Stereotypes

I thought the movie crash was very clever. The different types of race and their stereotypes were very obvious, yet the portrayal of them were very unique. When the Mexican man is changing the lock at the white couples house, the white woman wants them changed again in the morning because she doesn't trust him. She thinks he is a "gang banger" because of his baggie pants and his race. Yes she was just held at gun point and her car was stolen by two black men, but that gives her no right to accuse an innocent Mexican man. We later find that he is not in a gang, but has a wife and daughter and works very hard to protect them. Another stereotype that we have is brought to our attention when we see the motives of the "china man." At first when we see the two black males hit the Asian man we feel bad. But later we see that he was harboring people in the back of his truck and was planning to human traffic and sell them. This is a surprise to us because we see Asians as by the book people who are intelligent and respectful. This just shows that we should not judge people by the color of their skin. I have definitely held my belongings a little closer if I felt uncomfortable. I think this is a little bit of instinct and a little bit of racism. However, it is not always racism, my reasoning is usually because of the way they are dressed and it is always if it is a man, black, white, Mexican, or even Asian. If a guy looks shady to me, then I will always put my guard up. When I went downtown this past Saturday, I thought about what we learned in class and tried not to be racist at all. If I saw a man of color walking by I accepted him as a person, instead of having alarming thoughts. But no matter what, I will always trust my instincts.

"It don't matta if you're black or white"

It's the worst kind, in my opinion. These week we talked about race and how people automatically try to categorize people into a certain race as if that defines who they are. When we did the ball exercise, it was almost frustrating because every time Sal would add a new ball, we would pretty much have to add a category. This relates to races in that we can't put each and every person in the categories of white, black, and brown. We cannot divide them by Caucasian, African American, Asian, or Hispanic. There are so many people with mixed races in them and people with different ethnic backgrounds, which doesn't make them a mutt or miscellaneous, it just makes them an individual human being. We also looked at a chart of people from all over the world. Each person of a different race had a racial slur that another specific race had called them. This just shows that everyone attacks each other, even when we are joking, and it's just wrong. We are all obviously supposed to be on this earth, if we weren't supposed to be, then we wouldn't be! So people just need to accept that there are people like look different than them. On the other hand, people also may have racist tendencies, without even realizing it. We learned that this is called Implicit Racism. When most people are lost, in the city, and all of the suddenly they see a large amount of black people, they suddenly lock their doors and cringe. No matter what race you are, we are trained to automatically cringe in this situation and feel safer in a white neighborhood, run down or not. This type of racism can come about even within the same minority groups. All we do is judge, assume, and stereotype because that is all we are surrounded by. That Slip of the Tongue video was so cool! I love how she told him off after the comment he made about her "make-up." It was a little confusing at times, but her point was pretty clear. She didn't want to be judged by her "ethnic make-up," because she is who she is. It was pretty inspiring.

Minimum Wage

After watching that movie where the guy from "Super Size Me", and his wife live on minimum wage for 30 days really made me think. They could barely get buy, and they didn't even have any kids to take care of or anything. But when it came to medical issues, down-time, and overall health, they were cut short. It made me even more appreciative of what I am able to have in my life and how many luxuries I usually take for granted. In the movie after they had been well into the experience, I could see how worn out they were. They were saying that your home is a sanctuary. It is somewhere you go to relieve yourself of the stresses of your day. However, it is pretty impossible to have a stress free, relaxing moment when you are constantly worrying about paying your bills, and how you're going to eat, and get to work, or anything that is really just a brush off the shoulder for us. We buy our expensive coffee, our specific water, our designer clothes, and so many other things because that is what society teaches us is acceptable. But when you are just barely getting by because you need to survive on minimum wage, none of that matters. The focus is working to pay for the bills, food, water, and transportation to and from work in order to pay for these essentials. Yesterday when Corinne and I were at our community service, we were talking with this women about how ridiculous people are these days. For example, Corinne brought up how one of her friends was complaining about "Aquafina" water. She was saying that it doesn't taste good, and that she prefers "Dasani". Also, that she would NEVER drink out of the drinking fountains at school because of how gross they are. That is so snobby! There are people who are forced to drink out of dirt filled rivers and she can't decide which brand of water she likes best. I have to admit, I used to stray pretty far from the perspective of things, but i'm learning.

Poverty

After watching the video about Tammy and her son, I realized how hard it is to get out of poverty after it is all that you know. I believe that her son's actions can eventually give him higher status one day. If he really does try hard in school and sports he has the potential to get a scholarship at college and get a higher education that his mom has. If he has the drive to want to be successful and not always been known as the "white trash" kid, then I think he can achieve that. It's sad though how he is ashamed of his mom and the way he lives. People look down on him and his family because of their lack of money, which is rediculous. If you are born into a family without any money it is hard to start from scratch and work your way up from the bottom. But I just think he is so concious of the way he lives and it bothers him so much to the point where it pushes him to progress and make something of himself. I wouldn't know what to tell people like this accept to keep trying hard to work and get an education. They are in a deep hole that is very hard to get out of, but I do think it is possible.

Deviance, Drugs, & Prison

Even though I only saw the second half of the movie we watched in class I really liked it. It must take a lot of courage as a grown man to voluntarily be locked up in a prison for roughly 30 days. It was great how there were so many men at the rehabilitation center really trying to turn their lives around and steer away from the drug world. However, at the end we saw that a couple of the guys he met had ended up getting thrown back in jail shortly after they left the East Prison. It was sad to see how easily people can get dragged back into the drug world. They are good people but they grow up in bad environments and getting involved with drugs is all that they know. It ends up just creating problem after problem once they become addicted. They are usually lower class so it is hard for them to even acquire the amount they need to keep from withdrawal. Then they begin to steel and then maybe use violence and it is all one big ripple affect. As bad as drug users choices may be, people should all be punished equally in my opinion. You can't give someone who lives in the projects bigger consequences than a person living in Naperville, this may sound childish but it's just not fair! Also, it is confusing to people when deviance laws regarding drug use vary in different locations. Such as partial use of Marijuana is acceptable in some parts of Colorado and it is legal in Amsterdam. This makes people think well if its okay to use it in those places then I might as well be able to use it here. In this case they would be deviant here, but not in Colorado or Amsterdam. The justice system is wack.

Deviance Is In

I do think this applies to kids at our school. Going to Mexico for spring break is a very good example. The kids who's parents have the money to let them stay at a resort in Mexico over spring break suddenly are not breaking the law when they drink because the legal drinking age is 18. However, if the kids who are stuck here over spring break decide they want to drink too, they have that chance of getting in serious trouble because they would be under the legal drinking age. In this case, the kids who have the money can beat around the bush and legally be able to do what others are not able to do. But it is not all about drinking of course. That is just a good example of deviance at our school. Most kids at our school are saints because they are deviant but they know their way around the consequences. On the other hand, there I do realize there is such a thing as positive deviance, of which I got to learn first hand. When I performed my random act of kindness in the city and gave a street musician a dollar, it made me feel almost proud of myself. Normally I would just walk by fast and ignore them and just go on with my day. But when I saw that others were doing just that, I felt bad and thought it would be worth it, and it was. Sure it wasn't that of the ordinary, but for me, it was. I decided not to generalize people who are in need of something as simple as a dollar. Even though we tend to see a dollar as almost worthless, he was overjoyed! He was also pleased that people had actually stopped to acknowledge him. I think we should make these random acts of kindness, a little less random.

Age Is Just A Number

It is very clear that society, most of the time, does not take us teenagers seriously. But it is not clear how we are supposed to behave. These are confusing years when we are trying to figure out who we are and what we are capable of doing. We are pushed to succeed so that we are ready for what adulthood throws at us, however, most of us are so sheltered and treated as children that even college is a slap in the face. Now is the time that everyone is getting really excited to get out of here and go to college. Us teens just want to get away and live on our own, live by our own rules. But most of the people I have talked to who have applied to such far away places probably won't make it all four years. They do not realize what it takes to be almost completely self-reliant. Yes, their parents are paying for their education, but they have to discipline themselves so they don't fail out. They are forced to adjust to their surroundings and live on past knowledge. It's hard. But I still would not call it adulthood just yet. Nowadays, being an adult means so many different things. It does not necessarily mean living on your own, but sometimes it does. After high school my sister eventually moved out and lived with her boyfriend. Ever since they broke up she has been living at home and has saved so much money. She has gotten to come and go as she pleased and did not have to worry about the expenses of living on her own. But now, she is almost 26 and is moving to Minnesota next week and is all of the sudden being expected to pay the rent, pay for food, toiletry's, appliances, and several other necessities all on her own. I have considered her an adult for some time now, but by next week she will really know what it feels like and it will be a big change. This just shows that just because you are 18 does not mean you are dubbed as an immediate adult. It all depends on how you were raised and what has been expected of you all your life. The circumstances vary which leads me to believe there is no definite age that makes you an adult, it is about how you deal with what life throws your way and what you can and cannot handle.  

Get Rid Of Your Toughguise

This week when we related violence to males and their need to be masculine, I realized that they go through self-image issues as well as we females do, just in a different way. I know plenty of girls who have a standard for their men. They prefer them to be tall and jacked and not as short as them or as skinny as them. So we are guilty of wanting an ideal guy just as much as men are guilty of wanting an ideal women. However, guys don't realize that we are more accepting of their flaws, than they are of ours. Men are always competing for masculinity because they feel it gives them a sense of power and status which is not needed. What they don't know is that most of the time girls don't like that superficiality. We want a man who has feelings and emotions, not just some hunk of muscle(though I can't speak for all of us). The men who are involved in these school shootings and violence against women are not emotionally or mentally stable. It is all stemmed from insecurities and self-esteem issues. The guys who ridicule others and demean them(the bullies), are often the ones who are the least secure with who they are. Men can hit the gym all they want, but that won't give them the values they really need in order to lead a fulfilling life. I mean, we have always been taught that a bully does what he does because he has issues of his own. So why are we so affected by what people say or think about us? It is society and the media that tell us if we don't look and act this way then we are failures. They tell men that if they are not jacked and do not take control and dominate then they are weak, and god forbid, feminine! The last thing a guy wants to be is like a girl. This is what the media has taught us. So when boys who are not "manly" are constantly harassed for being "gay" or a wuss or anything that is not up to par with society's standards, that is when they lash out. They think that they are proving their bullies wrong. This goes along with that video that begins with the scene from the Incredibles.  When the villain says "now you respect me, because I'm a threat," it is portraying the idea that as long as you gain dominant power over someone, you will be respected. This lesson that males are taught, leads them to be violent and is sadly engraved in their brains starting as early as their childhood.

Not Your Average Girl

I like that we addressed this issue of the impossibly achievable standard in our class this week because it opens people's eyes. In my media class, I'm learning about how media and society have made people view women as solely objects and nothing more. I also did my junior research paper on how media effects body image. We are judged, and criticized on our looks constantly. This forces us females to naturally compete with one another and always be a little insecure because of the expectations we are pressured to chase after. The message we get from media is that if we don't look like the idealistic girl they have created, then we need to fix that somehow. We should not have to live with this superficial burden over our heads. Guys will say they don't care about our looks, and yes they may accept us for who we are and won't break up with us if we get fat(though it could happen), our imperfections are still known. This has effected me and every other female all ages. I work at Hollister, so people tend to get judged a lot based upon their looks. I have been hearing talk about how all the males I work with have created this list with two categories. One is the hottest girls and one is the most datable girls. So yes, there are SOME good intentions there, but most of it is based off appearance, and then personality. Initial attraction is important, but shouldn't be the basis of judgement. We always think that no matter what, there's always someone prettier or skinnier, that we have to strive to become. This can get tiring. And what's sad, is that people are so used to it being such a natural part of our culture and society that they don't see anything wrong with it. We expect these models in advertisements to be perfect, otherwise they wouldn't be representing a product, right? It's hard to fathom how our society developed one type of girl that is dubbed as acceptable. This girl is tall, skinny, has big boobs, long hair, and other features we decided are satisfying to the eye. Also, most people don't know that nobody naturally looks like the people in the ads, ever! Without makeup, photo shop, and styling, we are all just normal people striving to be a fictional character.. it's ridiculous!!

Human Nurture

I agree that as a child grows up, they're environment shapes who they are forever. It is beyond ridiculous how a parent, or anyone for that matter, can literally lock their child in a room they're whole lives. I don't care if you are trying to keep them out of danger, I am sure you can find a better way to do that than depriving them from living their life! The girl in this video is forever affected by her lack of a childhood and will have to live with limitations the rest of her life. It is terrible to think that anyone could ever do such a thing. I have been greatly affected by my family, friends, and anyone that has made an impact on me throughout my life. My parents raised me with certain values, common sense, and a specific understanding of the world. My friends have also shaped my personality and the way I interact with others. I also agree that humans crave socialization and love to interact and connect with others. Which is another reason why I sympathize so much for this girl who never had that privilege when she was growing up. She barely had the opportunity to feel emotions or think thoughts. Us humans tend to get bored very easily. We are always planning something, doing something, thinking something and don't usually like to just sit and have nothing to think about and nobody to socialize with. I am so thankful for my family, friends and others who have helped shaped me, mostly for the better( I hope!!) and gave me that push to become who I am today, and who I will be in the future.

Nothing

By detaching myself and trying to do nothing, I realized that everyone is always moving or talking or thinking. It was a hard thing to do. We have never been told not to do anything. There is always something expected of us. Some of us get bored if we aren't doing anything or are just not satisfied. We're so used to being busy, planning, and having deadlines that we never take the time to stop and smell the roses. We are taught that in order to be successful we must get and education then work work work! People work 40-80 hours a week and some have multiple jobs. We are so busy we don't make time to think about what really matters in our lives. We don't think about what shapes us as a person or why we are who we are. Most of us just race through life without having any meaning. Doing this experiment made me realize even more how much society affects each and every one of us. We have no control over it at all, not even our parents do. It's inevitable that we just adapt to the life around us. This relates to the "fish bowl theory." Fish don't know anything outside of water because they are surrounded. We are so surrounded and influenced by society that we don't even realize it, we don't see it.

Greek Heritage

When people see my last name, their response is normally to ask "what are you?" or "that's Greek right?" ...so I have always referred to myself as being Greek. However, after doing the essay outline on American culture and participating in the activity we did in class, I realized, my heritage may be Greek, but my nationality is and always will be American. We so commonly define ourselves based on where our ancestors came from but not where we ourselves came from. When anyone becomes an American citizen, I believe they are American. Whether they come from Russia, Italy, Poland, or Greece, in one way or another, they become Americanized. I know I can pretty much apply every American value to my life. As we grow up, and life becomes more "serious", in a sense, we develop more and more of these values. Especially in High School. We are taught to manage our time with assignments and studying. Because of this, we value efficiency and become very inpatient when it comes to getting what we want or need. We compete in sports, and mostly start at a very young age. Competition is also brought into our education and our work place. Whether it's competing for the highest grade or for that wonderful promotion. In order to strive for that higher level of status, we use self-help and are initially looking out for ourselves. People say it's a "dog eat dog world".. but I think it is more often applied to our specific country. This need to get ahead and be self-sufficient is taking away from our moral ethics and our well-being. We are more materialistic, while other countries are spiritual. We value physical items more than thoughts and ideas. These values we have obtained over time, in my opinion, are probably not the best way to live a satisfying life.

Affluenza

Americans are diagnosed with affluenza at the beginning of there lives. We are always taught to try our best to succeed and always strive to accomplish our goals. We are seen as failures who are lazy if we don't go to college and get a job. However, these days people spend way to much time at their jobs, and though they are making good money, they rarely have time to spend it. My sister has a very busy job that almost consumes her whole life. She usually has one or two days off per week and sometimes has to even go into work on the days she was scheduled off. It is also normal for her to work 15 hour days. It is draining, but with the economy the way it is, she is thankful that she even has a job. Though it is good to have money in the bank and be safe financially, it is hard for her to balance family time, friend time, and time for herself when she is constantly in work mode. There are consequences to being successful whether people see it or not. When people do find that time off, they usually like to shop. We buy things for several reasons but usually it comes down to status.. for most people. Especially going to Stevenson, I see knew trends and styles all the time and a lot of them are based off of expensive clothes and accessories. A lot of times people buy and do not think of the future, which can be very harmful. At the moment, their only concern is about what others will think of them if they purchase a certain item, if it seems satisfying then the deal is done. This also relates to impulse buying. This occurs a lot in grocery stores and even at the mall, when people will spend a whole day inside buying things.. just to buy things. The problem is that people are more worried about the short-term effects, than the long-term.

Collogero's Groups

In the movie, A Bronx Tale, the main character, Collogero, belongs to several different groups throughout his life. One of the groups he belongs to is his family... his real family. His mom and dad watch out for him while his dad teaches him valuable lessons; "The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." But they also try to protect him from another group he is in, which is Sunny and the mobsters. Sunny is like a father to him, however, sometimes C forgets about his biological father's advice and puts Sunny before him. C's father tells him people don't respect Sunny, they fear him. He later finds this out after Sunny accuses him of doing something to his car, C is shocked that Sunny didn't trust him after all these years. However, Sunny looks out for C and tells him not to be apart of the group of friends he hangs around with. This group has different values and intentions than C, which often gets him into trouble. While they are racist and ignorant, he seems wiser and more open to different things. Somehow with all of these groups, everything goes back to Sunny. I believe that the group he is in with Sunny is his master status. He is C's mentor in his life and after C realized Sunny saved his life he developed the utmost respect for him. C also realizes that Sunny was wrong about fear lasting longer than love. After he died, nobody feared him, instead, C, his dad, and the other man who's life was saved by Sunny, still loved him and cared for him, even though he was gone. I think that Sunny's influence on C's childhood shaped him as a person and made him who he grew up to be.

Poppin Soda Caps

Sudhir Venkatesh, the author of Gang Leader for A Day revealed that being a sociologist, you can't always get your information and research from asking general questions, such as 'how does it feel to be black and poor?' He knew this quantitative approach would not be useful in understanding why these people in poverty live the way they do. These generic questions would never get them to open up the way he wanted. So in order to get a real feel of how they live, he knew he had to live amongst them and put himself in their shoes. I don't really think that Venkatesh owes J.T. any money or anything because he wasn't glorifying or putting down the way J.T. and the other gang members live their lives. He was simply researching and trying to figure out why there are gangs and what they contribute to towns in poverty. Also, the fact that J.T. was accepting of Venkatesh hanging around them shows that he wasn't expecting anything in return and he knew that he strictely there for a sense of learning and experience. Even though Venkatesh eventually wrote a book about the experience, he wasn't intending on it when he was doing this experiment. So I think that overall he had good intentions and was just being a sociologist. I can see how quantitative information can be important in relation to wanting to choose a good school for your children. If you want to know the school's average ACT score or average GPA, stats are very neccessary to see if students are getting a good education or not. If students scores and grades are low then you probably wouldn't want your child going to a school that doesn't provide good education. On the other hand, if the stats are good, then it shows that your child has the potential to be successful in the school. However, for example, when someone is interested in going to college because of whatever reason, they usually want to visit the school first, to see if it is the right type of encironment for them. This shows that after you get the facts, you still need qualitative studies to get a better understanding.

We're all Freaks and Geeks.

Freaks and Geeks was all about the typical divided groups that are formed when we get to highschool. I deffinetely think that these groups still exist today, but are sometimes a little more subtle. There is the group of kids who don't care about school and never show up to class, let alone do their homework. Then, there are the jocks which always create their own category no matter what school you're in. They think they are superior because of their athletic ability and keep good grades to stay on the team. But in our school some of those groups mix together, but somehow we are all still trying to fit in. I believe that not many of us realize it when we're picking out clothes at the mall, or getting ready in the morning, we just think it makes us happy and secure. I personally love fashion and I am aware that wearing what is in style reflects that I want to fit in. But for me, I use it as a way of expression and creativity. We often don't take the time to think about why what we are wearing makes us feel a certain way, because we're just used to it. Then there are the people that say "I don't care what people think".. but they do. We like when we can relate ourselves to others because thats what helps us make friends and be social. Even people drinking and smoking is symbolic because if nobody did those things then why would anyone want to? They wouldn't be able to relate to anyone, so instead, they would go along with what others are(or aren't) doing. A lot of us base our decisions off of what others do or how they would react. We can't help it if we like being praised for good grades, fashionable clothes, or getting into the college of our dreams. I learn more and more each day to do what makes me happy; unfortunetely, sometimes it's just hard to differenciate between what makes me truely happy or something that gives me satisfaction because others accept it.

mindfulness

In Sociological Mindfulness by Michael Schwalbe, I learned that being mindful is about paying attention to other things and people that you wouldn't normally see or appreciate. He related it to the mind of a child which helped me understand what being mindful is all about. It is that sense of clarity, and since children's minds are new and accepting, they have not been affected by the media or their surroundings just yet. If more people could think in this way there would be more peace, cooperation, and a real understanding of one another. It shows us how we affect others and how we are affected everyday. Even if someone tells a racist joke about their own race, that can be harmful to others. It may be unintentional, but there is indeed harm done. Also, by telling a joke like that it makes it okay to make fun of races just for a stupid little laugh, but it's not worth it. Mindfulness is about respecting people and understanding peoples hardships and other obstacles they may face. This could be better for the world as a whole because if people would just stop and appreciate, there would be less hate and bitterness. Even though I support sociological mindfulness, I also see how hard it can be to do. At our school and throughout our lives we are taught individualism, to look out for ourselves instead of one another becuase the only person you can count on is yourself. In some cases, people have failed me but we are only human and we need to accept that. We all need to be less selfish and more selfless.

Who am I?

My name is Alyssa and I just turned 17 on July 30th. I have been playing softball ever since I can remember, it has definitely shaped who I am as a person and taught me several life lessons. I am really close with my family and they all influence me in a good way. I'm really close with my sister even though she is 7 years older than me. She has shown me that in order to succeed you must work hard and try your best to get to the top. I have learned from softball that people make mistakes and it is okay to lose at times but to never get down on yourself. My parents have taught me respect and other values and even though sometimes I don't agree with the advice they have to give me, I know they're right. My goal after high school is to go to Columbia College in Chicago and study fashion. When I graduate college I want to have a job that I love going to everyday and not have to come home and complain about how I hate my boss or how stressful it is...which I know is very hard to come by. I'd really like to study abroad for fashion in Paris because I know it would be an amazing experience. However, after college when I eventually get married I want to live in the country. I want to major in fashion whether it's design or styling because it gives people confidence and interior design gives people comfort. I like being able to make people happy. I love hanging out with my friends we always have fun even if we're doing nothing and I value my close friends a lot. We're really random and weird but I love it. There are things that people don't know about me up front but when I get closer to people I let my gaurd down.