Johnson chap6 "what it has to do with us"

Thesis: To do something about the trouble surrounding privilege, power, and difference, we have to talk about it. The main idea of this article was to show how we as people act certain ways because that has how society has taught us. We do things that are considered the norm to avoid embarrassment or confrontation. Also we learn how society sets certain standards that people are suppose to act a certain way. This article explains how in order to make judgment on the social life you have to understand it and study it. Some key words in this chapter:

Individualism- This belief that the social world begins and ends with individuals. Individualistic thinking leads to us assuming that what is someone else’s problem isn’t ours.

Social systems- Is a group of people that participate in relation to one another. For example a university is a social system because teachers and students come together with different roles, but interact with each other.

Personal Identity- This includes gender, race, ethnicity, class, religion, disability status, and sexual orientation.

This chapter starts off talking about how people do not like to feel uncomfortable. This leads to the problem of not realizing that privilege and power do exist. In order to even begin to start to solve these problems we as humans have to recognize that they exist. Until we do nothing will get accomplished. Johnson then talks about how society thinks individualistically. People feel that they should not have to deal with problems that are not their own. For example sexism is created because it is the “men’s” fault. Individualistic thinking leads to an issue like sexism being talked about or not being talked about at all. In order to surpass this we have to recognize that the individualistic way is wrong. The media, parents, peers, coaches, etc. shape the way we think. An example from the chapter is a TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray Barone routinely treats his wife Debra in ways that are insensitive, sexist, and adolescent which in then end of the show Debra forgive him and still loves him. This sends a message to that women are suppose to basically take that kind of mistreatment without complaint and love their husband no matter how they are treated. Another way that people are shaped is through the “paths of least resistance.” This means that we choose ways that will not cause commotion. For example if you are in an elevator you do not turn around and face the other people in the elevator, you stand facing the door because that is what is considered the norm. People do not like to go against the norm because it makes them feel uncomfortable.

1. Is thinking individualistically a bad thing?

2. Does Johnson believe that people will drop the idea of individualistic thinking?

I found this chapter to kind of boring and repetitive. It was informative for the most part but I found it hard to stay focused. He provided some examples to support his ideas but stayed on the topic of monopoly to long and it kind of got confusing at times.