Power

            What is “Power”? Power “potere” is the ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others (Experience Sociology Page 111).  In everyday life you can see power being enforced on people who can’t do anything about it. For example, workers in a corporate business have to listen to whatever the boss says or the fear the chance of getting fired. This is an example of Exploitation where the act of using people’s labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly. Working at a private business which was a Homeless Shelter was a great job. But as I continued to work there I noticed my boss empowering poor people to care for themselves and their families. This was an international business which helped many poor families. But this empowerment drove this business down due the multiple complaints it got.

            Referring back to the video “The Milgram Experiment”, the experiment conducted was to show if the teacher would choose to continue the punishment as the learner kept getting the wrong answer. The Sociologist who observed the reactions to this experiment explained that normal people would inflict pain and violence even if they don’t know it. Many of the teachers kept asking to stop the experiment because they feared the result would cause long term damage to the leaner. But in fact, as shown in the video, the teacher was in power the entire time and didn't know it. This is an example of Powerlessness where the teacher thought they were situated to take orders and rarely had the right to give them. These people felt that they lacked the decision making power which was not true.

            One of the most obvious and visible for of oppression is Violence. In everyday life you can watch or hear about violence that takes place in the world. In the American society, women, blacks, Asians, Arabs, and gay relations have to live everyday under multiple threats of violence. People tend to Coerce when in the act of violence. Coerce is referred to as “force compliance by threatening, intimidating, pressuring, or harming someone” (Experience Sociology Page 114).

            Power can occur in small groups as well. For example “Rewarding Power” can be used when a parent gives their child weekly allowance so that they can have the power over their child behavior. Another example of power is “Coercive Power”, which is the ability to punish. Police officer has the right to enforce the law but generally uses their power to gain what they want. For example issuing and parking ticket when no law is being broken. The person can argue all they want but it’s the officer’s word over there.

            The Milgram Experiment was an experiment to show “Power Tactics”. It showed various strategies people use to influence others in daily life. After the experiment was finished the sociologist asked every volunteers who’s fault would it be if the leaner had died. And as expected the volunteers answered and said “It would be my fault because I was in control of the machine”.  The sociologist knew that answer was coming and asked them “why didn't you stop? You were in control, in power of the machine and still continued”.  The volunteers stayed quiet and didn't answer the question.

            Another personal experience that happened to me was in high school. Teachers tend to empower students rather than simply transmitting facts. A student must listen to the teacher in order to achieve their goal in finishing school. Going into college, a college education can be an important means of learning about their situation and developing skills necessary for getting a good job. Graduating from high school changed the way I viewed my approach to school. And I took advantage of this to use my power to get a better education and better my life. 

Culture: Photo Voice

Culture is the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. My nationality is American but my family is from Guyana which is located in South America. Many people think I am from India because my religion is Hinduism.  But the truth is there are many Hindu's around the world who is born into different culture's. Most of my family was born in Guyana, but i was born in the United States, and grew up around many different cultures. Another thing that people judge about some Guyanese people is that they speak "Hindi". But in Guyana we speak English.  Even though some words we have is different from the American language, it sounds a lot like each other. In the Guyanese culture we cook a lot of "Curry". This is one of the traditional foods we have. Other cultures also cook curry, but usually it is cooked everyday in my culture. Once every year my family has a "Jhandi", which is a day when we preform a religious function at our house to bless the family and the house. One of the most important value in my family is relationship between each other and communication. When attending a family party or a family function everyone is communicating, but once in a while I will notice that my cousin would keep to himself. It's completely out of the norm for him to do that but he has autism and needs his space at times. In this blog I will show you what type of culture I am surrounded by in my daily life.

This is the flag of Guyana. 

This is a picture of carnival. This celebration is celebrated through out many different cultures. Mainly between Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago. 

This is a picture of the Guyanese traditional food "Chicken Curry". Many other cultures don't call it Chicken curry but curry chicken. This is usually argued by the different cultures because they want it called what they call it. It is funny because it doesn't matter how you say it.

Non- Material Culture 
This is a picture of our traditional clothes. On the left is a Sari which only girls wear mostly to church. But there are many women and girls who wear this daily not to show off the style of it but its party of there culture and beliefs. On the right is a Kurta, which only guys wear. This traditional clothing is worn in the Hindu  culture as well as the Muslim culture. They wear it to church(Temple) or to Mosque.   

Symbol Element of Culture

This is a picture of GANESHA (also spelled Ganesa) is one of the most well-known and most widely worshiped deities (God) in the Hindu pantheon. My last name comes from this god, and my family worships him to the fullest. Many other Hindu’s worship this god as well, and pay their respects to him when they attend church (Temple). But for people who do not know who this god is, they see a ugly looking "being" who looks half man half elephant. This is the major cause of culture war, because people judge to fast and not know the full meaning of what they are judging.

Symbol Element of Culture

This is the symbol of “Allah” the god of the Muslim culture. There is no known picture of him but us Muslim’s we believe this is the sign of him being there (existing).  Since I am half Muslim, I pay full respects to the culture, and learn from my family the knowledge that was passed down from generations. But to others this culture is a disgrace. Ever since 9/11 the Muslim community has been hated and blamed for what has happened. Before knowing anything, people take actions to drive the Muslim culture out, but we are here and stronger than ever because we are a community who stick strong to our beliefs and religion.

“Jeans”- Material Culture

Jeans is the best known American culture trait. “Most” Americans in the United States once wore jeans. It is American made, and others around the world American made Jeans just to show that they have this American brand. I say “most” Americans were jeans because in other culture they follow their guidelines and that can mean:

1.       Can’t show their skin or body feature. This is followed by the Muslim culture where the women and girls have to cover their skin.

2.       Other cultures like the Amish culture wear their traditional clothes to show that they are Amish.

Values of Culture

Same Sex Marriage is based on the decision of the two lovers. I personally think it’s a good thing for same sex marriage because it will make a ton of people happy. It opens a new world for these people but at the same time many concerns grow. There are many people who disagree with this type pf culture people are following and discriminate them. Many think marriage should be between a Man and Women because it is the “Norm” in society and culture.

Folkways of Culture

This is the peace sign that symbolizes peace. But to other people this sign in their culture may be known as a bad sign, and offensive meaning that can cause conflict.

In this blog I have shown some examples of different cultural views and how the norms of these cultures can be different in a different culture. People should try to understand the different norms of a culture before they judge or show any type of hate towards that culture.

Machael Montano is one of the best Soca artists that is around today. All of his songs are in English, but some words are from his culture, which is from Trinidad and Tobago. But many people from the islands can understand these words because the language is the same. Referring back to chapter 3, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, can be applied to Machael Montano songs because some words are in English and others are in Trinidadian. But the thing about Machael Montano is that he loves to make songs with other people. For example his latest song "Indian Gyal" is a song he made with Drupatee Ramgoonai. This song is sang in both English and Indian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KTTJ1mCKIc If u listen to the song u can hear them same "Wok up de Larki" which means work up the girl in English but in Indian means work up the lady. Very similar, but that one word changed how people interpret the song.