"He Stands Like A Statue, Becomes Part Of The Machine, Feeling All The Bumpers, Always Playing Clean."

Structural theories try to explain societies behaviour through two main structural theories. Functionalist theories such as Durkheim and Talcott Parsons and Conflict Theories such as Marx and Feminism.
Functionalist theories try to see society as an organic thing. We are all part of it and grow within it, which is down to social structures such as church, education and family. Individuals integrate, seek harmony, stability and continuity. As individuals, we need to feel as if we have a purpose and a function in society. After all, if you don't have a purpose then what is the point of living? You're just wasting time until you meet your end.
I believe that structures such as church and school only exist to help those in power, hold control over the people. I believe this as school forces us to live by the ringing of a bell and the command of someone in higher authority than us. Church and religion distracts us from problems in society and in our lives, and as humans we want to feel that we understand life and that there is someone in control who is watching over us. Is it not comforting to believe that we are all part of a greater plan and that we all have a purpose?
I think that it is pretty much widely accepted that there is inequality in society. I like to think of society as a pyramid, with the highly rich and priviledged at the top and the working class and oppressed at the bottom. As wrong as it seems that there is such inequality in society, I believe that it is something that is never going to change. After all, someone needs to do the manual labour in order for society to work. It is idealistic to think that everyone should be equal, that we should all earn the same amount of money and be treated the same. In theory it is a wonderful idea, but in practise it will just never work. The rich will always be at the top of the pyramid due to the priviledges that they were born with such as better education and family owned production, whereas the working class will always be oppressed and forced to do manual labour in order to provide for themselves and there families. The idea has been said that the people who do the manual labour should be paid as much as the higher classes, but the higher classes will never allow this to happen. If this were to happen, the working class would have a better standard of life and would eventually have the same priviledges as the higher class including the same level of education. The higher class are scared that the working class would realise that they are not needed and that they would be swept aside in favour of a new and fairer regime. Therefore, the higher class will continue to oppress in order to stay in charge. I see it as a vicious circle which is not going to change anytime soon.
To answer the question which I have been set, I believe that I am a structuralist. I believe that structures impact on how we live, who we are and what our ancestors will be for years to come until the working class come across something revolutionary which will change society forever.

"Are You Taking Over, Or Are You Taking Orders? Are You Going Backwards, Or Are You Going Forwards?"

I believe identity to be a massive thing in society today, and believe that it has been for years. Everyone is either trying to fit in, or trying to break the mould, and despite the fact that as a society, we are apparantly trying to make more of a collective effort to oust prejudice against physical appearance and personal beliefs, it seems that we are fighting a losing battle.
For years black people faced oppression and were forced to work as slaves, due only to there skin colour and the white mans feeling of superiority. The Jews were exiled from Britain due to there ways of life and there methods of money lending, which are now used by banks worldwide. I think it would be safe to assume that as a whole, people are scared of the unknown and do not like to change there ways. They crave normality and want to fit in.
We see this in school on a much smaller basis. You have your cliques who choose to accessorise there school uniform in different ways, wear different footwear and listen to different music. This is a way of standing out from the crowd, and distancing yourself from others whom you feel you are different from mentally, and so you choose to show this physically.
I, myself am a white British male and I am proud to be so. Physically, this is already a massive difference from people who may be foreign, of a different sex and have a different complexion from me. Should this mean however that we should not associate? We should not befriend one another? Of course not. My coommon sense tells me that we are all human and that we should focus on the mental aspects of our fellow man. This however, is just my opinion and it does not necessarily make it correct. Subconsciously however, although I am not a racist and feel no bad feelings towards people of different physical appearances from me, I would still care more about problems concerning white people than black people. I think this is more to do with it being my own identity however, than a dislike of others.
Personally, I don't feel like I fit into a clique. I don't like to be narrow minded and stick to one genre of music, and I don't wear the same clothes as others to fit in. If I like a piece of music, I'll listen to it, and if I'm being completely honest, my Mum has more fashion sense than me! This independance from cliques though could arguably make me just like one of the many others trying to break the mould and be an individual.