Chapter 7: Stratification.
Dalton has brought up the issues of social stratification in chapter 7 of his book, ‘You May Ask Yourself’. Social stratification refers to an unintentional drive within the family that determines the future of the family members. It also places members of the society into some economic groups. The society can shape an individual to become what it wants. For example, people from poor families are often associated with poverty and unfortunately most of them end up poor in their life. It known that it is the family where our life starts. Therefore the stratification places each family within a certain social and economic class that may end up ruining or making such a family to prosper for life. Our childhood greatly affects our adulthood in several ways. For example, Dalton puts it that our lives are shaped by social forces that mostly we are unable to control. However he quickly challenges the readers to think beyond the society and strive to follow a separate social path that they deem best.
This book has invoked me to critically think of myself and the society in separate contexts. First, is the society responsible for my life? If so, what is my role in shaping my life as an individual? I clearly come to an obvious answer that my life is mine and I can make the best out of it without the influence of the society. I have a friend whose was born out of wed lock and the mother struggled to educate him in spite of all the names the society branded her. She never lost hope and the son worked at school and excelled. The fact that they stratified her under low economic class never deterred her from educating her son. What I have learned from this chapter is the family ties and the need to pool resources together as a family. Chores should be shared in the family so that no group feels overburdened.
Chapter 8: Gender and gender role in the society.
Gender is being male or female. It defines the role of men and women in the society. The society has unconsciously allocated duties and responsibilities to the two genders. It is the society that has given each gender the roles irrespective of their willingness to take up the duties and responsibility. Dalton in his book claims that boys have higher correlation to the family than girls. This simply indicates that the society has values the boys more than girls. Gender issues are factors that affect the society’s perception of life. According to Dalton, the society perceives female gender as the receivers of instructions and they have little to contribute. Dalton is a story teller who relates his work to his real life situation to pass a message. First he gives example of his own mother and how she struggled to ensure that he gets the best that life could offer. This chapter has a unique blend of ideas that are important for any student who want to bring some change to the society. I can relate the case of Dalton to Ben Carson’s family. Before rising to be one of the known neurosurgeons in the world, his mother had divorced and lived with him together with the brother. The mother worked so hard and educated her children from the little she earned from manual work. Her supervisory role in her children’s education finally paid off. The fact that she was a woman did not deter from making the best out of life for her children. Dalton explains the challenges that women face in their quest to build future for their families and the society at large.
Chapter 9: Race.
Dalton explicitly explains the implications of race on the society. The society has a baseless argument that some races are naturally endowed with economic prowess. He says that this is in the people thinking and has no base in the reality in life. To be precise, he identifies the notion that the blacks are less superior to the whites. Racism is the belief that groups of people are more important and superior to another. He gives an example of what social Darwinism. This theory explains that some groups of people evolved more than other groups. It was believed that some races had the ability to survive more than others. When I critically analyze this book, it comes clear that Dalton is not in support of the claim and is quick to make it known that racism is only a word and is not a reality in real life situation. I have gained much knowledge from this chapter. First, there is no difference in the skin color and the difference is only in our mind sets. Dalton’s method of presenting the issue is very effective in that he gives the reader an insight of what is the reality and what people think is the reality. This chapter is important in that is erases the notion that there is a race which is more important or superior to the other. The chapter encourages students from races considered to be inferior in the society to take the challenge and compete fairly with the rest who are considered superior. They should take it as a personal challenge to fight racism in learning institutions, business world or employment opportunities.
Chapter 10: Poverty.
This is the state of living below the expected human dignity. Dalton’s concern in this chapter is to bring to light the causes of poverty and how it can affect individual’s perception in the society. He claims that the society that lives in poverty can get used to the situation and fail to think beyond that fact. Again, he gives example of Lyndon Johnson who set up antipoverty programs to fight this vice. Johnson set a spirited fight using education as a tool for fight poverty in the society. Dalton also touches on the effect of poverty in the society. Although he does not openly agrees that poverty causes social evils, he puts the question to the reader to digest and come up with a clear answer. In the discussion, he issues of divorce and poor education come up. Is it poverty that contributes to poor education levels in some regions or is it poverty that contributes to divorce cases that have increased in the society? This chapter has taught two key issues; poverty should not be used as an excuse for failing to accomplish what you set up in life. Also, poverty is the main set back in the society. I had a friend whose parents were poor. His determination to excel never deterred him from working hard. One day, his fortune fell when he performed a moving poem before the president. After the moving poem, the president offered not only to sponsor him throughout his education but also to help his poor family. Poverty as such is a vice in the society that should be fought by everyone in the world.
Chapter 11: Health and society.
In this chapter, Dalton talks of the role of doctors in the provision of health care services in the society. Dalton says that doctors have legal and professional right to prescribe medicine to patients. But, the long and tedious process of becoming a doctor has limited many people who have the passion to become doctors from achieving their goal in the society. He says that before 18th century, doctors were not respected much as the society did not value their services. Initially, doctors had their own fee charges for providing the much needed health care services. However, as time went by laws were enforced and doctors no longer had the right to set charges for themselves. Dalton also introduces the issue of technology in the medical field. Through internet search, nurses and doctors are able to do research and come up with modern methods of dealing with illnesses. He also indicates that patients can be more knowledgeable by embracing technology. The fact that they can research on the illnesses that they are suffering from, makes it easy to help them when they approach a health facility. Dalton also mentions the racial issues in health care provision. He says the whites have upper chances of getting the best health care as compared to their black counterparts. Also of much importance in this chapter is Dalton’s claim that women generally live longer than men and that women are more willing to get health care services than men. He also talks of the fact that HIV/AIDS has had a great effect on the developing countries since these countries cannot afford the drugs that developed countries produce. This develops his claim that there is racial discrimination in the provision of health care services in many parts of Europe and other continents.
Chapter 12: Family and family life.
Dalton has talked about many issues that make up a family, traditional family set up and development in family life. First, family is a social structure of existence that comprises of father, mother and children. Dalton gives states the two types of families and their compositions. He says that extended family consists of father, mother, children and relatives while nuclear family consists of father, mother and children. However, some family may lack one or two of these components. Dalton says the societies in western countries have no typical family as several generations can live together and form a family. He also touches on the factors that affect our choice of a marriage partner. First, culture plays a very important role in the choice of a marriage partner. Legal issues also dictate to people who their partners would be. During preindustrial period, families worked together to bring food and wealth to the society. They were organized into kinships and men were responsible for manual work and provided for the whole family. It was not until industrial revolution that division of labor enlightened the society and people started doing what they are best in irrespective of the gender. Dalton states that nuclear family developed after the Second World War in US. Again, he elaborated that there has been high rate of divorce since 1970’s after the society gave female gender some freedom. Women felt that they can be independent and fend for themselves without the support of their spouses. However, Dalton is quick to state that women can stay longer than men in unhappy marriage because they fear what the society would say. Moreover, some women fear that divorce would put them in bad financial position and they might not support themselves on their own.
Chapter 15: Authority and state.
This chapter basically talks about authority and its implications in the society. Dalton states that authority is the legal right to exercise power over people or a society. Dalton explains various terminologies in authority, legitimacy and the state. He says that coercion is the use of force to exert authority over a group of people. Dalton uses Steven Luke’s three dimensions of power. One is competition for positions that results into a loss and a win. This can best be explained by democratic states when they compete for power through elections. It can also be compared to the use of force to assert power over a group of people. Another dimension is the irresistible assertion of authority on people. Dalton describes this as power that cannot be resisted. The last dimension is the aversion of people choice and influencing their choice of leadership. Dalton further explains that hard power is the use of economic factors to rule over others while the use of cultural factors is known as soft power. In this chapter Dalton mentions that there are different types of rights of citizens. They are the political rights, social rights and civil rights. This chapter has encouraged me as a citizen to participate fully in the running of the government as this is my civil rights as well as political right. I have also learned that public participation in governance is important to check the excesses of the government of the day.
Coley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist. London:
