Sociology is the black hole field of psychology. If you happen to find yourself on a shrink’s couch you have some idea what you need to tell him: that your parents weren’t emotionally there for you when you needed them and that caused you to fall from a star three sport high school athlete (track, baseball, and bocce), to an obese forty year old drone who works in the company copy room. Your boss recommended you to this place after he caught you shoving Twinkies and other Hostess snack items down your pants—he thought you could use some help. In this little scenario, we know who has the problem, the guy, and given adequate therapy I’m sure he could be “cured” There is a problem and a solution. In sociology there are no solutions, only problems. This comes from the way sociologists view the world—they see it only its flaws and they believe humanity has the power to fix them. Unfortunately the world and society in general is so flawed that this endeavor is hopeless, no matter how many people they influence.
I guess I’m so opposed to sociology because I have a friend who babbles about sociological issues every day as we ride to school. He sometimes asks for my opinion on the issue, whether it be racism, sexism, illegal immigration, etc. I usually don’t care about the issue—I just want a ride to school without the complimentary moral dilemma, so I’ll attempt to make a joke out of the situation—at which point he’ll accuse me of stereotyping. I can’t argue with him, a lot of humor does come from stereotyping people and things, but that humor isn’t necessary reflective of the person telling the joke. The person may be just trying to get a laugh out of the ammeter sociologist because let’s face it, all sociologists are tightwads. Was I stereotyping again? Damn!
My friend’s questions have a tendency to make me feel inadequate. They leave me asking questions about my life that, before I met him seemed irrelevant but now take on profound importance—and I don’t like it. Questions like, how often to I stereotype people? Is my circle of friends racially diverse? Is it wrong that I eat my Chinese food with a fork instead of chopsticks?
The only reason he thinks about these questions so heavily is he took like six sociology classes all thaught by the same teacher, a woman who is revered and practically worshiped on campus because she is a liberal, no bullshitting around the bush gal with an affinity for the F word. However I have heard her teaching style is very objective—she encourages kids to organize rallies and walkouts around campus. In short: raise passive aggressive, constitutionally protected hell According to my friend this teacher has complained that students aren’t as proactive as when she was going to school back in the 70’s with the pot smoking, tie dye T-shirt wearing, free loving liberals of tomorrow, and she just wants to know, where have those values gone?
For her class final you have two options: write a 10 page paper or dress in drag for a day. My friend was going to dress up but he backed out at the last minute. He seemed so committed to the cause I thought he was going to become a full blown transvestite. Apparently this project is supposed to show men who dress up that women have a rougher go of in life because they have to get ready for school every day by throwing on makeup and like while having to fend off misguided horny guys who stare at them because they see them as sex objects—not because they are men dressed in drag.
My school’s other sociology teacher has a vendetta against sweatshops. His office door is plastered with propaganda, telling you which clothes are produced in sweatshops along with a sample letter telling you how to write to Mr. Old Navy that you strongly oppose his company’s use of sweatshops and Fran Drescher as a spokeswoman, because you shouldn’t take advantage of a woman’s nasally voice to sell clothes.
Waiting on the Bus 