Lesson 5: Socialization, the Self, and Social Interaction

The status of being a student comes with a set of its own roles: studying, going to school daily, being responsible, etc. Sometimes those roles can clash with other roles from other statuses like being a teenager, a piano player, a soccer player, a dancer, etc.

Goffman came up with the idea of Dramaturgy, which essentially means that people act out their social lives to present a favorable impression. That would mean that social life is a game where we try to control the impressions others have of us. It's also called Impression Management, and almost everybody uses this tactic when being social.

As infants, humans are, for the most part, "blank slates". Socialization begins when we are infants and continues our whole lives. While we are young, we know very little about norms and values of society. Of course there are some instincts that humans are born with, but that leads into the nature vs. nurture debate.

Family is one of the most important agents of socialization. We grow up around them and internalize their beliefs and values. Our families shape us to be who we are the most, and we often grow up to be very similar to our parents, whether we wanted to or not.

Peers are another very important agent of socialization. They influence our beliefs and values and, often, our actions. We strive to be accepted by our peers in a way that we don't with our family, and that's what makes the power we have over our peers so strong.

Lesson 4: Culture

The culture of weddings varies significantly throughout different societies. In the USA, there are many traditions that go along with weddings, such as cutting the cake. Marriage is one of our society's values, but other societies and cultures may not put as much emphasis on the need to be married.

Tourists are thrown into different cultures and must adapt, and many use Cultural Relativism, which is understanding other cultures on their own terms rather than comparing them to one's own culture. As seen here, some Americans in France look somewhat out of place based on their attitudes.

Prom is a part of American culture and tradition, and many people put a lot of value into it. Some people spend large amounts of money trying to make their prom special and unique, going overboard on the dress and hair and limo, etc. This is a part of American culture which may seem bizarre and pointless to many other cultures.

Graduation is a big deal in American culture as well. It signifies the completion of one step of education and has been made into a ceremony which should never be forgotten, because education is a strong value of Americans.

This picture demonstrates multiculturalism and cultural relativism. Here, both Americans and Rwandans respect each other's culture and try to learn about the other's culture with open minds by exploring places of value for the other culture.

Christmas is symbolic culture that many societies share, but many of the objects, decorations, and much of the culture that comes with Christmas have been Americanized into material culture. Christmas isn't just a religious holiday anymore, it's a season that almost the whole of American society participates in.

Lesson 2: Theories and Theorists

The picture above is of New York City, one of the cities that most exemplifies the theory of Structural Functionalism. Many people think of New York as the city of dreams, because there are so many "stars" that live there. However, the truth is that New York would not be such a successful city if there weren't all kinds of people doing all sorts of jobs to make sure the city ran smoothly and was successful. This includes people with jobs ranging from janitors to retailers to big-time CEOs to Broadway stars. 

Prom is one of the most traditional events in high school. The girls are expected to dress up in fancy dresses and get their hair and nails done and be doted on by their dates who asked them to the prom. They are given corsages and are treated as delicate ladies all night. Prom exemplifies the Feminist Theory because of the gender roles that are assigned to both the boys and girls.

Above is another picture of New York City, the city of dreams that is made successful only by everyone doing their individual part, no matter how insignificant it may seem. This is Structural Functionalism.

Another photo of New York City, where you can see an example of everyone doing their job, no matter how un-glamorous it may seem. Taxi drivers are the chauffeurs of the city. Without them, the city would struggle to function on the level it does daily. 

Above is a picture taken at the San Francisco Gay Pride festival, during the parade. This image exemplifies the Queer Theory which proposes that categories of sexual identity are social constructs, and that no sexual category is deviant or normal. People who support gay pride most likely believe in the queer theory, and they believe that everyone, no matter what their sexual orientation, should be allowed the right to marry.

Lesson 1: What is Sociology?

 This picture shows interaction and sociology in a way that specifically demonstrates "people doing things together". Here is a group of kids huddled around a fire on a class camping trip. They are participating in the part of sociology that includes their education, class, and friends.

Similar to the picture above, this picture shows a class of high school students posing for a picture in their classroom setting, or in this case, the stage. This is an instance of microsociology, because the classroom setting is a very personal and face-to-face place.

Above is a picture of high school students posing with their newly-welcomed foreign exchange students. Foreign exchange students have a very good idea of the sociological perspective, or they learn to understand it. Being a foreign exchange student forces one to have a "Beginner's mind", or else they will suffer from culture shock. Travelling to a different country is a very good thing to do because it opens the mind to new experiences.

Here is a picture of a very small group of people who are tourists in a different country-- England, to be exact. Tourists also demonstrate the sociological perspective by adopting a beginner's mind when entering a strange place. They specifically try to have an open mind, but may suffer from some culture shock because of the adjustments it takes when entering a different culture.

Above is a picture of Californian students showing around their friends from Rwanda. People from a very different culture such as Rwanda will definitely experience culture shock, but they do their best to understand the different culture on it's own level by using the Sociological Perspective and adopting a beginner's mind.