The social location of a man is to be introduced in the very first class of sociology as it plays a prominent role in looking at the sociological problems and also understanding the relationship between man and society. A social location can be defined as the social position an individual hold within their society. Some of the social characteristics which are deemed to be important which are given by any society are social class position, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, religion and so forth. The social location of an individual is profoundly influenced by who we are what we become, like interactions with others, self-perception, opportunities, and outcomes. Therefore, one has to put themselves into the middle of plain paper and create a web-like diagram to represent one’s social location in their respective lives. The social location also involves certain social roles one has to fulfil as a student, mother, sister, father, brother and so on. When an individual is locating themselves in the society, have to look into the present scenario and not past nor the future.
As Berger says in one of his essays ‘man in a society' that an individual doesn’t have a single role and identity in their lives instead he/she plays different roles in different places and time. So, in accordance with this, I would place myself in the society as follows: First, I’m my mother and father’s daughter, the youngest in my family. Even though I’m the youngest I get to make certain decisions related to my family and life. The role I play at my home is of a daughter and a responsible one. And I am valued for the women I’m becoming!
Second, as a citizen of India and a girl who is also a majority in the society, I like to place myself at the lower-most place in the hierarchy of the society formed by the people. As there is inequality in society, we girls get fewer opportunities in education and jobs. Though there has been a mild revolution in recent days about women’s role in society there is no doubt we are disrespected and disobeyed. The women are the victims of rape, molestation and so on. This view of society towards women has to change. But when I look at myself in the close circle that is in my family there is nothing like discrimination between boys and girls and we are all treated equally.
Third, as an eighteen-year-old college going girl whose day is consist of most classes, studying and of course a little bit of fun now and then! I feel free when I enter the college (MCH) as there are no restrictions whatsoever it might be. The society inside the college is different from what is at home or in my hometown. I feel empowered as a girl and also being educated will help me empower as a woman in the future.
According to Berger, location in society constitutes a definition of rules that have to be obeyed. “Social control is one of the most generally used concepts in sociology. It refers to the various means used by a society to bring its recalcitrant members back into line. No society can exist without social control.” Here Berger says the society cannot exist without social control by this he means the rules, laws, norms and social, economic and institutional structures. Therefore, there would be no society without social control, because society cannot function without an agreed-upon and enforced social order that makes daily life and a complex division of labour possible. Without which there would be chaos and confusion would reign in the society. People are controlled mainly by being socialized so that they expectedly fill their roles through habit and preference. I feel the reason for society to persuade women to accept the endless drudgery of household and childcare is the social control itself.
When I have to talk about my social controls, first comes controls in my family. So, we originated from a backward village in Karnataka and like all other families, even mine had few restrictions for girls of the house. Like, I was told not to sit in the living room when all elders were there and talking. Also, there were a few restrictions on how to sit in front of men of the house. All the women had to eat after the men eat. This has been gradually changed over a while like now as society has become more open-minded even my family has, but we still do follow a few cultures and basic restrictions. When we girls have to go out to places, we are told to wear certain kind of dresses only like, it shouldn’t be above your knees and it shouldn’t be sleeve-less. The main reason why our parents say this is because to keep us safe from the rapes. But this is not the actual reason for women to be raped, it’s the stupid and immature mentality of men. So, these restrictions and controls put upon women are surely not what we want. These controls will nowhere take us to the highest strata of society. As Berger rightly said, ‘the three principles rewards of social position are- power, privilege, and prestige.
The social controls also define one’s personality as to how he /she has faced the societal controls and their experiences in different strata of life. For me being restricted at home was a bad experience and I was getting annoyed by the restrictions and norms this reflected in my view of viewing society. I questioned whether or not I was doing the right thing by respecting the norms or I should I have disobeyed and made my own decisions. But to be frank those social controls made me a different person too as in like now I view society in a totally different way!
These controls reflected my personality in a lot of ways like the way I sit and the way I talk to people. I became more confident in whatever I did.
As Berger clearly says we are located in the society not only in space but in time, so, when we locate ourselves in the social strata of the society, we have to locate in such a way that is our present and future correlates to each other. Social status is something that was there even before we were born and it will be there even after we are dead. The social status is like the four walls of imprisonment. Some of my experiences have been negative and some have been positive, which has given me mixed views on others, but I believe that is what makes up social location. Everyone has many encounters with many different things and other people every day that gives them different views on society which makes up their social location.
