Sociological Imagination on Aspects of My Life - Essay Example

?Sur Sociological Imagination on Aspects of My Life Social status is a sociological or anthropological term commonly used in reference to prestige or honor that is attached to individuals in the society or the individuals’ rank, in a group set up. Even with the social status being referred to as a sociological term, it can be approached in different perspectives, due to its dynamism and correlation with other fields of study. For instance, there are the scientific approaches to social status, which may vary from the perspectives of an economist or a theorist. All in all, social status has the significance of determining the behaviors of individuals as well as a tool by the society to classify individuals. In the contemporary society, social status is a day to day term al most familiar to all individuals. Owing to this factor, literature works that mirrors the society has gathered implications of social status with evidence of two different ways of presentation. The two ways that literature uses to express social status are, social status as personal, or social status as abstract. Consequently, there are plenty of literature work on social status as abstract as well as social status as personal. The literature on social status as personal is, however, not too popular although it is gaining ground. Notably, the social status as abstract has the tendency of generalizing the many aspects of social status as one while the personal, social status perspective treats each individual personally (Carlos p19). Since individuals can earn their social status through their own achievements, such individually earned social class is referred to as achieved status (Carlos p5). On the other hand, there are aspects of social class that individuals inherit following conditions of their birth, or stratification in the society and such status are referred to as ascribed statuses. Since I was born an American Indian in a not so well to do with financially background, I ascribed to the social status of the Red Indians and low class society in the American settings. At the same time, I have had my achievements, such as a degree holder and an icon in the sports, which has hence yielded to my achieved social status. Upon reflecting further into my social status, I was the fifth born in a family of eight based in the suburbs of Minnesota. My parents were sparingly educated, and hence they did not have the “papers” to secure respectable professions. They, therefore, had to work hard to place food on the table and ensure the pack of eight siblings was clothed and educated. As I recall, access to health care was not that recommendable and security for future progress was not that promising. Furthermore, I used to envy the children from the wealthy families at school. Their lifestyles seemed all too enjoyable, with the holidays, the televisions, the movies and the sporting. I loathed why I was ever born a Negro in a poor family background. Therefore, I the aspects of my sparing exposure to the new technology, information and the need to work hard in order to achieve what I desire can be said to be my ascribed social status. Following the numerous debates from the almost misinformed neighborhood at my young age, my political stand was established], whereby, I loathed the capitalism and desired the democratic stand. At the same time, I felt being isolated from the mainstream society, together with my fellow neighbors bat the Minnesota suburbs. The isolation I felt together with my implications of the system of governance through capitalism was somehow ascribed social class on my part, but they challenged me to work exceptionally hard and utilize the meager resources. I, therefore, gained a competitive spirit in the academics. I was particularly energetic due to the physically straining activities that I carried out when growing up as a kid. This boosted my performance in sports, and I had a position in my college baseball team. All these are attributable to my achieved social status. Though my hard work at school, I manage to proceed through the basic levels of academics, up to the university level where I obtained a degree in community development. At the same time, I am an admired player of baseball in the Notre Dame Baseball Club, where I spend most of my time. Furthermore, I am more known in base ball than at the community level. Furthermore, I have made myself many fans who love my sports talents and my team mates at the club, whom we have developed a tie hard to break. Therefore, my ascribed social status of being sporty, due to the difficult background I grew at made me a hard working sports man, who have attained reputations in the sports industry, and these makes my Master status. On the other hand, my attained bachelor’s degree in community development has molded my character in my background community, and I participate in community outreaching activities in often cases. I also appreciate the fact that I was born and brought up in such a large family as ours. It had the impact of influencing my public relations. From this, I have achieved some public notice as a well disciplined and social sports man, unlike many sports stars in the contemporary American society. These statuses can also be termed as Master and, therefore, both ascribed and achieved social statuses are entangled in their significance to me. As role conflict is a common aspect to individuals owing to the influence of their social status, I am not an exceptional to it. Admittedly, I have had my share of role conflicts especially with regard to the choice of my profession. Since I was performing notably well both in academics and in the sports, it was hard for me to choose the profession to make. At then same time, my ascribed status of being an Indian as an ethnical background, from the backyards of the rural Minnesota and from a poor ground brought ridicule along my way as well as opposition by circumstances. At times, bitterness developed in me, but luckily, my religious background enabled to tackle all these and retained me on my way. Therefore, as a young child, the ascribed social status contributed to my role conflicts. On growing up, my achieved social status continued to build up. For instance, I had money for my own, and I became a public admiral due to my stout physique, achievements in academics and base ball sports. I had challenges dealing with these newly achieved social statuses, and in the time, I would act out of pride, and other times I would just be poised. Again, my religious attachments helped in my maintaining my role conflicts balance. My choice of career was not that simple either, for I had to choose between being at all-time, in community development endeavors as my achieved degree required, or to go into base ball. My strong spirit in team work caused me to choose base ball as my main career as I continued participating in community service. Therefore, my profession as a base ball player defines my current social class. This is because, most of my earnings are directly related to my sporting activities, the class of people I mostly associate with, and the places I mostly attend are in one way or the other influenced by the Notre Dame Bass Ball Club. Well, I will not deny that I am only a player in the team and not among the team officials; therefore, again my social class is amongst the team players of the club. Based bon my remunerations, on the broader perspective, as based on the 2006 census report, I can comfortably claim that I am amongst the rich clique in the United States. Owing to the fact that I have beaten all the indicators of the rich Americans, although I do not have a white collar job, which is a matter of choice than fate. My club has accorded me with quality health care; I frequent holiday places and travel widely, just as is attributed to the rich class. Another decisive factor is that I general hang around with people of the rich class, whom we share4 ideas with and more so, my political views and stand have been influenced by the rich people. The factor of my academic achievement which I am still pursuing also counts in my classification amongst the rich. At times, it becomes difficult to separate me from the majority of the poor class people dwelling in the Minnesota region. This is because I am constantly with these people. Amongst the crucial reasons as to why I involve my self with the people of Minnesota is because of the urge to give back to the society. I feel credited to uplift my fellow people from the areas and conditions well known to me and; therefore, I have initiated projects and programs in involving the community development of the area. I also appreciate it that I am amongst the class so termed as “the rich”, as well as a super star in the sports arena. All these give me the benefits of being listened to politically and socially so as to facilitate implementations of development programs. Therefore, I am not much separable from the people termed as poor in our society, although, i am more privileged financially than they are. Following the fact that I have dwelt amongst the commonly contrasting social classes, I have had plenty of experiences on my way, some as privileges, while others as obvious disadvantages accorded based on class. For instance, when growing up as a poor Indian, I used to face ridicule from people of other ethnicity due to the negative stereotypes to the Indians common in our society. It was even notably common to pick-up fights with other kids in the street and at school, instigated by the ethnicity contrasts. There were times as a youngster when I felt that our teachers were biased in treatment to the students, and it commonly appeared as if they favored the white kids. At times, kids would say to my nose some stereotyped comments about our clearly spelt poverty that disgusted me as a kid. Moreover, due to the poor status that my family was in, going without some basic needs was a common occurrence. Information and technology was also not available to us in appreciable manner, which meant that we were not placed in competitive levels in today’s world of information and technology. As such, disadvantages of dwelling in the poor class, in the backyards of remote suburbs and from an ethnic background that is associated with so much negative stereotypes, can be unbearable. Traces of these disadvantages associated with class have continued to show up even in my current situation, for instance, the need to work hard so as to attain higher positions and resources. However, I have learnt not to carry their ghostly impression, because then they would be more real and rampant than when ignored all together (Carlos p21). On the other hand, my social status has brought me plenty of advantages. To begin with, most of my personal traits are attributable to the different social classes that I have been into. The fact that I was born an Indian, the self appreciation aspect commonly associated with them was instilled in me. At the same time, the hardships that we went through in our days of growing up taught me perseverance and critical perception over all situations coming along my way. Likewise, the open, vast neighborhood of the rural suburbs provided an opportune playground that made the superstar baseball player me. The physically straining activities associated with the poor people in the society, plus the stark family and many neighborhood kids were a substantial contribution to my social life, an aspect I proudly possess to date. My achieved social class in books and the field has brought so many advantages in my life. As an example, I am a role model to many young people in our society. I am notably honored and admired by many people as well due to my learned status as well as being well of financially. My courage is also a factor which I combine with my connections to push for development of my background Minnesota area. From my base ball games, I have had the privilege of travelling to many esteemed places and being considered in panels of honor. My gender has also being a factor in my social life. Since my background taught me to appreciate gender and play my roles as a man, I developed my sense of responsibility over issues notably as my gender called for while young. Today, I have a responsibility, not only to myself, but also to my community, the environment and the political realities of our time (Carlos p23). For instance, my engagement in the community development projects is an issue that is arguably more of a calling due to my critical perception of the world around me that I developed since I was a young boy. Additionally, the Indians as a race have a culture of a maintaining the environment as well as being socially responsible. Therefore, my social status as an Indian has driven my efforts for involvement in environmental issues and community development. Work Cited Frad, carlos. "The Sociological Imagination and Its Promise Fifty years Later: Is There A Future for The Social Sciences As A Free Form Of Enquiry?" The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 5.2 (2009): n.pag. Cosmos and History. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. . Read More