Sociological Memoir Term Paper:
A Sociological Memoir
Our society is composed of seemingly infinite types of people, cultures, and beliefs. Each of these people, cultures and beliefs, become the origins of different communities. Varying groups will therefore have their own alternative beliefs about social issues to go along with its members. Because of these varying beliefs, individuals raised in these different communities will, or will not be, subjected to different experiences, opportunities, and opinions. Along with the structure of the society surrounding an individual, the characteristics of each person directly affect their personal experiences. My home is located in the center of a wealthy, suburban town of lawyers and doctors where the average household income is close to $100,000. Here, covering the town are yacht clubs, country clubs, and high-scale subdivisions populated with exactly the type of people and families one would expect to find there. The community is composed of numerous individuals who have created our stereotypical male-oriented, white, upper class society with numerous systems of stratification in place. Though there is seemingly never-ending prejudice throughout my town, the community has also enabled me and provided numerous opportunities for my life.
Every day was a new adventure. Each corner turned held a new surprise. Being of a different race other than white meant being in the extreme minority of maybe 20 or so kids in the entire school. This also meant having to deal with the unfortunately inevitable racial backlash from a number of Caucasian students. This may not have been a constant occurrence and was certainly not equally distributed to each of these students, but it was apparent that it was happening. The severity of each situation depended on each individual’s racial background. We all witnessed it; in the hallways, on the buses, and even in classrooms. It was always there.
Sophomore year at my high school proved to be no different. A friend of mine happened to be of Middle Eastern decent. This is was a fact that many of us did not think twice about. She was just another girl. However, to some, she seemed to be a threat. One day, mid-semester, she ran into a guy in the hallway. Annoyed about being bumped into, and apparently threatened by her presence, he proceeded to call her a “terrorist”. Her appropriate response was to report this incident to the principal immediately. The male student’s parents were informed, but their response surprised many. They argued that clearly their son did not feel safe having her there, especially because they rode the same bus to and from school. Following this, they requested her bus assignment be changed, a comment that did not have much sense supporting it as each student’s bus assignment was based on where they lived. The school explained this to the parents, but they were not satisfied. Instead, they threatened to sue the school if nothing was done because, again, clearly their son did not feel safe in this environment. The school still only stated that nothing more could be done, for either party involved, and the parents could drive their son instead if they so wished to do so.
No legal action ever took place, however the male student decided to take the matter into his own hands the following school day. Finding her in the hallway, he threatened, “Just wait until I see you on the bus after school”. Following this, a ride was provided to the female student after school that day and to and from school the remainder of the year. Even after this second statement was reported, the school still made no action of consequence or protection for their students regarding the entire situation. This is a common theme for my hometown. Most of the students are extremely privileged, with strong-handed parents and money to back them up. Because of this, so many are able to get away with all that they do in and out of school, creating a privileged, majorly white environment throughout the entire town.
Growing up, I was sent to different private schools. Preschool, along with elementary school were both spent at a private school in Portland. Following this, middle school was spent at a college preparatory school in Yarmouth. During these 11 years of my life, I had very few actual interactions with many others in my town. Almost every Sunday during my childhood, I would attend an hour-long mass at my local church where I would often take classes and, therefore, interact with other kids in my town. From when I was three years old until now at 18 years old, I have taken dance classes at a local dance studio. Here there is a mix of kids from numerous surrounding towns, but even still, I would often have a class or two with a few other kids from my community. Finally, for a few years, like many other little girls, I was a Girl Scout. My troop consisted of about ten girls, all from my town. This was my main source of interaction with those in my town and my only real visual into how others seemed to act in my community.
At this age, personalities had not completely formed yet and I did not get a great mental picture of how everyone would turn out and act later in life. By middle school, I barely had any idea about what the real social scene and the environment had turned into with the guys and girls of my age in my town. At this point in my life, I rarely went to church, no longer participated in girl scouts, and many of the girls at dance from my town had quit. It was not until I transferred to my local public schools for high school that I was re-immersed in my community’s social system.
The town is made up almost entirely of those considered to be in the upper middle class, with relatively high incomes and secure jobs with numerous benefits (Lesson 6). With a median household income is $100,041, the median income is $46,962 more than the state of Maine’s (“Falmouth”). Being from such a social class is certainly beneficial. This is hardly deniable. Having an orthopedic surgeon as a father while pursuing a career in health care has already set me ahead than many of my peers, allowing me more experience in different fields and more knowledge about more advanced topics, among a number of other opportunities. My social class allows me to worry less about college funding and allows me to indulge more and travel more. Because of this, I am extremely appreciative of my social class standing every day, but where I stand in society is not because of my community but because of the abilities of my parents. Contrastingly, because of the success of my parents is the reason I was raised in the town I live in. This meant throughout my four years of high school, I constantly witnessed extreme privilege. Most would be sure to show off their wealth in some way, constantly spending on extremities, bringing up extraordinary travel excursions in casual conversation, and even vocalizing the extent of their wealth. Many have made it clear they believe, because they are more fortunate, they are also superior to those in a lower class than them. Social class has shaped this privileged attitude that, unfortunately, covers my home community. Going through high school in this type of community often proved to be hard, but constantly caused me to be much more aware of my actions and thoughts toward and about others in an attempt to separate myself from the more seemingly closed-minded individuals in my area.
As one may expect, based on the economic standing of the town, the education system of my community is structured well. Though the social environment is clearly not the greatest, the actual education of the school is strong. Ranked 2nd of 108, of those recorded, in Maine, 81% of the system’s students are marked as proficient in reading, while 81% are proficient in math. Being educated by a strong system has certainly helped me to move forward in life. Having this level of support aided in my application and acceptance into college as well as my further studies while I have been here at the university.
Being from a primarily white town clearly has caused many in my community to believe they are superior based on their pale skin color. Sociologically, race is viewed as a social construction created by white Europeans in our history (Lesson 8). Despite this race is viewed, generally, as a biological difference between individuals. My town is not an exception. Ethnically, we are very alike. Caucasians make up about 94% of the town, followed by about 2.4% of Asian heritage and 0.7% of African descent (“Falmouth, Maine”). As a white individual, I “fit in” in my town. Never have I experienced any prejudice because of the color of my skin, nor my heritage. Not once, as far as I could ever tell, has my white skin kept me from being able to do something, though it is likely that it has, at some point, enabled me and allowed me more opportunities. However, this construct clearly affects others daily, as it did the female from my sophomore year of high school.
Though we are almost equally divided in half by biological sex, males in my community will still commonly be convinced they are of a higher-caliber when comparing themselves to the female sex. Not many times have I found myself as a minority because of my sex or gender, mainly because my community is about 48% male and 52% female (“Falmouth”). Like most in my town, I was raised as what would be considered by our modern western society as a “typical” girl. I was taught how to be “lady like” and do everything around the house, hinting at the division of labor, while my next-door neighbors were always outside goofing off because, as I was always told, “boys will be boys” (Lesson 7). Through high school, many male teachers would treat the male students with more respect and would often help them in their work more than was likely needed. Often, I was told I was in the wrong class when I showed up for my advanced math classes. Even more, a few of my male peers voiced that they expected me to do worse on quizzes, tests, and assignments because “girls are not as smart as guys are”. Instead, I was told to try taking a home economics class as it would be “more useful” for later in my life.
Through most of my life, I have not experienced much prejudice. My social class along with my skin color has enabled me and my life opportunities. Though I have certainly experienced sexism and have been stereotyped as a female, the sex has not seemed to clearly affect my experiences. The norms and beliefs of many in my town are often controversial are ones I often do not agree with, especially having been raised for so long separately from the rest of my peers. Despite my privilege, I continue to be sure to recognize prejudice when it occurs, mainly when it happens so often in the town I have grown up in.
Citations
“Falmouth.” Lawton, OK Crime Rates and Statistics – NeighborhoodScout, NeighborhoodScout,
www.neighborhoodscout.com/me/falmouth/demographics.
“Falmouth, Maine.” Crime in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (AR): Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Assaults,
Burglaries, Thefts, Auto Thefts, Arson, Law Enforcement Employees, Police Officers,
Crime Map, www.city-data.com/city/Falmouth-Maine.html.
Giddens, Anthony, et al. Introduction to Sociology. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2018.
Senior, and Alum. “Explore Falmouth School Department.” Niche, Niche, 25 Apr. 2018,
www.niche.com/k12/d/falmouth-school-department-me/#schools.
The Strengths and Weaknesses:
The final product of this paper is one I am still very proud of. What I discuss are topics relating to my life and how I grew up. It was not just a research paper assigned to me that I dreaded writing. I had limited experience writing a full research paper and therefore, I can easily assign the biggest weakness in the paper to the factual evidence incorporated. In general, the research aspect was added in at the end of the paper, more as an afterthought to the beginning and body of the piece. Instead, I should have spent more time trying to incorporate this evidence spread out evenly throughout the paper as we have better learned how to do in English 110. Despite this, I feel that I did a good job backing my points and discussing them thoroughly and passionately.
