Consequences of Upward Mobility

Upward mobility refers to a transition of an individual from a lower to a higher social or economical class position. At birth, individuals are brought into an already existing society with people organized into social classes and within families. As people grow into adults, they identify themselves with these families and societies, adopting their cultures, values, ethics, and norms. Thus, others may recognize an individual as coming from certain geographical locations by their behavior or mannerisms. Societies shape the way people behaves, how they view themselves and others, how they perceive their surrounding and how well they cope with misfortunes. Surowiecki agrees that whenever the community mourns, they come together to seek solutions (443). However, within families, societies and communities, there are differentiations, and so, a member of a family or a community may feel different from others for many reasons including financial status, gender, socialization, and upbringing (Serano 395).

Portrays an example of these differences in the coming out story of a transsexual woman. Serano explains that contempt and fear has shape the society’s attitudes towards sexuality, gender and women as whole. With these, there is a link between Surowiecki and Serano’s perception on culture and society. The whole society, through the media reacted towards Serano’s coming out, maybe as an attempt to understand or find a solution to the queer knowledge. Serano gives an account of her experiences through a culture that stereotypes transsexuals. Nathan also offers insight into diversity and community (234). She says that people always want to meet people from dissimilar backgrounds but when they do, they get uncomfortable and in turn, prefer people who are like them. This is also portrayed in Serano’s story. As much as people want to meet people who are physically like her, they ridicule and discriminate her with this information. These differences force people to go against the expectations of the society, thus attracting varied responses from the society. The cultures that an individual adopts have the ability of molding the person’s thoughts, hence, influencing their decision-making. Understanding an individual’s behavior or tendency of making decisions requires a background understanding of the person’s psychological and physiological processes, their social systems, and the role of nature and nurture in their behavioral pattern. Societies have a great influence on the decisions people make because of the expectations it places on its members. People are therefore inspired to make decisions that agree with the expectations of the society and more so, our decisions are socially shaped. Serano decided to keep her sexuality a secret before the coming out because she was trying to be like everyone else in the society. To maintain normality,