Racial Inequality

While reading the two stories of Max and Byron, I was shocked at how different their lifestyles became, even with degrees from college institutions. I was surprised that Byron still did not earn as much money as Max, despite having recieved an Ivy league education and being conservative with his money. It made such a difference for Max's lifestyle when his parents were able to contribute money to his education and home. I feel I can most relate to Max and his situation. While our family did not have much money when I was young, my parents will still be able to retire comfortably, like Max's parents.

Although this website was supposed to focus on race, I felt the two stories were more about the socio-economic differences between the two boys. However, I feel that one's race can affect one's socio-economic position even today. There still exists prejudices and discrimination against race, religion, gender, and cultures. This discrimination can greatly affect generations and could take many generations before people change their beliefs about others. I think education, the media, and politics can help shape future generations towards becoming a more equal society.

Social Construction of Gender

I thought the book did a good job of exploring various cultures and their views on gender. American culture is so predominately patriarchal that it was interesting to read about other cultures. I thought the !Kung seemed to have a good balance of power between the men and women. One can see how other norms work in different regions, I think the a problem of gender inequality is that once norms are established it is extremely hard to change the norms. The UN's Conferences on Women are good examples of this. Many consider the United Nations to be a powerful, influential organization, yet it is difficult for them to promote women in politics and equality around the world. I think in order to reach equality, the media, education systems, and powerful leaders of a culture all need to agree that this goal should be reached.
Gender norms can easily be seen by just exploring one aspect of a culture, such as advertisements. Ads are created to promote a product in an appealing manner. If the majority of the public finds the ads appealing, then the majority of the public may copy the actions in the ad or buy the product. I thought the book did a good job of pointing out the differences between ads. Oftentimes, ads are just something we look at for a few seconds and then move on with our lives. But it seems as if the pictures can truly influence how we behave or what we purchase. It would be interesting to find a study of how appealing men and women found ads portraying traditional roles versus unconventional roles.

Global Inequality

From the podcast, I was better able to understand how global inequality ties into sociology studies. Understanding how global inequality affects social stratification is relevant to our everyday life, no matter where we live. By looking at where people live or whether or not they are homeless, most people are able to see the effects of global inequality in their neighborhood. Finding out who benefits from this structure can help us gain more insight into how global inequality is created and possibly try to shorten the wide gaps between the rich and the poor.
I think the topic of global inequality is especially prevalent now with the government discussing how to decrease our trillion dollar debt. Although America is a strong core country in the world, there are still people living in poverty. While our power may be strong, our economic power would be stronger if we did not have trillions of dollars of debt. Global inequality can be seen throughout the world, from powerful countries to cities and even in small communities.

Social Class in the United States

Despite the All-American Dream of equality and achieving success, I do think social class plays a prominent role in society. The book provided many examples of how one's social class influences what type of job, income, life experiences and the community one lives in. For example, many children who are born from parents of a low socio-economic or working class may not have the chance to go to summer camps and could fall behind in school. Many middle to upper class families will send their children to summer camps or enrichment programs where they will be challenged to learn. These programs benefit them in the classroom and can give them an advantage over children from the working class. Although social class is important very early on in one's life, I do think one can move to a different social class.
I also think people value social class and strive to achieve a higher status in terms of impression management. How we appear to others has remained an important value for the majority of the American population. The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, where we shop, and the activities we participate in during our free time are indicators of our wealth, just as the PBS "People Like Us" website demonstrates. Our class status can affect, although I do not believe that it should, how we interact with others. We may hold people who are the CEO's of various companies in high regard, while a worker at McDonald's with not as much respect. I think until the gap between the rich and poor lessens and people begin to treat each other more equally, then one's class status will still continue to be an important value in American society.

Social Connections

Since the invention of the phone, technology has continued to change Americans' lives. I do believe technology has allowed Americans to be more isolated. Emails, Facebook, text messages, and phone calls have replaced many face-to-face interactions. However, technology does allow people to make connections with others around the world. This can help expose various cultures or ways of thinking, but I think it can also isolate a person from other people in their community.
People are able to make hundreds of connections with people through the internet every day, however, these connections may not be significant or develop into forming a relationship with another. Many people with personal relationships with friends and family members will not feel very isolated. The increasing use of technology has expanded the number of friends people have, but has not dramatically increased the number of personal relationships people have with others. Many times, what people say on the internet and even on the phone is misinterpreted since people cannot see the person's nonverbal actions, such as their facial expression. I think this prohibits strong personal relationships from growing and could even increase the degree of isolation people feel.

The Criminal Justice System

The differences between the male and female crime rates were staggering. According to the statistics in the book, crimes are mostly committed by males. The book even suggests that "certain crimes perpetrated by women go unreported." Otto Pollak's suggestion is that women are committing crimes in the home. Although this claim was made in the 1950s, it makes one wonder how much this still stands true today. While many women today have a full time job, there is still a stereotype of women being more domestic than men. It could be possible that the crimes women commit are inside their home, therefore it could be more difficult for police to catch women committing the crime. Or society's perception that women are not often violent could be inhibiting police from being less likely to arrest a women committing a crime. This stereotype could also explain why women mostly commit non-violent crimes, such as stealing. It would be interesting to conduct an experiment to see if Pollak's chivalry theory was being practiced by policemen. Since women get sent to prison less than men, it would be interesting if a statistic was compiled of their crimes and how many men who committed those same crimes were in prison. Statistics such as these could help determine if the chivalry theory was being practiced in society.

Nature vs. Nurture

I believe the nature of society is influenced by the nurture aspect of society. With the process of socialization, if the majority of the parents in a society nurture their children in a certain manner, then the nature of a society will be shaped in a certain manner. For example, the book highlighted some cultures who define peer groups by age-grades. In these age-grades, each transition of life is marked by a ceremony. Some argue that these children have a better transition into adulthood, compared to more Westernized civilizations, because they transition slowly. American society often has a sharp and dramatic transition from childhood to becoming a teenager. If American society put more emphasis on growing a older, then perhaps there would be a less climatic transition into becoming an adult.

I also believe nature can be shaped by nurture in terms of gender socialization. Some cultures have more matriarchal norms, where the women in the society have the most power. If a society places emphasis on women having power, mothers will more than likely raise their children to develop an identity that values these characteristics as well. Although it has decreased, there is still a sense in America that women will take care of the home and the men will provide for the family by working in an office. Many children accept these gender roles because it is what society dictates is acceptable and agrees with aspects of how they were raised. When the majority of people raise their children to accept certain values, then the nature of society will be determined.