Lauren's Sociological Autobiography

On a sunny, hot day in May of 1991, a screaming baby girl was placed into the arms of her white middle-class mother and cooed over by her white middle-class father. Little did she know that she had already received three ascribed statuses within her short time on the planet. She was a female, signified by her pink baby hat. She was white, signified by her skin color. And she was middle-class, signified by her parents’ occupations and the type of car they drove her home in. The brand new baby, with three social statuses already to her name, and countless other possible statuses on the horizon, was me.

Let’s begin with how my ascribed status of female has affected me. Bombarded with female gender roles (from Disney princesses to magazine ads), I gathered the idea that women are only as good as their bodies. This led to a couple crash-course diets and a generally bad body image. I was also taught to accept the idea that boys are better at math, science, sports, and physical combat. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been good at these things anyway, but I certainly am not now. I remember distinctly enjoying math and science until about halfway through elementary school.

Being white definitely affected the way I view the world. Discrimination was not part of my childhood, and I ended up with a sense of race entitlement. Growing up in a mainly white area, my ideas were tinted with stereotypes of other races, and perhaps even the idea that whites are better. Although I realize now that this is untrue, it was still a part of my childhood, and it affected the way I think, subconsciously at least.

As a middle-class child, my parents were always very involved with my homework. Both of my parents have Masters degrees. Education was the most important thing, and I had that idea pounded into my head. My parents taught me how to read before I was enrolled in school, and this gave me a leg up and I was quickly placed in the advanced reading group. Thus, I was given the idea that I was one of the “smart kids” very early on. Consequently, I had more self confidence in my abilities through the rest of my schooling. My parents also enrolled me in several extracurriculars. Gymnastics, church musicals, horseback riding, Girl Scouts, and soccer were all in my agenda. My summers were never spent at home. I would spend weeks at camp, the Governor’s School for the Arts, and the Governor’s School at the College of Charleston. Time spent with my family during the summer was spent traveling. Whether it was to upstate New York to see my family or to Europe to be tourists, museums and historic sites were frequented on the way. Everything was turned into an opportunity for learning, and becoming a more well-rounded person for college. My parents started preparing me for college when I was just a child. Being middle-class also led to the cultivation of the idea that I have the right to be treated like an equal and that I have the ability to question adults. It gave me a sense of entitlement.

My parents occupations definitely also had an impact on me. Both are certified teachers, although my mother is the only one who actually works as a teacher. My father works for Allstate. From my mother, I saw the intrinsic rewards that can come from being a teacher, and I got a first-hand look at the responsibilities that go along with the job. I doubt I would be studying to be a teacher now if it weren’t for her. My father was always bringing home free rewards from his job for working hard. Once they even gave us a free family Disney cruise. From these experiences, I got used to the idea that one day I would be working a job that was good. Never did the idea of working for minimum wage the rest of my life cross my mind. Because I was middle-class, I knew I was going to college, and it wasn’t even an option.

My favorite things in the world are Broadway musicals. Without a different life, I might never have been exposed to theatre. My parents both value (and can afford) art, so I was taken to local shows as a child, and was encouraged to take part in church and local productions. This is a trend that has continued through my life and led directly to me working part-time in the theatre department here at the college and being in a production this year.

Because of the year I was born, I am a Millennial. Because of this, I am adept at using technology and probably have too high a view of myself.

The town I grew up in was very small. This definitely affected my perceptions. I am used to knowing everyone and manners being an everyday part of life. Living in Charleston now, I feel very small and insignificant because I am used to much smaller groups of people. I was also unaccustomed to the bluntness of those who live in the city.

My parents are both very religious. Because of this, I’ve been going to church since I was a baby. This has affected my beliefs and I am still a Christian today. Had my parents not exposed me to religion as adamantly as they did, I probably would not be religious.

Growing up in the South definitely also had an impact on me. I have been constantly pelted with conservative beliefs. It is probably this combined with the time I spent at liberal institutions (like the Governor’s School programs) that caused me to break away from my family and identify as a liberal.

In the future, I can see this past affecting me in many ways. I am planning on attending graduate school for Egyptology. If my father had not been a certified history teacher and subscribed me to Archaeology magazine as a kid, my trajectory would probably be quite different. My upbringing will help determine the mate I pick. I am very likely to pick a person of my own social class. It will also affect how I raise my children. While I plan to be more liberal with my kids (a direct consequence of my parents being overly-conservative with me), I will probably raise them much like my parents raised me. I know I feel the same way about punishment as my parents, and I will also take my children to church. Growing up in the south, I believe, will push me to move up north before starting a family. I would like to stick with the small town idea, though, because I believe it’s the best environment to raise a child in. My kids will be taught to value education and the arts (mainly because I will force them to listen to Broadway show tunes).

The ascribed statuses I was given as a baby definitely influenced the earned statuses I pursue now and will pursue in the future. Although I could continue to list the factors that made me who I am today, these--gender, ethnicity, social class, my parents’ occupations, the things my parents value, religion, region of the country I grew up in, the generation I was born to, and my hometown--all greatly influenced the facets of my personality and my beliefs.

Monthly Budget of Living in Charleston

To determine how much a 4 person family with 2 young children (in elementary school) would spend on food each month, I went to Harris Teeter and planned out a hypothetical meal plan for a week for the whole family and then multiplied that number by four to determine the monthly total.

For breakfast:

16 pack of waffles-- $2.27

A dozen eggs-- $1.89

1 box of Cheerios-- $3.55

TOTAL: $7.71

For lunch:

10 Uncrustables (for children’s school lunches)-- $6.99

2 bunches of bananas (for children’s school lunches)-- $2.76

2 loaves of white bread-- $2.39

Turkey sandwich meat-- $5.99

Sliced sandwich cheese-- $3.69

1 bag of goldfish-- $2.19

TOTAL: $24.01

For dinner:

4 Totino’s frozen personal pizzas-- $5.00

1 box of Mac & Cheese family size-- $2.45

4 cans of ravioli-- $5.00

4 cans of soup-- $6.00

1 box of spaghetti noodles-- $2.59

2 cans of spaghetti sauce-- $2.00

1 bag of frozen corn-- $3.99

1 boxed taco kit-- $2.89

1 package of ground beef for tacos-- $4.97

2 tomatoes for tacos-- $3.49

1 package shredded cheese for tacos-- $2.65

1 lettuce head for tacos-- $1.49

1 package of chicken for grilling (four large pieces)-- $4.66

1 bag of frozen green beans-- $3.99

1 bag of frozen broccoli-- $2.19

TOTAL: $53.36

Drinks:

10 juice boxes (for children’s school lunches)-- $3.65

12 can pack of soda-- $5.99

1 large can of coffee for two for week-- $2.25

2 bottles of juice-- $4.45

TOTAL: $16.34

WEEKLY TOTAL OF FOOD: $101.42

MONTHLY TOTAL OF FOOD: $405.68

I also assumed that the family would probably go to a decent out to eat dinner at least once every two weeks. Assuming that every dish costs around $10, this jacks the monthly total up $80.

REVISED MONTHLY TOTAL OF FOOD: $485.68

This total is over $100 less than the $643 predicted by the epi.org calculator.

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To determine housing, I looked for 2 bedroom apartments in North Charleston on craigslist.com. I found three decent-sounding apartments for about $450-$500 a month. This is much less than the $823 a month predicted by the basic family budget calculator on epi.org. This is probably because the hypothetical housing in that calculator is located in downtown Charleston.

http://charleston.craigslist.org/apa/1664309606.html

http://charleston.craigslist.org/apa/1625812723.html

http://charleston.craigslist.org/apa/1645267366.html

MONTHLY TOTAL FOR HOUSING: $500

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For transportation, I assumed that my family would have recently bought a car for transporting the children to school. Using this website:

http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/kiplinger/auto05/tool.fcs

I decided that my family would probably have something like a $20,000 car. If their down payment was $2,000, and their interest rate for a loan was 5%, they would be paying about $415 a month on the car. Although my family would park the car for free at their home most nights, they would probably have to occasionally park around Charleston. Since parking at most garages is in the teens for just a few hours, I estimated that my family would spend $100 a month on parking around Charleston.

MONTHLY TOTAL FOR CAR: $515

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Since there is only one car and, since my family will be living in North Charleston, I decided one parent could use public transportation to get to work. Carta fare is $1.50 per ride, so the parent would use $3.00 a day, adding up to $93 a month, assuming they only go to and from one place each day that month on the bus and walk everywhere else.

MONTLY TOTAL FOR BUS: $93

MONTHLY TOTAL FOR TRANSPORTATION: $608

The epi.org calculator estimated $482 a month, but my family total is more than $100 over that.

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For childcare, I called the Sunshine House in North Charleston to get their rates. (http://www.sunshinehouse.com/enrollment.php) For one child in the after school program, it is $65 a week, and with two children, you get a 10% discount on the second child, so it is $58.50 for the second child. Altogether, this comes to $494 a month. This is almost half of the $859 estimated by the calculator. This discrepancy could be because the children in my family are young, but old enough to be in school for most of the day, so they do not need to be at a daycare for the entire day.

MONTHLY TOTAL FOR CHILDCARE: $494

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The Basic Family Budget Calculator says that health care for a family of four in Charleston would be $414, and this seems to be a pretty universal figure for South Carolina, so I am just using it for my family.

MONTHLY TOTAL FOR HEALTH CARE: $414

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The Calculator says other monthly expenses would be something like $352. I have no way to estimate that, so I will just use the epi.org number.

MONTHY TOTAL FOR OTHER NECESSITIES: $352

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Epi.org says that monthly taxes for a family of four in Charleston would be somewhere around $297, and I will just use this figure because I have no way to determine a new one.

MONTHLY TOTAL FOR TAXES: $297

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Here are my totals for the month:

FOOD: ............................................$485.68

HOUSING: ......................................$500

TRANSPORTATION: ......................$608

CHILDCARE: ..................................$494

HEALTH CARE: ..............................$414

OTHER NECESSITIES: .................$352

TAXES: ...........................................$297

MONTHLY TOTAL: .........................$3150.68

And finally, my annual total:

ANNUAL TOTAL: ............................$37808.16

Interestingly, my annual total is nearly $10,000 lower than the epi.org calculator predicted. Of course, several of my numbers (especially housing) are based on the luck of finding good deals. The biggest discrepancies in my numbers and their numbers are in housing and childcare. This can be accredited to the fact that we’re in a recession now and housing value is way down. At the time the EPI numbers were calculated, this was not the case. Also, the calculator could potentially be talking about housing in downtown Charleston, whereas I am calculating numbers for North Charleston. For childcare, my family’s children will only be spending a few hours at the daycare a day rather than most of the day, so that is where that difference comes from, probably.

Hispanics and Their Rise Through the Social Ranks

I found the projections that Hispanics will become more widely accepted as whites, and only a little below “real whites” in the social hierarchy a little surprising. At this point in the country, I would say Hispanics are as mistrusted and disliked by racists as black people are. They also carry some heavy stereotypes. By the general white population, Hispanics are considered to be stupid (often because they do not speak English), most are automatically assumed to be undocumented workers, they are seen as a very homogenous group (even Hispanics from different countries), and they are thought to perpetrate more crimes and join more gangs than other races. They are also discriminated against in that they are overlooked in the mass media, paid very low wages, and hate crimes are often performed against them. They are also hated for “stealing American jobs.”

Perhaps the only reason that Hispanics are projected to have overcome this racism is because they are also projected to significantly rival Caucasians as the majority race in America by 2100. As Malcolm Gladwell explained in his final anecdote in Outliers, in areas where an oppressed group of people becomes the majority, they tend to be less discriminated against. Gladwell tells of how blacks greatly outnumbered whites in Jamaica, and how blacks there could expect greater rights than those in areas where whites outnumbered blacks. Perhaps this is a natural human way of avoiding revolt by an oppressed majority, but whatever the reason, it seems to be a pattern. With Hispanics on the rise, the only way for whites to retain control of the country is to allow them to move up on the social ladder.

Another factor is that blacks have been discriminated against for much longer than Hispanics. Blacks were originally brought to this country hundreds of years ago with the intention of making them property. Although this is no longer the case, blacks are still seen as lower-class citizens--not legally or officially, just as a social construct. Major Hispanic immigration is a relatively new phenomenon in America, and so Hispanics have no danger of being enslaved. They have less history of oppression in America, and this will continue to hurt African Americans and benefit Hispanic Americans.

Although these things could all be factors as to why Hispanics will climb the social ladder and be more widely considered white, the most important factor is the actual color of their skin. Hispanics are much lighter than African-Americans but slightly darker than whites. Their coloring directly correlates with their projected status in America. Whatever the reason, Americans still cannot disconnect skin color from personality or ability to succeed. Because African Americans are the darkest skinned, they will always occupy the bottom of the partially hidden social hierarchy lines that are nevertheless obvious in today’s America. Hispanics, with their lighter skin, will be able to rise through the ranks to the “almost white” order.

The Female Gender Roles I Was Exposed To

Parents, school life, and mass media all have big impacts on gender socialization in children. But more and more parents are leaving the traditional mold of pink clothing for girls and blue for boys, there is an influx of gender neutrals, and we are seeing more casual views on gender and gender deviance. With a slightly softened view on gender coming from parents and teachers and more and more focus on technology and entertainment, I believe mass media is now the most powerful gender socialization tool in small children.

Children spend a large amount of time in front of the television set. I want to explore the television shows and movies I watched as a child and discuss the gender messages I received from them.

Up first is Power Rangers. There’s the boy rangers who wear green, red, and blue. Then there are the girls who wear pink and yellow. There were also rangers who wore black, white, and orange (also boys). It’s interesting how outnumbered the girl rangers are. It’s also interesting that they wear traditionally “girl colors.” When I was looking up google images of the Power Rangers, trying to reacquaint myself the show, I found this image:


Notice how the two girls are positioned differently than the rest of the rangers. Although they are all dressed the same, this immediately sets them apart from the males. Their poses also seem to draw attention to their feminine figures. Historically, the two female characters were seen as less tough than the boys. I remember boys scorning them for being wimps.

I will admit that I was a Star Wars junkie as a child. My father had me watch all three of the original films before preschool, and I ate them up. Gender roles are very distinct in Star Wars. The main male characters are Jedi--the physical and mental elite of their world. Women play a minor role. There’s Aunt Beru who gets murdered before she’s had five lines. There are scantily clad random female dancers just there for decoration. The exception is Princess Leia. She is actually a strong female character with a brain and attitude. But does she get to be a Jedi? Nope. Despite the fact that her father is one of the strongest Jedi in the universe or that her brother is the Chosen One of the Jedi, no one mentions giving her any training. Sure, she gets a blaster, but she doesn’t use it very much, because she’s always busy waiting around to be rescued by the males.

When I was eight, the new Star Wars movies started being released. It seems like the sixteen year gap between the two trilogies would bring about some kind of new representation of females, but no such luck. Enter Padme, the wife of the future Darth Vader, mother of Leia. She seems to be pretty strong willed. She doesn’t get a lightsaber, of course, but she’s pretty handy with a gun. Sure, she needed to be saved by the guys a few times, but she also did some things without their assistance. And then, she dies. Why? Because her husband went evil and “she just didn’t have the will to live anymore.” What? Since when was she completely dependent on him? I will mention that there was one female Jedi in the new trilogy. She had something like a thirty second screen time, she was an alien, and she spent that thirty seconds dying.

On a slightly unrelated note, when I was little, I would play Star Wars with the boys who went to my daycare. I always wanted to have a lightsaber, but they never let me. I always had to be Leia, and she couldn’t have a lightsaber because she was just a girl. Thanks, George Lucas.

I also spent an enormous amount of my childhood watching classic Disney movies. Could there really be a more negative gender image for children to be consuming? Without fail, there’s the girl (probably a princess) who has this really terrible life. You know, she has to clean for her evil stepmother/stepsisters, she feels trapped in the palace life with her pet tiger and wants to explore the city, she has to swim around all the time and she’s sick of it, she’s too beautiful and it’s pissing off the queen, or maybe she’s just been asleep for a very long time. And then you have the man. He swoops in and does romantic things. The two dance all night and then he puts a shoe on her foot, he takes her for a ride on his magic carpet, he loves her even though she’s mute, he rides in on his white horse and informs her that he loves her even though he’s never seen her before, or he uses his lips to end her slumber. There’s always the idea that the women are completely helpless and need saving.

Cinderella needed someone to tell off her step-family for her and buy her things.

Jasmine needed someone to save her from being Jafar’s slave girl.

Ariel needs someone to save her from the giant octopus woman who wants her father’s power and her voice.



Snow White needs someone to save her from the evil queen with self-esteem issues and poisonous fruit.

Aurora just really wants to wake up and for the dragon to be gone.


Not once does one of these women take things into their own hands and save themselves. That would be silly. Instead they cower behind the first one-dimensional man that comes along. And when the battle scene is over, and their man has triumphed, they get married immediately. Girls are seeing the overwhelming message that it is their job to be helpless, soft, and sensitive. Boys are realizing that it’s their job to be strong, aggressive, and tough.

So why are these messages generated? People feel uncomfortable when gender norms are broken. Making very young girls and boys see very specific views of the way they are supposed to behave is a way of assuring that gender norms are followed, making everyone happier and more comfortable. It’s a simple fact that humans like people to fit the pre-determined molds in their heads. In general, we are not comfortable with people who challenge what is considered normative.

The Resocialization of My Baby Brother

Resocialization: the process of learning new attitudes and norms required for a new social role. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/resocialization)

Upon going home for Spring Break, I discovered that something which had been in the works since the day I left had finally been finished. My brother had been resocialized.

My family structure is interesting because my father was born and bred in the South, as were countless generations before him, and he is very proud of this fact. His main interests are history, hunting, and Civil War reenacting. In short, he is a good ol’ Southern boy. My mom, however, was born and raised in Upstate New York. She is concerned with culture, classiness, and above all, the avoidance of anything that might compromise her as a redneck.

Growing up with parents on opposite sides of the spectrum was challenging. Every choice I made felt like taking sides with one parent or the other. I want to get into drama club rather than reenacting? One point for Mom. I want to read Jane Austen rather than practice my shooting? Two points for Mom. I want to wear anything but that camouflage jacket? Three points for Mom. This was my childhood. I even avoided the Southern accent in the process and ended up with my mom’s yankee accent. Having both the North and South so strongly represented in my home, it was like I got to make a choice which I wanted to exemplify. And I overwhelmingly chose North. That isn’t to say I’m not a Southern girl, because I do have some stereotypical Southern traits, but all in all, I’m more of a yankee than most South Carolinians I know.

My brother, Gareth, is five years younger than me, and since my father had lost me to my mother’s yankee ways, he was convinced to claim my brother for the South. He probably would have succeeded right from the start, but I slowed down his plan somewhat. My brother and I have always been very close, and I influenced him with show tunes and liberal ways of thinking. I frowned at the wearing of the Confederate flag. He came to me for fashion choices, and I taught him in the ways of clothing that do not include camouflage or “redneck boots.” He was doing as well as could be hoped with my father influencing him on the other side. I remember in particular, right before I left for college, my brother said to me, “You know, it’s not fair that gay people don’t have rights. We can’t tell them what they can and can’t do.” Had my father heard that, he would have blown his top, and I probably would have been grounded for a week for putting such ideas into his head.

My father was losing, that much was obvious. Gareth was much more of a Southern child than I ever was, but he had a healthy balance of yankee to even him out. And then I left.

At first, my brother complained about my father’s redneck ways whenever we spoke on the phone. I was mollified and convinced that he would keep to my teachings. However, by Christmas, my brother was spending a huge amount of his time outside shooting birds, squirrels, and anything that he could justify as a “pest.” I started to worry. But I had been quite the marksman in my day, so I told myself it was just a phase, and that his culture training and Phantom of the Opera would win out. But I knew I was losing ground when he got a banjo and began attending a local “picking parlor” with my father. I don’t care to know what goes on there, but I think bluegrass music is the main course.

When I returned home this past week, my brother lost no time in showing off his new camouflage coat and redneck boots, accompanied with something more of a Southern drawl than he had had when I had last seen him. Out of nowhere, it seemed, he had a pocketknife collection and was moving up in the ranks of his reenactment regiment. I despaired and asked where his other clothing had gone, and he told me it wasn’t “cool anymore.” He made a comment about “stupid yankee fashions” and referred to himself as “a Southern redneck boy.” But perhaps the most heartbreaking was when he made several derogatory remarks about homosexuals.

My father was smug, and for good reason. Somehow, in seven short months, he turned my brother into a smaller version of himself, erasing everything my brother had gotten from me and my mom. Gareth had been resocialized, and I hardly recognized the boy standing in front of me.

I understand that my absence changed the situation drastically. Without me there to keep him in check, my father had had absolute run of my brother’s upbringing. My mother would become offended when they made comments about northerners, but that just amused them and turned yankee-bashing into an acceptable family game. My mother had very strongly influenced me when I was a child, but I honestly think she gave up trying to do that with my brother when it became clear that he was not a reader. So when he was about 8, she stopped trying to socialize him in her ways, and I was the only thing separating him from the redneck life.

But what exactly caused Gareth to give up the things that he believed when I was around? I believe that wanting to connect with his dad was a huge factor in his turnaround. My dad works a lot, and the only way to spend one-on-one time with him is to do the things he spends his time off doing. Namely: reenacting, gun and knife shows, and hunting. In order to spend time with his father, my brother was immersed in a sort of total institution Southern boot camp. While spending time with our father, Gareth was exposed to his conservative republican beliefs and his other Southern tendencies. When Gareth regurgitated these things back up, he saw how happy this made my father. I guarantee that my father was much happier to buy my brother that camouflage jacket than the polo shirts he was wearing before. I imagine that emoting my father’s ideals quickly turned into an approval and reward situation. In order to please my father, Gareth took on his new role. Sure, he knew it would not please his sister, but with her 3 and a half hours away, she was quickly forgotten and was no longer an obstacle.

Social Deviance

When one hears the term ‘social deviance’ one immediately thinks of hooligans with cans of spray paint, bent on harming society. Well, I do, anyway. The word deviant has bad connotations in our society, but it actually only means something that differs from the norm. When you really put your mind to it, social deviance does not have to be inherently bad. In fact, every new idea--whether good or bad--starts out as deviant.

Take for example, the abolition of slavery. To begin with, abolitionists were seen as deviants, but today we consider them heroes and slavery is now deviant in our society. What about women’s suffrage? It’s bizarre to think that only ninety years ago, women were second-class citizens. Those who believed women deserved more rights were scorned for going against social norms. An idea is only deviant until it is accepted by society.

There have been plenty of social deviants who changed our world for the better. Martin Luther King stepped out against social norms and helped African Americans obtain civil rights. Our founding fathers went against social norms of government and gave us democracy.

On the other hand, there have been social deviants who wreaked havoc upon society. Adolf Hitler believed that Jews, African Americans, and homosexuals were genetically inferior to “Aryans.” Had this become accepted belief, Hitler would hold a position of honor in our society, and his hate campaign would be a social norm. Although Hitler’s ideas were not accepted by society, this does not make him any less of a social deviant than Martin Luther King.

It seems strange to compare the two, but both proposed change and both had ideas that went against the social norms of their day. It is only after society has accepted or rejected their ideas that these people are termed heroes or villains.

Same sex marriage is an example of an idea that is undergoing the change from socially deviant to socially accepted right now. A couple of decades ago, homosexuals were practically put in the same category as criminals. They were considered sexually deviant and looked down on. Homosexuals are still sexually deviant, because the majority of the population is heterosexual, but they are also becoming more socially accepted.

In conclusion, the term ‘social deviance’ means little more than something that goes against a norm. It can refer to an idea or person that is bettering society or one that is harming society. The fine line between these two types of social deviance is determined by society as a whole.

Links of interest:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/deviant

http://libertarianism.tripod.com/derek06.html

The Sociology of Lost

Six Degrees of Lois Weisburg focuses on the idea of networking and people who are “connectors.” Well, the final season of the television show Lost started only a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as I read about connectors, I could only think of Lost. First, let me give you a little background. If you watch or know anyone who watches Lost, you understand how it sucks people in. It’s an all-consuming show; missing one episode is enough to put a fan into a panic, because missing one show means not understanding the rest of the series. I jokingly tell people that watching Lost is as big a commitment as getting married.

So what does this television show have to do with sociology? Well, apart from the general case study style of the show (How do people change after crashing on a very strange “deserted” island?), the creators of Lost are hugely into the idea of six degrees of separation. Damon Lindelof, the executive producer of the show said in an interview, “I minored in sociology in college and a couple of the other writers have a background in sociology.” I believe that the sociology that can be found in Lost is very intentional.

Each character is connected in their pasts, presents, and even futures. You can take any character--however minor--and connect them to any other character. It goes something like this: You take a random character, let’s say Hugo Reyes, one of the survivors of the Oceanic 815 crash. Before crashing on the Island, Hugo’s father took him to a psychic. This psychic had only a few lines, and this was back in Season 3.In this week’s episode, the psychic reappeared, this time not in a flashback, but in a “sideways flash” to an alternate universe--what could have happened if the characters had never ended up on the Island. (Confused yet?) This time she was a job interviewer, talking to another major character, John Locke. John Locke was only at this job interview because he had run into Hugo Reyes in a parking lot and Hugo had set him up with the interview. This is just one example of how each character is connected to every other character in a huge circle.

So why do the writers do this? Is it just to drive us crazy with the recurring characters? Is it because they can’t afford new actors? No. They are making a statement about the six degrees of separation theory. The ridiculous number of character connections (most of them unknown to the characters) show how social interactions, even those we don’t notice, shape our lives. Now that we’ve entered the sixth season, a part of each episode is devoted to showing how each character’s life would be different if they had never ended up on the Island. It is interesting to see how different things turn out when the social environment is changed.

For example, one of the main characters, Kate Austen, would have had a very different outcome without the Island in her life. Kate boards the plane in the beginning of the series accompanied by a police officer and wearing handcuffs because she murdered her stepfather. On the Island, Kate is able to escape her bloody past and quickly becomes one of the most popular people on the Island. She uses her natural talents to help the other survivors and strives to keep the others from finding out about her crime. Later, when she is rescued from the Island, she gets out of her prison sentence because of her good deeds on the Island. She is able to live a productive life and even raises a son. But when the setting is changed, and we see what would have happened if Kate’s plane had never crashed, her future is bleak. Upon reaching the intended airport, Kate attacks her police escort and runs away, back to her old way of life. Without the Island, she loses her chance to atone for her crimes and become a productive member of society.

While Lost takes the six degrees of separation theory to a rather extreme level, that does not mean that it does not exist in real life. Who can say how different our lives would be without the coincidental but meaningful encounters with the people in our own lives?

For more information on character connections in Lost, check out this link:

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation