store usually play classical or soft music. They sometimes even have a live music with a hired professional playing a piano on the first floor that can be heard throughout all the floors. The layout and organization of the store is simple. Everything is fairly spread out and there are usually only about ten items of each different item. In my opinion this shows that these clothes are expensive since they only carry so few of the same item.

The last store is the Gap. The Gap seems to serve a clientele that consists adults, meaning not teenagers. More like people who are twenty and above. The Gap is a very casual place. It is not completely organized as Nordstrom but yet there are not clothes everywhere like Forever 21. Instead it is has moderate selection of clothes. The prices of their clothes range from reasonable to a little high.

In Forever 21 there are a couple of teenage girl shopping in the store that seem to be representative of the people shopping in the store. I would say that they are part of the working and middle class. They may be part of the middle class through their parents but if they are working and paying from their own profits then I would consider them part of the working class. The status markers I use assess their social class is by the shopping bags they are carrying. They are both carrying small bags which suggests that they are only buying one or two things which may mean they are paying for these things with their own money. At their age they probably do not have a lot of money to spend. Also their purses do not look like any designer bags, they just look like fun colorful purses.

In Nordstrom there are a couple of white middle aged women shopping. They seem to be of the upper middle class. They both are dressed sophisticated and elegant. The status marker that determines their status to me is their purse and shoes. Their purses are designer purses that cost a fortune and their shoes look expensive. In addition they are wearing jewelry such as earrings and bracelets.

In Gap there is a middle aged couple shopping together. They represent the people shopping in the store because everyone else in the store looks about the same age as them. I would say that they are the working class working their way to the middle class since they are still young in their life. They are not dressed like teenagers but instead more modestly. For example there are not writings on their clothes, they are all solid colors or patterned.

These status markers are good indexes of social class for many reasons. For example if young girls are paying for their own products that can mean that they are have a job for which they use to pay for their own belongings. Which can explain why they are not walking around with bags and bags of clothes. Purses and shoes are good indexes of social class because designer bags can range from a hundred to thousands of dollars. Many people do not have this type of money to be spending on bags which means they are most likely part of the upper middle class or the wealthy class. In addition many people do not have a lot of shoes because shoes can be expensive too. Therefore, in my opinion if someone has nice shoes it can indicate how much money they have to spend on such a pair of shoes. Age is another index for social class. Although everyone is born into a class, they can still move up in class. Therefore someone who is in their twenties may still be part of the working class but maybe by the time their in their thirties or forties they will be part of the middle class.

All of these status markers can be misleading. Maybe the teenage girls only had a few bags because that is all the allowance their middle class parents gave them. Maybe the two women shopping are wearing knockoff products or they know how to buy cheap items and make them look expensive. Or maybe that is their only nice pair of shoes and their only nice bag that they use on special trips to the mall. With age as a status marker is can be misleading because people are usually born into a class as mentioned before. Therefore maybe someone who looks young is part of the wealthy class because they were born into it.

I would say after observing the mall that Valley Fair Mall is predominately a middle and upper middle class mall. It only becomes a working class mall when things go on sale! Therefore their prices are usually high and not affordable for everybody.

Week 5 Deviance

When looking at the San Jose Mercury New I found an article titled "Yearlong investigation roots out 42 suspected gang members in Watsonville". Just as the title says this article was about the Watsonville police arresting 42 suspected gang members of the Sureno gang located in the city. This gang is responsible for drive-by shootings, stabbings, robberies, and other attacks. The police suspects them to be responsible of the recent murder of a Norteno.

I was first attracted to this article because it took place in Watsonville, where the elementary school T.O.U.C.Ch. is involved with is located. I also thought that gangs were one of the type of groups who's deviance is more noticeable in society. Gangs have been around for many years and they exist everywhere.

I think the reason why people enter gains can be related to the rites of passage discussion that we were having today. In class we mentioned how there is not an American rites of passage for men. We also discussed how men tend to need a rites of passage ceremony to confirm that they are indeed a man. This is why in class we believed the military and war to be attractive to young men.

On the other hand of military and war, there are gangs. The structure of gangs usually consist of a leader or a group of men who are in charge of everyone else below. To enter a gain you have to gain the respect of these people and usually to gain the respect of these people you have to commit a crime. The crime can range from robbery, rape, to murder. After you have satisfied all the requirement to enter the gain you are accepted into the gang, which is more like a brotherhood. Being accepted to a gang can be seen as a rite of passage. When you have gained the respect of the other gang members it is like you are now seen as a man of equal status to them.

Therefore I believe that people participate in deviant actions to be in a gang because they desperately want to have a rite of passage, something that signifies that they are men and a part of something. In addition if the person comes from a low income background in can be easier to commit crime to gain status than it is to get a job and gain status. Being in a gang and participating in deviant actions allows these men to feel like men.

Week 4 Risky Behavior and Groups

After reading the Schwalbe text I began to think about high school and all the things that people would do using “group think”. There was countless times where I would witness people doing risky behavior because they were with a group of friends. I interviewed three of my friends from high school to describe a time when they participated in risky behavior because they were with a group of friends.

The first person was my friend Amber. She said that she once snuck out of her house because all of her friends were sneaking out that night. She said that she would have never snuck out of her house if all her friends were not doing it. She thinks knowing that friends would potentially be getting in trouble too made her feel more comfortable taking the risk because she would not be the only one.

The second friend I talked to was my friend Gabriel. He said once when he was seventeen he went to the snow with all this friends. While they were there they decided to throw snowballs at people coming down the slope. He said his friends said that everyone had to throw a snowball and he was really nervous because he did not want to throw one. He knew if he did they would most likely get in trouble. Therefore, he was the last person to throw a snowball. He thought that maybe he could get away without throwing one but they made him. He said right when he threw the snowball a security guy yelled at them and asked who threw it but luckily his friend knew he was scared and took the blame. He said if it were not for him being with this friends he would have never engaged in this behavior of throwing snowballs at people.

My friend Brigette said she once too participated in risky behavior with friends. During high school it was a popular thing to put toilet paper all over peoples’ houses. She said she once went out late at night with a group a friends and participated in this behavior. She said that he would never have done this unless she was out with her friends. By being with her friends she felt more comfortable taking part in this action.

I personally had an experience with “group think”. The summer of after I graduated high school one of my best friends was dating this guy who was a total jerk to her. So one late night when we were out we decided to egg his car. We went and bought eggs from a grocery store and drove down his street and when we saw his truck we threw a dozen eggs at it. I would have never done this if I was not with my best friend. I think what made me comfortable enough to take part in this was one, it made my best friend feel better, and second, my best friend and me rationalized in our head saying that he was a jerk and deserved it.

Being in a group definitely does influence people to take part in risky behavior. I doubt anyone would sneak out of a house, throw snowballs at strangers, put toilet paper on someone’s house, or throw eggs at someone’s car by themselves. These actions require mutual encouragement from friends to make you feel comfortable enough to take part in the activity. Therefore, when it comes to risky behavior two heard are probably not better than one.

Week 3 Objects

The object I chose to analyze is a ring or rings. Rings are usually referred to as a piece of jewelry. They are usually of a circular shape and sometimes have a gem, design, or charm on them. Rings can mean various things to a person. Rings can be used to represent an accomplishment, such as graduation rings when graduating high school or college or championship rings such as Super Bowl rings. Rings can represent someone's commitment to another human being, such as wedding rings, engagement rings, or promise rings. Rings can also signify personal choices a person has made, such as chastity rings. Rings can simply just be fashion object sometimes too. For me personally rings are just a fashion object. Some rings I cherish more than others if they came from someone important to me.

Rings came into existence a long time ago, people of royalty used to me bathed in jewelry, including rings. Over time rings have become to represent more than just royalty. Such as mentioned earlier, rings can signify marital status. Rings have served as an index in society for marriage. The size of an engagement ring is sometimes meant to determine how wealthy the groom may be. Wedding bands tell people whether or not a person is married or not when it comes to the dating world to prevent people of having to ask a person, instead people just look for a ring. I believe this object will still exist in the future because rings serve so many different meanings it's hard to believe that all these meaning will disappear.

As described earlier this object is used for many different reasons. Rings are usually bought and sold in jewelry stores. Rings can be special ordered too. Some rings are earned, such as the rings given for accomplishments. Other rings can be passed down from generation to generation. The existence of rings affects people differently depending on what the ring means to them. Accomplishment rings affect people by allowing them to have something to visually see all the hard work they have done has paid off. Wedding rings, engagement rings, and promise rings affect people because they represent a commitment that someone special has made to them. Fashion rings affect people by allowing people to feel fashionable or pretty by wearing a particular ring. Usually the people wearing the ring are the people who benefit from the ring. People that suffer from rings are people who have not made a significant accomplishment to get a ring, people who have not found that person to give them a special ring, or people who cannot afford the ring they have always wanted. The social interactions that stem from its use and interaction have briefly been described already. As mentioned earlier the social interaction that stems from the meaning of rings are in the dating world. People only approach people who do not have a ring because they know they are single and will not be wasting their time. People may have more respect for someone who has a ring that represents an accomplishment. I believe rings tell many things about our society. One being the fact that we value materialistic objects. Even though rings are materialistic object they have different meanings for different people. They also show us how society give great meaning to materialistic objects.

Rings do exist in other countries as as the U.S. Rings, however, tend to have different meanings. For example my dad is from Pakistan and in Pakistan rings are used primarily in fashion, at least for women. They do not have marital rings. I do not know of any countries that alter rings and used from for different meaning than the ones that have been mentioned. Rings can be made from various materials that can determine their value, from gold, silver, and white gold.

Week 2 Indexes

According to Shwalbe, learning to read or interpret an index sociologically is to see its connection to some aspect of how the social world works. There are many obvious and nonobvious indexes in the world.

One of the more obvious indexes about how the social world works are reality tv shows. For example reality shows such as "Dancing with the Stars" or "The Bachelor". The tv ratings of these shows demonstrate that millions of people are putting time aside to watch these reality shows that really have no value. The reality show "The Bachelor" is an index to why some women are still oppressed or not treated with respect. On the show twenty five women or more are all put into a house to fight over one man's heart. This show that is broadcast to millions of women is showing them how its okay to be desperate and have low self esteem. Shows like this influence girls today, eventhough they may watch it and find it ridiculous, they have still been exposed to this behavior that has been deemed okay since it is allowed on television for all to see. This index can explain why so many young girls today are dealing with low self esteem issues all the way to severe depression. The television network broadcasts whatever show brings in the rating without being sociologically mindful of who their show may be effecting.

T.O.U.C.Ch Update

This past friday, April 16th, I went to Watsonville to volunteer with T.O.U.C.Ch at the Calabasas Elementary School After School Program. I was suprised to see how many kids participate in the After School Program, it was almost a full classroom of kids. When we got there each of the volunteers were assigned a classroom to go to where they would work with a few kids at time to work on their 4 Why's worksheet. This exercise is to help them develop better strategies when taking multiple choice tests, such as their test coming up in a couple of weeks now. I volunteered to go to the sixth grade classroom and the After School Program director said I was "brave." Which kind of made me nervous after.

When I got into the classroom the kids were doing their test-prep class so I just walked around looking at their test questions to make sure I was familiar with the questions they were given. While walking around the classroom I noticed the kids were very antsy. They could not sit still or keep quiet during their test prep. This made me feel like it would be a challenge to get them to focus when I had to work with them. After they were done taking the test I got my first three kids to work with. Almost all of the kids at the elementary school speak Spanish, therefore the first thing the kids asked me was if I spoke Spanish. Sadly though after three years of Spanish in high school, I still cannot speak Spanish. At first I was a little uncomfortable because they kept talking in Spanish and I had no idea what they were saying but I quickly got over it.

For both the group of kids I worked with it was hard to get them to focus as I predicted. At the same time though, I realized that it was a Friday and the kids were probably tired of school. Eventually though I did get them to finish their worksheet. I really enjoyed doing the worksheet for them because I felt like it really got the kids to analyze the questions they were answering. When you have to explain why an answer is right or wrong you begin to see all the tricks the test makers have to make the wrong answer look right.

After the worksheet they had PE time. Since it was Friday they do not have any homework. During PE time there was not much for me to do but I paid attention to the kids so that I could get to know them better and what they liked. My first day volunteering at the After School Program was definitely a good experience and I cannot wait to go back again. Since the kids get homework during the week, it is important that people can volunteer during the weekdays. Which is why I plan on volunteering on Wednesday therefore I can see what they are working on for their homework and help them with that.

The T.O.U.C.Ch. project is very admirable. I was happy to participate and plan on participating more in the future!

Week 1 Hello!

Hello, my name is Quratulann but I go by Cori. This is my first sociology course at De Anza. This is also my last quarter at De Anza. I will be transferring next fall. I am hoping to learn the similarities and differences between psychology and sociology by taking this class.

After reading about the TOUCCh project in emails, I am looking forward to participating in volunteer work for the after school program. I have always been interested in working with children.

I am looking forward to the rest of the quarter with you guys!