Ascribed Statuses In My Family

As a diverse society, we live in a constant state of inequality. From the beginnings of societal structure members have dispersed resources in unequal ways depending on both roles and statuses within their community. For example, hunter-gatherer societies would reward their hunters with more food because they were hunting throughout the day as opposed to the members who stayed back in the village gathering small plants1. From then on society has evolved maintaining a hierarchical form. This hierarchical form has led to uneven distribution and allocation based on different statuses within society, creating inequality between its members. A status, as defined by sociologist Ralph Linton (1936), is the position a member holds with relation to society; a collection of his rights and duties (113). In addition, status vary from ascribed statuses (those we are born into) to achieved statuses (those we achieve through …show more content…
Being a male and the only child in my family, are two examples of what ascribed statuses that I hold. As the only child of my family my roles differ from those who come from households with more than one child. I have to call my mother every other day. I also have to form a family to continue my heritage. Finally, I have to behave in the most courteous manner as I represent the teachings and morals of my parents. However, I also have achieved statuses which I have worked for during my life. Examples of this include, being a Georgia Tech student and a soccer player. As a Georgia Tech student, I have to focus on studying and getting good grades. In addition, I have to work to pay for my college education. Meanwhile, I have to seek out other opportunities to develop myself as a professional. As a Georgia Tech student, I have to manage all these roles while handling all the other statuses and roles that I have obtained over the course of my