Because we are growing up in an era where technology is exponentially increasing and improving, we are all impacted by the proliferation of technology. And this includes technology in medicine, in engineering, in particle accelerators, in space crafts, in automobiles, in solar energy, and in our small cellular devices. Just like everyone else living in this modern era, I too am impacted by all of this rapid growth of technology. Living in a century where I can have access to all of the information I want or need at just the touch of my fingertips may seem ordinary at first--since I've grown up with having this capability and it’s been normalized by the modern society--but in the grand scheme of things this is all actually extraordinary.
I wouldn't be the person I am today without technology. I wouldn't have been able to pursue any science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) related courses at school, and I wouldn't have been able to do any of that in the sometime future if I had grown up in a different era. I am more socially aware of issues affecting people, I'm better able to get in touch with friends, and I have passions in HTML/CSS, video editing, and computer programming--none of which would have been possible without growing up with technology in the U.S. in the 21st century. The time and place that I grew up in--21st century America-- affected my biography--my interest and deep involvement with technology-- my sociological imagination.
And with the use of technology, I'm able to learn more about others and the current state of the world. In fact, just this weekend I was able to use the texting capabilities of my phone to find out the details of the Women's March on Chicago that happened on January 21, 2017--the day following Trump's inauguration into office. The purpose of the march, according to their website, is to "Make ourselves seen and our voices heard to the new administration [...]. We will help to 'send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights.'"
Though I was just a single face in a massive crowd of other marchers, holding up a sign that said, "Respect Existence Or Expect Resistance," my small contribution did make a difference. With many other individual voices like my own, over 250,000 people showed up to the march to be seen and heard (more than the amount of people at Trump’s inauguration). While in the crowd, I thought about all of the events that have occurred for this march to have happened--the 2016 election, the (deeply flawed) electoral college, and the inauguration of someone whose approval ratings are the lowest in history (32%). All of these events have shaped and influenced us to become marchers. They have united us together as a group of fighters--and thinking about all of this in that magical moment of time was me being sociologically mindful. I was in tune to both the way in which the present moment was influenced by society and I was also aware of how we are all players in shaping the present moment by banding together to send a bold message to the world.
The day following the Women’s March, I was planning on going to a school event known as World’s Fair. However, my father refused to drive me simply because I was wearing a hat. He said it looks stupid and I should look more “feminine.”
I argued, “Why are you so afraid of non-conventionality?”
And he boomed, “It’s wrong, you have to look like a girl.”
And so the argument ensued for several minutes before I finally got my brother to drive me instead.
My parents grew up in a Russian town in the 1970s-1990s while the USSR was still alive and well, so what they believe people should act and look like is vastly different from what I believe people should be able to do. Growing up in that time era and in that place has caused them to develop certain ideas akin to 19th-century beliefs on what “men” and “women” should or shouldn’t be able to do.
The way they’ve experienced reality, they believe that it’s revolting and immoral to look in any way different from what you were assigned at birth. They grew up in a society that taught them that gender is something ingrained: you “naturally” like being rough and playing outside or you “naturally” are good at doing domestic work and are “naturally” quieter and more “proper” or you are “naturally” a louder and more “macho” person. They have never heard of the concept of gender roles, and wouldn’t ever believe anyone who’d told them their perception of gender is just a social construct. They try to stay away from deviating from the norm, try to fit in and be as “normal” as possible. They constantly pester me about how I’m doing something “wrong” because it’s not “normal,” and try their best to get me to behave according to their definition of what a “normal” “girl” is.
The social construction of their reality in terms of how they perceive gender has been warped and molded and dried into a giant boulder of cisnormativity and traditionality that would be near impossible to crack, given their age and the ideas that they’ve always grown up with. As a result of their rigid narrow-mindedness, they’re hypersensitive to doing anything that might be perceived as outside of the “norm.” The way they experience their life in their “gender” and their ideas on “gender” has been created by the society they grew up in--an example of the social construction of their reality.
