This Week in Sociology Class

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

Going Back to 2008: The Hollister Trend

I was never one to fit in a crowd. I mean, I didn’t go out of my way to stick out like a sore thumb, but it was the little things. The minute differences such as my refusal to participate in the Hollister trend, that set me apart from others. When I moved to a new state in the 5th grade, almost all of the girls and even some of the guys in my class were wearing Hollister shirts. Want to know what my first impression of these shirts were? Yawwwwwn Fest!!!

I couldn’t understand how these mundane sheets of cloth, which only had the words “Hollister” slapped on could be so popular. You’d sometimes get lucky and get one with the brand’s signature bird as an addition, but most of the time, you weren’t. These shirts were a sensation! It was consumerism at its peak! I was seeing Hollister carbon copies everywhere and suddenly, unfashionable became the hottest new trend.

Despite my original skepticism, I was still the ten year old new girl in town and was determined to fit in. So therefore, I dragged my parents to our local mall to transform myself from a “What’s Not to Wear” girl into a hip and trendy pre-teen. When we first walked into the store, we were greeted by a picture of a hunky man’s broad chest. Hello, nice to meet you too! It was almost as though that picture was saying, “If you shop here, we guarantee that you’ll be able to find yourself an Arnold Schwarzenegger Jr!” Then, as we turned left, we walked into a dimly lit room where our noses were blasted with incense. Sexy vibes? Maybe to some, but honestly, the perfume was just giving me an allergic reaction. However, I still picked out my supposedly perfect, hot fuchsia pink Hollister t-shirt and was totally stoked to wear it at school the next day.

When I first wore that Hollister shirt, I felt so powerful, like I could be anybody; maybe even one of the popular girls! After all, one of the cool, probably most Hollister obsessed girl in our school, complimented on my shirt; how could I not be happy? For a few weeks, I wore that shirt pretty much every other day, feeling like I was going to find social heaven. I probably would have worn that shirt seven days a week if I didn’t have to wash it! I did this for about a month. However, it was my frugal instincts that reminded me of why I didn’t want to shop there in the first place.

One day when I was selling Girl Scout cookies, I noticed that my belt was digging into my brand spanking new Hollister shirt. After I moved it, I saw a very distinctive hole. This made me pause. How could this piece of clothing, which I bought just a little bit over a month ago, have a hole in it already? How cheaply was this made? Was it made out of banana peels or something? Who knows? Suddenly, it then hit me! This shirt that my parents just spent money on was boring, thinly made, and definitely not worth its price tag.

After that happened, I threw the shirt in the garbage and went back to wearing my neon bright, denim infested outfits again. I never was by eleven year old standards, fashionable, but to be honest, I really didn’t care anymore. I was just glad to have my clothing sanity back! After all, life is too short not be a little weird, right?

xoxo

Alexandra Spund