Self-made or Society-made?

My blogs have been blessed by a Brobdingnagian proportion of brevity lately, due in large part to my present preoccupation with re-engaging with my latent academic capabilities.  That is, I'm learning to think and act like a student again.  Did you know that the average secondary school student learns 5000 new words every year?  I learned that today... and need to hit the books again in a moment, but in the meantime, wanted to drop some thoughts.

Perhaps my most interesting class is the Sociology of Marriage and Family.  We have been tracing the history of marriage and family, both in the context of the Christian church as well as in the secular realm, and the fact of my bias has been clearly exposed over and over again as we discuss the meaning of our social constructions of "biblical marriage", what is meant when people talk about "traditional family values", and the ways that the Church, in past centuries, defined marital norms.  The reality, if I am to believe the words of my prof (and she backs it up very well!), is that we define marriage and family by a social construct (translate: an image/definition/reality created by the ideas of our society - the picture at left is an illustration of one social construct of marriage... a picture nearer to many people's reality is below - thanks to ppl with sweet pics for the images) that cannot be called Biblical.  Though this does not mean that our ideas about marriage and family are wrong, it does mean that we must reevaluate our views and choose how we will live.  Very provocative thought, yet one that has potential to be very freeing.  More on that later.  Sometime when I'm studying for the Soc. of Marriage & Family, I'll write more.  In the meantime... back to the books, starting with Adolescent development...

Did you know that the concept of adolescence is also a social construct?  Today, almost every culture in the world acknowledges some sort of period of transition from childhood into adulthood, recognizing the biological and psychological development that occurs during this time.  But it was first written about by Stanley Hall in 1904, and has since become part of the very fabric of how our society thinks and behaves.  Until that time, Western culture did not recognize a period of transition between childhood and adulthood... hmmm.

Makes you wonder how many of our personal beliefs and thoughts we can take credit for, and how many are profoundly shaped by the society in which we exist.  Are we self-made people?  I thought not - at least on a spiritual level.  Though I confess the arrogance of thinking that I have independent views of society, politics, economy, etc.  An arrogance that may not survive the semester.  Self-made?  Society-made?  I like neither option.  Anyone have a more hopeful option?

Thoughts?  Objections?  Those are a lot of big words.  Sorry.  I'm just practising on you.