Culture changes across time and place, thus redefining its values, norms, laws, and dress, among other things, and giving new meaning to society. One's life chances and choices, however, are shaped not just by the cultural practices of but by his/her position within the society in which he/she lives. For this paper, I analyzed the influence of my grandmother's class, race, gender, and institutions made available to her in creating her location within society, and therefore her life decisions.
The religious institution introduced to my grandmother, Alice, since her birth in 1927 had a tremendous influence on her. She attended a Baptist Church with her mother that had been started by missionaries from Sweden. It was attended mainly by immigrants and first generation Americans of Swedish descent, my grandmother being a first generation Swedish-American. This social fact of her life, as well as the others I will point, reflect C. Wright Mills" perspective of the "sociological imagination", which he defined as the ability to see the societal patterns that influence an individual as well as a group of individuals. To do so, he said, one must have knowledge of the social and historical context in which people lived (Andersen and Taylor, 5). Alice attended this church because her mother believed the teachings of it and wanted her child to be introduced to them as well. Her mother attended this particular church because she had immigrated to Sweden to the U.S. and wanted to worship amongst those who shared this with her. Thus, my grandmother's ethnicity and religion were large influences on her moral values which she still carries with her. These values, Alice explained, were typical of the Swedish and also were expected of her church's followers. As I have noticed in my Grandma, as well as her pointing this out in the interview, honesty to and respect for everyone were things that were and are not questioned--they"re just done.