One of my favorite classes that I’m taking this semester and probably of all time, would be my online introduction to sociology course. Currently, I am taking a couple of dual enrollments this semester and sociology is one of them. For those of you who don’t know what a dual enrollment is, it ‘s basically a college level course that I can take while I’m still in high school. The best part about taking dual enrollments is that I will be able to earn both high school and college credit for it. What does this mean for me? Well, in addition to taking challenging courses that intrigue me, I won’t have to take all my general education requirements at college and I’m saving money since e-start courses (a.k.a. the name of my state’s online dual enrollment college program) are much less expensive. I’ll be frank here, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to feel about sociology at first, but I totally love it and I’m even now considering it as a minor during college!
For the next few months, I’m going to be doing a series on my blog having to do with sociology. During this series, I will be discussing the most fascinating highlights of what I l’m learning in this class each week. So with that being said, let’s start talking about what is standing out to me right now!
-That bacon, eggs, and bread are considered breakfast foods because we socially construct them to be one of our morning-glory meals. In fact, what is considered “breakfast” is disparate in each country. For instance, in Korea, it is not unheard of to have vegetable soup for breakfast: YES! I am not alone in the world! For years I thought I was weird because I ate foods like lentil soup and frozen ethnic dishes from Trader Joe’s for breakfast (and still do), but now I’m not! It’s social construction that makes it odd :/!
-That people have socially constructed fortune cookies to be considered Chinese Food, even though it’s origin is Japanese: This doesn’t really surprise me. However, since quite a few cuisines have been Americanized, I thought that fortune cookies were originally concocted in the United States . But apparently, I was wrong. Who knew?
-Did you know that the rule “blue is for boys”, “pink is for girls” used to be transposed before the 1950’s?! Why is this? Because, “… The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy; while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”: Outrageous, right?!The irony of this situation makes me laugh out loud! Scientifically speaking, colors are not known to have any sort of gender nor gender preference. Also, might I add that my four year old cousin who is a boy told me that his favorite color was pink, SO THERE!
Ugh, social construction can be so dumb at times, even though I know that in order to have a sense of community, it is vital for society.
Now I have three questions for y’all to answer in the comment box. I wanna know:
-Have you ever taken a sociology class before? What did you think of it?
-Have you ever taken dual enrollment courses before? How were they? Did you take them online or through a local community college/university?
-Have you ever been affected/fed up/amused by these social construction rules? If so, which ones?
Obviously, you don’t need to answer them all, but I’d absolutely love to hear your thoughts!
xoxo
Alexandra Spund
Antarctica Rose 
Hi! I really enjoyed your post!
I have taken about 10 sociology classes and I LOVE them; actually, sociology is my major.
I also took dual enrollment courses in high school . . . kinda. I went to an early college high school, so I got to graduate high school with a diploma and a two-year college degree. We took our college classes at the local community college.
We ALL have to deal with these social constructs on a daily basis. I’m not going to ruin your class by mentioning stuff that has yet to come though!! 🙂 I will say that after learning about gender-role socialization and how young it starts, you will not ever look at a toy store or toy department in the same way again. (Notice how in Walmart and Target, for example, they have pink and blue label-type things on the shelves as if to clarify if the toys are for boys or girls . . . interesting, absurd, annoying, crazy stuff.) I could go on about sociology forever!! haha.
Enjoy your class!
-Katie
Hi Katie! Thanks for your thoughtful comment! That is SO COOL that you got to graduate with a two year degree in high school :). I plan on taking quite a few dual credits these next few years, but I definitely won’t be graduating with an associate’s degree. Kudos to you! Oh yeah, it’s crazy how young it all starts and social constructions like these are ubiquitous everywhere you go. I’m not completly against social construction as I think we need a good amount of it in order to function in society, but when it comes to ludicrous stuff like this, it makes me a bit angry lol. Thank you for stopping by my blog, I will be sure to check out yours soon!
-Alex