when i was younger, around 13 years old, i had completely rejected the traditional female gender roles. or at least, that's how i viewed it. i was talking to a friend of mine, who was 7 years old at the time. she had asked me what was my favorite color, i said "blue" she said "noooooooo, you're supposed to like girly colors like pink" she asked me my favorite music and i said "rock" and she said "noooooo, you're supposed to like pop music." that experience remains in my mind to this day. gender is not whether we are male or female, but rather it is "the socially constructed cultural expectation associated with men and women." there is this preconceived idea of what a woman should act like, or what a man should act like. women should be passive, submissive, and cater to man's needs. whereas men should be athletic, aggressive, and provide for their family. women are seen as soft. men are supposed to be strong athletic. which is weird, because i don't portray the typical female gender role. if there was a scale
masculine ----------------------------------------------------------------------- feminine
i would probably hit somewhere smack dab in the middle...because while i do have feminine characteristics, i still enjoy things that are considered "manly"
the article "Night to His Day" it talks about the gender roles men and woman have in society and how this gender role dictates their lives, be it their career or how they act. it also makes mention of the inequality that there is between me and women "the devaluation of 'women' and the social domination of 'men"" we know that there is a big glass ceiling for women when it comes to the work that we do. women get 70 cents for every dollar a man makes. and yes, this is changing. but not that much. it seems that it will be years before women will ever be seen as equal to men. how much more with those who are gay or lesbian? according to society, they are completely against the norm. how much longer before everyone can be seen as equal? and will there ever be a time? its hard to say. as much as people wish for this equality, there's always someone who wants to be on top. someone always wants to be better.
the different between you and me: race is not biological.
race is an illusion. the video "Race: The Power of Illusion". there are people who tried to prove that race is based on a biological level. saying that the difference between a white person and a black person is based in their DNA. but in the video we see, that this is completely false.there can be more of a DNA difference between two white men, then between a white man and a black man. one thing i really liked in this video is when they talked about how its a continuous change and how if you look at the difference between "Norway and in the Tropics" of course you'll see the black and the white skin, but if you walk the distance between the two areas you wouldn't be able to say "this is the place in which we got from the dark race to the light race." meaning to say that we can't really separate ourselves based on race, into these 4 or 5 distinct groups. but its this preconceived idea that we grow up with that "this person belongs in this race'. And what's sad is that we still attach these meanings to different races. the article "The Hispanic Dropout Mystery" talks about how the majority of drop outs are mostly hispanics, and it has a lot to do with peer pressure because "they make you feel like a dumb mexican" the woman at the end of the video says that we can un-make race. but is that really possible? race is something that is (in a way) etched into our skin, into our way of thinking. its taught to us subconsciously. it seems highly unlikely that the idea of race will be going anywhere anytime soon.
high class > low class? where do you stand?
vs
vs
vswatching the video "People Like Us" shows me just how ignorant some people are to the class system in America. its true. we don't like to believe that this class system exists...it's taboo. but its there. there to separate us and give us something like a platform on which we build ourselves on. one thing that hit me was how they said that the choices we make can reveal a lot about the type of class we want to portray ourselves as being part of. in my experience, i loved looking at the fancy houses. i loved dreaming about having a big house, with a beautiful kitchen and living room, and a lavish bedroom. so according to that previously mentioned statement it reveals that i wanted to evoke the high class status. but think about it, is the "grass greener on the other side"? i know now that the more people have, the less secure you feel. you have more, you can lose more. its this insane amount of greed that makes us want more, never satisfied. i mean, do you really need that louis vuitton bag? do i really need a lavish home in order to be happy? and we pretend that this sort of class system doesn't exist. i liked the statement that its a lot like high school. how there are the different cliques. in reality, those cliques portray different classes. you have the preppy, jocks, academic people = high class. then you have the rejects = low class. the part about the Belles, i was dying with laughter with how the coach spoke about the Belles. how they weren't a clique, but a family "as long as i know the truth, i don't really care what the other people say". that's a very egotistical POV because she's already "at the top"... of course she doesn't care about what other people think.
in addition, reading the article "Cause of Death: Inequality" is really depressing. it basically talks about the connection between the type/amount of education a person has and the likely hood that this person would suffer from some sort of disease. the less education you have, the more likely you're going to die of health problems. and it is well known that not all classes have the same sort of education. the higher class you are, the better education you are able to afford, and the same is true for the opposite. the lower class you are, the lesser education you have. and not even talking about higher education, but starting from as low as pre school. this amount of inequality is disgusting. and its sad because we still have that mentality that, you earn whatever it is you get. so does this mean that if i'm in a lower class, i deserve to have less? it doesn't mean that i'm any less hardworking than say Donald Trump or Bill Gates. i just wasn't born into the "right class".
deviance: nimrods? rebels? or just different?
anytime i hear the word deviant i automatically think "negative". and this is natural for a lot of human beings to associate the word deviance with something that is negative, because all in all deviance is something that goes again social norms. of course, what is considered deviant is also dependent the time place and setting. that's why there isn't any set standard of what is considered deviant. these are some examples of things that are considered deviant in my time, place and setting.
1) atheism- for the longest time (okay more like between 1st - 5th grade) i didn't know about atheist. i didn't necessarily believe that everyone was a christian or whatever. i just always thought that everyone believed in some form of religion. when i moved back to new york city in the 6th grade is when i first encountered an atheist classmate. and this shocked me, not in the "WTF" kind of way but more like the "wow really?" kind of way because its my norm to have some form of religion.
2) teenage pregnancy- i've always known about teenage pregnancy. but the first time i encountered it in person was also in middle school (as you can tell, middle school was a tough time). one of my classmates was reportedly pregnant. word spread like wildfire and she became shunned and looked down upon. because its "not normal" for a teenager to get pregnant.
3) LGBT - this is on the fence. being homosexual is now becoming more common especially here in new york, because heck, new york is full of people who embrace differences. but in general the social norm in america is to be a straight, heterosexual person.
4) not supporting LGBT community- i decided to separate this from the last example. here in new york, especially with people of my generation "if you're not with us, you're against us". i personally don't support the LGBT community. this in no way or form means that i look down upon them, or dislike people who are homosexual. but because of my beliefs i do not support them. BUT that itself (me not supporting the LGBT community) kind of like a deviant act here (again in NYC) because here everyone fights about who's wrong and who's right. i remain neutral and its like everyone tries to prove me wrong, when in reality i'm not even trying to prove myself right.
5) not voting- again, because of my beliefs i choose to remain politically neutral. but people go crazy when you say you don't vote. "its un-american" "its your duty". while i understand all of the arguments its still my choice whether or not i want to do it or not.
6) (on a less serious/personal note) interracial couples - again this is on the fence because here in NYC we are a hodgepodge of different ethnicity. but there's always that kind of unspoken rule that you can only be in a relationship with someone of your same race/ethnicity. (those crazy racist old people...i'm kidding, sort of) that's why whenever me and my friend see and interracial couple, we applaud them.
in the article The Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor by Herbert Gans, he speaks about different functions that the poor essentially provide to society. this article was eye opening and very depressing. one part that hit me hard was the part where he talks about spatial purification,those words in itself are so demeaning. about how we can just tear down areas where the "poor" live to raise new high risers and make the area much more fitting for "wealthy taxpayers". or how we basically use the poor people areas like a dust pan to put homeless shelters and other things that would be unwanted in the nicer areas. its sad because i feel like nyc definitely does this all over the place. just behind my building they tore down the old stores/building that burned down in a fire they're building a high rise luxury condo. and then they keep the "thrift stores" "charity places" in areas where its closer to the projects while keeping everything nice and shiny in the newly developed neighborhoods.
1) atheism- for the longest time (okay more like between 1st - 5th grade) i didn't know about atheist. i didn't necessarily believe that everyone was a christian or whatever. i just always thought that everyone believed in some form of religion. when i moved back to new york city in the 6th grade is when i first encountered an atheist classmate. and this shocked me, not in the "WTF" kind of way but more like the "wow really?" kind of way because its my norm to have some form of religion.
2) teenage pregnancy- i've always known about teenage pregnancy. but the first time i encountered it in person was also in middle school (as you can tell, middle school was a tough time). one of my classmates was reportedly pregnant. word spread like wildfire and she became shunned and looked down upon. because its "not normal" for a teenager to get pregnant.
3) LGBT - this is on the fence. being homosexual is now becoming more common especially here in new york, because heck, new york is full of people who embrace differences. but in general the social norm in america is to be a straight, heterosexual person.
4) not supporting LGBT community- i decided to separate this from the last example. here in new york, especially with people of my generation "if you're not with us, you're against us". i personally don't support the LGBT community. this in no way or form means that i look down upon them, or dislike people who are homosexual. but because of my beliefs i do not support them. BUT that itself (me not supporting the LGBT community) kind of like a deviant act here (again in NYC) because here everyone fights about who's wrong and who's right. i remain neutral and its like everyone tries to prove me wrong, when in reality i'm not even trying to prove myself right.
5) not voting- again, because of my beliefs i choose to remain politically neutral. but people go crazy when you say you don't vote. "its un-american" "its your duty". while i understand all of the arguments its still my choice whether or not i want to do it or not.
6) (on a less serious/personal note) interracial couples - again this is on the fence because here in NYC we are a hodgepodge of different ethnicity. but there's always that kind of unspoken rule that you can only be in a relationship with someone of your same race/ethnicity. (those crazy racist old people...i'm kidding, sort of) that's why whenever me and my friend see and interracial couple, we applaud them.
in the article The Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor by Herbert Gans, he speaks about different functions that the poor essentially provide to society. this article was eye opening and very depressing. one part that hit me hard was the part where he talks about spatial purification,those words in itself are so demeaning. about how we can just tear down areas where the "poor" live to raise new high risers and make the area much more fitting for "wealthy taxpayers". or how we basically use the poor people areas like a dust pan to put homeless shelters and other things that would be unwanted in the nicer areas. its sad because i feel like nyc definitely does this all over the place. just behind my building they tore down the old stores/building that burned down in a fire they're building a high rise luxury condo. and then they keep the "thrift stores" "charity places" in areas where its closer to the projects while keeping everything nice and shiny in the newly developed neighborhoods.