Essay:
Claire Larson
To Be, or Not To Be
From the moment we are all born, we are socialized in good and bad ways. Society has already defined us from the earlier years through the six social identity categories, causing us to have to conform to what society and the world has created for us. These identity categories include race, gender, age, sexual orientation, economic class, and ability/disability. Socialization is the act, and life-long process of inheriting culture, norms, and habits in our changing society that we are built in to. Norms are the ideas of what our society has expressed as “normal” thus, we find ourselves having to always feel like we need to act, do, say, and even think in this “normal” way, just to fit it. Considering this, society and the media have both socialized me in many negative ways including being obsessed with being “perfect” to fit into my gender, remain oblivious to racism, and to judge others based off of my self doubts.
Throughout my life, our society has defined me as woman, making me have to endure through the troubles of fitting in to this gender, by trying to be “perfect” just to be like everyone else. This includes fitting in “socially” and knowing everyone and everything. A good example of this is a scene in the movie “Mean Girls.” The movie shows 3 high school girls that are defined as perfect, and has every other student mesmerized by their oppressing ways. Soon, a new girl arrives to the school, and completely changes who she is to fit in with the three girls. After the new girl is one of the “perfect” girls, she wants to join a math club, but is soon looked down on as one of the girls states “You cannot join the math club, it’s social suicide!” This example shows how much of an influence other girls have on each other, and how much they are willing to change to comply with others around them. For me, this is a perfect illustration of how I feel on a day to day basis, trying to be who I am not, just to look normal and please others. I feel like this girl in the movie, as if I cannot do what I want to do without being afraid of how others would judge me. “Mean Girls” also shows that being “different” is not ok or accepted in our society and that you need to fit in to be considered “cool.” As a whole, this movie and many others can show what most considered normal in our society today and how others are socialized to conform. The movie is an overall excellent representation for me, and many other women’s day-to-day situation in our society.
Another way I have been negatively socialized is how I feel I must remain unaware about racism in America. The white race, which is Caucasian in society today, is the dominant race in United States. We are looked at as oppressing leaders, and often given invisible “privileges” that we don’t even realize we have. A perfect illustration for this is the quote from the article “Invisible Knapsack: White Privilege” by Peggy, explaining how we are meant to remain unaware of our white privileges, stating that she was “meant to remain oblivious.” I find this quote perfectly empathetic to how I feel about these invisible privileges, that also we as a white group rarely acknowledge, and usually take for granted. Being a part of the white authenticity, I too have to be completely blind to these privileges, just to fit it. Often times I also find that I, as well as the white race, do not realize the privileges are even there, making us even more unconscious of them until we actually think and analyze these privileges. We also often deny the fact that racism is still out there, and whenever it does show up, we avoid the situation and almost act as it never happened. One of the saddest parts about this oblivion is also the denial that comes with it. We constantly find ourselves denying over and over again these white privileges, as well as racism. Even at my age, I find myself denying these privileges, and denying racism in America today. As a final point, these privileges, and the thought of racism, needs to be more thoroughly sought out, and put less into rejection or disapproval.
Throughout my whole life, I have also felt obligated to judge others based on their differences. This is caused by all of the insecurities that society and the media have made and have affected me. The article “The Cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Harro, exemplifies the idea of how the cycle starts even before we have inherited anything, declaring “Our socialization begins before we are born, with no choice on our part.” This quote is showing that we have no choice on who we are as a person, including our gender, race, and economic class, even though we are constantly judged on these. I also find myself being judgmental upon others based on their differences from me, and my own insecurities that have been built up. As we find that we are called out on how we do not fit in, these insecurities are piled up, causing anyone that has been called out on, to keep calling out on others. This constant cycle keeps rolling, with no one standing out or trying to stop it. In the end, I, and many others, are afraid of what would happen if we stopped this cycle, and realize that it is just easier to stay with what is familiar.
As a conclusion, we, a world as whole must ask ourselves, how can we individually break these harmful cycles of socialization? I have even asked myself, “How can I make a difference to stop this constant cycle?” As the article “The Cycle of Socialization” states that “it is frightening to try to interrupt something that is so large,” we must all work as a group, together, to make this cycle less frightening to disrupt. Then, we can first start accepting others for who they are, and not be judgmental on our differences, and even start to stop conforming to what others say is normal. If we stop conforming, we will then really stand out and stay true to who we really are, and finally accept each other. Together, we can start to create a new normal, and stop walking around trying to be who we are not. In addition, we can help others and point them towards the right way of supporting others for their differences, and not being hateful towards them. When we, as a whole society can step up to make a difference, support one another, bring new ideas in and test what is “normal,” we will start to create an exciting, cheerful, and adequate world for everyone.
To honor what society has created for girls and women like me, I dedicated half of my mask to illustrate what society presents as a “perfect” girl. I used words like “skinny, makeup, boys” and descriptive words to paint a picture of what the ideal girl is to look like. Exemplifying even more of what it is like to be the flawless woman, I used pictures of purses, makeup, even a volleyball to show what is expected to be this girl. The objects are representing every part of just that “perfect” person, even down to what they like to do. Tape over the whole mouth represents how most girls feel, shut out and unable to speak out to whom they truly are. One eye is covered by the words “be perfect,” explaining exactly what girls feel like they need to be everyday to fit in. Lastly, the half of the mask is painted pink because even from the moment girls are born, pink is the color that is supposed to stage for the female gender.
On my half of the mask, I used words and pictures to give a more pure example of who I am. Some words include tall, athletic, and friendly, which show a few key characteristics of me. I also included words and pictures of what I like to do, like a cooking pan to represent my love of cooking, a pair of running shoes to show my love for athletics, and a book to show that I enjoy reading. The word swimming is also highlighted because I am a part of a swim team, which is a huge part of who I am. A music key note is also on my mask, because I love music and all that it offers. Additionally, my mask is painted light purple, to represent my favorite color. My mouth is also covered by tape, as I too feel shut out and unable to speak out. As a whole, my mask was created in a way to show and compare the differences between what society wants a girl to be like, and who I truly am.
Challenge Ext.
What are the messages portrayed through the media? What impact does that have?
Another struggle that comes with fitting into my female gender is the attempt to be exactly what media portrays. The media, including television, the internet, magazines, and music all state this “perfect” or “ideal” woman in our heads, making other women feel like they need to comply to make others around them like them. An excerpt from the 2005 book Our Bodies, Ourselves from Boston Women's Health Book Collective adds the quote “As a teenager, I was obsessed with achieving the “white girl” look: slim hips, perky breasts, and a flat stomach.” Every day I feel as though I have to be exactly this, skinny, beautiful and perfect, to make myself happy and others happy. Our world around us is plastered with what is defined as “flawless,” and it is hard to not try to give in to trying to be this other woman. This obsession is hard to stop, but if we all can work together to realize that everyone is different and start to embrace our differences, we will then be able to ignore media, and be exactly who we are.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/media-as-influence-socialization/
http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/excerpt.asp?id=2
Claire Larson
To Be, or Not To Be
From the moment we are all born, we are socialized in good and bad ways. Society has already defined us from the earlier years through the six social identity categories, causing us to have to conform to what society and the world has created for us. These identity categories include race, gender, age, sexual orientation, economic class, and ability/disability. Socialization is the act, and life-long process of inheriting culture, norms, and habits in our changing society that we are built in to. Norms are the ideas of what our society has expressed as “normal” thus, we find ourselves having to always feel like we need to act, do, say, and even think in this “normal” way, just to fit it. Considering this, society and the media have both socialized me in many negative ways including being obsessed with being “perfect” to fit into my gender, remain oblivious to racism, and to judge others based off of my self doubts.
Throughout my life, our society has defined me as woman, making me have to endure through the troubles of fitting in to this gender, by trying to be “perfect” just to be like everyone else. This includes fitting in “socially” and knowing everyone and everything. A good example of this is a scene in the movie “Mean Girls.” The movie shows 3 high school girls that are defined as perfect, and has every other student mesmerized by their oppressing ways. Soon, a new girl arrives to the school, and completely changes who she is to fit in with the three girls. After the new girl is one of the “perfect” girls, she wants to join a math club, but is soon looked down on as one of the girls states “You cannot join the math club, it’s social suicide!” This example shows how much of an influence other girls have on each other, and how much they are willing to change to comply with others around them. For me, this is a perfect illustration of how I feel on a day to day basis, trying to be who I am not, just to look normal and please others. I feel like this girl in the movie, as if I cannot do what I want to do without being afraid of how others would judge me. “Mean Girls” also shows that being “different” is not ok or accepted in our society and that you need to fit in to be considered “cool.” As a whole, this movie and many others can show what most considered normal in our society today and how others are socialized to conform. The movie is an overall excellent representation for me, and many other women’s day-to-day situation in our society.
Another way I have been negatively socialized is how I feel I must remain unaware about racism in America. The white race, which is Caucasian in society today, is the dominant race in United States. We are looked at as oppressing leaders, and often given invisible “privileges” that we don’t even realize we have. A perfect illustration for this is the quote from the article “Invisible Knapsack: White Privilege” by Peggy, explaining how we are meant to remain unaware of our white privileges, stating that she was “meant to remain oblivious.” I find this quote perfectly empathetic to how I feel about these invisible privileges, that also we as a white group rarely acknowledge, and usually take for granted. Being a part of the white authenticity, I too have to be completely blind to these privileges, just to fit it. Often times I also find that I, as well as the white race, do not realize the privileges are even there, making us even more unconscious of them until we actually think and analyze these privileges. We also often deny the fact that racism is still out there, and whenever it does show up, we avoid the situation and almost act as it never happened. One of the saddest parts about this oblivion is also the denial that comes with it. We constantly find ourselves denying over and over again these white privileges, as well as racism. Even at my age, I find myself denying these privileges, and denying racism in America today. As a final point, these privileges, and the thought of racism, needs to be more thoroughly sought out, and put less into rejection or disapproval.
Throughout my whole life, I have also felt obligated to judge others based on their differences. This is caused by all of the insecurities that society and the media have made and have affected me. The article “The Cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Harro, exemplifies the idea of how the cycle starts even before we have inherited anything, declaring “Our socialization begins before we are born, with no choice on our part.” This quote is showing that we have no choice on who we are as a person, including our gender, race, and economic class, even though we are constantly judged on these. I also find myself being judgmental upon others based on their differences from me, and my own insecurities that have been built up. As we find that we are called out on how we do not fit in, these insecurities are piled up, causing anyone that has been called out on, to keep calling out on others. This constant cycle keeps rolling, with no one standing out or trying to stop it. In the end, I, and many others, are afraid of what would happen if we stopped this cycle, and realize that it is just easier to stay with what is familiar.
As a conclusion, we, a world as whole must ask ourselves, how can we individually break these harmful cycles of socialization? I have even asked myself, “How can I make a difference to stop this constant cycle?” As the article “The Cycle of Socialization” states that “it is frightening to try to interrupt something that is so large,” we must all work as a group, together, to make this cycle less frightening to disrupt. Then, we can first start accepting others for who they are, and not be judgmental on our differences, and even start to stop conforming to what others say is normal. If we stop conforming, we will then really stand out and stay true to who we really are, and finally accept each other. Together, we can start to create a new normal, and stop walking around trying to be who we are not. In addition, we can help others and point them towards the right way of supporting others for their differences, and not being hateful towards them. When we, as a whole society can step up to make a difference, support one another, bring new ideas in and test what is “normal,” we will start to create an exciting, cheerful, and adequate world for everyone.
To honor what society has created for girls and women like me, I dedicated half of my mask to illustrate what society presents as a “perfect” girl. I used words like “skinny, makeup, boys” and descriptive words to paint a picture of what the ideal girl is to look like. Exemplifying even more of what it is like to be the flawless woman, I used pictures of purses, makeup, even a volleyball to show what is expected to be this girl. The objects are representing every part of just that “perfect” person, even down to what they like to do. Tape over the whole mouth represents how most girls feel, shut out and unable to speak out to whom they truly are. One eye is covered by the words “be perfect,” explaining exactly what girls feel like they need to be everyday to fit in. Lastly, the half of the mask is painted pink because even from the moment girls are born, pink is the color that is supposed to stage for the female gender.
On my half of the mask, I used words and pictures to give a more pure example of who I am. Some words include tall, athletic, and friendly, which show a few key characteristics of me. I also included words and pictures of what I like to do, like a cooking pan to represent my love of cooking, a pair of running shoes to show my love for athletics, and a book to show that I enjoy reading. The word swimming is also highlighted because I am a part of a swim team, which is a huge part of who I am. A music key note is also on my mask, because I love music and all that it offers. Additionally, my mask is painted light purple, to represent my favorite color. My mouth is also covered by tape, as I too feel shut out and unable to speak out. As a whole, my mask was created in a way to show and compare the differences between what society wants a girl to be like, and who I truly am.
Challenge Ext.
What are the messages portrayed through the media? What impact does that have?
Another struggle that comes with fitting into my female gender is the attempt to be exactly what media portrays. The media, including television, the internet, magazines, and music all state this “perfect” or “ideal” woman in our heads, making other women feel like they need to comply to make others around them like them. An excerpt from the 2005 book Our Bodies, Ourselves from Boston Women's Health Book Collective adds the quote “As a teenager, I was obsessed with achieving the “white girl” look: slim hips, perky breasts, and a flat stomach.” Every day I feel as though I have to be exactly this, skinny, beautiful and perfect, to make myself happy and others happy. Our world around us is plastered with what is defined as “flawless,” and it is hard to not try to give in to trying to be this other woman. This obsession is hard to stop, but if we all can work together to realize that everyone is different and start to embrace our differences, we will then be able to ignore media, and be exactly who we are.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/media-as-influence-socialization/
http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/excerpt.asp?id=2
Reflection:
1. Mask: What are you most proud of about your mask? Why?
I am proud of many things on my mask including the paint job and fine details that are in it. Getting the colors to exactly what I wanted them to be, and gluing the pieces of paper right where they needed to be is also another thing that I found was almost exquisite on my mask. These details are great because they were hard to complete, but when I focused enough they were finished. Both the pain job and intricate details I am most proud of because it makes my mask mine and stand out from others. The words and different pictures scattered throughout my mask is also another thing I am extremely proud of because they do a great job of representing exactly what I wanted to represent, and really do a good job of representing me as a whole.
2. Quote: Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
A section from my mask essay that I am proud of it the quote in my conclusion paragraph, stating “As a conclusion, we, a world as whole must ask ourselves, how can we individually break these harmful cycles of socialization? I have even asked myself, “How can I make a difference to stop this constant cycle?” As the article “The Cycle of Socialization” states that “it is frightening to try to interrupt something that is so large,” we must all work as a group, together, to make this cycle less frightening to disrupt. Then, we can first start accepting others for who they are, and not be judgmental on our differences, and even start to stop conforming to what others say is normal.” I am proud of this section because I think it really explains how we need to fight this cycle of socialization together as one to make more of a change instead of individually. This is something that makes me proud because to others the statement is more clarifying to other, making them feel less alone and afraid. The detail of the statement also makes me proud, like the evidence source, to give the whole paragraph a more in-depth feeling to it.
3. Biggest Take-Away: What will you remember from this project? Why?
I will remember what socialization and how I impact and take a roll in our society. How society has shaped me and how I look at others is also another thing I will take from this project. In addition, creating our mask including plastering, painting, modge podging, and making our own little intricate details is something that will stick with me as well. These things will stick with me most because of how much time we spent learning about them, and how much time we spent working on them. We spent a very long time researching socialization, but also an equal amount of work time on the mask an essay. The equal amount of time spent I think will really stay with me, and even help me throughout my high school career because of how much work I put into the overall project itself.
4. Habit of Heart and Mind: Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? What do you need to improve and how will that Habit of Heart and Mind help you?
The Habit of Heart and Mind that I need to work on for the next project would have to be perspective. I didn’t really see through the eyes of another student, rather than just making a project that has somewhat of the same features as everyone else’s. Next time, I will try to use ideas from other students, but not make a project that is like others, but make a project that reflects and is based of who I am. Personally, I need to improve on not copying others and having almost the same exact turnout, but coming up with my own ideas and creating new ones. The “Perspective” habit of Heart and Mind will help me look at ideas through the eyes of someone else, and create new ideas for myself and my own project, to create something “out of the box” for me.
1. Mask: What are you most proud of about your mask? Why?
I am proud of many things on my mask including the paint job and fine details that are in it. Getting the colors to exactly what I wanted them to be, and gluing the pieces of paper right where they needed to be is also another thing that I found was almost exquisite on my mask. These details are great because they were hard to complete, but when I focused enough they were finished. Both the pain job and intricate details I am most proud of because it makes my mask mine and stand out from others. The words and different pictures scattered throughout my mask is also another thing I am extremely proud of because they do a great job of representing exactly what I wanted to represent, and really do a good job of representing me as a whole.
2. Quote: Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
A section from my mask essay that I am proud of it the quote in my conclusion paragraph, stating “As a conclusion, we, a world as whole must ask ourselves, how can we individually break these harmful cycles of socialization? I have even asked myself, “How can I make a difference to stop this constant cycle?” As the article “The Cycle of Socialization” states that “it is frightening to try to interrupt something that is so large,” we must all work as a group, together, to make this cycle less frightening to disrupt. Then, we can first start accepting others for who they are, and not be judgmental on our differences, and even start to stop conforming to what others say is normal.” I am proud of this section because I think it really explains how we need to fight this cycle of socialization together as one to make more of a change instead of individually. This is something that makes me proud because to others the statement is more clarifying to other, making them feel less alone and afraid. The detail of the statement also makes me proud, like the evidence source, to give the whole paragraph a more in-depth feeling to it.
3. Biggest Take-Away: What will you remember from this project? Why?
I will remember what socialization and how I impact and take a roll in our society. How society has shaped me and how I look at others is also another thing I will take from this project. In addition, creating our mask including plastering, painting, modge podging, and making our own little intricate details is something that will stick with me as well. These things will stick with me most because of how much time we spent learning about them, and how much time we spent working on them. We spent a very long time researching socialization, but also an equal amount of work time on the mask an essay. The equal amount of time spent I think will really stay with me, and even help me throughout my high school career because of how much work I put into the overall project itself.
4. Habit of Heart and Mind: Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? What do you need to improve and how will that Habit of Heart and Mind help you?
The Habit of Heart and Mind that I need to work on for the next project would have to be perspective. I didn’t really see through the eyes of another student, rather than just making a project that has somewhat of the same features as everyone else’s. Next time, I will try to use ideas from other students, but not make a project that is like others, but make a project that reflects and is based of who I am. Personally, I need to improve on not copying others and having almost the same exact turnout, but coming up with my own ideas and creating new ones. The “Perspective” habit of Heart and Mind will help me look at ideas through the eyes of someone else, and create new ideas for myself and my own project, to create something “out of the box” for me.