Sociology

Early Childhood Period
Socialization of a girl into a woman is usually one of the most wonderful experiences there can ever be in life owing to the fact that every social position is unique and the girl will never be allowed to repeat any of the stages once she has become a woman. Similarly, because the girl never goes through any rehearsal during her socialization from a girl to a woman, she is made to discover for herself issues as they unfold, including new roles and role expectations, and the resultant conflicts when she fails to perform the roles as desired. The girl will expected to perform roles that, depending on her culture and subculture, will assert her feminine status and make her to fit or fail to fit in the family and the greater community. The initial stages of the socialization of a girl into an adult will determine the latter ,ones, and the better the young girl is able to grasp lessons along the way the better her chances of success. The role performance of the girl will be a measure of how quickly she has mustered a given status and is ready to move on to another. The socialization of a girl to a woman, therefore, will depend on, among other factors, her culture, subculture, intellectual ability, and willingness to learn and relate with other people.

I am a 28 year-old Taiwanese lady from the subculture called Atayal. The one-child policy in China restricts the number of children that married people can have in urban areas to one, and this leads to female infanticide and abortions which are forced, which in turn lead to imbalance of gender. Traditionally, gender roles in China are the same as those in United States as men used to go to work while the women were housewives. Asian women play a vital role in safeguarding the community and their families because Asian culture is collectivism - subordination of individual goals to that of a family or community at large. Women and men have varying role expectations in the community.
The Atayal tribe is one of the nine tribes of the mountain people who live in remote areas of Taiwan. Our culture and language is well preserved.  We have tattooing practices, pantheism, head hunting and shamanism. Atayal tribe is well distributed in the Northern Taiwan. Our language is divided into Atayal and Sediq branches. Atayal women are good weavers. Our grandparents did facial tattooing for beauty and distinction. Warding off evil spirits was a feature of this tribe. Atayal kinship is a patrilineal system. Leaders of the religious groups constitute to the political authority.

After my birth, my mother went for maternity leave for four years to take care of me during my early childhood. We had a nuclear family which made us depart from the extended family.  My parents played the role of social control by being disciplinarians. I was expected to behave in accordance with the social norms and achieve academic excellence. In the Asian culture, parents exercise authoritarian control. I worked under close the supervision of my parents. I was taken to kindergarten where I was taught how to be a good girl. In my early childhood, I was a passive recipient of the information passed to me by my parents and the teachers. I used a particular language to demonstrate my responses to adults and teachers.

In the Asian community, parents place a lot of emphasis on the childs acquisition of academic skills. There are other values that were emphasized by my Taiwanese parents and these cultural included self improvement, parental training of children, and persistence. I was encouraged by my parents to be a part of the integrated community, society and family, and not to emphasize on their differences. This is the folkways of the Asian community. My parents believed that I could do well in school with a little effort. During my early childhood I socialized with the parent and the teachers. Because I am a girl, I learnt how to be a daughter, friend, mother, sister and wife from my parents. I learnt how to adopt Taiwanese cultural norms through the socialization process. I went to different agencies of socialization where my parents and the teachers were very positive. Through their positive encouragement I was assured of a healthy growth. My grandparents took care of me. Moral education was taught at kindergarten because the Taiwanese authorities are committed to the practice of formal classes in morality and teachers implement those policies to the letter. We also went to the temples with my parents for blessings. Of these agencies of socialization, kindergarten was the least effective because the teacher there never tolerated nonsense or complacency but. Every lesson was to be grasped fast enough, and this made too fearful to learn much. My home was perhaps the most effective agency of socialization because lessons learnt there were lovingly offered and there was a lot of room for seeking clarifications.

Late childhood period
My Parents paid excessive attention to me between ages nine and eleven years as far as academics were concerned because my mother could now alternate her profession and I was attended to by my grandmother or the house help. My mother resumed work and she went for further studies. I socialized with my schoolmates and shared ideas with my schoolmates and parents. I could also play computer games with my friends. Most of my friends started experiencing body changes at this age. Sexual mores was taught in schools though some of my age mates were involved in child prostitution and smoking. My parents regulated television watching by ensuring that they knew what I was watching andor watching the programs with me. At this age I was supposed to show mores to the community at large. In school Mazu Temples were built in for us to worship in. We learnt the meaning of the Mazu culture which affects their life experiences, religious believes, and identified traditional and contemporary art related Mazu culture. Agencies of socialization during this period were my peers, parents and teachers. Religion, teachers and some of my peers played an important role in my socialization. Role conflict in school is as a result of cross sex interaction.

Teen Period
Since Chinese girls are mostly dissatisfied with their bodies, I experienced difficulties creating and defining a new identity. I also experienced problems as I attempted to manage my life in a changing world. Adolescents navigate between the contemporary conditions and the traditional expectations. In China, resources are used in order for men to be educated because the sons are expected to contribute to the support of their children. Our Chinese classes observed discipline, were authoritative, had an expository teaching style, and gave a lot of homework. There was pressure to succeed as we were given weekly and monthly tests as well as competitive entrance examinations.  I had to behave in accordance with my status requirements.

Family clusters were the most important and I had equality matching. Depending on the friends I had, I could be tempted to set dates with their clients on the internet. Most of my friends got involved in this activity. This led to prostitution and exploitation especially during the enj-kosai occasion. To reduce child prostitution the government and NGOS regulated internet access in Taiwan. Girls were expected to be virgins so prostitution was prohibited. Violation of social norms resulted in guilt and shame. There was parenting outreach for drugs, sexuality education, and alcohol prevention education at this age. Visual media was very popular as the Taiwanese youth were involved in the media entertainment. Media education was emphasized for teaching the youth essential skills and values. The problem of the media and youth can be solved through the unified objectives and coordinated efforts. Teens battle with their bodies appearance and they wish they could change their body images. Teens also grapple with the issue of weight and they want to achieve the perfect look.  Dieting is done by young girls aged thirteen and it was a norm. Some girls go for facial surgery as they are dissatisfied with their facial features.

Early adulthood
Immigrant women are careful in their actions as they are worried about their residence status which may be threatened if they misbehave. Cultural norms stigmatize women and the cultural norms hold them responsible for breaking the family. An Asian woman cannot report sexual harassment case due to shame and taboos about of sex. Duty and obedience are the values that are prized highly among the Asian families. Asian women can seek educational excellence but should remain obedient, self sacrificing, and dutiful in the in the family and community. Traditionally, patriarchal values and norms stigmatize women after attack. The culture in Asia is usually male dominated. In adulthood, the person should have relationship or connections that are built on doing favors for the people and this social practice is well integrated in the West. This is guanxi. The other social organization is the face and removing shoes if you visit. Gift-giving is a highly encouraged practice.

In Chinese, white is associated with death and death is a forbidden topic of discussion. Sanctions included shame and guilt as violation of a social norm led to guilt and shame. During the early adulthood phase, the woman is subjected to low self esteem, depression, eating disorders, decreased performance in other activities, and, in extreme cases, suicide. To reduce this risk, the woman should focus on the positive effects, limit exposure to the negative images, devotion of time to help oneself and the others and develop a social support system which is healthy. When I relocated to United States, things were quite different as opposed to the Asian culture. Effective multicultural competence was provided through the awareness of ones beliefs in relation to the racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.

Culture Conflict
Due to differences between the Eastern and Western cultures, I was unable to build friendships due to low self-esteem. I rated my self-worth and competence lower compared to the American children. To resolve the conflict, I needed enough time to adapt to the new culture, including the new language. The children were given a chance to appreciate each others individual talent, thus learning from the other students. This helped me to have better peer status and a less severe cultural shock. The competition eased in school to encourage cooperative learning and create a friendly classroom atmosphere. Recess sessions were increased to allow students to socialize and to develop good rapports with each other.