The first week of class was very insightful to me. Coming to the first day of class I wasn't too sure of what the study of Sociology really consisted of. The sociological imagination perspective became very useful to my everyday judgment of other cultures. Living in a diverse community it isn't rare to see how many different customs are presented daily. Though I might not be able to keep 100% objectivity, I am able now to actually consider and acknowledge other customs without being too judgmental. Its not that easy. The pictures which were presented during class that demonstrated what different cultures considered normal, like the neck rings in China, was an eye opener to me because it made be realize how ideals vary depending where a person is from. I am looking forward to learning more on the theories and perspectives that have been developed in order to understand the differences in society.
I like that you brought up how it is impossible to be 100% objective, but even so that objectivity is useful when learning something new about cultures to not be judgmental or close-minded, and I agree completely.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in what other cultures you might come across in your daily life? How do you view them? I believe you got the neck rings in china wrong. The neck rings are used in i believe East Africa, China has a whole slew of different culture differences including group yoga, meditation, foot bindings, and eye lid surgeries.
ReplyDeleteI was the same as you, when I signed up for sociology I didn't know what to expect so the intro was really great. The rings around the women's neck I have seen on this, http://triphop-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Bjork-Homogenic-Frontal.jpg It is the album Homogenic by Icelandic singer Bjork (her voice is amazing btw). I didn't quite know what they were for but a friend of mine and I discussed it before so that helps. I think the more exposure we all get to these types of things the better we will be at keeping an open mind.
ReplyDelete