Ascribed Status Fading Away

In class we talked about the many groups you can be apart of. Once you put yourself in that group, you define your status. We said that an ascribed status is something involuntary- you are born with it. This really got me thinking because even if you are born as or with something, you can always change it nowadays. You can convert to another religion, dye your hair, wear color contacts, reconstruct your face, change genders, and you can even runaway or emancipate from your family. So, why do sociologists even include ascribed statuses? Although you were born with this status, it has no importance to you anymore. I feel that statuses (especially a master status) should be important to you and you should want to have that status. Today, we are able to change any part of our lives because we are free to make our own decisions. Because we have free will, we create our own statuses. We make decisions that shape the way we live our lives. Thus, I believe that we place ourselves in groups voluntarily. We are never forced to stay in one group- there is always a way out. Centuries ago, people didn't have a way out of their group. In many third world countries people are stuck with their ascribed status. With modern medicine and technology, we Americans living in 2009 can always change our statuses. Whether you can change your status or not all depends on your culture, where you live, and what time you live in.