There are a lot of things I got out of taking Soc 119. I first learned about the class when we were assigned to partake in a World In Conversation discussion. The first time I went I liked the dialogue because it was very open and simply talking to be frank. This made the time go by faster.
After the facilitators gave us information about Soc 119, I knew I wanted to take it. I am very glad I did. The class has talked about issues I have never thought about before. Subjects such as race, gender, identity, and the patterns of sociology in the world are ones included. It’s been one of my favorite classes this year. The openness of the class has helped me analyze these issues with a more interested perspective instead of: “Ugh I have to learn this just to pass the class.” I think the conversations we had will help me in the long run and also learn more about myself and what my beliefs and perspectives are towards these tricky issues. I like how the class was pretty relaxed yet firm. We had our fun funny moments and then we had our serious “come to Jesus” moments. I think the balance was good especially having everyone voice their opinions and ask questions that try to refute the point. I enjoyed the statistics we learned about through clicker questions. The answer was always one you wouldn’t expect until the end of the semester when you learned to always choose the answer that you wouldn’t expect. I also liked how we learned about other countries and cultures throughout the semester. We’ve met really interesting guests this semester from the woman from the White House, to LA’s Gay Men’s Choir, to the NATO officials. These are great people that we (Soc 119) have been lucky to meet. I think it’s also a great opportunity that we got to Skype with individuals from other countries such as Iran and Haiti. It’s not every day you get to do that sort of thing. I think the whole point of Soc 119 and World In Conversation are what people should partake in. Having conversations with people who are the same and/or different from you about tricky topics that there’s no real answer to. The conversation itself is what makes the difference. These open your mind to new ideas and these new ideas can change people…the world even. I think meeting new people who are different from you, whether they have a different religion or different race or even different opinions, are what will help you yourself grow as a person. Talking about these issues we have in class have certainly helped me discover who I am too. I am very appreciative and glad that I've had the opportunity to take this class.

I think the information we learned in class Tuesday isn’t surprising at all. It actually makes more sense to me personally. I’m not going to go on about my sex life but I can relate to guys reaching an orgasm faster than girls. It’s biology after all so I don’t think it’s a “bad thing” it’s kind of just the way it is. However, I think if the guy actually cares about his girl, he should know this information so he could try to please her for a longer time in order to help her feel pleasure too. Now, some girls may get an orgasm from a hookup but I don’t think it’s as good of a one compared to one with someone you’re in a relationship with. When you’re hooking up, you only have a physical connection. When you’re in a relationship, you have that physical AND emotional connection. With more of a connection, a female is more likely to work with her guy to get more pleasure in sex because he actually cares about her. I think that because the media has always revolved around the “male standard”, women usually accept that when the male’s done, you’re both done. Now when it comes to the females not telling their guy they didn’t get an orgasm, I think that depends on the female and what guy she’s with. If the girl is with her boyfriend, she wants him to feel good and doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. Telling him he wasn’t “good” would pretty much kill the guy’s ego for the rest of his life. For the girl, it’s not as a big deal. Now, if it the guy is just a hook up, I’m assuming that even if the girl did tell him she didn’t get an orgasm, chances are he wouldn’t care. Or if he did care, he would probably shrug it off because it’s just one girl saying that out of all the other ones. I can’t say this for sure because I’m not a guy but that’s how I personally see it. I thought it was interesting to talk about how things would be if we revolved around the “female standard.” I’ve never thought about that. It makes me realize that I also have accommodated to the “male standard” because I kind of just go with the flow according to the male… I think if everyone knew the stats about the 25% of women who actually get an orgasm, people would take it into consideration. I don’t think the entire world would run around the “female standard” but I do think that it would make people think about how they’re pleasing their partner and what not. To be frank however, to the guys out there, if your women is happy, your relationship (and the sex) will be the better than you’d expect.

I think the countries that had more oppressed gay rights had the most view for gay porn because of the oppression. The fact that they can’t be openly gay restricts any type of homosexual interaction so they use the Internet to experience other people having gay interactions. I can only imagine how hard it must be to not be able to express yourself freely. You have to conceal your feelings and ultimately your entire being. With such a powerful feeling, you need to breakout somehow and the Internet is the place to do it. I find it funny because this is the second class this year that porn has been talked about. In my human development and family studies class, we had a whole lecture about porn. The porn industry is actually a multi-million dollar industry and it’s even bigger than Hollywood and the video game industry. People buy porn videos or go on all of the thousands of porn websites there are on the Internet. There are different categories people can choose from. There’s child porn and different ethnic porn and gay porn and other types too. With all of these types and websites for porn, the availability of porn is actually quite easy.
According to research, when people watch porn there are certain hormones and chemicals that are heightened in the brain/body that lead to arousal. They are not the same hormones people get while having sex, but seeing porn does jump-start a certain drive. People who watch porn too much are more adapted to viewing sex than actually having it so they ultimately find real sex less pleasurable. People in countries that oppress gay rights lack these gay sexual functions in their body so porn is one way they can feel a similar sensation.
The people in countries who oppress gay rights might not even be gay. They could also be straight and just curious to see how gay people have sex because it’s not a normal thing in their country. Since it’s not normal, they could want to watch it even more just because they’re “fascinated” or astonished. Once something is astonishing, it could be strangely pleasing to the viewer because it’s new. People could also be bi-curious or bisexual as well and look up gay porn too. I think the overall issue is that they are not exposed to it in their country like other countries such as the U.S. If it were normal people in oppressed countries would not be the highest viewers for gay porn. The lack of freedom to gay rights creates a higher need to watch gay porn and for the people who are not gay, the lack of freedom to a gay culture heightens a curiosity that also causes the people to watch gay porn.

I really like that analogy. In order for the Asian, black, Latino, and Native American people to become “equal” to the white people, they need a chair to be as tall. The chair to me seems like affirmative action. It could be represented as hard work too. However, if it’s hard work, then the white people just get taller too and the other people do not reach the top.
When it comes to inequality versus unfairness, I think the ranking of white to Asian to black to Latino to Native American people is uneven therefore, that makes it unequal which then makes it unfair. Having inequality creates the unfairness in the world. It could also go the other way as well. Because the rankings are unequal, this creates unfairness among the people who are all working hard and getting “nowhere” and the white people are always on top. This creates inequality. So I think both go hand-in-hand. The world is full of complexities and unfairness. I wish it was not unequal but unfortunately it’s hard to break out of the rankings. This may be a stupid analogy, but it’s kind of like earning a grade. Once you ace the first test, you’re pretty much set to have a good grade in the class even if you do somewhat poorly on the other tests or don’t hand in some papers. On the other hand, if you do poorly on the first test, then it’s extra hard to build yourself up to an A. I say this because it’s harder to get to the top than to go down to the bottom. I think this is why it’s hard for the majority of Native Americans, black, Latino, and Asian people to be equal to white people. Since white people are on top, they don’t have to work as hard to stay on top. For the rest of us, it’s extremely hard to work up to the top no matter how hard we work. With this, it is unfair. The fact that we can’t get up to the top like the white people, that creates inequality.
Now when it comes to affirmative action making the minority “taller,” in a way it’s unfair but so is inequality. I think affirmative action has its pros and cons really. We all get affirmative action in one way or another so it’s not just a minority thing. I think affirmative action is just an extra societal boost to attempt to make things equal. It’s like a double standard though. The inequality makes people mad because people are on top. But then when we get affirmative action in attempt to make things more equal, it’s unfair at the same time. There’s really no pleasing anyone. I wish inequality would diminish and things would be fairer but it’s really not that easy. It’s hard to admit that because it’s like saying there’s no hope for minorities. This isn’t true of course for there’s hope for everyone. The sad reality is getting to the top will always be a struggle if you’re not there already.

Giving aid to Haiti is a tricky subject there are so many variables to consider. If it came down to it, I think we should give aid to Haiti. The U.S has always been criticized for getting into situations we may not be obligated to be in. However, as Sam told us in class about our past history in Haiti, I feel like there is an obligation to help. And even despite this national guilt, it comes down to a sense of humanity and moral ethics. Simply, helping others in need. Haiti’s poverty level is below the U.S’s poverty level. Can we really just stand by watching people die day by day because of terrible poverty? It may not be our country and our people, but I think we can all agree that they’re human lives nonetheless. By reaching out to those who are in desperate need is in fact a rewarding thing.
It is true that a country should only do so much for another country because we have our own problems too. There’s a sense that Haiti does not support them and let’s the U.S and/other countries aid them. However, I don’t believe this is true. The people in Haiti try help the people who are in severe poverty but they only have so many resources and money that they can work with. People in poverty do not even have a dollar to buy the food that others need in order to provide the resources such as rice. I think helping Haiti provide the resources is a good thing but Haiti should decide how they are going to go about things. Their government should revaluate and change the system if they want their country’s poverty level to decrease.
In one other lecture, Sam showed us how much food the world wastes and how many billions of people go hungry every night.
If people do not want to focus on Haiti for whatever reason of their own, we can try to fix this problem as a globe in general. We can do something about the food we waste and use the excess to give to developing countries. Since there is excess food, volunteers can still go to Haiti or any 3rd world country and help build new homes because shelter is also in desperate need. With our excess food, the U.S would be able to transport and give it to Haiti and other countries for cheaper (possibly). With more food and less starvation, the people would be healthy enough to work on their own and rebuild themselves as a whole. Then they would have less problems and the U.S would not have to give as much aid. Without as much aid, countries like Haiti would be able to be more independent and produce their own resources again. This would help the farmers who are struggling now in Haiti.
My idea may sound too good to be true because things are obviously more complicated than what they seem. However, the point is giving some type of aid is good for Haiti. Giving aid to anyone who has nothing is truly something that will help the world be a better place.

After Sam’s lecture on what happens when we die, I can honestly say that I’m not afraid to die anymore. I mean, we can’t be positively sure that Sam’s resources are accurate because the subject is just really insane. However, if it is all true, I am not afraid to die anymore. I find it interesting how everyone except people who commit suicide has a positive experience. In a way, thinking logically anyway, I think it kind of makes sense. Humans are one species so I guess no matter your beliefs, biologically, we will all die the same. What gets me is the super-being that you feel when you do die. This does give me more positivity that there is a super-power that exists in the universe. I’ve always believed that but I’m more positive about it now. I also feel like if you simply live your life to the fullest and try to do good things and be a good person, you will feel peace when you die. There’s an analogy my Dad told me about. He learned this from a book: A fetus in the womb talks to God and says “I don’t want to come out. I’m comfortable in here and I feel safe.” God tells the fetus that “you must and you shouldn’t be afraid because there’s a wondrous world out there.” So, in a way, that’s kind of like dying. Most people are afraid to die because they don’t know what’s going to come next. I have that fear myself but I do have faith that there is a heaven where I’ll meet all my dead relatives and I’ll be safe. With this faith and fear mixture, there’s still hesitation but with either faith and/or proof, we won’t be so scared to die because there’s supposedly, according to Sam and his resources, positive energy that surrounds you. I actually find this concept really interesting even though it is creepy to take literally. There’s just so much to the universe that we’re still learning about and if there are just as many stars as the amount of sand on all the beaches of the earth, then the universe is an extremely big place. I can’t imagine us being the only ones in the universe so I think there is a place that exists where our souls go. When we die, maybe it truly will be a whole other world and our spirits will live for the rest of eternity. It’s really crazy to think about. For now, all I can really do is focus on the life I am living now and try to get it right. That’s all we can really do besides wonder and hope for the end to become a new beginning.

To me, everyone admires something about others that they are not. Some black people feel that being a lighter shade of brown is more attractive. When you look at white people, you see most people wanting to be tan (aka darker toned). In both groups, there’s a line that you don’t want to cross either. The idea of skin tone is really silly when you look at the big picture but it does in fact make you, you. I’m not certain that it’s a group opinion I actually think it’s more of an individual opinion. Like the girl said in class, her father thinks lighter skin black people are more attractive and she personally, thinks darker skinned black people are more attractive. Sociologically, a majority of people may have the same preference of skin color, but ultimately I think it’s the individual who really control their perspectives of what they like. And then, there are certain racial groups like some Asian’s who don’t like to be dark. I have a friend who’s Vietnamese and her parents do not like her being tan because they believe it makes you look like lower class since those are the people who were always out in the fields in the sun.
My parents aren’t Asian but being Asian myself, I get a lot of critique and comments about my skin color. I get really tan in the summer and my friends will comment saying I look black in a teasing tone. Most of my friends are white so I find their tone to actually be envious because they’re pale and can’t get tan. Then on the other hand, when I’m lighter skinned in the winter, my friends will comment saying, “I look too Asian now”. Huh? It’s just skin pigment.
I think in all people of all races, there are different preferences of how we want to look and based off of that, we judge others even in our own ethnic group. The result ends up being people judging others off of the amount of melanin they have instead of what their personality is.
In regards to the history part of the question about black people being ashamed for intermixing with white people and vise versa, I think that back then, the different racial groups were clearly defined and clearly separated. Intermixing just wasn’t what most people did and if they did, the “master” would have relationships with the slaves and that was intermixing social classes including with race. It was a very complex matter. Nowadays, intermixing occurs more and new ethnic groups have emerged such as malados (half black half white) so that’s more common. The intermixing has been passed down generations after generations so skin got lighter. Because lighter skin is capable of and being white is so-called “having power.” I think that’s why it’s looked more upon. I don’t agree with it but I think that’s how it is.

After the last class we had about creation and evolution, my head hurt. I mean, I’m always blown away and confused about the subject of religion versus science and just the thousands of theories we have of how life came about. I’m on the side of being unsure. Half of me believe in some spiritual way God created us (because I was raised catholic). Though another, somewhat stronger, part of me believes in the science of evolution because I’m really into science. I actually had a discussion about it with my boyfriend who’s risen catholic and has always gone to a catholic school. He fully believes in God and that he created life but does not open up to the other possibilities of the science theory. He told me one of his teachers got fired from his school for teaching the evolution theory. Well, seeing as it’s a catholic school, I can see that. However, I still don’t like the fact that a lot of religious people are so religious they don’t step out of their religious bubble and at least consider something different. You can still believe in God and what not, but at least consider the possibility that life was created differently than you’ve been taught. I admit I’ve never really been religious myself. At an early age I began to question the catholic faith (which my family was not proud of) but I was just really confused. I’m still confused. I know there’s evidence of evolution theory and I’ve learned about it multiple times in my biology classes since 7th grade. That may be why I’m somewhat more on the evolution side I guess… But then I know there’s evidence for the religious side, which makes me even more confused because there’s a possibility that that’s real too. I feel like I’m stuck between being a terrible catholic and a too-logical science person. It’s a big controversial topic in the world that’s really one I feel will never be answered. It does make me worry though that when I die, if God is real, He’s going to shame me to hell for not believing. And then on the other side, when I die and there’s no real spiritual afterlife, I’ll be disappointed too… I don’t even know if I’m making sense to be quite honest. Every time the subject comes up about creation and religion and evolution I don’t really know how to deal with it or what to say. I’ve really been questioning these types of things at an earlier age than most so I guess the topic is rocky personally. In the end, I do believe in heaven and I do respect the people who have a religious belief. However, I really don’t know how people can be so sure. I don’t know how they can shut out all the other theories when evidence is right there. Everything about religious versus science baffles me.

If I knew 100% sure that my child was gay I would not tell them I knew. Even if I were not one hundred percent positive I still wouldn’t hint that I think so because finding yourself is a process. It’s one of life’s struggles that everyone will face. If I knew my kid was gay I would want them to find out for themselves. I would let them know that they can tell me anything and I will love them no matter what but I would not tell them. I can see how it must be hard for most people who are gay to come out, but I think the struggles we face are what make us individuals stronger in the end. I might not have dealt with “coming out” since I am straight so I would not know the exact feelings of how hard it must be. However, I have dealt with points in my life where I would be extremely depressed and I felt like I was alone. At the time, it was hell. But now when I look back on it, I’m somewhat glad that I went through such a struggle because I would not be the person I am today. I don’t want my child to be told something they are or are not. I want them to discover their sexuality themselves. Whether they’re straight or bi or anything, I will love them nonetheless.
Having said this, I cannot fathom how someone would abort their child if they knew they were gay. How can someone hate someone, or even hate a thought like that so much that they would take away a life? I don’t understand. Maybe the fear is really intense of gay people so they are extremely prejudice and they would not be able to handle it. If they knew they would not be able to handle it, at least have their child be adopted by someone who will in fact accept them for who they are. With this, you can do your birth child a favor and give them a better life if you know it will be sufferable with you. At least have the decency to give them a life of their own. Why kill that just because they are the way they are? This is parallel to how we were talking about in class, what if your parents intensely wanted a boy but you turned out to be a girl (and vise versa). How would you feel? Would you want them to abort you or hate you for the rest of your life? It’s not your fault you came out as a boy/girl right? It’s all the same. As a parent you should love your kid no matter what. Society already has so many expectations that the kid has to deal with. As a parent, why be another societal pressure?

I agree that personal issues are societal issues in many ways shapes and forms. For me personally, I was adopted at 10 months old from China and raised in a white family. I relate to Sam’s example of “white Korean women” having the struggle of identifying as white but not actually being white (even though I am not Korean… I don’t think anyways…? They never found my birth parents.)
Anyway, I never thought about my race until I was in the 1st grade. I grew up with kids of different races but never really thought about how we were different. I didn’t identify myself as Asian or that my family was white. I was just me. But then people referred to me as an Asian girl and I didn’t have a problem with it but it did make me categorize myself. In middle school was when other kids really got to me about it. They expected me to act a certain way and have an accent or talk in a different language and really just judge me overall.
It is somewhat a struggle for me to be Asian but act white. I am not ignorant towards the fact that I am not at all like “most Asians” other than my physical features. In a way actually, I kind of feel ashamed for not being connected with my original culture if that makes any sense. I often wonder if I’d be the same person I am today if I was back in China. But I’m not and I will never know. So I am left with who I am and who I am, is mostly white. It’s not like I try to be white rather than Asian, it’s just that I am…. I don’t want to sound arrogant about it but it’s true. When we’re doing the clickers in class and Sam says, “all the Asian people only answer this question”, I feel as though I shouldn’t be answering because I do not have Asian characteristics/an Asian personality if you will, to really be an Asian person statistic. My parents aren’t Asian, my habits aren’t Asian, my home life isn’t, and to be quite frank, I’m nothing close to being “Asian”. It’s difficult for me because with white people, they judge me to be Asian so they don’t really talk to me as easily at first compared to other white people. Then on the opposite end, Asians who are fully Asian with their culture, their language etc, I can’t communicate with them because I don’t speak anything other than English and my culture is different from theres. I also look different from “most Asians”. (I think I’m mixed to be honest. I’m getting a DNA test soon.)
The bottom line is, because of this issue I have, I can relate to personal issues being societal issues and they have shaped my life in some ways. I’m more insecure around white people (white girls especially because I feel like they judge me). I find myself evaluating myself a lot when it comes to meeting new people. The invisible strings that Sam talked about are there. They really are.