Importance Of Social Location

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Social location is a component that sociologists look at to determine how people function in their respective communities. Social location, however, irrevocably affects us all. The jobs that we hold, how much money we make, our level of education, our gender, our ethnicity and our age all affect how we view the world and our community. One of the most important factors that affects how we view the world is our ethnicity. Growing up as a black person in the south, I have formulated a certain view about the southern states and America as a whole. Even if I have identical social locations with a white person—job, education, income, gender and age—our ethnicities will give us very different worldviews. Because I am black, I am more sensitive
Yet, I can relate to how the “class effect” has affected my family. My family is considered “working class” since my father is our only source of income and his occupation is an inspector at a trucking company. This has molded the way that I view work and money; while my parents have ensured that all my needs were met, I have to work for nonessentials. I have not gained a “money tree” materialistic view on life since we were never lucky enough to have money trees sprout in our backyard. This has also taught me to be frugal. When I was younger, I would awkwardly laugh at my mom whenever she pulled out her book of coupons. Yet now, whenever she pulls her coupons out, I scan along with her, looking for a deal. Our frugality and our expert “stretching dollars” ways has turned my childish materialism into a comforting frugality that I can grow
Being born as a girl into a religious Southern family, I was constantly bombarded with social stereotypes. I was expected to eventually be a wife and a mother. I was expected to play with Barbie dolls—even though my natural rebellion came out around seven and I devoted a few years to being a “tomboy”. The simple fact that I was a female automatically came along with rules and regulations. I had to dress a certain way if I didn’t want to get raped, I was never to ask a boy out on a date, and I was to be a “lady” at all times. While I still hold true to many morals I was instilled with, these stipulating factors about gender has shaped my perception about how we treat our children and what stereotypes we influence upon them. Common stereotypes like “all girls are weak” and “boys must never cry” are too often placed upon young children. Because I grew up with these stereotypes—whether influenced by family, friends or media—they have sensitized me to the unequal world that we force upon our children at such an early age. Though my gender has delimited me in certain areas of sports, careers, and opinions, these limitations have taught me to aim higher and break every barrier possible. Social location defines us more often than we think. While it can affect us either positively or negatively, the age of technology has ensured that we are exposed to different opinions so that we can form our own type

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