Week 3

This past week in sociology was not only interesting, but informative as well. We started off our mew unit by playing cards in class. We were separated into different groups and were each given a set of rules to play by. Winners of each game moved up and losers down. Then, we started a new game. After a couple of minutes, it became apparent that each group was given a different set of rules to go by. This made playing the game confusing for the winners and losers, as they did not know going into the game that their rules were different. This was connected with culture shock. Culture shock is defined as confusion or disbelief of a different culture or society one is not familiar with. This was also explained with the fish bowl diagram. The fish is literally taken from its known enviornment and thrown into a new one expecting it to be different. The fish will be shocked to learn that the water is not the same, the materials found in the fish bowl are not the same, and the surrounding enviornment is not the same. I have experienced culture shock while on vacation. While on a cruise in the Carribbean, we stopped in St. Maarten. The island was beautiful, though very shocking to experience. The island is split into two sides, Dutch and French. While visiting the French, it became apparent that we were not used to the culture they had. The beaches were nude ans everyone was taking full advantage. The women were shirtless, as well as their young children. My mom even gasped when she first saw the beach.  We were not used to what they see as their norm and were slightly confused as to why they would walk around naked and be comfortable with everyone seeing them.

The feeling that the French were doing something wrong by being naked was my family and I being ethnocentric. We did not feel that their culture was right, as simply American culture is what should be followed. Ethnocentrism is when one does not think of other cultures besides their own. In class, we talked about a Dutch couple visiting the United States. They left their baby outside in the cold and thought nothing of it. In Dutch culture, it is customary to leave children outside as many cafés are smoke filled and not suitable for children. The parents were detained as many bystanders thought the parents were simply not caring for their child. The young couple was ethnocentric because they did not think of the American culture before acting. Additipnally, New York natives were ethnocentric when they did not pause to think if the couple was foreign and followed a different culture.

Our society taught us to call the police if we have a problem; this is the idea of the Social Construction of Realtiy. This simply states that our society shapes us into being the way we are today. For example, I am shaped by my society in many ways. I know it is not appropriate to go out in my pajamas and I am also aware of what is considered good manners during a dinner party. Society has shaped me to not wear pajamas while running to the store and to not slurp my soup while at the dinner table. This duals with Sociological imagination, as my culture teaches me to not slurp my soup and eat a hamburger with both hands and no utensils. In other cultures this would be considered rude or unwarranted, but in America, it is considered normal.