Here are 5 sociological facts that explain the society we are living in.
In high school, I would’ve never thought that I would major in sociology. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know what it was.
But on a whim, I decided to take an introductory course because it fit my schedule.
And I’m glad I did because it was one of the most interesting courses I took.
I learned how society works and how powerful it is to understand its systems.
It’s been a few years since I graduated but here are 5 things I mustered up from my memory that I think explain some of today’s social issues:
Empathy Is an Important Trait That Kids Need to Learn
In a Sociology of Crime course, I learned that empathy is important because it teaches kids to put themselves in other people’s positions and feel for them.
They, in a way, try to experience what the other person is experiencing.
And by possessing this trait, kids will likely not do bad things and discriminate because they understand how it would feel to be victims of a bad act and of discrimination.
For example, if a kid can imagine how it would feel to be stolen from (and the consequences of stealing), they are much more likely not to steal. They would understand the feeling of having something unjustly taken away from them (and the punishment that would go with it).
This is why empathy is one of the most important things kids can learn.
Race is Fake but Racism is Real
In a race and ethnicity course, I learned that both race and racism are social constructs, but one is not real and the other is.
Race is not real. These are constructs and stereotypes made up by society to create a hierarchy, to give one group of people more power than other groups.
Racism, on the other hand, is real. This is the effects and aftermath of the implementation of the hierarchy of “races.”
As an example, all you have to do is look at the negative legacies that colonization left behind in Canada. The people affected by residential schools, for instance, are still suffering from it, despite these schools being closed down decades ago.
Real Discrimination is Institutional
In the same race and ethnicity course and a social stratification course, I learned that real discrimination happens at the institutional level.
What this means is that the discrimination that affects the masses is done with policies that are created by the government and big corporations.
An example would be the current status of abortion rights in America. This is discrimination because the government is removing women’s right to choose what they can and can’t do to their bodies. They are discriminating against an entire group of people.
Another example would be the lack of universal healthcare in America. This is discrimination because it prevents a group of people -the un-wealthy- from attaining something that is a basic human right.
Stereotypes and Social Roles Affect People’s Behaviour and Thought
Stereotypes and social roles may sound like something that’s harmless, but it affects what people believe.
This is something I learned in a social construction class.
For example, many parents will prevent their sons from doing something girly (because it’s feminine) and their daughters from doing something boyish (because it’s masculine).
The problem with these belief systems is that people believe them and they spread them, which creates these fallacies about gender that are passed on from generation to generation, and creates hierarchies.
But this isn’t just a gender issue. It’s also a race and socioeconomic issue.
Capitalism is the Root of Inequality
For every inequality that you see, there is most likely money behind it.
For instance, poverty in America.
One of the reasons why there are so many more un-wealthy people than there are wealthy people is that the wealthy get a head start. They receive better education, after-school programs, and healthcare because they can afford it.
They can pay for private schools or pay to live in rich communities with good schools. They can pay for their kids to attend good after-school programs or exam prep. They can pay for their kids to go to college. They can also pay for their kids to see doctors.
As for the un-wealthy, they can’t afford any of these things.
And the government isn’t willing to help them out because they would rather put spending into other things that will immediately yield higher financial returns, such as in the military so that they can colonize foreign lands and take resources and in corporate subsidies/bailouts so that they can manufacture and export products.
This is something that I learned in the social stratification course I talked about earlier.
Final Thoughts
These are 5 things I learned from majoring in sociology.
I know they’re not the conceptual stuff, such as paradigms of sociology or the self-fulfilling prophecy, but these are social issues that people are dealing with right now.
Maybe in the future, I will write an article on my favourite sociological concepts.
But for now, ponder what I have written.