Sociological Autobiography

After writing my "Sociological Autobiography", I felt that I should post it because it really had me thinking about certain things in my life, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of the class. Hope you enjoy!

There are distinctive group memberships that everyone belongs to. We go through life everyday carrying these internally, as well on the surface. We generally don’t think about all of the groups we belong to and how they affect our life, but they are very important to out social interaction with our environment.

Only focusing on categories that are important to the study of sociology, I am an athlete, black, a college student, cousin, son, adult, friend, heterosexual, and male. Of the following, being male and an athlete are the only two that I can associate with being agents while the rest are targets. The weird effects that my privileges and targets have are that some of them counter-act one another.

I'm aware of the privileges I lack, as well as those I enjoy. The flipside is that most of the privileges seem to be evened out by the different group memberships I hold. I unintentionally take advantage of my male privilege by just doing simple activities like walking around at night without having to worry about being raped, which is something that women have to be. On the other hand, being black I am subject to being attacked, harassed, or even though of as being one to attack others causing. Next would be that I am considered to be an adult because of my age, but I am also a son who is always seen as being a child not because of age but affiliation. Another is be being heterosexual, or straight. It is often seen as if you are heterosexual, especially as a male, that you don’t have socialize or have gay friends, which I do. As a matter of fact, my best friend on campus is gay. Another part of that is being black, there is a lot of negativity towards homosexuality in the black community as well which makes the general focus that I do not like homosexuality in general. In fact, I am comfortable with it, only to have it irritating when people think I am not. The final one is being athlete. You are seen as being physically in shape and hardworking, but on the other hand you are often seen as not being smart. Sometimes when people ask me what my major is, they are often shocked when I say it’s computer science. I am seen as being privileged to do certain tasks and activities as well as hindered by them as well.

I feel as though my experiences in the social world are not generally understood by others. I am always going through a lot of difference scenarios because of the group memberships and privileges I hold. I think this is generally the case for everyone because we are all uniquely different. You cannot fully understand something you have never experienced, and when you try it can seem condescending and disrespectful. Some examples would be the slang talk I occasionally receive. Another would be a simple indifference with something like not getting served as much as the guy in the line in front of me and people telling me “it’ just a coincidence”, which also can be irritating.

The most irritating issue for most people is that people tend to not believe the discrimination they experience. Telling a friend about me not getting as much food as the guy before will make a joke about it and not believe me. This is what happens when people speak out and their cries go unheard. It is always seen as you are being silly, but until they experience it for themselves they won’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about.

Reflecting on my own experiences has helped give me insight into the experiences of others. Not so much as connecting with them on what they have experienced, but on the discriminatory side to not condescend. It forces me to look at the experience from their perspective to get a better understanding although I may never fully understand unless I experience it myself. Nobody likes to be stereotyped or treated in a demeaning way, which is common in our society, but by being respectful, I hope that others would learn to do the same.