Importance Of Social Location

The sociological perspective examines the hidden reasons for one’s actions and identities that people have. It stressed how they are influenced by their society and most of all their social location. Social location predetermines all aspects of one’s life and there are rules that come with social location, and with rules come social control mechanisms and social stratification that keep people in line. With social location also come institutions that provide roles which form one’s identity. In the movie, “Good Will Hunting,” the main character Will Hunting is a young deviant what grows up in a rough neighbourhood and has the intellect of a genius. Role theory and other concepts from the sociological

There are many factors that have contributed to my social location. The main ones that come to mind are my social class, my racial background, and my education. All around us are people who come from different areas of the world, or same areas of the world with very different demographics.

Social location is the combination of social factors which locate someone in society (Henslin,2013, pg. 4). Social location includes: Sex/Gender,

The intersection of dominant ideologies of race, class, and gender are important in shaping my social location and experiences. By exercising my sociological imagination (Mills, 1959), I will argue how my social location as an Asian American woman with a working class background has worked separately and together to influence how I behave, how others treat and view me, and how I understand the world. The sociological imagination has allowed me to understand my own “biography”, or life experiences by understanding the “history”, or larger social structures in which I grew up in (Mills, 1959). First, I will describe my family’s demographic characteristics in relation to California and the United States to put my analysis into context. I

That was illegal, so from time to time she would get in trouble with the government authorities and, as a result, I would go live with my grandparents. Things changed when I turned 14, 15 years old. My mother finally accepted partial help from my grandparents. She officially opened her business with my grandparents’ investments. From that time on we became a solid representation of the middle class. Thus, answering the question about how the information in this book relates to me and my life, I can certainly state that I have crossed the bridges from Upper Class to Poverty and from Poverty to Middle Class, where, I believe, I presently belong.

My social location like most people has been shaped by the environment I am in and the people involved in it. Growing up as a Hispanic-American female, in America has been very difficult, as I often have to battle within myself for what values or roles from both my cultures I want to follow. As a Hispanic female, I have been raise with the idea that women are supposed to be submissive and have been taught since early age what roles women play in marriage. I have also been taught that education is not as important as creating a family (Rendon, 1992).

We are always trying to figure out where we are in this world, or how we got where we are today. Obviously you have no choice of parents or where your born and these are two major contributing factors of who am I today. Being born white and a male society has immediately granted social advantages or white privileges. But, how privileged was I really? Being born in a highly populated city to first generations Americans without high school diplomas. I did have some advantages and I realized them growing up around my non-white friends. But compared to other white people I didn’t see my self privileged in many ways.

Social location, or the status in life that people have because of their place in a society, have a huge impact on everyone. The impact that social location created could be neutral, but most of the time it will have a positive or negative impact on people. For example, an African American could be discriminated because of his ethnicity, or a patient will choose an older doctor when he needs a treatment. Different social location that we have will affect our decisions in everyday life, and most of the time it happened subconsciously, which means we don’t realize that the decisions we make are based on our social location. Like everyone else, I was affected by my own social location, both positively and negatively.

Growing up, almost every parent will tell you, “you can be anything you set your mind to!” or “the possibilities are endless”. But from an early childhood my parents were creating an opportunity structure for my life. Through my 20 years, how I was taught, the places I went to, the people I interacted with and the implications of society and societal norms followed me. As with many other families, my parents focused on setting me up for the best possible future. But little did they know, they were contributing to a society where some people are allotted more privileges and opportunities than others. I will attempt to deconstruct this complex social construction by looking at gender, social class, family influences, race, and socialization; which will be discussed in greater detail further along. When analyzing sociological concepts like gender, social class, and race sociologists use a “sociological lens”. Using a sociological lens will allow me to take the experiences I had and look at them on a broader cultural level. Ultimately sociologists use sociological lenses to better understand how personal experiences not only impact 1 person but how they can be applied in a broader context, allowing individuals to relate to others in society who may have had similar experiences.

Additionally, my parent’s substantial economic and social capital was a great asset in my career path of finding a better education outside of my community. Professor Abrego explains that one’s social location shapes an individual’s identity and how one experiences how the world treats them (Abrego, Lecture 01/06/16). In my case, there were not as many resources that my social location offered, for this reason, my mother was determined to find another high school for me to attend, away from South Central. To emphasize, my local high school carried a bad reputation of teen pregnancy, gang violence, and lacked many resources, therefore, due to my mother’s strong social capital she managed to obtain a fake address in order for me to attend a better

Mama’s harsh upbringing frames her perspective on the world. During Mama’s childhood, she faces a harsh world chock full of microaggressions and racial prejudice alike. Despite all of the factors working negatively in Mama’s favor, she successfully clambered out of her original pit of societal oppression, and instead took residence in a society a tier above that of her upbringing. The cornerstone of Mama’s dream is the concept of a home with a garden, wherein family can grow up and prosper: “Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one” (Hansberry, 53). Although this dream might seem meager through a contemporary looking-glass, black people were systematically denied homes prior to and including the mid-nineteenth century, therefore Mama’s dream demonstrates her direct wish to live a life

The type of social environment that you are born into will affect the rest of your life. Our Kids by Robert Putnam describes the lives of 20 kids around the United States and the type of social environment they had growing up. The main topic of Our Kids is how socioeconomic status relates to upward mobility and unequal opportunity in society. Previously, people from all socioeconomic classes were experiencing upward mobility during the Golden Age of Capitalism, but nowadays only the upper-middle class and the rich are experiencing upward mobility.

Second, my economic status has affected how I see myself. As one of the many Americans in the lower middle class I’ve had to work for everything that I have. I grew up in a very wealthy and privileged town and while most of my friends lived in the lap of luxury, I started working when I was 13 so that I could help my mom support our family. In being from a less fortunate economic background, I’ve pushed myself through multiple adversities. For example, in applying to college I knew I would have to get a scholarship to in order to attend. The motivation I found to apply to and win a scholarship was developed by my economic background. Being lower middle class has shaped my work ethic and my levels of motivation to get things done. In Goleman’s article about what makes a leader in

The “Sociological Imagination” was introduced by C. Wright Mills in 1959. C. Wright Mills explains in the article “The Promise” the concept of the sociological imagination. The Sociological Imagination is the way of thinking focused on seeing the impact of social forces or social contact in our individual lives. The intent of the sociological imagination is to see the bigger picture within which individuals live their lives; to recognize personal troubles and public issues as two aspects of a single process. It also challenges the individualistic reasoning, for example, the talent, skill, hard work, and motivation. “The Sociological Imagination enables its possessors to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals” (The Promise, Page 3). It’s a way for a person to look at their life as a result of their interaction with society. It can explain why a life is lived, the way it is lived, and all events, decisions, successes, and failures that have occurred. I believe as part of the sociological imagination social locators are a major part of it. Social locators are categories that you belong to that you have no control over. Some of these social locators can be for example, gender, race, social class, age, ability, religion, sexual orientation, and geographic location. Social locators in a certain sense creates our reality. Our social location determines our access to power, privilege, or our lack of power and privilege. Each group membership confers a certain set of social roles, rules, and power, which heavily influence our identity and how we see the world.

While there are other influencing factors, income is one of the most important aspects when determining ones’ social status. It is often accompanied by family background, but while well-placed connections vary in importance, wealth is a necessary condition in a civilization governed by materialism. As such, ones’ family riches determine the levels of education their off springs may be entitled to, as well as any other assets their children may benefit from. Additionally, factors such as clothing and overall outer appearance are used by other people when trying to place one in a social category, and it certainly cannot harm to have them from a young age. Monetary prosperity and stability are essential factors when deciding one’s place in the social structure since they dictate the amount of comfort and security that individual can acquire and subsequently the opinion that others will have of