Introduction
Sociological imagination can be defined as the level of awareness that exists as a result of the relationship between personal experience and society in general. It focuses on the thoughts and beliefs that individuals have. The thoughts and beliefs of an individual have an overall effect on the status of society.
Scholars have argued that every individual has, at one point in life, thought or have an idea that that troubled him/her. Such troubles are normally reflected in society at a relatively larger scale than a single individual would have thought. This is due to the commonality of problems that we may have as members of a given society. This paper shall therefore focus on the private trouble that I experienced and its relationship with society.
Trouble and Its Effects
The neighborhood that I grew in had a lot of children who were of my age. We, therefore, developed together and interacted a lot with each other. When we joined kindergarten, most of us went to the same school, although, some joined different classes. During this time, we used to interact with each other, without any boundaries. However, as we became older, I started to notice that I was not quite comfortable with most of my friends.
This became even worse when I reached puberty. I found it difficult to socialize and interact with my peers. The situation was even worse when individuals of the opposite sex were involved. I was nervous while sitting next to or talking to people who were members of the opposite sex. This made my social life as a teenager to be so stressful and boring. Within a few years, most of my friends were dating. I could see that they were enjoying themselves unlike me.
All through this time, my friends were making fun of me, calling me all sorts of weird names. I was okay with that since I believed that I would get through this situation. However, there was one comment that had a tremendous impact on my thoughts and emotions; a friend of mine called me a homosexual. I did not know how to respond to this. I did not know whether the signs I was exhibiting were that of a homosexual or it was just a stage in my development.
This made my socialization and interaction to become even worse. I developed low self-esteem. As a result, I spent much of my time indoors. It was not until when I joined college that I realized that I was only shy. I discovered that I was straight and people liked me a lot. My self-esteem was rejuvenated and the thoughts of me being a homosexual slowly faded away.
Homosexuality is a common phenomenon in modern society. However, it is difficult for an individual to know whether he/she is a homosexual or not. An individual can falsely think he/she is gay or lesbian due to some characters that he/she has. The thought can become even worse if his/her peers are making fun of him/her.
Conclusion
Several other factors in society can affect the thoughts of an individual. This mainly includes movies and fashion. The theme of homosexuality is common in most movies and TV programs that are being aired all around the world. Also, some dress codes may make other individuals in society think otherwise about your sexuality. For example, men have started to wear tight clothing that has bright colors. This is contrary to what is expected of them. All these factors show that homosexuality is gradually being accepted into society. However, individuals should be careful before deciding as to their sexuality.