Cultures! 3.24.11

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I was visiting my cousin in the hospital this week. She just had her second son this past Monday, and his name is Elijah Ganesan. Several years ago, I would have never thought my cousin Mel would have any children with the man that she did. Her husband's name is Raj, and he is Indian. When they first met and began seeing each other, Raj's family had a fit. They didn't like her at all because she came from another culture, much like the situation in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. However, after realizing that their son was in love with my cousin, they decided to be more accepting of her and her American culture. They now have two adorable sons and have been happily married ever since!

This relates to what we've been learning in class because it is all about culture. Raj's family was being a bit ethnocentric because they were initially judging Mel solely based on the differences between their cultures. Because of this, both families experienced culture clash to begin with. It was hard for Raj's parents to accept the fact that she wasn't from their culture and didn't have the same ethnicity. I remember my cousin disliking his family completely while they were dating, actually. However, as they continued seeing each other, the clash died down and the families accepted their differences and moved on. Eventually, Raj's parents got over their ethnocentric ways and allowed them to get married. At the rehearsal dinner and reception for their wedding, I personally experienced culture shock as I tried new food dishes that I never thought I would try! Some of the food was far better than I expected. I also was shocked to see the difference in dresses as well as dance styles. It was really interesting to me as well at strange because I had never seen anything like it before. Learning about new cultures and the differences they have is really interesting to me!

Social Norms 3.17.11

All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociologically when I was doing my folkway project! for my project, I went into random places, mainly restaurants, and talked into my hands instead of to a person's face. When i was at places like McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts, I would order my food while mumbling into my hands and I got the funniest reactions from people! It was really funny to see some people's reactions to me breaking a folkway like this, but it was also embarrassing. Some people either got aggravated by my awkward ways, extremely confused, or laughed at me like I was a circus clown.


When I did this project, I thought about everything we had been learning in class like norms, folkways, mores, taboos, and laws. During my project, I broke a folkways, which is basically a socially accepted norm that keep people from feeling uncomfortable. Usually when people go to places like McDonald's and order, they speak loud, clear, and directly to the worker. When I ordered my food however, I softly mumbled into my hands in an incomprehensible tone. Since this was unexpected and unusual, I got several weird looks, annoyed comments, and had several awkward moments. It was funny for me because I was acting in this manner on purpose, but to someone outside of the project, I was simply weird. Doing this experiment showed me that acting against social norms in today's society will often confuse and irritate people and that norms are set into societies in order to keep people more balanced and comfortable. In the end, I really enjoyed this experiment and I laughed about it a lot in the end!

American Society Today!

This is a symbol for obesity in America. Obesity is a serious issue in our country nowadays due to the growing population of overweight citizens. On average, about one in every three Americans is overweight/obese. With this statement, American has been referred to as the "Fat Country" world-round. An obese person in America is symbolic of our country's quickly growing obesity epidemic as well as a representation of our laziness and over-sized meals.

The show Secret Life of the American Teenager is a symbol of America. This show deals a great amount with teen pregnancy which is becoming more and more common for the average American high school female. Secret Life also deals with teen drama in high school and about the pressures couples face. It also shows conformity in teen society today by the way the students conform to things like having sex simply because they know other people are. With our teen pregnancy rates at an all time high, and still climbing, this show well represents America today.

 

 Modeling. Perfection. Skinny. These are all things that Americans try to achieve in today's society. Some girls strive to be stick thin and do anything they can to look like the idol model. Some girls even go to extremes like Bulimia and Anorexia in order to be that thin. Also, a lot of Americans are looking into plastic surgery in order to look more "perfect" than they previously did. However, in the end they look more unrealistic than anything and in my opinion, they look further from perfect than when they started. The one concept a lot of Americans seem to forget is that beauty comes from the inside and its better to be perfectly imperfect compared to trying to look perfect. Models today illustrate the American society by being the "It Girl" and creating a sense that perfection can be reached by the younger generation of women these days;.

Americans today look up to the famous group. Anyone and everyone from actors and movie directors to singers, rappers, and models, are making citizens across the country get starstruck. People like Nicki Minaj and Drake are idolized in our society for their musical talent. Kids want to grow up to be like them, listen to their music every day, and love their looks. These rappers represent American ways because everyone strives to be the biggest and best they can be, and as a child, most kids tell themselves the same line: "One day, I'm going to be famous." Although in almost all cases things don't turn out to be like that, its an American way of thinking that has yet to change over time.

 

In America, almost everybody from children to parents to possibly even seniors, could tell you what this is and exactly where it comes from. I asked my little brother what this picture was, and I got a quick answer as he exclaimed, "Happy Meal!" loud and clear. Kids all over America know the Happy Meal from either ordering it themselves or seeing it on TV. The Happy Meal is a sign representing our vastly known love for fast, easy, greasy food. To other countries, it represents why Americans are obese, overweight, and unhealthy. The Happy Meal may mean a delicious meal to our children, but to everyone else, it means a growing problem.