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Laura Campoverde
Professor Colin P. Ashley
Intro to Sociology
August 25, 2023

Implicating Sociology

Sociology is being able to study society and understand its historical development and

how it can be implicated in understanding trends and patterns in the present and future. C.W.

Mills explains sociological imagination, as a way of becoming aware of society’s tendencies and

development. They demonstrate that society is bigger than the individual but individuals play a

part in how society works. This means that individuals’ actions affect what happens in a current

society and in its development.

In an interview called “There's been an alarming spike in violence against women of

Asian descent in the U.S.” with Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National

Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, the rising number of attacks on Asian American

women are explored. The rising number could be the result of a number of things. Choimorrow

explains that Asian American women are usually perceived as easier targets. In addition to this,

Choimorrow highlights in her interview that there is a lack of education on the history of Asians

in America which results in more stereotypes and racism to be accumulated. The pandemic may

have also played a part in violence rising in Asian hate however Choimorrow points out that the

hate has not been only recent, “But I have to say that, you know, hate and violence against Asian

Americans is nothing new.”. Choimorrow also disagrees that some of the attacks may not be

racially motivated, this is when you look at the issue from a sociological perspective.
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When applying sociological imagination it can be understood that because of the lack of

education in the history of Asians in America, people tend to build stereotypical viewpoints on

Asians. These viewpoints are often shared and passed down throughout a society. This is why

Choimorrow highly disagrees with the attacks not being racially motivated. Since there is a lack

of education, accessible healthcare, and better economic opportunities, roots of conflicts are

created which are then attributed to rising hate crimes towards Asian American women. This

would be seen as an issue in sociology since individuals are limited in controlling the type of

environment they grow up in. This issue causes people to grow up thinking that the hate being

accumulated towards Asians is normal since the inclusion of Asians is not normalized. As

Choimorrow elaborates, “I think it's really important that we have to understand our history in

order to make the right corrections we need to make moving forward.”. Learning the history of

Asians in America would allow others to understand the constant challenges showing up in their

life to help lessen discrimination.

In the article “The 50 most banned books in America'' by Jennifer Martin, the most

commonly banned books that are considered controversial during the 2021-2022 school year are

listed. This list shows the top ten books to be LGBTQ+ supporting books or books with race

based themes. The most banned book is a memoir about Maia Kobabe's journey through gender

identity and sexuality. Many parents and conservative media figures complained about this book.

This demonstrates another issue, where individuals who have opposing views can not live

comfortably being themselves because of the society they grew up in.

Using Mills' Sociological Imagination to view the issue, it is clear that because

heterosexuals are normalized throughout our society, more people are inclined to believe that
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being homosexual is abnormal. This results in a lack of education of LGBTQ+ and lack of

respect and rights for those who may consider themselves to be LGBTQ+. These individuals in

America may feel limited in how they could be accepted in their own society since the history of

American society is known to not be accepting towards these individuals. If better education was

given to understanding the history of LGBTQ+ and how people who identified were treated,

then there would be less stigma around these individuals.

Finally in the article “Employers Say Students Aren’t Learning Soft Skills in College” by

Dana Wilkie, the issue of the impact of digitalization on students is revealed. Wilkie elaborates

on how an online presence has negative effects on college students which causes employers to

struggle with finding graduates with soft skills. Most soft skills aren't being practiced in college

and when applying sociological imagination to this issue, it's understood that the cause may be

because of societal change.

Society now is becoming more reliant on technology, which can ultimately result in a

lack of interpersonal skills. Digitalization can cause face to face engagement to be decreased.

This engagement may be campus activities that work on these soft skills, however, with

technology becoming more popular, students may not see a reason to work on these skills when

technology can help them instead. Understanding this development in their society can help

create a solution in finding a way to implement exercising soft skills in technology.

Sociological Imagination is essential to understanding individuals and the complexity of

society. It helps in understanding cultural aspects and the patterns within a society. Studying the

culture and social facts assists with understanding the components of society and its

development.
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Works Cited

Gonyea, Don. “There’s Been an Alarming Spike in Violence against Women of Asian Descent in

the U.S.” NPR, NPR, 20 Feb. 2022,

www.npr.org/2022/02/20/1082012448/theres-been-an-alarming-spike-in-violence-against-wome

n-of-asian-descent-in-the-.

Martin, Jennifer. “The 50 Most Banned Books in America.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 17 Nov.

2022, www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-50-most-banned-books-in-america/2/.

Wilkie, Dana. “Employers Say Students Aren’t Learning Soft Skills In College.” SHRM, SHRM,

28 Feb. 2020,

www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/employers-say-students-are

nt-learning-soft-skills-in-college.aspx.