Sociology is hard. But not in the same way math is hard. Sociology is hard because it makes you question everything you've ever learned, everything you thought was someone's individual problem, every time you ever thought, "that's just the way things are." Sociology doesn't let you live in a happy bubble of equality and optimism because now you're able to see the systems that we (as a society) have created that keep the happy equality bubble from happening. Remember when you're parents kept telling you "life isn't fair" when you complained it wasn't fair that you had to go to bed at 8 o'clock or that you had to apologize for something you didn't think was wrong? Well, they were right. Life isn't fair because we don't all start in the same place; we don't all have the same resources. It's not fair because some groups are elevated above others for no reason other than they are part of that group. Sociology is hard because in America we're taught that the individual is so important. We learn that we have choices, freedoms, that what we think/need/want matters and that we can succeed if only we put in the individual effort. But sociology says, wait a second. Take a step back. Look at the big picture. You can't just choose to succeed, you can't just choose to be "good," you're not as free as you think you are. You are born into all these interlocking systems and where you start plays a big role in what kind of life you are going to have. You don't have the control you think you did. And that can make a person feel very small and very helpless. And you're allowed to feel depressed about it. I sure do.
But sociology is also invigorating. Lisa Wade (a sociologist), in an AKD induction ceremony speech (see link to the video below), said it's almost like having a "super power." You're finally able to see things that were once invisible. You learn you can question what you thought couldn't be questioned. And this is truly empowering. It's empowering because when we understand that for instance, poverty is not a choice, or that crime is not an individual deficit, or that inequalities between races are disparities that we've constructed, it gives us new ways to think about solutions to our social problems. It means we can change the world if we know how it works and if we do it together. As a sociologist you live within the system, but you are also able to step back and see the system. And that's kind of an awesome feeling.
I am so thankful that I took that Social Inequality class with Dr. Easton my sophomore year of college. Truth be told, I barely remember anything from my Intro class. But I remember leaving Social Inequality feeling SO ANGRY. I felt betrayed by what I had been taught and told up to that point about the way the world works and I felt devastated by the ways in which we (yes, you me and everyone else in the world--past and present) create and reproduce these systems that make us believe some people are worth more than others, that tell us some people deserve less, that make us believe we are in control of our individual lives way more than we actually are. I had to go back and question everything I thought I knew. And I am still questioning those things, especially now that I have started a sociology PhD program. I spend a lot of time thinking about my own social position--white, middle class, able-bodied, female from a very white, small town--and how these things affect the privileges and inequalities I encounter in my life. I am far more aware of these factors as I go about my everyday life.
I spend a lot of time thinking about change and social justice. I think about how I can be a part of that change, how I can help people see what their missing. Again, this has the potential to be extremely depressing and also very empowering, sometimes both at the same time. What I always agree on is, that sociology is and should be in everything we do. We need sociology, not just to understand the world, but to change it. We need it to understand that Ferguson is not an isolated case, and that colorblindness is not particularly useful when institutional and structural racism still exists. We need it to understand that power relations and cultural messages about sex play into the fact that overwhelmingly known victims/survivors of sexual assault are women and perpetrators are men. We need it to realize that when 45 million people are in poverty in the U.S. and the poverty rate for Blacks and Hispanics is more than double the rate for Whites, it is not a problem of individual choice but structural inequality. We need it to realize how differently we value work, family and carework in the U.S., the only developed country where paid maternity and paternity leave is not guaranteed, compared to our counterparts in the rest of the world. And the list goes on....
What I always come back to though, is how to make other people really see and whether I should try to make people see. Because once you see it, you see it everywhere and I really want others to be able to uncover their eyes and truly question how the world works.
But sociology is hard...
-------------------------------
**If you have time, please watch this video. Lisa Wade discusses how difficult and awesome sociology is. It's about 10 min.
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/05/07/sociology-is-awesome-an-akd-induction-ceremony-speech/
But sociology is also invigorating. Lisa Wade (a sociologist), in an AKD induction ceremony speech (see link to the video below), said it's almost like having a "super power." You're finally able to see things that were once invisible. You learn you can question what you thought couldn't be questioned. And this is truly empowering. It's empowering because when we understand that for instance, poverty is not a choice, or that crime is not an individual deficit, or that inequalities between races are disparities that we've constructed, it gives us new ways to think about solutions to our social problems. It means we can change the world if we know how it works and if we do it together. As a sociologist you live within the system, but you are also able to step back and see the system. And that's kind of an awesome feeling.
I am so thankful that I took that Social Inequality class with Dr. Easton my sophomore year of college. Truth be told, I barely remember anything from my Intro class. But I remember leaving Social Inequality feeling SO ANGRY. I felt betrayed by what I had been taught and told up to that point about the way the world works and I felt devastated by the ways in which we (yes, you me and everyone else in the world--past and present) create and reproduce these systems that make us believe some people are worth more than others, that tell us some people deserve less, that make us believe we are in control of our individual lives way more than we actually are. I had to go back and question everything I thought I knew. And I am still questioning those things, especially now that I have started a sociology PhD program. I spend a lot of time thinking about my own social position--white, middle class, able-bodied, female from a very white, small town--and how these things affect the privileges and inequalities I encounter in my life. I am far more aware of these factors as I go about my everyday life.
I spend a lot of time thinking about change and social justice. I think about how I can be a part of that change, how I can help people see what their missing. Again, this has the potential to be extremely depressing and also very empowering, sometimes both at the same time. What I always agree on is, that sociology is and should be in everything we do. We need sociology, not just to understand the world, but to change it. We need it to understand that Ferguson is not an isolated case, and that colorblindness is not particularly useful when institutional and structural racism still exists. We need it to understand that power relations and cultural messages about sex play into the fact that overwhelmingly known victims/survivors of sexual assault are women and perpetrators are men. We need it to realize that when 45 million people are in poverty in the U.S. and the poverty rate for Blacks and Hispanics is more than double the rate for Whites, it is not a problem of individual choice but structural inequality. We need it to realize how differently we value work, family and carework in the U.S., the only developed country where paid maternity and paternity leave is not guaranteed, compared to our counterparts in the rest of the world. And the list goes on....
What I always come back to though, is how to make other people really see and whether I should try to make people see. Because once you see it, you see it everywhere and I really want others to be able to uncover their eyes and truly question how the world works.
But sociology is hard...
-------------------------------
**If you have time, please watch this video. Lisa Wade discusses how difficult and awesome sociology is. It's about 10 min.
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/05/07/sociology-is-awesome-an-akd-induction-ceremony-speech/
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