comparative sociobiography
...me should be devoted to my studies, thus not allowing me to spend leisure time or work a part-time job. They sent me to the best private schools in our local community since the grade of Kindergarten, and also enrolled me in dance and piano lessons, making sure that I was a well-rounded child and not only an “intelligent” child. They had high expectations for me, especially since I was the youngest and only daughter of two children. Because of this, I was constantly pressured to do well, always striving to be the best, in fear of disappointing them if I was anything but the best. Kenneth, on the other hand, although he came from an immigrant family as I had, was not very fortunate and went to an over-crowded high school in a poor neighborhood. He came from a working class family, and had a younger sister to care for because his mom was busy working two jobs. His mom was forced to work two jobs because she was a single mother on her own who had both Kenneth and his sister when she was very young, not allowing her to finish her education and get a better job. Many times she did not have time to cook dinner, clean the house, or make sure that his younger sister’s homework was finished, and so Kenneth assumed this responsibility. When Kenneth was not busy with his studies, taking care of his sister, or cleaning the house, one could find him working at Target to make some spare cash and help his mother. Although his mother objected to his part-time job because she wanted Kenneth to focus on school, Kenneth insisted and took on this extra responsibility. He hardly had any leisure time to go out with friends, saying “I didn’t feel I had the whole ‘teenage experience’ – going out with friends, hanging out, and having fun”. Because Kenneth was busy with work and family obligations, his grades in school were not very high. He did, however, manage to maintain an average of a 2.8 GPA. Keeping these situations in mind, it is clearly seen that family background, education, and social class have a great influence on the experiences and shaping of an individual in society. In addition to these three factors contributing to the shaping of an individual in society are race and gender. Kenneth’s experiences with race can be paralleled to mine because we both are Filipino-Americans whose parents came as immigrants from the Philippines looking for a better life here in the United States for themselves as well as their children. We both experienced the stereotypes of others by them assuming that at least one of our parents was in the medical field or that we were really smart, simply because we were “Asian”. With these stereotypes, teachers, students, and others placed high expectations on us. For example, they expected us to get high grades – especially in mathematics or sciences, or to be passive – especially in cases of authority and control. In regards to how gender shaped us as individuals, our experiences can be compared to each other rather than paralleled. As a female, I was expected to be submissive, to get high grades, as well as keep up with dance and piano lessons, and clean the...