I agree with the writing on commodity fetishism but on a side note; I think people are getting more involved in wanting and or needing to know where their food comes from. Lots of people are becoming vegan and making it known why (treatment of animals, the effects on our environment, and so forth).  The ‘farm-to-fork’ movement, and also with the internet around; we can see in other cultures how different methods and others are used instead of how horrible most American meats are procured. 

Also; foodie side note- what Jeffrey Pilcher calls the “fast food taco” was actually originated in Los Angeles at the Mitla Cafe and is known as the ‘American Taco’ and Glen Bell worked there and took their American Taco recipe and started Taco Bell. 
Further- I agree with women now-a-days being subjected to “a good woman belongs in the kitchen” but doesn’t that date back to cavemen times where the men would go hunt and the woman would gather and prepare the food? Nowadays, I think it’s been misconstrued into something, sexist, as it was back in the late 50’s /early 60’s; but as a woman, I can’t deny the love for being in charge of my kitchen- 

“It’s easier for me to just do it” FACTS! 

Japanese food is a huge totem in my life specifically izakaya food. Most places I go to here in America are farm-to-fork and tell you exactly where and how they get their meats and produce-which I appreciate, and love as part of my food experience. 

Izakaya food to me is of much higher standard then regular American bar food relying mostly on local ingredients and what is in season at the time. I also really admire the Japanese for their love of seasonal ingredients and making the most out of them! Another reason I love izakaya food, is the vibe in general. You can see in the kitchen and see the chef working; or even talk to him as he cooks. All the while having some some delicious sake, with a free range jidori chicken skewer (yakitori or tskune my personal favorite) and most plates are shared. The communal vibe with the people you are eating out with is another reason I love Asian food culture. Most food is shared; people often look at me and my boyfriend weird at American restaurants cuz we order “individual entrees” and share everything! -some even will say theirs an extra fee for sharing. I’ve always been extremely connected through Japanese culture by my own doing. It’s a culture I can truly identify with from their food- to how they interact with one another. This is  why it’s a totem to me, and I’m glad most things revolving commodity fetishism in American izakayas are rarely present or at least limited to which one you go to.

A side note to say; I could have written about how horrible McDonald’s is; but that was more of a totem when I was a picky child, who only ate chicken nuggets, but I rarely eat fast food anymore- because of how disgusting our food industry is in America.

After reading; also think the ‘sparkle of the eye’ could also be misinterpreted, and just an illusion of the person looking into their eyes not that that person actually has a sparkle in their eyes but that they feel this connection.

It might say it in here but also dealing with personal space and different cultural backgrounds in most English -speaking countries; like in America, we have more space in our country and in Europe. There’s more space and less population, but in places like Latin America, Middle Eastern, and even parts of Asia, they are much more populated; so they are used to close proximity. Just because of- in their living environment- people live much closer then in an American society. 

Cool thing I just wanted to add in here, that I know that dates back to Samurai times; is in Japan. Even today, when you’re having a business meeting or even in an elevator or with business people; the person of the upmost importance sits farthest away from the door or stands farthest away from the door, and that goes back to Samurai times. This is because whoever is closest to the door; would be the one to get killed first. So they are further back now out of respect, but back then it was literally to situate them to stay alive.Hide original message

Also; about touch- I have some friends from South Korea that came to visit and whenever they think somethings really funny they would hit the other persons arm and some of my American friends found that very rude and mean when they are just showing their appreciation for the joke or whatever was said that was funny.

Naihsadrak Tribe 

The Naihsadrak Tribe This tribe raised to a position of unbelievable wealth and power. The tribe is made up of a small group of women. Once a week they would have a ritual for anyone to witness and sometimes it would get quite violent with anger, but the people always enjoyed watching them, which led them to have lots of success and power.  
One main thing that helped them to be in power,was their physic that seemed unattainable by most women! They were a strong group of females who plagued people by having such a luxurious life style that they got many followers who would try and change their ways of life to look like they were part of the Naihsadrak tribe but very few could ever succeed! 
A curious note; was how they ate, and used their facial expressions. It was almost as if they were trying to never incur wrinkles or upset their face paints.

 

In this blog post I just wanted to add some extra thoughts I had when we were discussing Durkheim‘s studies on suicide in class The first one being single people have a higher rate of suicide vs a person who is married. In class Was mentioned about how if you’re married then you physically have another person there that you can talk to that you could express your feelings with but also I was thinking in our society being married is more socially accepted and I myself being in a relationship for nine years (not married) I’ve had friends who’ve been in a relationship for one year and then get married and act like they’re better than everybody because now They have that title of being married. On the other hand single people was mentioned in how they don’t have those social connections I also thought socially being single is looked down upon I’ve heard jokes from friends and family about being at the dinner table at a family gathering and maybe their brother had gotten married or has a girlfriend or even if they don’t have any siblings and the single person will get all those questions “so are you seeing anybody?” “Have you met anyone yet?” Those questions can really hurt and effect people mentally. The next case that was brought up was that men have a higher suicide rate than women and what was brought up was that women have more social connections which I do agree with and think it’s true but what wasn’t brought up that really struck me was how in our society men are raised to be strong, men are raised to not have emotion to “not cry” or that’s they can’t cry. Women on the other hand are raised to feel and express emotion and even stereotypically be called too emotional which allows us to have the out let that men don’t. The last one that I wanted to give my opinion on mainly because I’m not super religious Was the difference between wealthy people having a higher rate of suicide then poor people What was brought up in class is how wealthy people are more likely to travel around leading them to have less long-term social connections which I do agree with but also I thought of how wealthy people depending on how they get their wealth sometimes lead them to be extremely guarded and untrusting of others which makes them become more isolated in their lives just because they don’t want their wealth getting taken away or having to deal with untrusted people who want to talk to them or be with them just because of their wealth and poor people on the other hand I think the reason why they are so socially connected is that it’s a necessity they need to be socially connected with their community they need the extra help from others and in other countrys villages need each other they all have a roll to help each other survive and get by. I just thought this whole topic was very interesting and how a study from 200 years ago still hold so much truth and value today. 

Reading this chapter was really interesting to me because my dad is an archaeologist and majored in anthropology (a social science) and my mom works in education and majored in geography (a natural science). Since my dad is an archaeologist, I’ve had many trips with him doing fieldwork where I actually got to work my way up to being a crew chief where we would go and do GPR (ground penetrating radar) and I also got to do the fun stuff like digging around in the dirt and finding old artifacts or standing over 5000-year-old mummified bodies! So having my parents have those type of backgrounds is probably why I am so interested in sociology; and now, also taking this class realizing a lot of my questions are more psychology related.  I’m still extremely excited about learning more about people and cultures and why those things define us, or why some things are so normal to one culture, can be seen so foreign or wrong to another. Also reading this chapter made me realize that I am extremely qualitative side- but I can also understand how quantitative can be extremely useful in some situations. A joke my dad said was a quantitative likes to use numbers and that way we get to be called Scientists because were using numbers! 

I don’t really remember the first thing I ever bought, ( I wasn’t a kid who got an allowance or anything). I also don’t have the best memory, but if my parents had given me money when I was younger it was probably clothing that I purchased. I’ve always been very into fashion; but I can’t remember that far back; so what I am going to write about is my first big memorable purchase. A few years ago I got my first real job working at Target and one thing that I knew I wanted for sure was a very specific wallet. It’s from the brand Saint Laurent and I still use it every day of my life.  The reason why I wanted this wallet was because of YouTube.  I’m very addicted to YouTube, and there were these vloggers from South Korea, and all three of them had the same wallet in different colors. One had a red one, one had it in brown, and then one had it in a navy blue. I wanted it in black. I also felt like I deeply wanted this wallet because part of my social connection to the world, is is through YouTube. So, I felt having this wallet would somehow connect me to the life-style I wanted (of these YouTubers in South Korea). It was $350 but having this wallet obviously did not bring me closer to these people. I will probably never meet in my entire life but the experience of going into that high-end store having them ask me if I wanted some sparkling water and just how nice and amazing the experience was I will never forget! It also led me wanting to buy more high-end items which I do not have the money for but being able to be in there and feel like you’re almost like a celebrity because of how they treat you. Also- just the feeling I get when I’m sitting at a café and I look down at my wallet makes me feel aesthetically happy. So to end this on a sociological note, my wanting of this wallet was significantly impacted by outer forces these YouTubers in South Korea living these fabulous lives; and me, coming from a small town in central California and not having a niche friend group like that and wanting to feel that social acceptance.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.