When I think back to the day I got my first paycheck I remember being so excited because I was finally going to be able to buy my first pair of $100 leggings. I was in high school at the time, working no more than two days a week at a family-owned breakfast cafe. As a teenager, getting my first job meant that I had the power to buy whatever it was that I wanted, without having to worry about my parent’s opinion.

The population in my high school consisted of a vast majority of white people with a small population of Latinos and other minorities. If you were attractive, white, and you had money, you were considered popular at my high school as long as you fit in the group. I was never really popular in high school but I do remember doing certain things to mimic the popular people so that I could feel accepted in a population where I was the minority. My way of attempting to fit in was through material possessions. I remember begging my mom to buy me whatever the latest trend was that year, whether it be Hollister, Aeropostale, or American Eagle. Back then, I didn’t realize what was driving me to beg my mom to buy me expensive clothing that I didn’t need. Learning about sociology has allowed me to understand the social forces behind my teenage desires. I always wanted the latest trends because I wanted to fit in and feel good about myself, I was uncomfortable with the idea of being different.

These are the same sociological forces that I believe drove me to buy a $100 pair of leggings. In my senior year of high school, owning this particular pair of leggings was the equivalent of owning a Mercedes-Benz. I remember going to school the week after I had bought these leggings and receiving dozens of compliments on how cute they were. I’m confused as to how they were considered cute if they were simply all black and had no intricate design whatsoever other than the small logo on the back that read Lululemon.

I still have the pair leggings to this day, however, now I appreciate them for their comfortability and their durability rather than their social value. In high school, I appreciated them because they gave me a sense of belonging. Now that I’m older I realize that spending money just to feel a part of the crowd is simply a waste of resources. This compelling desire to fit in is what companies want us to feel. They advertise their products by displaying them on beautiful models that look nothing like normal 17-year-olds. They overprice these items knowing that the only population that can afford that is the elite class, in my case the popular girls at my high school. It is for this reason that we should not fall for the trap set by these large corporations, they profit off of our insecurities by selling us the idea that accumulating material possessions will allow us to feel better about ourselves. If we continue to buy into their lies, we will eventually run out of money.

When I think of a preface, I usually expect it to be lengthy, boring, and unnecessary. However, the preface in Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday life helped me understand how to read the material presented in the text. The preface consists of two separate sections, one specifically for instructors and the other written for students of sociology. The instructor preface elaborated on how and why the book was written a certain way, explaining that using the “stuff” of everyday life was an efficient way of teaching sociology to students of all academic levels. The authors explain that usually what is seen in an introductory sociology class is a curriculum that presents sociology as a “motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable.” This sort of curriculum bores the student, preventing any form of sociological enlightenment. To engage students in the curriculum, instructors must relate sociological concepts to the stuff of everyday life, such as cars, shopping, or even makeup. By engaging in modern topics of conversation, students feel like their own experiences are valid as they realize they are experiencing sociological phenomena in their everyday lives. I have taken this course before and failed obviously, but regardless of whatever grade I might have received in the end, I valued the knowledge that I was able to take from the class. It was easy to understand sociological concepts once I realized that the lessons could be found in the world outside of the classroom. The ability to see the strange in the familiar has expanded my ability to think critically and question the world around me. 

The Oxford dictionary defines sociology as, “the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society.” The vagueness of this definition, as well as the vagueness of all other definitions, does not allow us to fully submerse ourselves into the study of sociology. To better understand the science of sociology, Henslin invites us to look deeper by analyzing the human desire for explanation and understanding of the world we live in. Since the beginning of time, humans have been fascinated with the unknown. Modern times, says Henslin, have allowed for human exploration through the use of advanced technology. We live in an era where we have acquired so much information that there is a need to categorize it into different fields of science. These fields include the natural sciences, such as biology, geology, chemistry, and physics, all of which have their subfields. In addition to the natural sciences, we have the social sciences which include psychology, anthropology, history, economics, political science, and finally, sociology. To further elaborate on what Sociology is exactly, Heinslin uses the example of juvenile delinquency by describing how different social scientists might approach the subject. One example that struck me the most, and helped me further understand the field of sociology, was the explanation of how a psychologist might look at juvenile delinquency. Psychology, as defined by the Oxford dictionary is, “the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.” In other words, psychology focuses on the individual and how the human mind might affect outward behavior. Henslin explains that a psychologist might look at juvenile delinquency and ask questions regarding the inner workings of the delinquent mind. They might ask questions about the individual’s personality, questions such as whether or not that person may be an introvert or an outgoing, and how this might affect their decisions to participate in delinquency. Sociologists, on the other hand, would look at juvenile delinquency and disregard the individual, completely ignoring factors such as personality. Instead, they would examine the social factors that cause recruitment into delinquency, such as the location, economic status, or race of the individual. The sociologist would even go further and examine the events that follow an arrest, they would examine the effects of incarceration on these individuals and the adversity one might face after being released from the system. The sociologist would look at the juvenile delinquency and examine the external forces that might drive an individual, or a group of individuals, to participate in delinquent acts. In short, sociologists tend to look at the bigger picture whereas other social scientists might only look at fragments of the picture. Regardless, each fragment of the picture is important as it allows to fulfill our very human desire for exploration.

In this excerpt, C. Wright Mills discusses the sociological imagination and how those who possess it can see life in a different light. First, Mills discusses ordinary men and their tendency to blame their troubles on factors which they are already aware of, such as their jobs, family life, or the neighborhood in which they live. Mills is correct in his evaluation of ordinary men as we often don’t blame larger institutions or historical changes for our troubles. We also do not acknowledge these institutions when we are in a state of well-being, we are almost completely unaware of the correlation between our lives and the period of history in which we live. Mills explains that the sociological imagination is yet another lens through which the spectator can understand how history can potentially shape the inner lives of a variety of individuals. I can apply the sociological imagination to my own life as seen through my grandparents, who were born during a time where the LGBTQ community was looked down upon. Because of the period they were born in, my grandparents aren’t exactly fond of homosexuality, making it very difficult for their daughter, my aunt, to come out of the closet. However, I cannot personally blame my grandparents for their viewpoints, for had they been born into a different period, their ideas of the LGBTQ community might be different. Mills then goes on to explain the difference between troubles and issues stating that troubles occur within the individual and affect areas of his life that are closely related to him. Mills explains that issues go beyond the individual and affect societies as a whole. If we take, for example, social media, personal issues may arise because such platforms might cause an individual to feel insecure about his own life. However, an issue might occur when the rate of suicide among young adults spikes after such platforms have been introduced. The sociological imagination allows us to see the difference between such phenomena and the effect they have on our everyday lives.

As we begin our journey through the gateways of sociology, we must first ask, what is a sociologist? Peter L. Berger invites us to dive into the minds of those who have chosen this field so that we may better understand the motivation behind the sociological perspective. He explains that the natural habitat of sociologists is, “all the human gathering places of the world, whenever men come together.” (Down to Earth Sociology, Page 3) The sociologist, according to Berger, is fascinated by the everyday lives of people, his questions leading him to explore all possible levels of society. Berger further explains that sociology is a field that crosses with many others, including psychology, ethnology, and most importantly, history. The sociologist is particularly interested in history because it is through that lens that he can observe how societies have changed over time. It is through history that we can find documented information regarding monumental events such as war, plague, and mass revolutions. These events, which have mostly been out of our control, have shifted us as a society, affecting the way we think, eat, and go about our daily lives. Berger states that it is important to recognize that studying sociology comes at a cost. For many other fields, it is easy to distinguish between work and home. He says, for example, “The astronomer does not live in remote galaxies, and the nuclear physicist can, outside his laboratory, eat and laugh and marry and vote…” (Down to Earth Sociology, Page 3) The sociologist lives in a society, regardless of whether he is in his office or at home. The sociologist is special as he has been given a set of glasses through which others cannot see. He sees the flaws in the system in which he lives in, he sees the roles that we have all been assigned at birth, he sees the uncontrollable circumstances that control mankind, the sociological perspective, once learned, cannot be unseen.