Author Archives: carlylechip

“Nickel and Dimed”

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“Nickel and Dimed”
1) To survive on the federal minimum wage at this time in my life would be impossible. I have house and car loans along with living expensive that would be unthinkable to be able to pay each month on minimum wage. If for some reason I did have to take a minimum wage job and try to survive on it would require a huge readjustment in living conditions and a reorganization of my priorities.
2) A family with two young children trying to survive on minimum wage earnings each month would require a lot of resourcefulness, they would have to budget every penny. They could also use local food pantries, food stamps, WIC and any other resource they could find. Today it seems that families like these are becoming more prevalent in our society we hear of people losing their jobs and being forced to take any means necessary to survive.
3) No I don’t think minimum wage should be raised I think the cost of living should be lowered. The cost of everything is getting out of control, from medical costs to heating oil. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the middle class support them all. Instead of sending all our jobs overseas and to Mexico why not keep them here and keep people working. Lower the cost of living by lowering our taxes and revamping medical costs.
4) No I don’t agree with the management style of the people who monitor minimum wage employees. The reason they probably manage the way they do is they have had no formal training in management skills. Places that these people work do not take time to train employees to be leaders. The turnaround on these employees is so large that they don’t want to waste the time or money training these people just so they can leave.
5) The reason managers have to monitor minimum wage employees so closely is to keep them busy and not let them have a moment of rest. If they are not busy then the manager is not making money for the corporate headquarters in some far away city. They also may feel that the employee is trying to take advantage of them. This type of management style is somewhat fair because these people are paid to work and not sit around. It is unfair because these people are only making minimum wage so the management should relax and be a little less hard on them. This may have a resounding effect on the employees who would think the management cares and they may have a better outlook on their jobs and may feel better about themselves.

Chip

Domestic Violence A Cross Cultural View

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“Domestic Violence A Cross Cultural View”
1) Although child abuse has always been a part of the lower class culture in India, in recent years it has escalated into all classes of culture. This increase in child abuse can be attributed to stress associated with becoming an industrial and modern society. As more and more people move from a rural setting into an unfamiliar urban environment the pressure placed upon the parents of these children to succeed is unbearable to the point of taking it out on the children. What is worse is the fact that “corporal” or extreme abuse is on rise. This type of abuse is directed more toward female children than their male counter parts. The reason for this singular attack is the fact that in India, like other parts of the world sees a female child as a burden. A female child in their views is unable to farm the land or send money to support the family; also the family must put up a dowry when the female gets married and if the dowry is not enough the bride may be held for ransom by her husband family until a suitable dowry has been paid. In some extreme circumstances female babies have been “Neonaticide” or killed at birth or they may be left unattended with little or no care to expire in short period of time.
It is sad to think that a country like India, which is on the rise as an economic power house, still turns to such barbaric practices. But in these types of cultures these seem to be the norm it is excepted form of stress release.
2) In Vietnam there is two types of abuse used against women the “invisible violence” and the “visible violence”. The” invisible violence” is not physical and leaves no marks but causes women to fear and be intimidated by their husbands. This type of abuse is found in both urban educated the rural poor women. Woman after working a second shift job are expected to come home and do house work for another five to six hours. Many women who are raised in the Confucian culture are afraid to leave. The “visible violence” in Vietnam is a major reason the divorce rate has risen since 1992, it has affected the percent of deaths related to family violence.
3) The reason men in these societies think it is okay to beat on their wives and abuse their children is it is a norm. They saw their dads abuse their moms and they were probably abused by them also. So in order to change this norm we need to start educating these men that it is not okay to do any harm to your love ones and that abuse in any form is wrong. Period. It will take a lot of work but it can be done they need to break the cycle.

Chip

“Invisible Privilege Chapter 21″

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“Invisible Privilege”

Privilege is often invisible because we don’t realize we have it until we see those who are not as lucky to have it. I don’t know if there is one category of people who have privilege, most other races think it is the whites who have the privilege life but are there not other counties were blacks and Hispanics would have a privilege life? In all areas of culture there are those who are privileged no matter the color of their skin or whether their woman or a man. Privilege is something that is earned or you are born into it.

Andrea was probably very uncomfortable with the surroundings because this was all new to her. This was the first time she was out of her element of comfort. Not only were there a lot of new faces but they were also a different race and there cultural back ground was different, so as the article says she probably heard things that she had never heard before. Plus it sounds as though the place was run down and not very user friendly which may have waded in on her being uncomfortable. I believe Andrea could overcome her fears and discomfort if she were to spend more time with Jewels family and get to learn their culture and attitudes.

In my own life I’m not sure what elements of privilege I have, I live in a nice house, have a good job, have a loving and caring wife and have three great children. I don’t believe that these are privileges; these are things that I worked hard to get and to maintain. Has this affected my relationships with others; I don’t believe it has because anyone who knows me knows I have worked hard to get what I posses.
Chip

Eating Disorders

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Sociology
“Compare and contrast the three theoretical models used to explain and treat eating disorders”
1) All three theoretical models help to explain why people have eating disorders and try and curve or cure these disorders by using different methods. These models look at the physiological reason along with the biological and cultural factors that contribute to eating disorders. But all three models fail to fully understand some of the underlying reasons why people have eating disorders and fail to look at the whole picture. They fail to look at race, class, and sexuality and woman of color. It seems as though not all eating disorders fall into a nice neat package and can be diagnosed so easily.
2) Eating disorders caused by sexual abuse was a way for the women, who were children at the time to cope with their abuse and something they were in control of. Three of the subjects would use eating as a way to try and control the circumstances they were in, they thought because of their size that men were attracted to them so they tried threw different means to get smaller. These poor girls thought they caused the abuse and it was not their fault at all it was the sick male predators who should be castrated and put in a deep hole and left for dead.
3) It seems as though some people think the higher up you are in society the thinner you should be. In this account of two woman of different ethnic back grounds who both approached by their family members and asked to slim down is contradiction of terms you are who are. In this article I did not see the connection between racism and weight loses. The article seemed to be more of a family conflict over different perceptions of how someone should carry their selves and how they should appear. It did not seem to bring to the surface a true hate for a certain ethnicity or gender it did not seem to be racially motivated at all.

Chip

Woman of Sociology

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Women of Sociology

1) From what I gathered reading the article “Woman and the birth of sociology” in our book that woman were “written out” of the sociology history meant that they were once a presence in the early stages of sociology and then their male counter parts took the glory. The reason Jane Addams, Anna Julie Cooper and Harriet Martineau and so many others may have been written out was at the time it was considered an all white male agency and women by society were over looked.

2) Most of the women in sociology had many things in common; most were well known public figures, they created their own social theories and built upon or worked with other male sociologists theories. They founded or set up programs to help people who were in need. Most notable was the Hull House, started in Chicago by Jane Addams, a place where women involved in sociology could come and express their ideas and theories.
3) To not recognize the accomplishments of the women involved in sociology in the past who did such a unique service for society with their hard work is a travesty. These women deserve the same recognition as their male counterparts. In today’s society more and more woman are breaking boundaries that have kept them in check. We are seeing woman break the glass ceiling and achieving goals that their sisters of the past could only dream of. I have two daughters who I believe can do anything they set their sights on, they are not limited to yesterdays stereo typing and they know no bounds. I look forward to witnessing the day we have a female president and maybe it will be one of my girls.
Chip