Paolo Mutia
Sociology – Gordon
3 November 2015
Assignment 3
Social status is the position that someone occupies in society or in a social group, while roles are the behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status. For example, a woman may have the status of mother in her family. Because of this status of a mother, she is expected to perform a role for her children. This role may be defined through actions such as nurturing, education, protecting, and guiding the children. Social structure, is the arrangement of institutions where human beings in a society interact and live together. The group collectively decides the set of statuses and roles. By creating a set of expectations of actions and behavior, people know what to expect …show more content…
It is my role as a violinist to practice the instrument a lot. Moreover, my knowledge of the classical music is expected to be vast. Therefore, another part of my role as a violinist is to always listen to classical music. Knowledge of works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Gershwin fill my mind. My participation in playing the violin in the Richmond Youth Symphony Orchestra, for example, has brought some privileges. Through my role as a violinist, I have received free tickets to attend the Richmond Symphony concerts. However, my role as a violinist is not easy. I am often conflicted by my role as a low-income student playing the violin. By becoming a violinist, I am exposed to musicians whose high-income families are able to afford countless violin lessons. There is a rule or assumption that by becoming a violinist, you must constantly receive violin lessons every week. Due to my family’s financial situation, that is impossible. While there is financial aid in joining the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, I find it difficult to socialize with people who constantly receive violin lessons. For instance, people would praise my playing and proceed to ask who my teacher is. I respond to tell the teacher who I have not visited for a while. On the other side, being a part of the program has positively affected my academics. For example, my English teacher regularly attends the Richmond Youth Symphony Orchestra concerts …show more content…
I was born into a middle class family in the Philippines and my life was very comfortable. I went to a Catholic private school and my parents had maids in the house who practically raised me. My mother worked in a top financial industry in Manila while my father was a strong political activist for human rights in the Philippines. When I was six years old, my father spoke out against the Philippine government to support land rights for farmers. Due to state repression, he was arrested and sent to a camp where he ate only fresh chili peppers for a week. In that camp, my father made the decision to seek asylum in the U.S. Upon arriving here, my family’s status as a middle-class family was wiped out. From the moment we arrived, my mother had to work in low-income jobs. In the U.S., living in a low-income family is tough. The basic necessities are always in question. Will there still be gas, water, and electricity tomorrow? My parents would be in a constantly race to pay the bills in time. Each month survived is celebrated by the food stamps that