Sociology is in everyday life. In one way or another, we deal with culture, sexism, gender, racism, social movements, globalization, and deviance, just to name a few. We get bombarded on television with commercials, billboards while driving, ads on the radio, and even ads popping up on our computers. I never really realized what all this meant until this class. This class has helped define some things that I either didn’t understand or understood a different way. I was watching some of the videos from the class, and realized I was alive and remember this from when I was a child. So this class also made me feel old. Sorry just kidding. I did enjoy the class, I was just a little overwhelmed with the workload, work, and home life. I hope this new generation does not forget that the past will repeat if we do not learn from it. So keep learning.

Sociology is actually not as boring as it may seem. It is the way society views and acts, how things are perceived and way certain things happen. You can connect everything we have learned to some area of your life. My job as a nurse will definitely benefit from this class. What i learned from this class will help me understand certain behaviors of people and conflicts they may struggle with. It can provide insight into how my patients view the world based off their social class, income and cultural background. The units on culture, gender and race are helpful with my career, because as a nurse sickness and health do not judge nor do they have boundaries. I will encounter all kinds of people and must respect their values, views and wishes.

Women have long been behind men when it comes to equal pay. Sex role theory, the idea that men and women stick to strict gender roles, where woman lead lives of domesticity, and men work outside the home, has dominated our thinking when it comes to women and work (Conley, 2017, p. 291). These views have continued, even as women have joined the work force in increasing numbers. Women are disproportionately employed in caring professions, like teaching and nursing, and tend to study arts and the humanities, while men are pushed into the high-powered fields of math and science (Conley, 2017, p. 307). This trend among others has led to a gender gap in equal pay.

As stated in the article, April 10th is Equal Pay Day (Connley, 2018). This date is how far into the new year women have to work in order to make the same as a man in the previous year (Connley, 2018). As frustrating as the discrimination between genders is, it is further exacerbated when one takes race and ethnicity into account. Equal Pay Day does not happen for African American women until August 7th, September 7th for Native American women, and November 1st for Latin American women (Connley, 2018). While all women face factors like the glass ceiling, which limits their ability to advance in their field of work, minorities face still greater challenges (Conley, 2017, p. 312).

Women of color are disproportionately represented in low and minimum-wage paying jobs (Connley, 2018). They face further discrimination and bias in the hiring and promotion system as well. While this subtle discrimination may not be intended, it can be felt on the macro level, leading to institutional racism that denies minority women equal opportunities (Jacobson, 2018). We tend to hire those around us, and they are usually those who also look like us, whether that be male or female, white or black (Jacobson, 2018). Thus, it is crucial for organizations to look at their own biases when it comes to hiring, enabling women, particularly women of color, to climb the professional ladder to leadership positions. As the article states, until this happens, Equal Pay Day should not be marked until November 1st, when all women have earned a pay equal to that of men. As is true of many societal issues, there are multiple facets and all must be considered to view the full picture.

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References

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist (5th core ed). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Connley, C. (2018). Reminder: Today isn’t equal pay day for black, Latina, or Native American women. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/today-isnt-equal-pay-day-for-black-latina-or-native-american-women.html

Reflection

This graphic gives us a picture of the globalization of both Starbucks and McDonalds.  McDonaldization is the rationalization of our economy and really our society (Ritzer, p. 372).  Rationalization has several components: efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of non-human for human technology, and control over uncertainty (Ritzer, p. 372).  Starbucks is often joked about as being on every corner in NYC.  There are an awful lot of them.  McDonalds is the same way but even more spread out throughout the world. These are examples of predictability (Ritzer, p. 373).  We as consumers like to know that when we buy this coffee or this burger it is consistent and will be made the same way it is made in another Starbucks or McDonalds.

 This graphic also shows the globalization of a cup of Starbucks coffee and the fact that as many as 19 countries contributed to the making of one cup of coffee.  The graphic mentions that some of the poorest countries are connected to the wealthiest through this globalization.  There are some components of globalization that are good.  As long as a fair wage is paid, it is good to bring business to some of the poorer countries in our world, however, the job shift in our country has been more to technological jobs.  Some of the production workers here have to adjust or they no longer have job prospects.  This has not been a smooth transition for many.  Our economy has transitioned to a global economy.  This makes it more difficult for small businesses to compete with global entities like McDonalds or Starbucks.

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Gender roles are the sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany an individual’s status as a male or female (Conley, 2015). The images I have put together above show old advertisements for ketchup, ties, and beer. In all of these the woman is made to look domesticated, unintelligent, and weak. In today's society, women are often objectified in the media. Their sexuality is exploited to sell miscellaneous items that has nothing to do with the woman herself. In this context, gender is a societal creation that has nothing to do with a man or woman's physical sex organs. The book quotes Judith Lorber by saying that gender is a way of setting "patterns of expectations for individuals" which effects the "social organizations of society, such as the economy, ideology, the family, and politics". (Conley, 2015).  

The media is influential to adolescents and  young children. From movies, magazines, and television shows, children begin to develop their gender identity early on. So many adolescents get eating disorders from seeing images of unrealistic women, and think that is what their body should look like. Advertisements of women in scantily clad clothing splayed across a car that the business is trying to sell, or holding a man's cologne, are everywhere. Why must society use sex to sell things?

But I see hope. Some movies today are straying away from the patriarchal perspective and leaning more towards equality. Toys are created gender neutral, and people are being more open minded towards boys doing "girly things" like play with dolls and vice versa. I hope that gender equality continues to grow in the media, and help remove some of the overly sexualized images of women, and improve and equalize societies view of gender. 

Source: Google images