They say that the United States is the land of opportunity. I have a hard time just really getting this to sink in. It seems like becoming a citizen of the United States just locks you into this prison of social class, debt you will be paying off forever, and a constant worry of making money to live. We are born into or move into a country where social stratification effects everyone's lives.

I think this is also why so many entertainment movies and stories are about a main character making that fantastical leap into a higher social class. It is so far out of reach that we go through live imagining what it would be like if we were rich, how things would be different. We go through life planning and waiting for when we "will" be rich, fantasizing about how our lives will be so much better if we were part of the higher class.
Being stuck in these different social layers dictates what we can and cannot have access to in our lives. What types of things we can buy or the places that we can live. We are limited if we are born into poverty by where we work, what material things we end up having around us and where we may end up going to school.

There are so many things that determine our social class in life but I think that the biggest area of social stratification lies within what class we are born into and our gender. People experience their social class often but what is experienced in almost every situation is their gender.

Although we'd love to say that we don't do this people are treated differently because of their gender. Just like with racism and how people are treated because of their skin color, gender stratification is there under the carpet. It's strange how this is one of the hugest areas that also determine status and money earned yet people seem to not really acknowledge it often. Everyone does it. In the way that they address people throughout the day to the way they look at people and talk to them.

In today's workplace women make much less than males do, and seem to have much more of a struggled they must go through in order to make it successfully to the top. In my own personal experience I have definitely experienced gender stratification and how I am treated differently because of my sex on a day to day basis.

For the last three years I have been in an engineering program which typically consisted mainly of men. There were a few women in my program but after the years it ended with just me and one other female. Right off the bat when given lab groups I was placed in a group with two of the other women in the class. This left just one girl who had to be in a group of all men. Wouldn't this have been better if the women were spaced up equally among the men so we could all experience working together?

I think this affected a lot of the women's grades in the long run. All of the women were new to this type of profession and most of the men were new or retired from the military doing the same profession. The women had a much harder struggle when learning the material where as the other men that were new to the material got lots of help from their knowledgeable lab partners that could help based on their previous experience.
All except two of the females left the program due to increasing amount of work and struggle trying to learn the material, while also trying to keep things good on the home front, while still taking care of their children and getting their household duties done.
After schooling most of the people applied for an internship, I was lucky enough to be picked along with three guys. I think mostly it had to do with my grades. Once in the position I was treated differently because of my sex and it was obvious.

The atmosphere at the company was hard to blend into because it was all men. You hear the way that they joke to each other was in a different way than the way that they would joke with me. When they joked with me it always had something to do with the fact that I was female or was a joke about some sexual comment. It was either these kinds of things or guys staying out of the way and only addressing me when necessary or with pleasantries expected in the workplace.

When an intern was picked for tasks or jobs where a lot of hands on training would have been given I was almost always overlooked. Instead I was given jobs and tasks mainly focused on the computer and documentation. Instead of getting to perform a lot of the procedures on a machine I instead had to read procedures and edit them for grammar, spelling or accuracy. This was hard because even though yes I am a female I really enjoyed working with my hands and getting down and dirty with the machines just as much as the guys did.

After the internship was over and job placement was given the other male interns were given positions in the company with development and engineering in Hillsboro which is what they wanted. I was given a position that I had to relocate to another state for, away from the main branch of the company and out in an area where only a few people work on site with tools. Right here I can see how my training is going to be limited further. Instead of being with several engineers and getting the maximum training I will be with just two other younger engineers with little to none experience. I was also able to find out that my starting salary is about ten thousand lower than that of a male intern last year who finished the program and became a level one field service engineer.

I can't say for sure that these things all happened due to my gender but it seems that most of the signs point in that direction. How can I really address these things in my company? Honestly...I don't think that I really can, without making a scene or accusations that would ultimately result in my possibly being fired or being treated even more differently because of how I feel about being treated because I am a female. How do we start to curb gender stratification? How do we reduce the way people are treated because of their sex and gender? The first and biggest step I think in stopping this is to just help to make people more aware that it is happening and that they are doing it. Once society can admit this, then perhaps it can start to heal.

There is a myth in the United States that if one works hard enough there will be no limit to what he can achieve. In fact this myth is the very foundation that many of our ideas about politics, law, education, health care and business are built on--the idea that whether we succeed or fail is ultimately up to our own ambitions and capabilities. Sociologists like to refer to this as the Horatio Alger Myth; which refers to the popular 1800's stories depicting young men making it from rags to riches based on sheer tenacity (Henslin 221). In fact, if you just turn on the news tonight you are bound to hear a story about someone making it "big" by nothing other than "hard work" and "grit". However enticing this story may be, and however much we have invested in it, the story is not true. The truth is that most societies, and ours is no exception, are built upon a social stratification system. This system helps organize society, and more importantly society's assets and resources, based on where an individual falls on the 'strata' or level in the system. In order to fully understand this system we have to understand how it functions in US society, how individuals are categorized, and what categories constitute the 'master statuses'--or predetermined, unchangeable categories that are so pervasive they influence all aspects of your location in society.

Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology: A down to Earth approach. Custom Publishing. Boston, Massachusetts. Copyright 2009, pages 197-221.

Do you think that the low-wage factories of the multi-national corporations, located in countries such as China, Bangladesh or Mexico, represent exploitation or opportunity?

"Every exploitative relationship begins with an initial inequality that makes the taking advantage possible. In exploitative relationship the rich get richer and the poor fall further behind. "- Robert Mayer

Exploitation, in this case economic exploitation, can be defined as using somebody's labor, but in return giving an unfair compensation, or taking unfair advantage of laborer. Exploitation is nowadays mostly taking place in factories of undeveloped countries of Asia, Africa and South America. The workers in factories are paid low, sometimes paid under the minimum wage and also placed to work in very bad conditions. According to Robert Mayer there are two kinds of exploitation: discretionary and structural exploitation. Karl Marx viewed the whole capitalist class as exploitative thing. On the other hand those people in between those multi-national corporations and oppressed workers are in dilemma to call it exploitation or opportunity. The question also is: Is exploitation ok even if it is not harmful and mutually beneficial?

According to Robert Mayer there are two forms of exploitation: discretionary and structural exploitation. The discretionary exploitation or flexible exploitation is the one that raises question of fairness. The laborers are free to choose it they want to work for low wages and in difficult circumstances. Most of the time they are not so desperate that it comes to life and death, but their alternative options are agriculture, day labor or scavenging that will bring even less income and even worse working conditions; so in most circumstance they will choose to be exploited by multi-national corporations. It is the offer that they cannot afford to refuse.

The second form of exploitation is structural exploitation that is considered less evil exploitation. As name structural suggest it is more organized exploitation by free trade laws or market settings and competitions. Mayers in his article gives an example of Wal-Mart 2004 case as structural exploitation. In 2004 all Wal-Mart competitors decided to slash their prices after Wal-Mart decided to keep their prices same. Those competitors were allowed to take advantage of Wal-Mart's bad decision and to make Wal-Mart loose its business.

Marxist theory is that capitalism is based of exploitation. If we look at his theory and globalization of capitalism, we can say that there won't be end to exploitation for many years or never, because someone's labor has to be exploited for capitalism to work. On the other hand Functionalist would probably argue that those exploited workers voluntarily agreed to work for such low wages and that someone has to do the dirty work. They see that for benefit of western world and the benefit of those exploited workers stratification is inevitable.

Before we can even answer our question of exploitation or opportunity, we might want to look at some examples of exploitation in Mexico, China and Bangladesh.
In Mexico they are called Maquiladoras, factories that were establish after North American Free Trade Agreement. Those factories produce parts and products for American, Japanese and some European factories. They employ over one million workers in 3000 factories and under American standards those factories would be considered sweatshops. The workers are paid as little as $10 per day, they usually work long hours and working conditions are poor. The workers live in shacks without running water and where usually pollution is very high from the factories. The argument from NAFTA is that they provided jobs for many unemployed people and that poverty was there before those factories arrived.

Another example is Bangladeshi clothing factories that employ about two million exploited workers, which are mostly young women between age of 14 and 29. Thinking about just the fact that those are mostly young women, makes it easier for exploiters to take advantage of them. According to the article Garment History, the working conditions and pay of Bangladeshi workers are the worst in the world with wage of just 8 cents per hour, comparing to US about 8 dollars per hour. In addition to low wages, workers don't receive their earned wages on time; usually they would receive those months later. Overtime is not paid even though they have to work 14 to 16 hours a day. In 2006 workers organized strikes seeking higher pay and better conditions. The minimum wage has been increased and overtime pay ensured since then. So maybe there is hope that with people power conditions can change to better for those workers. On the other hand the multi-national corporation would say that if they have to keep increasing the wages, that they would have to move their factories to China, where labor at that point would be cheaper. That would obviously mean that two million Bangladeshi would loose their jobs.

Last but probably most known example of cheap and exploited labor is in China. Before mid 1800s China was completely closed from the rest of the world and from Industrialization. Today China's economy is on the unstoppable and very fast economic rise. The big part of that economic rise is because of all production factories from western world moved to China searching for cheap labor and so the cheap products. People from villages are massively moving to the cities to work in those factories because they would earn about $200 per month working in the factories and only about $50 per month if they stayed home and worked on the farms. There is also pressure to modernize with globalization. When Brook Silva-Braga in documentary The China Question interviewed young workers in the factory, they said that despite tough conditions that they have to work and live in, they just want to earn money and be able to buy modern things.

After examining exploitation, I think that low wage factories definitely are not opportunity for people. With globalization of capitalism, there is no stop to exploitation. People in the developing countries are forced to modernize; they are economically forced to work in such factories, so really they don't have options.
As mentioned in the beginning quote, every exploitative relationship begins with initial inequality and that is how I see what capitalism is about, rich exploiting poor.

Works Citied

Harford, Tim. "Quotes." Good Reads, November 2005. Web. 05 June 2011.

Henslin, James M. "Essentials of Sociology" Down to Earth Approach. Custom Publishing. Pearson. 2008.

Mayer, Robert. "Sweatshops, Exploitation, and Moral Responsibility." Journal of Social Philosophy, 2007. Vol. 38 Issue 4, p605-619, 15p. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 June 2011.

Rosenberg, Matt. "Maquiladoras in Mexico." Export Assembly Plants in United States. About.com. Web, 5 June 2011.

"The China Question." By Brook Silva-Braga. CNBC. Television, 3 June 2011.

"The Struggles of 2006." Garment History. Posted by Al-Amin Islam. Web Blog, 21 March 2011. Web, 5 June 2011.

No matter how many degrees or experience a woman may have there is still inequality with the pay they receive compared to men, and this problem is global. Henslin states, "one of the most remarkable areas of gender inequality at work, the pay gap."(1) Women have become a large part of the work source through out the world, yet they are continually discriminated against in the form of compensation. Women and men do the same jobs, with the same vivacity and expertise but women receive much less pay for the same work. There is still discrimination going on throughout the world for women and there does not seem to be much change in sight. This discriminatory social process is being viewed and studied but not changed. This trend is a worldwide problem that affects the workplace and the economy all across the globe. Women continue to be victims of discrimination and being told they will never be as good as men, and it shows in their paychecks.

This type of discrimination leads to tension and resentment in the workplace. The "man's world" still exists within the workforce and is shown here in the gender pay gap problem. Women are continually trying to find ways to fit into this masculine derived community. As we see, in order for women to try and get fair compensation they must work harder and act as a man would in the business setting. Even though this is a known fact and it is clearly discriminatory there has been little change in the area of gender pay-gap. The trend of women getting more education and streaming into the more competitive work places has been on a steady rise since around the 1940's. While women have begun to fight for the right to equal pay, we are still a long way away from the ideal. It is disturbing to know that entering college women can succeed and have the same training and still be denied the right to the same pay as men. Throughout the world the message of being less-than because you are female is still very prevalent when we look at the gender pay gap.

Gender pay gap not only affects the work place but the economy as well. A study done in Australia by the National Center for Social and Economic Modeling, shows how eliminating the gender pay gap can help the economy. "A 2009 report for the Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs argued that in addition to fairness and equity there are also strong economic imperatives for addressing the gender wage gap."(5). They go on to state, "the researchers estimated that a decrease in the gender wage gap of 1 percentage point from 17% to 16% would increase GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita by approximately $260. This equates to around $5497 million. The results also indicate that eliminating the whole gender wage gap from 17% to zero, could be worth around $93 billion. The researchers also estimate that removing the negative effects associated with the prime determinant of the gap, that is being a woman, could add around $56 billion to the total annual GDP." (5). This study is startling evidence how not only is eliminating the gender pay gap good within the workplace but it can have a substantially positive impact on the economy. This shows how the gender pay gap can stimulate the economy, it is surprising how much we can hold on to our old male-dominated ideas when such positive effects can come from change.

In another article from Britain titled, Gender Pay Gap costs UK economy ?23bn a Year. Two commission members said in a joint statement, "The continued division of jobs into men's work and women's work is holding back our economy at a time when the challenge from abroad means we need to be operating a peak levels of performance."(6). From the title of this article we can see again how the gender pay gap effects the economy all around the world. The lack of change is having negative impacts within the working world and as well as the economic issues that impedes us all over the globe. As shown here by the studies done in both Australia and the United Kingdom there only favorable outcomes from disintegrating the gender pay gap.

While it has been a beginning for women entering higher education and workforce areas, there is still much change that needs to occur. The women who receive higher degrees are still not guaranteed the same compensation for their efforts. Women automatically receive less pay right out of college than men do with the same education. The discrimination begins there, but does not end there. Henslin explains, "to make $2,700 more a month all you have to do is be born a male and graduate from college."(1). This is a startling example for women trying to make better lives for themselves and their families. Another alarming statistic in Henslin is the The Gender Pay Gap, by Education, Figure 10.5, p.277, which shows male college graduates earn on average $87,777 and women college graduates earning only $55,222. While only half of this gap is due to career choices, the main factor for women and men competing in the same job is gender discrimination. This type of discrimination needs to be eliminated for the benefit of society as a whole. We are just a the cusp of change in this area and continued studies and laws made need to be put into place in order for this to occur.

As we can see the gender pay gap has many negative aspects. The disgruntled worker never makes for a healthy and productive work environment. Women who feel they are not being compensated for the same hard work as men are beginning to rise up and stand for what is right. This does not bode well for equality across the globe. This issue is affecting woman all around the world, in all industrialized societies woman are getting paid less than men for the same job. This has become a globally common practice of gender inequality. This enhances the views of women being the weaker gender. As we continue to see more women fighting their way up the corporate ladder let us hope there will be a change in the pay scale discrimination as well. The only way for this to be accomplished is to unceasingly expose the large gap in gender pay. When we look at how gender pay discrimination also impinges the economy, it is baffling that the change is not happening at a more rapid pace. The economy of industrialized societies can be positively impacted by eliminating gender pay discrimination. This is a very strong argument that can have a significant impact on our suffering economy. The evidence of this alone should be enough for us to rethink this nonsensical discrimination of gender inequality. This can only lead to more productive and progressive camaraderie not only within the workplaces but across the globe.

Works Cited

1.Henslin, James M. 2009. Essentials of Sociology. A Down-To-Earth Approach, Eighth Edition. Allyn and Bacon: Boston MA, 2009
OECD Main Page
2.OECD. OECD Employment Outlook 2008-Statistical Annex
OECD, Paris, 2008 p.358
3.OECD. OECD Employment Outlook-2008 Edition.
OECD, Paris, 2008 p.3-4
4.OECD. OECD Employment Outlook. Chapter 3: The Price of Prejudice: Labour Market Discrimination on the Grounds of Gender and Ethnicity.
OECD, Paris,2008.
5.National Center for Social and Economic Modeling. The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the economy.
Report to the Office for Women. Department of Families, Community Services, Housing and Indigenous Affairs, 2009 p.v-vi.
6.Grice, Andrew, Political Editor, The Independent. Gender Pay Gap Costs UK Economy ?23bn a Year. 27, February 2006.

All I can think about is where to start. I was thinking about the beginning but that might be a little too early in the life I speak of. I wish I had more life experience I could work with but maybe the experiences I can objectively speak of can help me and others around me have more understanding of some of life's core values and social norms that can be better understood. In society I have lived constantly adjusting my values and norms to fit those acceptable by society's standards. Sometimes situations arise in the free world that are very aggressive and I work with what good experiences I have to reflect on to avoid the negative group pressure and discover more productive ways of dealing with different situations throughout the course of life. Coming from a good upbringing I was like many others, very foolish in my teenage years. With my parents never teaching me anything about jail or prison I was schooled as soon as I showed up to McLaren "Juvenile jail" and unlike so many other people that came before me in what is referred to as the testing situation, a fight for ones safety, I stood against many by myself with those watching making wagers. In that instant when It was all over I knew that whatever I had done was the right way to act in this place I was sent to live receiving pats on the back from people I have never met and hugs while getting cuffed. Being forced into a living situation where violence is the first and only way to really get your point across did, in a way, corrupt my way of life for a while.

I have been able to contrast a lot from the institutions to the free world, any police man/woman would probably say no way those people don't work like that and that is completely understandable because they really do see the worst side of most criminals. Back to group pressure. Around Christmas time on the inside there is a lot of tension with everyone missing their families and every jail/prison has some amount of corrections officers walking around commenting reminding the inmates about their personal losses of freedom which really does cause defiance to take root and in turn there is more fights among the population. When an 18 year old youngster gets sentenced to a ten year measure 11 and walks the unit no matter where it is there will be some level of uncertainty considering how most of society views prison which is understandably so. It is quite common for the new younger inmates to be tested, some close bonds are made in this primitive head bashing way because if one stands up for themselves against the odds they earn a title as someone that isn't to be messed with and in there that in its self is enough to make the predators back off. I mean after all they want to extort someone that is scared so they can get paid not try to do it to someone that will stand up for what is right. I witnessed a situation many years ago where a teenager was sentenced to 70 months and being that young I'm close to sure that Joey Peterson, the teenager, didn't see any future after his projected release date and quite possibly couldn't even imagine being released. I say this for reasons that he has since 1999 made some poor choices like assaulting staff members and other corrections staff. I have thought long and hard as to why some people when sentenced to something like 70 months choose to do things like assault staff members. After asking around through many letters written through other people so they couldn't trace it to me because having info like that on the inside can be very dangerous I have to say I wasn't surprised to find out that Joey had joined a gang called the Aryan Death Squad and had made a pact to attack officers on sight. Although cases like the one with Joey Peterson are not by any means the norm I have seen an influx of inmates over the last fifteen years get caught up in acquiring more time on their sentences which leads me to believe that the level of group pressure is ever increasing whether gang activity or just more violence It is quite apparent just how strong group influence is inside our State and Federal institutions.

One might be a person that abhors violence within a primitive group setting, however, when people really are put in that very situation and survival instincts take over it makes some capable of going to extremes over group pressures they weren't aware they could go to before they were forced to. As bad as it sounds there is this general acceptance they experience and the measures are set apart in terms of an emotional understanding. If an inmate gets 24 months for burglary and a year and a half into his sentence he starts hanging out with someone that is in for assault and has four more years, the only thing to do is be understanding. Acting any other way could be interpreted as an insult and although some go the insulting route most prefer the non confrontational route. I know especially how people think in the free world about racism. Most jump to conclusions that one person or group of people can actually change the way we view race on the inside. Truth being said it is not even about race directly. It's about the strong ruling the weak, and prisoners testing their closest friends on the inside all the time for reasons like needing that assurance the people around you have your back just in case stuff happens. If someone doesn't follow suite upon arrival there will be a whole lot of people after that one person that won't conform to something bigger than itself. I would add group pressure is heavy in those settings.

Degradation as stated in the text sounded horrid but objectively speaking don't they have to focus on the safety and security of the jail/institution first. Let me talk a little about why those places have such strict policy. First It is a game for someone that is doing five plus years because there isn't any good time to lose so they learn to break as many rules as humanly possible while receiving encouraging nods and signals from those in their group that except the violent way. With much of the ways on the inside being like living in medieval times it is no wonder that over the years those places are becoming more and more violent with longer sentences that generally are given without the option for good time and earned time credits. I have felt the hopelessness at the beginning of a long sentence and it can be overwhelming in a way that is very hard to describe; but all hope being gone and having nothing to live for is pretty close to putting it in words. After a while all we have is our dreams to keep us going every day and believe me when I say they try to take all one holds close to their heart. There isn't any program they have that can teach a person how not to let them take what is important in life as we lose touch with the outside world we dream of living in.

I'm not even sure I'm supposed to be talking about the harsh realities of real life; however, what I say consumes me daily especially in the community I live in. I am not someone that is ever going beg for forgiveness over what was and that alone makes it harder because almost everyone likes an ex-con that accepts his/her wrongs. I look at it like this - I personally had goals that I worked toward with my old life style and now that is behind me I don't look for easy ways to make money and I'm not putting myself in the middle of any unwelcome situations. Please let me elaborate on my unwillingness to just go through their programs. I am a body builder with unbelievable strength and speed and living the life style I use to I kind of ran over the top of many people on the other side of the law. At the time I was under the impression I could smash anyone as long as they were on the other side of the law Boy was I wrong. I didn't realize at the time those people that were making illegal money have rights just like anyone else and because I'm not a cop I know now that I caused more harm than good. I know now that my fight against the law has been misguided and wrong, and I refuse to stand in front of many and lie about how sorry I am. After twenty some years in and out of prison I will be the first to say I wasn't always wrong for doing what I have" assaults". I live in the same community I have always lived in and I'm safe because people still remember how far I'm willing to go when protecting my family. They also know the "bad-boy" peer pressure can't touch me now.

In the novel Ishmael, Daniel Quinn takes his readers on a journey to de-construct the notion of civilization. Our culture is examined over the course of a lengthy dialogue between a teacher and a student. Through this discourse, it is established that our current methodology of living has set us on a path toward destroying not only our own civilization but much of the life on the planet. As products of the very construct from which this dilemma has arisen we, as individuals and society as a whole, find it nearly impossible to see the way out. The answer, according to Quinn, lies in observing nature and uncovering the laws which govern all other systems on the planet. The decision to ignore these laws has landed 'civilized man' in dire straits and, if we are to survive, we must learn to play by the rules on peril of extinction. In essence, we must commit to participating in the competition of the natural world while abstaining from destroying our competitors- either through outright attack or by interfering with their food source. This, the peace-keeping law, is at the core of the evolutionary process and is responsible for the longevity of our world, as well as it's diversity and in turn it's resilience. When we make the commitment to return to living in accordance with this law we will begin the next phase of humanity. Quinn's vision is that humans will realize their place in evolution as being the first to evolve a higher consciousness and that, in a revised climate of supportive coexistence, others will follow- evolution will continue and humans will lead by example. Working toward this inspiring vision will replace our ongoing enactment of a faulty viewpoint which has brought us to the current situation. Ultimately, the all-important question arises: "What do I do?" This question is the crux of the message, yet receives little enough attention by Quinn in the novel. It is this question that baffles individuals on a daily basis as we are presented with a laundry list of problems and enemies that seem so much greater than ourselves. The answer? Teach others, change minds.

Earn Your Colors

"What can I do right now?" Ultimately, each individual can begin by altering their participation in our cultural system. Every person that commits to living more in accordance with the peace-keeping law will assist in tilting the scales toward balance. The final goal of these efforts is to shift the cultural perception of what is desirable and practical for the success of humanity. Certainly, this is a daunting task. With this in mind, the specific actions to be taken are personal and require a good deal of self-reflection, for there are many ways to make a difference.

First, consider that the peace-keeping law implies that we should not take more than we need to survive, especially at the expense of our planetary cohabitants. The well-known waste hierarchy is a tenet well worth heeding: reduce, reuse, recycle. We can move toward living in accordance with the law which governs all of life through reducing our consumption of goods by limiting our purchases to that which we need. It would be wise to tune out advertisements in general, which seek to convince us that we must be part of the latest trend and consequently lead us to indulge in buying items that we have no true need for. If we can't avoid advertisements, we can at least foster an air of skepticism and seek to uncover the manipulation to which we are subjected so regularly. By reusing or re-purposing products, we keep goods in circulation much longer than would otherwise be the case. Frequenting thrift stores, taking exceedingly good care of our belongings so that someone else might make use of them when we're finished and using discarded objects as the basis for art are all options for interrupting the waste cycle. Finally, if necessary, recycling products rather than sending them to the landfill is an important contribution.

When you must buy, vote with your dollars. Living in a capitalist society, our culture is subject to the laws of supply and demand. By using each of our purchases to increase demand for products that are most supportive of the peace-keeping law and beneficial to the well-being of the planet, we are able to offer not-so-subtle encouragement to businesses to come along for the ride. There are many factors to consider when using purchasing power to voice an opinion. For instance: How much petroleum was used to make and transport this product? Am I patronizing a local establishment? Where did this product come from and how did it get here? Is this product sustainable- i.e. is it made of renewable resources or natural ingredients in a responsible and humane manner? Does this product have excessive packaging and is it recyclable? Is my food as close to it's natural form as possible? Does all meat that I eat come from small, ecologically responsible farmers? The more we consider these types of questions before making purchases, the more informed our purchases will become. By their nature, business and industry will respond to this increased demand. As it stands right now, industry is jumping at the chance to make the claim of being 'green' because they know that catch phrases such as 'green' and 'organic' sell. This willingness on the part of businesses can and should be leveraged to encourage truly sound practices.

Choosing the location of your home carefully allows you to vote with your feet. When making decisions about where to live, take into account how much or how little fuel you will need to consume for every day living. For instance, consider walkability in order to minimize your petroleum dependence. Walkability refers to the ability of an individual to get most services by walking a short distance from their home. Can you walk or bike to work? Can your children walk to school? Is there a grocery store or hardware store nearby? A farmer's market? Entertainment, parks and natural areas?

Craft Your Soap Box and Hop On Up

Defining the platform through which you can reach out to others is also a highly individual process. In Ishmael, the student is encouraged to utilize his occupation as a writer to teach a hundred people and to inspire each of them in turn to teach a hundred more and so on. This notion touches on an important principle- allowing for small efforts to multiply and gather momentum of their own accord. If we don't allow ourselves to start small, the enormity of the situation can seem utterly stifling. So, it matters not whether you change the mind of one person through personal conversation, hundreds through your blog, thousands as a teacher or lecturer, millions as an author, or just one strategic business person as a consultant. What matters is that as many humans as possible start chiseling away at the walls of the prison with as many tools as we have at our disposal. This is the way to shift cultural perceptions and change the path upon which our civilization trods.

The Gandhi Principle

Gandhi was known for his ability to transform an adversarial relationship into friendship. He did so by forging human connections with his supposed enemies. Herein lies an important lesson- that of the ability to listen. If we can stop and listen to individuals we stand a much greater chance of understanding their point of view and in turn being able to offer up practical solutions. When people feel heard, they are much more likely to listen to what is directed at them. Instead of remaining adversaries, the opportunity for coalition is opened along with the possibility for greater change.

The Culture Connection

Early in the novel, Quinn establishes that we are all "captives of our civilization." By this, he simply means that we are each born into, reared and programmed by the culture of our civilization. With this in mind, we are only able to draw on the information and explanations that are offered by our culture. Through careful de-construction the veils of cultural myth were lifted and the falseties upon which we have built our fortress revealed. Through this knowledge we are able to see that while our civilization's viewpoint is not sustainable, our survival depends upon the ability to and willingness to craft an existence outside of this destructive pattern. Here we have explored some practical steps toward shifting the cultural norm in an effort to move us closer to an ecologically sound way of life. It is worth noting that these methods can also be modified to address any aspect of social inequality that we might observe: locate and distribute well-written information, make personal changes, and find the platform from which you can reach as many people as possible, inspiring them to do the same in turn. Through incremental change, individual viewpoints can be altered affecting change in the culture at large. Perhaps one day, in the near or distant future, we will find ourselves living in harmony with the natural world around us so that we might resume the fine act of evolution.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

In the article 'Body Ritual Among the Nacirema', Horace Miner has set out to use our cultural biases to color our view of our own culture. The language he has chosen and the point of view from which he writes masks the fact that he is describing our own customs and culture. By appealing to many aspects of our shared cultural perspective, we come to view ourselves as very separate from the Nacirema. I would like to focus on three qualities which we value as a cultural group and the ways in which these were used to trick us into believing the Nacirema to be something other than American. These notions are: science, sophistication, and religion. Finally, I will propose to utilize what we've learned to guard against this type of manipulation within the framework of our country's consumerist culture.

Our view of ourselves as a sophisticated society is the next to fall when Horace Miner declares:

[The] practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.

There are many facets to our supposed sophistication. Some examples are temperance, compassion, and female empowerment. Each of these notions is challenged over the course of the dissertation. For instance, the above statement pits us against the Nacirema through a direct assault on our sense of temperance. We do not see ourselves as people of extremes, but of self-control and moderation. Additionally, our sense of being civilized is targeted when our view of compassionate medical care is challenged through the description of the sadistic holy mouth-men. Similarly, we have come to value female empowerment and several mentions of women are made from a decidedly paternalistic viewpoint.

Whether or not we as individuals happen to be religious, and independent of any particular religious affiliation, we as a society have deeply ingrained ideas about religion and it's practice. The word "ritual" may not independently infer religious connotation, however it certainly takes a religious bent when surrounded by words and such as: shrine, initiate, ceremony, rite, bow, holy, temple, ablution, exorcism, evil, and ministration. It is through this language that the body rituals are given religious significance. In the reader's mind the wedge is driven deeper between us and the Nacirema as our cultural view of religion is one based in the customs of the major religions of the world. The words listed above are, for the most part, reserved for the use in regards to these groups and would never be used in Miner's context. In fact, as it is widely known that worship of false idols frowned upon within established religions, choosing to place our daily actions in a religious framework is particularly potent. Therefore, it could be deduced that this point in particular would cause us to differentiate ourselves further still.

You can see that we, as Americans have deeply ingrained ideas about culture. We share these biases in spite of our individuality. And, by using our shared perspective out of context Miner has succeeded in alienating us from the Nacirema.

Group Bias as Group Mentality

Our media, corporations, and politicians constantly use group bias against us in order to sell us an idea or product. The trick is that group bias is used to establish group mentality. Once group, or herd mentality is established, we as individuals are at risk of succumbing to the will of the collective.

This phenomenon is blatantly apparent in our dominant consumerist culture. We are inundated with images and advertisements telling us what we need in order to appear beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent, sexy, important and strong. As it is also part of our group bias to strive to improve ourselves, we are prone to chase after the latest and greatest fad. However, without fail, tomorrow we will be told that the products of today are obsolete. We will turn in our perfectly useable items in order to seek out the next generation of product, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of manipulated consumerism.

In addition to herd mentality, many specific aspects of group bias are used to sell products to us. For instance, consider how science is used to bolster consumerist culture. Technological advances are perhaps the best example; the newest technologies becoming instant status symbols. Many products also use science to boast of their environmental friendliness or efficiency. Similarly, beauty products brag about specific chemical compounds and claim proven results. Time and again, the powers that be use our high esteem of science to convince us of an item's value.

Ultimately, Miner has skillfully played against our understanding of our own culture, as do those interested in perpetuating consumerism. Though through the process of examining Miner's methods, we can begin to comprehend how such tactics are successful at times. Perhaps we will come to understand the extent to which we are vulnerable to exploitation in so many areas of our life. We truly are at the mercy of our media, corporations, and politicians. However, if we continue to practice the notion of evaluating assertions through our nascent objectivity we have the capability to become skilled at discerning individual need from the desires and ideas perpetuated by group mentality and bias. We have the potential to avoid allowing our decisions to be swayed by manipulation of the importance we place in such constructs as religion, science and the concept of a sophisticated society. Perhaps, through personal education we will learn to transcend the dominant ideology of our culture in order to seek a more tolerant, enlightened and sustainable perspective. While group mentality will always rule, if we are persistent we may bring our newfound open-mindedness back to the group and uncover the power to change biases for the better.

How have gender roles changed in society? Historically gender roles have been associated with male verse female inequalities and inequities. Social construction of gender differences throughout history have made males the dominant gender. They have been praised and worshiped for thousands of years as if they were the superior gender. This is also known as patriarchal based society. Societies have perpetuated this form of social behavior of men all throughout history accommodating for hyper-masculine social infrastructures. For centuries patriarchal based societies have flourished and it was not until recently that gender equality was regarded as a successful social behavior.

Time has shown that gender roles have continued to change towards achieving equality and equity between genders. In today's society it is becoming increasingly common to see role reversals in relationships, in which the males become the "stay at home nurturer," and the females become the "breadwinners." It appears that this is becoming a more popular lifestyle, especially in our current economy. If society is becoming more accepting and moving towards more relationships exhibiting this "role reversal," then why should females be denied the same social benefits and access to resources that their male working counterparts are receiving? Why do the females in our society get the short end of the stick even though they work just as hard or harder than their male counterparts? These are questions that are consistently being asked and that consistently receive vague and unreasonable responses to. Your salary should not depend on whether you are male or female.

Is there any escape from the traditional gender roles? "Around the world, gender is the primary division between people." (Henslin, 2009, p.272) The human species consistently identifies, labels, and groups individuals. This trait automatically sets females in society at a lesser advantage compared to males because of the long standing social tradition that implies that males are the superior beings. Feminism stresses that "biology is not destiny and that stratification by gender is wrong and should be resisted." (Henslin, 2009, p. 272) It has been said that the "glass ceiling is cracking" phrase implies that woman have been able to overcome all the obstacles of sexism that have been placed in front of them. (Henslin, 2009, p. 278) Highly motivated woman have given "up sleep and recreation for the sake of career advancement." (Henslin, 2009, pg. 278) They have also learned to "play by men's rules" in order to advance in their careers as more powerful successful women.

Hilary Clinton has become a great American example of a female who has overcome the many obstacles thrown in her path in a primarily sexist society. "Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a presidential primary." (Henslin, 2009, pg. 281) "Women's fuller participation in the decision-making processes of our social institutions has [have] shattered the stereotypes that tended to limit females to 'feminine' activities and to push males into 'masculine' ones." (Henslin, 2009, pg. 281) A current example of a highly populated career path that is moving towards gender equality is the nursing profession. Historically this role was primarily filled with female employees. Today, the nursing schools across the country are promoting and advocating for males to enroll and earn their nursing degrees/certificates. This example shows how one field is taking one small step towards gender equality.

"Capitalism also shapes and makes use of gender inequality." (Johnson, 2006, p. 49) Gender inequality has been engrained into our society throughout centuries making it difficult to change the ongoing habits that have been going on for numerous years. Because of the glass ceiling that has been fabricated towards women's careers, it has been very difficult for females to advance into more powerful and important job opportunities. Just because a system is male dominated does not mean that all men are powerful and should be powerful. There has to be bandwidth for both sexes to grow in order to diffuse gender inequality and shape our society into a well rounded non-sexist community.

According to Henslin (2009), your gender will determine whether "you will either benefit from the pay gap or be victimized by it." Women continue to fall victim to this pay gap and still make less than their male counterparts. Henslin (2009) also suggests that a "distinction between the sexes will not disappear but there is no reason for biological differences to be translated into social inequalities." It should not matter whether you are male or female, you should be treated the same and be allowed the same opportunities in all aspects of life, as well as access to the same quality of resources. Johnson (2006) implies that "women are culturally disidentified with power making it harder for them to exercise it in any situation." These structures of power and inequality profile almost every aspect of life in modern society.

Johnson (2006) suggests that, "the hope for something better depends on the ability to work together to face that illusion and go through it to the truth on the other side." Based on the curriculum of this course we should now be driven to see past the illusion of a single one way street society and to instead be looking for the multiple paths that make up a society. Driven to see how each of those paths is valuable and necessary to the success of a society, and that no single path is better than another. The sociological perspective is essential in achieving this, we need this set of values to have the capacity to see beyond what is in front of us and more what is beside us.

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Works Cited

Henslin, J. (2009). Essentials of sociology. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Johnson, A. (2006). Privilege, power, and difference. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

In America the struggle for racial equality has become an every growing battle with no end in sight. This can't be blamed completely on Americans and their lack of knowledge about racism and the actual definition of race, though it does play a role. The main factor that I'm focusing on is how the media that surrounds everyday life is constantly reinforcing racism amongst Americans without their knowledge. This inequality among races isn't only displayed in the media, but also in other very important aspects of everyday life, such as the workplace. Racism in the media can be as simple as seeing a poster with an all white community to watching a movie where the main characters are white and they happen to be fighting against another race. Examples like these go unnoticed until they are pointed out, which needs to be happening more often. The power of race in America has become so overpowering that is has become deeper than just the color of one's skin, it has become their identity entirely. And with the media backing people's views about race, the future of racial equality has a long way to go.

Resources

Brunett, Libby. Mallory, Caudette. Wood, Shannon. "Stereotypes and Racism in Children's Movies." Online PDF Paper. 10 Oct 2006. Retrieved from the web 15 Mar 2011.
Hess, Amanda. "Why Superbowl Ads Are So Sexist, Racist, and Homophobic." Washington City Paper. 8 Feb 2010. Retrieved from the web 15 Mar 2011.
Iovino, Joanna. "Racism in the Media: How Eminem Benefits." Best of Blogs. 2011. Retrieved from the web 15 Mar 2011.
Shweffi, Dana. "Do Disney Movies Promote Anti-Semitism and Racism?" HAARETZ. 18th August 2009. Retrieved from web 15 Mar 2011.
Tator, Carol. "Taking a Stand Against Racism in the Media." Media Awareness Network. Oct. 1995. Retrieved from web 15 Mar 2011.

My seven year old has never fit into his specified gender role like most kids do his age; growing his hair long, preferring dolls and Barbie over traditional boy toys, at school preferring the company of girls to play with and happily avoiding correcting people when they mistake him for a girl. I never really understood the pressures society puts on people's gender until I watch what my son goes through. Whether a man or woman, society dictates that one's gender also comes with a set of rules- standards for clothing, activities, how people should perceive themselves, and sets expectations regarding appropriate behavior and interactions with others. Our family, peers, social institutions, work, religion, and media help to enforce the guidelines about specific attitudes about gender roles.

Children mimic the world around them; through their interactions with adults they learn gender-appropriate behavior. A highly influential symbolic interactionist, Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), determined that one's sense of self is socially constructed. He coined the term the looking-glass self to explain how the process of how our sense of self develops. First people imagine how we appear to those around them, then interpret those reactions, and finally develop a sense of self. By looking through the social mirror, we are able to gain either a positive or negative self-concept depending upon whether the reflection is complementary or not. Just as one's sense of self is an ever-changing, life-long process, so is our understanding of gender roles. Our beliefs about gender are also socially constructed and are directly influenced by class, ethnicity, age, religion, and culture.

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), another eminent symbolic interactionist, concluded that play is also an important part in the development of a sense of self. Through imitation, play, and team games children are able to take on the role of others, helping them to understand the feelings and reactions of others. Gender guided play is not uncommon for adults to push on their children; girls are expected to play house and act out a nurturing role, while boys engage in more sports and physical activities. What toys are given to children also shows a distinct role for children to play; boys get trucks while girls are given dolls. Whole sections of department stores are separated into "boys" and "girls" to help you select the proper attire for you little one, with toy aisles set apart to guide you in your purchase of what should be played with by whom. Such separation helps to reinforce what roles children are expected to play.

Our media reinforces behaviors and attitudes toward the appropriate expressions of gender roles. In the article Pressure to Modernize, Helena Norberg-Hodge found that because of the increasing influence of Western culture and glamorized violence in the films and television, young men in Ladakh have begun to put themselves in much more gender specific roles. The depiction of how "real men" are supposed to behave has led to a shift in their once sentimental and easy-going culture; previously men were not ashamed to show their emotions towards the young and old, now appear much more distant, angrier, and less secure. In American culture, men are often depicted as obsessed with sex and prone to violence. In a study by Melissa Milkie, she found that junior high boys talk most frequently about sex and violence because of views that are expressed on television programs and movies. Women are frequently depicted in the media in subordinate roles, stereotypically being more emotional, docile, and submissive and often viewed as sex symbols. Many teenage girls struggle with poor self-images and eating disorders due to the pressures to conform to unattainable standards in our culture. When women on television and movies are shown in dominant roles, they are usually given traditionally male traits to show their strength and power.

There are long-established views of gender differentiation in the workplace; men have been viewed as the "bread winners" and spending long hours away from home and emotionally detached from their kids, while leaving the children rearing and housework to women. Those views are becoming outdated as more and more women have entered the workforce and are stepping outside of traditional roles, though the progress and benefits are slow moving. There is still a noticeable difference in wages and rates of advancement between men and women. Women often have to prove themselves worthy enough to obtain the same status as men in the workplace. In our society leadership and hard work have been deemed a masculine trait. Being decisive and taking charge is not what parents reward their daughters for, but rather being dependent, passive, and compliant. People's attitudes about women in the workforce certainly has nothing to do with their actual abilities, hopefully as ideals about gender equality progress and evolve society will allow for women to get the wages and recognition deserved. As Western influence continues to spread to the people of Ladakh, women's work is no longer viewed as "productive" as it doesn't contribute to the gross national product. Viewed as inferior, the women are developing feelings of inadequacy and negative self-concepts. Men of the country are spending more and more time away from home and family, and with the new views on masculinity spreading fathers have begun to show their children less affection.

Gender plays a huge role in everyone's life, be it a man or woman. While society may view my son as being different and out of the norm, to me he is perfect and who he is meant to be. Whether his sense of self is due to nature or nurture, I let him express his identity in whatever way he feels is appropriate for him; to do otherwise I think I would be doing him a huge disservice to him as an individual. I think everyone should have the ability to express their gender identity in whatever way they see fit. It is when people begin to develop superiority complexes about their own gender and dismiss others as inferior that I have an issues arise. At birth we are all born equals; it is through our encounters and socialization with others that negative self-concepts and beliefs come into being, and that is when social change is needed the most.

Bibliography

1. CA, 2008. Brill, Stephanie and Pepper, Rachel. The Transgender Child. First Edition. Cleis Press Inc: San Francisco.

2. MA, 2009. Henslin, James M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Eighth Edition. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.

3. Norberg-Hodge, Helena. The Pressure to Modernize.

Henslin (2009) discusses language as something that allows the human experience to be cumulative, cooperative and goal directed (p.57). Language allows culture to exist. It gives us the opportunity for a collective experience that includes a shared past, present, and a social future. Furthermore, languages are not universal - just like gestures, mores, values, and customs (which consequently are supported by language), language is a unique way of perceiving the world around us and making sense of it all. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that embedded in language, each and every language, are these unique ways of looking at the world. Learning a language is part of the sociological experience - we learn the perceptions, knowledge, history, traditions, and attitudes of our respective cultures. In this way, according to Henslin, "language both shapes and reflects our cultural experience." (p. 44).

We lose those unique ways of viewing the world. When a language dies, we lose parts of the ideas and knowledge of a culture - while a people may survive language death, so much of their culture dies with the language. There is tradition, language used for ritual, general and unique understandings about the world and life and the role of humans - this all exists in language. Language loss leads to a narrowing of the human mind - a 'tunnel vision' of thought. The thinking, values, mores, and morals reflected by the language of the dominant culture will prevail, thus creating more of an imbalance and inequality among cultures, and within societies. If there is a view of the dominant culture as 'superior', then that language, too, becomes 'superior'.

In American culture and society, not only the English language itself, but 'proper' grammar and pronunciation are associated with success, education, and even superficial ideas about 'intelligence'. This language ideology has led to culture clashes, and helped fuel the rise of a dominant social class in America. This has had an incredible impact on the development of socioeconomic classes, social inequality, and has had a role in perpetuating racial discrimination rooted in the world's history of cultural domination and ideas of superiority.

African American Vernacular English has been the subject of much interest and controversy in the study of language (note: despite the name AAVE and the race of the majority of its speakers, we should look at AAVE as it exists in culture - that is, at the root of the relationship between language and culture, it goes beyond race, and we can look at it as a cultural phenomenon - i.e. White, Hispanic, and Asian people are speaking AAVE too). Having in the past been perceived by prescriptive linguists and closed minded folk as a "lazy" use of English, or "slang", the dialect has attached to it connotations ranging from lack of education to deviance - all based on perceptions about the relationship of language use within a society. In fact, this dialect has a very structured grammar and syntax - there is a right and a wrong way to speak AAVE - this is not something you see with slang, and by no means is it a lazy way of speaking English. In the mid-1990's, when The Oakland school district proposed starting a program that would incorporate AAVE into classroom learning activities, people, including members of the African American community, were up in arms. The proposal was misinterpreted as one that would teach children the vernacular, which most people at the time equated with slang not appropriate for an academic environment. In reality, it was an attempt to recognize the student's language as valid yet different from the "standard" English being taught in schools with the hopes of giving students an opportunity to excel in an environment that was otherwise unaccommodating with standards that were setting them up for poor performance. While it is true that a standard language and dialect is necessary for communication and progress, what happens to the hundreds of thousands of minority languages and dialects as one dominant language becomes standard, and subsequently the 'ideal'?

The ideology of language superiority leads to ideas of cultural superiority, and vice versa. When cultures which have been shaped by values and social 'norms' reflected in a language experience oppression, that language too will suffer. During colonization, the dominating culture would force their language upon the people they viewed as less than. Since they viewed their culture as so clearly superior, their language, too, was the right way to speak, and subsequently described the right way to 'know' how to live, much like the way the Taker society works as described in Ishmael. In the film "The Linguists", a group of Native American adults discuss how up until the 1960's, children were forbidden to speak their tribal languages in the mainstream schools they were forced to attend. This is how languages die - someone somewhere decides that a culture's voice is not as valid as the majority, and so that voice is ultimately silenced. It could be due to colonization, or it might begin within a culture as we see with industrialization and economic changes affecting societies - many South American indigenous languages have died and are dying out due to an increase in the number of children leaving their small societies in pursuit of opportunity in the bigger cities. Children do not learn the language of their parents, perhaps out of practicality, and so the language remains with the elders and dies with the elders. Also discussed in "The Linguists" is Chulym, a Siberian language, which is close to complete language death. The Chulym people are looked down upon as a culture by the dominant society. For whatever reason, their culture is viewed as inferior, and the result was much like what was seen with the Ladakh people- there evolved a sort of "inferiority complex" when it came to speaking the Chulym language - something that would, just by speaking the words, identify a person by others as well as in their own minds as inferior. The linguists in this film travelled to the Chulym community in order to assess the status of the language and attempt documentation. They met with several elders who were hard of hearing and difficult to understand before learning that their driver and guide, who was in his 50's, was in fact also a fluent Chulym speaker. He was embarrassed about this fact, and in his mind it was a personal flaw which, because of the perceptions of the dominant culture, made him inferior, and this is why he withheld this information initially. Children as well as adults were embarrassed to speak the language in public, and the language slowly began to die. If we look at Cooley's idea of the self looking glass (Henslin, p. 64), we can see that children growing up surrounded by language ideology will ultimately internalize the attitudes of the people around them and adjust their relationship with language accordingly - and subsequently this will reflect on culture.

And so it becomes that there develops a stigma associated with a minority language (native or foreign) spoken within a society whose dominant culture revolves around another language - That culture, as is seen with the case of Native American students, has this incredible ability to shape the fate of a language, all based on perceptions about language use. Conversely, we also see language ideologies stemming from socioeconomic factors, racial conflict, feelings of superiority, and patriotism coupled with politics.

References

Henslin, James M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Eighth Edition. 2009.

AAVE: African American Vernacular English. The Linguist List (http://linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/)

Norberg-Hodge, Helena. The Pressure to Moderise.

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. 1992

"The Linguists". IronBound Films, 2008.

Often times you find yourself having to deal with customer service representative either over the phone or in person. You are asked a series of questions to prove your identity so you may inquire about your accounts. No longer do the banks or companies have any personal ties with you. The customer is now either a bar code or a name flashing on the screen. Most if not all big corporations are set up bureaucratically. Each worker has their defined role and what tasks they are to accomplish within that bureaucracy. With more and more companies outsourcing their customer service departments for cheaper labor; Americans are searching for that personable touch to their daily business interactions that were there in yesteryear.

As an employee of a major corporation I know all too well how employees of corporate America are feeling. I too seek that validation from my co-workers. Validation that the job I do daily makes a difference in someone's life, that I don't just go to work to fund the CEO's bonus. In our department we have been on continuous overtime since 2008. Each and every time a coworker has broken down and left the company for another corporate American company still believing that it would be different there, we have absorbed their work. No replacement for that cubicle dweller. The bottom line looks much better when you have a lean working model. As the hiring freeze continues, we fall deeper and deeper into bureaucratic alienation and resisting that alienation is getting harder and harder.

No longer is the occasional lunch room vent enough for employees. The occasional vents are turning into daily bitch sessions. It is no longer staying within their departments. They are going on the web to voice their disdain about their employers. Many websites have the same message, "Corporate America is failing Americans". Take for example the website www.bankofamericasucks.com , http://www.hel-mart.com , and http://www.complaintsboard.com . Many employees echo the same thing, corporate America can careless about its employees, clients and the American people. They are not the only ones with these sentiments.
" The profits of American corporations are soaring," writes Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor for Bill Clinton," ... largely because sales from their foreign-based operations are booming ... It's also because they've cut their costs of production in the US ... American-based companies have become global--making and selling all over the world--so their profitability has little or nothing to do with the number and quality of jobs here in the U.S. In fact, it may be inversely related." He cautions Obama: "the President must not be seduced into believing--and must not allow the public to be similarly seduced into thinking--that the well-being of American business is synonymous with the well-being of Americans."

More Americans are fed up with the constantly living in fear of being replaced. Americans are looking for not only employers but local companies and banks that know who they are. That looks beyond the badge or barcode. Americans desire days of yonder when an employer took care of its employee. Hopefully, this is something America can see again.

Works Cited
"Killing the American Dream: Bureaucracy conquers small business." Herald Net [Chicago, IL] 17 Oct. 2010: Web. 1 Jan. .http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20101017/BIZ/710179971

Henslin, James M., ed. Essentials of Sociology A down to earth approach. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2009. Print.

Rosenberg, Eli. "Rape of the Union." Atlantic Wire 25 Jan. 2011: Web. 6 Feb. 2011. http://www.hhttp://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Rape-of-the-Union-Corporate-Profits-and-Lost-Jobs-6701eraldnet.com/article/20101017/BIZ/710179971.

Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity. Irving Kristol

The unequal distribution of wealth in the United States is a condition that remains unchallenged by many, if not the majority, of citizens. The existence of "haves" and "have nots" has become an accepted reality and, going beyond economics, is often used as a way to judge the moral fiber of a person. We live in a relatively young country that boasts of unlimited opportunity for the individual to fill any role that they desire. Our society grants respect to individuals who manage to to amass material wealth, recognizing wealth as a reward for hard work. How does this affect the beliefs and behavior of the people affected by this system and continue to reinforce the gap between rich and poor Americans?

In order to address the issue of equal opportunity, let us assume that people are only displaying the wealth that they actually have. If wealth is treated as an authentic indication of hard work, one must buy into the rhetoric that our nation is one of equal opportunity. "...Americans know that anyone who really tries can get ahead. In fact, they believe that most Americans, including minorities and the working poor, have a better-than-average chance of getting ahead--obviously a statistical impossibility" (Henslin). We are under the impression that our systems allows ample opportunity for success and upward mobility. However, due to social gender bias, classism, racism, and many other social constructs, the conditions under which we compete to "get ahead" are clearly not the same for every individual.

An inequality that shows up across racial, geographic and class lines that can easily be identified and as well as quantified, is the difference in pay based on gender. Salary disparities between men and women have been recognized for decades. In the past, this could be attributed to women working fewer hours outside of the home or being less likely to enter a "masculine" field, such as law or dentistry, which tend to be higher paying. However, as the distinction between "masculine" and "feminine" fields is broken down as a result of younger people opting into careers that might not seem to align with their gender, there are other explanations required. In an article "Even Female Law Partners Suffer Wage Disparities," the highest ranking female attorneys are shown to earn $66,000 less than male counterparts, a discrepancy that started out as a $2,000 difference during time spent as entry level associates (Ellison). Paying women less than men indicates a belief that work done by women is less valuable, and because our culture places huge significance of personal worth on the ability to generate wealth, one might draw the conclusion that women are less valued by society.

The gender pay gap is a product of our culture, not solely created and re-enforced by men. Several recent studies have shown that when asked to women give a salary range they should be entitled to, they gave lower figures than the men, essentially expecting to be paid a smaller salary (Hogue) . This trend is not confined to the United States, British professor, Marilyn Davidson, of "Why XX must thing like XY to earn more K" examines both the pay expectations of men and woman as well as the differences in negotiating starting salaries or raises. She finds that women envision a smaller salary and are less likely to negotiate salary than men, who feel entitled to a salary 25% greater than the amount offered up by the women (Davidson). This difference in entitlement may play a role in supporting the continuation of the gender pay gap-- according to Henslin, this gap will amount 1.3 million dollars over a lifetime. It is necessary to recognize that because women as a group are receiving lower pay, earning less money cannot be a reflection of the ability or effort put forth by women as individuals.

Using personal wealth as a way to judge a person's motivation or the moral fiber of a person is dangerous because it allows one to assign blame to the individual rather than the system. This goes back to the American belief of "you get what you deserve." We can more easily emotionally distance ourselves from the suffering of another person by assuming that their actions leading up to the poor conditions must be reflected by their current condition. I chose to use the gender pay gap as an example of social inequity because we all, regardless of our race, class, educational level or political affiliation, are able to witness this inequity firsthand and perhaps better relate to it when it is experienced by someone close to us. The gender pay gap can also be used as a tool of comparison for the general disparities in wealth. Recognition of the social inequities that create economic inequities is crucial to moving away from placing moral judgments based on an individual's wealth or lack thereof.

It is my hope that by recognizing that being poor is not necessarily the fault of the individual but more likely a product of a broken system, there will be increased empathy that will translate into social programs and policy change. The United States has a particular challenge in changing this school of though due to our nation's main culture "rags to riches" myth and also because our population is so incredibly diverse. When a society is starkly divided along racial or ethnic lines, the affluent are less likely to take care of the poor (Gudrais). If Americans are able to see beyond social divisions and make an effort to stop "othering" the poor, perhaps we can begin to break down systemic discrimination that perpetuate a massive wealth gap in our country.

Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven. ~Yiddish Proverb

Resources
Davidson, Marilyn "Why XX must think like XY to earn K" BBC. 5/14/2009.

Ellison, Jesse. "Even Female Law Partners Suffer Wage Disparities" Newsweek. 07/09/2010.

Hogue,M., J.D. Yoder, et al. (2007). "The Gender Wage Gap: An Explanation of Men's Elevated Wage Entitlement." Sex Roles 56(9-10): 581-590

Henslin, James M. 2009. Essentials of Sociology A down-to-Earth Approach. Allyn and Bacon: Boston MA

In today's world it's hard to get by. There have been many who have lost their homes and jobs do to nothing more than a failing economy. Since the fall of the United States' economy the unemployment rate has hit a high at 9.6 percent as of November 5, 2010 (Month). With so many individuals being down and out many have had to downsize and tighten the belt. The bankruptcies claims have increased by 20 percent in the last year (U.S.) and many have had to move out of the homes that they have had for years. With all of these statistics it has lead many into poverty. Individuals who once considered themselves to be middle or even upper middle class have found themselves with a new title, poor.

Many would argue that the one of the most impactful aspect of someone's life would be their social class. In the United States there has always been some tier of the general social classes, the rich, the middle class, and the poor. Amongst these groups there are a few extra, more specific groups but in general there are the three, but as we continue down the road there seems to be an alarming new trend. With so many struggling to make ends meet the middle class seems to be disappearing. Many wonder how this could be. How is it that a social class that has been around for ages can just disappear? The answer is an interesting one created by selfishness and an unruly economy that won't let up its death grip around the throat of the American people.

When it comes to the different levels of social classes the idea of property, power, and prestige are what ranks us. Those of us that tend to have more of these things are higher on the class scale and those who have less are lower on the class scale. This system has seems to work for years and still does to this day but on a much different scale. Before there was always that group that sat in the middle of the rich and the poor. They don't have a whole lot of property, power or prestige but they have more than some which betrothed the title "middle class." While this was good for most and being middle class was a great place to be for the majority of the group over the past five to seven years the middle class has taken a drastic fall.

With the bourgeoisie out sourcing work to third world countries and the power elite pushing the free trade agreement many of the middle class have found themselves having to fight for their jobs that once seem to be a given. The average time to find a job now a days in the U.S. is 35.2 weeks (Plourde). With so many individuals willing to work for next to nothing on the other side of the world and with no benefits it makes it easy to outsource the work. So the CEO of the company goes home to his million dollar home the proletariat struggle on simply trying to find away to get home.

Let's take a closer look at these CEO and those who would be considered rich and what their effect on the middle class is. As the rich get richer the middle class starts to fall farther and farther down the rung. In 2009 even with the fall of the economy the number of millionaires rose 16 percent; wall the need for government assistants also went up to 40 million people needing food stamps and raising (Plourde). The only assumption here is that the majority of these people filling for food stamps are those who have not had them before. That being individuals who were middle class families or individuals. To add to this between 2001 and 2007 66 percent of the income growth went to the top 1 percent of all Americans (O'Doherty). This only adds to the frustration of the middle class, knowing that there is money being made but that it is going to the individuals at the top of the social classes. To add insult to injury these CEO and big fortune companies are making their money off the middle class by selling them debt (Warren) and taking advantage of the ones who are trying to keep up with the Joneses. The very institution that was supposed to serve these individuals is the one making money off of them and running them into a lower social class (Warren). The picture of upward social mobility has become a distant memory replaced with downward social mobility in the minds of the middle class.

Along with the greed of the power elite there is simply the fact that the American economy has just not done well over the past few years. This structural mobility has changed many lives. With the cost of primary essentials rising and the rate of wages staying steady (Warren) it seems that the middle class is playing a game of two steps forward and three steps back. Many middle class Americans can't afford to pay there mortgages or minimum payments on their credit card bills. This leads them into foreclosure and/or bankruptcy which will usually lead to falling below the poverty line moving these once middle class Americans into the class of poor. With the poverty rate being 13.2 percent this posses a huge problem for the next few years or even decades for the United States and with the introduction of a new system to determine the families and individuals that fall into poverty this number is projected to rise to 15.8 percent (Haq). These staggering statistics only reinforces the idea that the American middle class could potentially be something of the past.

As the ever growing gap between the social classes grows many wonder what will ever come of the American society? Will we simply be placed into two separate groups? Rich and poor? Or will the middle class come out on the other side stronger and determined more than ever to succeed? With so many back in school and furthering their education it is something that only time can tell. All we can do is wait and hope that we learn from the mistakes we have made in the past.

Works Cited
Haq, Husna. "Who's Poor in America? US Tweaks How It Defines Poverty. - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. 3 Mar. 2010. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0303/Who-s-poor-in-America-US-tweaks-how-it-defines-poverty.

Henslin, James M. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson Custom. Print. A Down-to-Earth Apporach.

"International Data Base (IDB) - World Population." Census Bureau Home Page. 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/worldpopinfo.html.

Month, By. "Employment Situation Summary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 5 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.

O'Doherty, Cahir. "America's Middle Class Is Dying and the Stats Prove It | New, Next, Now! | IrishCentral." Irish News, Entertainment, Politics, Sport, Dating, Ancestry, Culture and Opinion | IrishCentral. 24 July 2010. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. http://www.irishcentral.com/story/ent/manhattan_diary/americas-middle-class-is-dying-and-the-stats-prove-it-99180624.html.

Plourde, Arthur J. "The Middle Class in America Is Dying! | Gold Coast Chronicle." Online News Digest | Gold Coast Chronicle. 26 July 2010. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. http://www.goldcoastchronicle.com/politics/the-middle-class-in-america-is-dying/.

"U.S. Bankruptcy Rate Skyrockets | MyBankTracker.com." Compare Daily Bank Rates, Deals & Reviews MyBankTracker.com. 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. http://www.mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2010/08/19/us-bankruptcy-rate/.

Warren, Elizabeth. "Elizabeth Warren: America Without a Middle Class." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. 3 Dec. 2009. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-warren/america-without-a-middle_b_377829.html.