Discussion 7
Select a friend group to which you belong and, in anthropological terms, examine said friend group. What are the social characteristics at play? What is required for membership? What activities do you and your friend group engage in?
Your initial post must be 400 words. Next, respond to two of your peers (200 words minimum).
Peer response #1
Reply from Kylee
My social group is my primary friend group. It consists of 3 of us including myself, one male and one other female. We typically see each other in person once or twice a month. I met my social group through work, about 5 years ago now. We all worked for the same company, and we all went out for drinks one night and it started our “tradition”. We all come from different backgrounds, beliefs and religions. We all range in different ages as well, one is two years younger than me, and the other is 3 years older than I am. My friend Kayla for example has different religious beliefs than I do, which is completely fine as we exercise the right to believe in what we choose to believe. Nathan and I agree on most things, other than riding a motorcycle in sandals is not a good idea. When we do all get together it is to “carry on the tradition” and we talk about our lives and give different perspectives of things from our own point of views. We all have different qualities that make us all our own individuals. I may not have the biggest friend group, but I know I am cared for and protected by these people I hold so dear. Quality over quantity as they say.
I would say I also have a secondary group of friends, and I would only categorize them as secondary due to them being in different states. Our main source of interaction would be over social media, mainly snapchat and Facebook. We do speak everyday like we once did when we were not states apart. Like my primary group we have our differences, but that doesn’t hinder our friendship. One friend lives in Ohio, and the other lives in North Dakota. I feel as though I am a part of their lives, and they are part of mine as well. We keep each other updated on daily events and experiences. I hold these people just as dear as the people that live 5 minutes away. I do make it a point to see the friends that live distantly at least once a year. It gives me the experience to travel and to visit with people I care about.
I do believe we grow out of friendships as we grow older, I am not friends with anyone I went to high school with, because as we grow certain things change. May it be different beliefs that you cannot agree with, life choices, or just the fact that life gets busy and sometimes we simply don’t have time to be in the lifes of others the way we intended.
Peer Response #2
Reply from Kayla
When it comes to my friends, I wouldn’t say I have the biggest friend group, but I do have the most loving and supporting group of individuals in my life. Each one of my friends have different qualities, and each of them are what keeps our group together. In high school I thought I had a lot of friends, but I soon realized after I left high school that they weren’t my real friends. For me personally I think there are a lot of factors that apply to make you a good friend, some of which include being honest, reliable, trustworthy, kind, etc. And a lot of the people I surrounded myself with in high school didn’t have half of those qualities.
My primary group of friends consists of a solid 8 people. There are 3 of us girls and 5 guys. I am lucky enough to say that I am still currently friends with most of the individuals I left high school with. I definitely let some friendships go when I graduated but I stuck by the ones that meant the most. My friends and I see each other at least once a week if not more. Normally we all get together on the weekends and either make dinner at ones house or we go out to eat and catch up. One of our favorite activities to do together is have “family game nights”, I’ve got a pretty competitive group of friends so its always a goodtime when we throw a little competition into the mix. We grew up together, we all went to the same elementary and high school, along with playing about every sport together. I would definitely say our friend group has grown and strengthened in the last few years. I would consider every individual in our little circle to be family. We have all been through thick and thin together. All of the obstacles we’ve had to face, we’ve done it together and it made our friendship stronger.
Another primary friend group I am apart of consists of my siblings. I have two older sisters and three younger brothers. None of them are my biological siblings, they are my step and half siblings. But neither of those labels matter. We’ve been “family” since I was about the age of 6, I am currently 21. I will admit, not everything about our relationship has been perfect but what friend group doesn’t fight. It happens and its normal. And at the end of the day no little argument is going to stop us from loving one another. My sisters are individuals that I look up to and trust with my whole being. They both have different qualities about them that make them so special. And then there’s my little brother, my brothers are probably one of the best things that have ever happened to me. They are the individuals that made me a big sister, they are funny, sweet, hardworking, and kind boys. They are what I look forward to when I’ve had a bad day, they are the ones that make me laugh when I need it, and overall, they are my biggest supporters.
