Srisa-an 1 Prapye Srisa-an Professor Setele Introduction to Sociology April 30th, 2019 Auto-Ethnography Paper 3 My childhood was never easy, or so I thought. My freshman year at Webster University has taught a new perspective on life which is priceless. I learned about how my mind works from the class, Introduction of Psychology in the first semester. In the second semester, I decided to learn more about how society has played a huge part in shaping me as a person. Sociology has taught me how my gender, social class, and nationality have had an effect on how I see the world. It has also taught me how social institution and societal pressure has had an influence on how society has treated me. Though I have graduated high school from Vancouver, Canada and am currently pursuing post-secondary education at Webster University in Saint Louis, United States, I was born and raised in Thailand. The main reason why I have the opportunity to study abroad is from my parent’s dream to give their children a better chance at succeeding in life, or in a sociological term, move over a higher socio-economic class. From what I have described, it is fair to assume that my parents lean more towards the conservative side of a political spectrum. Their ideology came from my grandparents who grew up in a low-income family. My grandparents worked their whole life so their children would grow up in a middle-class family. Now, my parents are continuing the cycle which is why Srisa-an 2 I was born into the privilege of the upper-middle class. My grandparents were barely able to afford the cost of my parents’ study abroad. That was when my parents found out about the power of the global market. Most Thai people are only able to speak Thai but Thailand is a very small country, therefore, there is not much money circulating in the economic system. On the other hand, the global, market has an unimaginable amount of money circulating in it. Since my parents wanted to make sure that I would be able to work in the global market, they sent me to a bilingual school when I was young and enforced English to be my second language. I went to a bilingual-private school since I was in kindergarten and up until I was in ninth grade. I moved to Canada by myself when I was starting tenth grade. Since then I graduated high school from Vancouver and continued to study abroad at Webster University. I was born as a man in the social system which gives the most privileges to a straight man. In the United States of America, there is a problem with the inequality between men and women, this is a problem in Thailand as well. Women are expected to meet certain qualities, especially women in the United States of America who are born in a religious Catholic family. I was born as a Catholic because my mom was a Catholic. But since I am a man, premarital sex is not something my parents are very worried about. On the other hand, if I were to be born as a Catholic woman, I strongly believe that they would reinforce the idea of none premarital sex. In traditional Thai culture, even though the most subscribed religion is Buddhism, the idea of ‘waiting until marriage’ is still unevenly imposed on to women. Traditionally, women in Thailand are Srisa-an 3 expected to be polite and to not initiate a relationship. These unprogressive values are shared in the United States of America as well. Not only in America but also around the world, women are underprivileged. This is something new which I have truly understood by looking at the issue from a Sociological Perspective. As a man born in Thailand, I have the privilege to act and express myself more freely, it was a status which was ascribed to me. My parents once told me that the chance of me studying abroad by myself would be greatly reduced if I were a girl. This is due to the over-protectiveness of my parents, reinforced with their traditional values. The main reason why my parents would be more protective if I were a girl studying abroad is that they would not have the authority over who I would choose to date. Especially when I was only fifteen when I went to study abroad by myself, the age where my parents would be the most protective if I were a girl. Traditional Thai parents are very strict with who their daughters are married to. The groom will have to ask and present themselves to the bride’s parents to get their approval of the marriage. This is a tradition which directly correlates to the idea that women should not initiate a relationship but should be the ones being pursued instead. This oppressive tradition also reinforces men to objectify women since women are seen as a goal which men have to pursue, instead of other human beings which they will share their lives together. Over the years, Thai society has become more accepting of women who are different and do not fit the role of the oppressive tradition. Women who are independent and are not afraid to initiate relationships. Unfortunately, there are women in Thailand who are Srisa-an 4 still suffering from this inequality and to make the matter worse, the feminist movement still has not started its revolution in Thailand. Since I am not in the country, I can only hope that in the upcoming years, Thailand will soon be more progressive towards the equality between men and women. My family holds many conservative values, therefore, those values were ascribed to me as they raised me. They value hard work and climbing the economic ladder. My father believes that if one works hard, one would always succeed. Even though that is a very good mentality, he has never taken into account the fact that not everyone grew up in a stable family like him and some people have mental issues. It was an ideology which I once believed in until I learned more about the liberal perspectives from my friends in Canada. There, I found out that some people do not have a good relationship with their family, some people are born into families that have drug-related problems, some people have a mental illness that is not treated. Not everyone was born into the privilege the way my father and I did. Mental illness is another thing which I had only learned when I first came to Canada. I was surprised to find out that some of my friends went to therapy. The idea of seeing a therapist was very unusual to me, at the moment. In Thailand, most people are not in touch with their mental health. Many people are barely able to afford food, treating yourself mentally is not even an option. My family is very ignorant of the idea of mental illness. Between the transition from high school to college, I had an existential crisis because I was anxious about leaving Thailand again. I did not see the point of leaving Srisa-an 5 Thailand and I did not know if the path in front of me was right. Instead of asking about my feelings, my mom just told me to stop being so ungrateful since they have already given me the best opportunity they possibly could. In Thailand, people still believe that climbing the economic ladder and buying more expensive materials we solve all of their problems. As a result, parents send their children to tutoring school so they could get into prestigious universities. Kids starting from fourth grade spend every weekend at tutoring schools learning things which are not yet taught at their actual schools just so they could be ahead of other kids. Fortunately for me, I was never a really fast learner, my parents then decided to send me to Canada instead so at least I would learn English in a country that actually speaks it. My parents live in a social group in which parents brag about their kids to other parents. Society pressures them to push their children to college, or else they would consider their parenting as a failure. Their children are essentially their achievements. Therefore, it was not a question of whether I was going to go to college. The idea that they would not have an answer when people ask them about what their children are doing, to them is a great fear. Sociology has helped me to understand how society has had an influence on myself. Psychology has taught me about what goes on in my head and how I naturally react to society and Sociology has taught me how different social institutions have shaped me as a person. Many things which I thought was ‘myself’ were already prescribed to me by society. I thought I had a rough childhood but Sociology has taught Srisa-an 6 me new perspectives on how privileged I am and how fortunate I am to be born in my social status. It has taught me how women are oppressed throughout different cultures in different countries. It has taught me why we need to improve and progress as a society and how ‘the old ways’ does not work. Sociology has taught me about every aspect of the society which has lead me to be at Webster University.
