My Norms... or Yours?

This week in class we talked about what is normal to Americans and what is normal to other people. A conversation that really got me thinking was when we were talking about when people call someone "asian" because that's what they look like.. when really there is a better name, such as chinese, japanese, korean...

This happens to me a lot. People call me mexican because they think that Cuban is the same thing... I try to tell them, "no, I'm cuban & there is a difference." Also, I get you speak cuban & I have to tell them that in Cuba they do speak spanish. These type of things seem so simple to me, but when I think about it it's like well they don't understand because they have never been around people who are cuban or from a different place.

Because we are a culture that likes to assume things we group people without really knowing the facts. We have never been shown a different culture so to us it is weird. Like in India they do not touch their food with their left hands because the left hand is "dirty".. to us this seems outrageous, but that is because we weren't taught that. To them it seems normal because well, it is.

What is really normal? Is there such a thing?

Collogero's World

In class this week, we watched a movie, A Bronx Tale. It was about a boy growing up in a very Italian neighborhood. Sadly, I missed a couple days of school & did not get to see the end of the movie :[, but from what I did see... you could really see how the main character, Collogero, was apart of several groups in the neighborhood. He was apart of his family, his group of friends, Sonny & him were his own group, & he was of course apart of Sonny's crew.

At the beginning of the movie I would say his master status was with his family or even his group of friends... he was always with his friends & obviously he was the son of his parents, but was the movie went on & he got closer to Sonny & his friends it all changed. By the end of the movie (or the last part I saw) Collogero's master status changed. He was more apart of Sonny's group. He was always with him & its interesting to see how spending time with certain people can really change the kind of person you are. Collogero was behaving more & more like Sonny. This really shows that a person's friends can really influence who they are. The more you hang out with someone the more you start to act like them.

What groups are you apart of?

This week in class we focused a lot on the different groups everyone is apart of. We did an activity in class that really go me thinking... "what groups am I apart of?"

As we started brain storming... A bunch of groups started popping in my head.. "cuban, cubs fan, peer helpers, family, friends, etc." I could not decide which group was more important to me though.. was I more known as a cubs fan? or as the "peace maker" with my friends? or what about a daughter? that seemed pretty big too. I was a kind of frustrated that I was not able to fully place my finger on which group was more me.

This made me think... everyday I put people in different groups. When I'm talking to my friends what do people say about my group? What group do people think I'm apart of? It is interesting that from even a young age we, as a society, have always put people in different groups. That not only can be misleading, but we always lose the individuality of each person. If they are put in a group then how can we study someone as their own being?

I suppose sociologists will continue to study groups & clicks, but what about studying an individual? Learning the differences of people. Even people in a group are not all the same...

Survival of the fittest?

In class this week we did an activity based on a true event. A bunch of students went in the front of the room & stood in a "boat" that was tapped on the floor. When our teacher told them they needed to kick out 7 people it was a hard choice, because who are you to tell someone they were not able to stay on the boat & would most likely die if they were sent over board? The majority of the people that got kicked out were people who were old, had no training in medicine or sailing, or suffered from a health condition.

But I found this a little weird... maybe it is because of my background or maybe I just think differently. Why would you kick off the people who were the weakest? Maybe they had the mindset of "only the strong will survive" or maybe they were only thinking of themselves, but I thought for sure that the weak should stay on the boat & the strong would be kicked off. They do have a way stronger chance of survival then an old couple, or an army vet. who had only one leg.

Maybe your culture looks at survival differently. Some would find it better to save the old because they would not be able to fend for themselves, maybe the young because they are the future, maybe the women because well they are women, maybe the smarter people because education is important, or maybe the strong because they earned it

If you were in this situation... what would you do?