Alternative Assignment–Ghanian Fundraiser
For the alternative assignment for my Sociology class, a few peers and myself had the task of raising money to help children in Ghana go to school. At first, we started planning a benefit concert. However, this proved to be challenging. We had the bands; however, we couldn’t find an appropriate venue or other activities. We then planned an open mic event at The Water Shed Arts Cafe, which was held last Friday. It was a small group of people, but I enjoyed it. We sold some Ghanian artifacts supplied by our professor at the Flea Market a couple weeks ago. Another individual in our group has done a poker tournament on the side to raise a few extra bucks. We also plan on having a bake sale in a couple weeks to add to our profit. Throughout this experience, I have learned a lot. If I ever have to do something like this again, I know what to improve on.
About the working class
So many people these days are working 2-3 jobs these days just to make ends meet. They work 7 days a week just to support themselves and their families. But who do they have to blame? Themselves, other people, or the corporate elite. I think that it is a bit of both. I think that more people need to get an education in order for them to get a good stable career. However, this can be a very difficult thing to do. Getting an education is extremely expensive and can often take a long time. I also think that the corporate elite is way to greedy. They have people working way to hard at their low paying jobs so they can see the profits. I do think that we need some sort of workers revolt like the one Marx describes. However, I do not think that the working class can afford to take that risk. Hopefully things change eventually.
Can we be ethnocentrism-free?
The definition of ethnocentrism is something along the lines of this: The “view of things in which one’s own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it”.- W.G Summers
To answer the above question, I am strong when I say that we cannot be ethnocentrism free. I think that it is possible for us to open up our minds and try to realize why other groups do the things the way they do, just as they should as well. However, I do not think we can completely accept or agree with the reasons they do those things. At the end of the day, a person is always going to compare the life of another to their own. It is simply because a persons way of life is the only thing that they really fully understand and everyone elses way of life is weird and abnormal to them. We will always think they way we do things, and why we do them is better than another individuals because it is simply human nature. As I said earlier, a step in the direction away from being completely ethnocentric, is to try to understand why people do they things that they do. We don’t necessarily have to agree, or do what they do. It is just important for us to take in consideration that what we think is weird or abnormal, is completely justified or normal to another group. We also have to realize they they are probably thinking the same thing about us.
Body Ritual Among the Nacirema. By: Horace Miner
I think that we, in a modern-western society are more like the Nacirema people than we think. Much of the Nacirema People’s time is spent making money and dealing with economic pursuits. This is like everyone in the world. Most of us hate the look of our body, we are never satisfied. The Nacirema people think that the human body is ugly and they believe its natural tendency is to suffer from disease. That seems to be exactly what we think. Cancer is a disease that affects many. Our diet and lifestyle surrounds avoiding getting this disease. In modern-western, there is also another very prominent issue. If looking in a celebrity magazine, you can often find an article and a photo that ridicules a celebrities body. They are either too fat, or to skinny. The Nacirema also scrutinize the thin and the fat. They do things to make the plump thin, and the thin plump. The Nacirema, like us also ridicule a woman’s breast size. They are either to flat, or to busty. The Nacirema will do procedures to make small breasts larger, and large breasts smaller. Woman everywhere get procedures like this to manipulate their breast size. Miner also states that a wife has never seen her husband participate in excretion. In a lot of relationships, a couple is scared to even fart around one another. The Nacirema women are always subject to scrutiny when it comes to their bodies. They are ugly and never right. Many manipulations are done by Medicine Men to the bodies of these women. Woman around the world are never satisfied with themselves and subject their bodies to plastic surgery and botox injections to change themselves. The Nacirema live a very different life than the people of a modern-western society. However, their ultimate goals seem to correlate with ours. It looks like this is a case of seeing the familiar in the unfamiliar.
Holla
My name is Kendra Bodie. I am a 19 year old female. I am attempting to get in to the RN or the RPN program. As of now I am just taking general studies to help myself get into these programs as it is quite difficult. Sociology is the only class I am taking this semester, so I plan on giving it my all. I am just taking it so I stay active in school and to build up my credit values. I am a fun loving girl who likes to go out and party. You can often find me and Gabby’s or Jimmy Liks. I am very friendly and easy going. I can have a conversation with everyone, even strangers. I look forward to meeting new people and I am always up for any curve balls life has to throw at me. I love spending time with friends and family. I always make time for those who make time for me. I am a hostess at The Olive Garden and I absolutely love it. Yay for yummy food! My goal is to become some sort of nurse and start my own life in Australia, or New York. Those are probably my favorite places in the world. I am a true believer in treating people the way you want to be treated. I am not afraid to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. I also am a firm believer in recycling. I love the planet we live on and I think we should keep it as clean as possible 
