For the mask assignment, we watched documentaries, read papers and books, and discussed things in class. We watched documentaries to learn about stereotypes, what is morally wrong, and to open our minds to what people think is ok in experiments and what is simply too far. We read papers to show what is in our society deeply imbedded to what we our taught, and to see the underlying cause of things that make our lives bad, sometimes miserable, addressing some things about what is shown to people at young ages, and then enforced by society to keep them inside the cycle of socialization, brought to light by Bobbie Harro. We discussed things in class about what we thought was accurate from these sources, and what wasn’t accurate, as well as how cruel some things that aren’t common or public, but are hurting people and not socially accepted for many reasons like consciously realized, abuse, and borderline archaic. All of this was to educate us in sociology and show how we as individuals were socialized in our families and make a mask and essay to show this and display it in public to show how the system works, imbedded in our everyday life.
During the project, one of the difficult things was that i didn’t know what a T.E.A. paragraph was and had to ask my Humanities teacher, Stephen, for help on that note. He showed me some sites to look at to learn what that was. I worked hard on the essay and mask, refining the paper much, to the extent that I don’t recognize the original draft and the final copy, and much more proud of the final than the original. This was very hard to accomplish because I was use to writing paragraphs a certain way, and then I had to shift the entire way I did things to a whole new system that I was unfamiliar with and adjusting to that system. I still didn’t do all of the essay in that form because I couldn’t figure out how to grasp it with what I was trying to write and combine both of them together.
Over all this project was very eye-opening to what is in our society and what needs to be changed before it starts to destroy our system from the inside out. This has taught me the good and the bad of the society we live in to show how integrated it all is and how unnoticed it can be. Most can keep the cycle going without knowing it because it is imbedded into them, and they can’t separate from it. Thanks to this assignment,I have realized how bad the system can be and why things are as bad as they are today. I have definitely learned how to change my way of thinking to stop, postpone, or slow down the cycle of socialization.
During the project, one of the difficult things was that i didn’t know what a T.E.A. paragraph was and had to ask my Humanities teacher, Stephen, for help on that note. He showed me some sites to look at to learn what that was. I worked hard on the essay and mask, refining the paper much, to the extent that I don’t recognize the original draft and the final copy, and much more proud of the final than the original. This was very hard to accomplish because I was use to writing paragraphs a certain way, and then I had to shift the entire way I did things to a whole new system that I was unfamiliar with and adjusting to that system. I still didn’t do all of the essay in that form because I couldn’t figure out how to grasp it with what I was trying to write and combine both of them together.
Over all this project was very eye-opening to what is in our society and what needs to be changed before it starts to destroy our system from the inside out. This has taught me the good and the bad of the society we live in to show how integrated it all is and how unnoticed it can be. Most can keep the cycle going without knowing it because it is imbedded into them, and they can’t separate from it. Thanks to this assignment,I have realized how bad the system can be and why things are as bad as they are today. I have definitely learned how to change my way of thinking to stop, postpone, or slow down the cycle of socialization.
What you Hear
By CJ Meldrum
Everyone is exposed to different stereotypes when we are young, whether it was meant to be taught or not, whether it is spoken or not, it is ingrained into us. It varies from person to person, family to family, but there are so many, that, because they are there passed down generation to generation, those who are working in media will think of these and assume that others grew up with this as well and advertise towards them instead of to the whole public. These stereotypes are almost never good. They make you assume things about others that usually isn’t true, and it can be very offensive to others.
The media has showed that people of darker skin tone are more likely to break the law, they show that people who have a lighter skin are more likely to be innocent, and are not given as harsh of punishments as those who don’t. The crime rates are assumed to be dominentally African-American because they are given less money per year than others because they are not “white” and therefore are not as likely to earn the money as everyone does. White people are less likely to be tried as guilty, and even if they are they don’t get as much jail time as others, less probation, lower fines, and other things like that because they saw themselves as the “best race” long ago and because they are not seen as “bad people” when they are growing up, or they are nice in the workplace, or other reasons that are just excuses to hide the inner racism that they were taught throughout their childhood. The same thing is with any other prejudice there might be out there that may have been taught from a young age by media, parents, teachers, and anyone else that shows you what might be right and/or wrong. There was a mountain dew commercial about five years ago that was online for a short while until it was accused of being very racist where there were black men at a police lineup when a goat committed the crime, and was in the lineup. The goat was threatening the women and earlier, attacked the woman identifying the suspect because she wouldn’t give him more mountain dew, and it overall was very racist.
The media and our loved ones socialized us when we were young. That makes it very hard when we are young to figure out what is true and what isn’t because we take information and assume it is good and we should be doing the same thing like our parents/guardians/heros. That means that whatever stereotypes that they show us, good or bad, will remain with you for a long time, until you learn otherwise. This is usually from, but not limited to, personal experience. Society shows you this throughout life. With media and more enforcing this, it is very hard to decipher what is real, what is accurate but partially wrong, and what isn’t fact or common at all, or whatever is claimed in these influences.
Through the years, stereotypes become not only normal, but expected, and under influence, can be very harmful to self and others physically and emotionally. For a male, it is seen as inappropriate for them to show emotion, they must be violent and not talk about problems. Since this was and is still so common, we expect it from every male because many are afraid of change and the outlier to anything that has been the custom for so long, we don’t know how to react to it when there is change. This is evident throughout society today, look anywhere in news, national or local, and you can see this taking place throughout the country, even through the world in some cases.
With my mask, it is going to send the message about how developed stereotypes are into our society. It will be painted black, and over the mouth it will say “there is no emotion” because I am just another face in the crowd of individuals that are here wanting to be seen for who they are instead of just another name in the system. We aren’t seen as those who need individual attention, we are seen as a mob who will just absorb whatever information is thrown at them because they don’t have the time, the money, the resources, even just because they just simply don’t want to at that time, or ever. Look in public schools, and this is evident that this continues in big schools.
Doing this project has definitely helped me realize that we are just trapped in this cycle of socialization (introduced by Bobbie Harro) without end, until you break away from it and stop the tyranny of those who want the cycle to continue. otherwise it will just go on and never end, while many are living terrible lives. Some people keep this cycle going because that is all they know or that is what they are comfortable with or because it works in their favor, but they don’t realize how toxic this system can be so they assume everyone else is fine with it, and as soon as someone confronts it, they tell them that to do that would to betray others, and they blow it way out of proportion from what may not even be related to what they claim.
By CJ Meldrum
Everyone is exposed to different stereotypes when we are young, whether it was meant to be taught or not, whether it is spoken or not, it is ingrained into us. It varies from person to person, family to family, but there are so many, that, because they are there passed down generation to generation, those who are working in media will think of these and assume that others grew up with this as well and advertise towards them instead of to the whole public. These stereotypes are almost never good. They make you assume things about others that usually isn’t true, and it can be very offensive to others.
The media has showed that people of darker skin tone are more likely to break the law, they show that people who have a lighter skin are more likely to be innocent, and are not given as harsh of punishments as those who don’t. The crime rates are assumed to be dominentally African-American because they are given less money per year than others because they are not “white” and therefore are not as likely to earn the money as everyone does. White people are less likely to be tried as guilty, and even if they are they don’t get as much jail time as others, less probation, lower fines, and other things like that because they saw themselves as the “best race” long ago and because they are not seen as “bad people” when they are growing up, or they are nice in the workplace, or other reasons that are just excuses to hide the inner racism that they were taught throughout their childhood. The same thing is with any other prejudice there might be out there that may have been taught from a young age by media, parents, teachers, and anyone else that shows you what might be right and/or wrong. There was a mountain dew commercial about five years ago that was online for a short while until it was accused of being very racist where there were black men at a police lineup when a goat committed the crime, and was in the lineup. The goat was threatening the women and earlier, attacked the woman identifying the suspect because she wouldn’t give him more mountain dew, and it overall was very racist.
The media and our loved ones socialized us when we were young. That makes it very hard when we are young to figure out what is true and what isn’t because we take information and assume it is good and we should be doing the same thing like our parents/guardians/heros. That means that whatever stereotypes that they show us, good or bad, will remain with you for a long time, until you learn otherwise. This is usually from, but not limited to, personal experience. Society shows you this throughout life. With media and more enforcing this, it is very hard to decipher what is real, what is accurate but partially wrong, and what isn’t fact or common at all, or whatever is claimed in these influences.
Through the years, stereotypes become not only normal, but expected, and under influence, can be very harmful to self and others physically and emotionally. For a male, it is seen as inappropriate for them to show emotion, they must be violent and not talk about problems. Since this was and is still so common, we expect it from every male because many are afraid of change and the outlier to anything that has been the custom for so long, we don’t know how to react to it when there is change. This is evident throughout society today, look anywhere in news, national or local, and you can see this taking place throughout the country, even through the world in some cases.
With my mask, it is going to send the message about how developed stereotypes are into our society. It will be painted black, and over the mouth it will say “there is no emotion” because I am just another face in the crowd of individuals that are here wanting to be seen for who they are instead of just another name in the system. We aren’t seen as those who need individual attention, we are seen as a mob who will just absorb whatever information is thrown at them because they don’t have the time, the money, the resources, even just because they just simply don’t want to at that time, or ever. Look in public schools, and this is evident that this continues in big schools.
Doing this project has definitely helped me realize that we are just trapped in this cycle of socialization (introduced by Bobbie Harro) without end, until you break away from it and stop the tyranny of those who want the cycle to continue. otherwise it will just go on and never end, while many are living terrible lives. Some people keep this cycle going because that is all they know or that is what they are comfortable with or because it works in their favor, but they don’t realize how toxic this system can be so they assume everyone else is fine with it, and as soon as someone confronts it, they tell them that to do that would to betray others, and they blow it way out of proportion from what may not even be related to what they claim.