Kelsey Johnson
Intro to Soc. 12-12:50
Kristin Mack
Examples of Ethnocentrism
In our book “Sociology A Brief Introduction” ethnocentrism is defined as the tendency to
assume that one’s culture and way of life represent the norm or is superior to all others. This to
me is strongly tied to race as well, and upon looking around campus as well as on the streets,
race seemed to be the most obvious way ethnocentrism is portrayed.
The first way I observed ethnocentrism was in the heart of campus; Mauker Union.
When you first walk into the union it seems completely average, but upon further observation
you see the segregation within the tables. When you first walk in there is an entire corner full of
African American students, and they are always very loud and self confident, letting people
know that they are a group of their own. Not only do they sit in a group, but it is the same area
each and every day. About a week ago I was sitting in the union doing some reading when a girl
of a different race tried to sit at an “African American” table and things got a little weird. One of
the African American girls walked up to her and told the girl that she was not welcome to sit in
that spot and that she needed to move. I know this because she said it loudly and in a rude tone.
The girl was clearly intimidated and immediately got up and moved.
If you look at this with a conflict perspective, it doesn’t seem so rude and ridiculous.
This girl has shown within her group that she has power, which has, in turn, given her prestige.
The girl who was sitting within their section, however, had no power or prestige, so she scattered
right away. Maybe under different circumstances the tables could have been turned but again,
within this group the African American girl had all the power and prestige; to an outsider this
may have seemed ridiculous, but to her it was the norm.
Another way I observed ethnocentrism was on the video music awards tonight on MTV.
Awards shows are a perfect example of Ethnocentrism as seen through the eyes of somebody
who has the conflict perspective. As we talked about in class, the basic premise of this
perspective is that competition over scarce resources, such as money, power and prestige, is at
the heart of all social relationships. This means that any inequality in power is built into any
given social situation. Every artist nominated thinks that he or she is superior to every other
artist nominated in that particular category; ethnocentrism. When the winner is announced,
inequality becomes obvious because the winner is superior to the other nominees.
The
disappointment was also very apparent on the “inferior” person’s faces. And people in today’s
society thrive off of this; they love to see Ethnocentrism within the people at the top of the social
ladder.
The final way I have observed ethnocentrism was at my former high school’s football
game over Labor Day weekend. We are going to look at this observation through a conflict
perspective. There is always always going to be segregation, no matter what high school you
look at, but I feel as if my high school is segregated with a lot more “cliques” than your average
high school. The more money you had, the more power you gain, and the more power you have
the more prestige there is. When I got to the game I had to walk through the student section;
popular senior girls in the front row, lesser popular “wannabe’s” in the next few rows, followed
by underclassmen, followed by what most people classified at “total losers”. And it makes me
smirk because it never changes. These girls have money or good looks, which gives them power
and prestige, but the less money you have, or the worse looking you are, the less power you gain.
But that is not the only way to spot the power and prestige, there is also clothing. The girls wear
football player’s jerseys, where the “wannabe’s” wear personally designed shirts; everyone else
just wears mass marketed tee shirts. So again, in the conflict perspective, there is a competition
over scarce resources (i.e. football jerseys, good looks, prime seating) and these things are at the
heart of all social relationships. Putting it into terms that everyone can understand; in high
school, the better your clothes are, and your looks are, and even how much money your parents
have, gives you a head to the people who do not have these things, and you will likely gain
power and prestige more easily.
We have looked at three different situations in which I have observed ethnocentrism in
the last few minutes; in Mauker Union, on television at an awards show, and at a high school
football game.
These things are a broad range of situations, but looked at in the same
sociological perspective they do not seem all that different. That is the point; even varying
situations seem similar given the perspective they are put into.