MASK PROJECT 2014:
Jocelyn Earl
Thief of Happiness
Close your eyes and think, think of how many people girls, boys, men, and women, they are all different races and class getting dressed for the day. These people are usually going to wear what they find attractive to their body type and what society will call “acceptable.” As Franklin Roosevelt says “Comparison is the thief of joy.” As long as we live we will compare ourselves to each other, by our flaws and attributes. These are things that make us different, they are not something we should criticize ourselves to. Because no guy or girl is ever perfect even though society want everyone to look like they are they are struggling deep down. If we try to change yourself, you become lost from the life you were given. From the day we are first born we begin to be socialized by the ones we love and those who are around us, they are the ones who taught us how to think today. In my own life gender, race,and class have defined me for who I am today in both a positive and negative way depending on the situation.
You may be asking yourself,“What is socialization? and how does it have such a large impact on our lives?” In the morning when you get dressed you are most likely not going to put on an outfit that might differ from social norms.This is because you are worried about fitting in with what society says you should be according to your social identity. There are seven different social identities that classify people: race, gender, class, religion, sexuallity, ability or disibillaty, and age, these all classify the way we we all judge each other by our outer skin, and this influences the way we talk to each other. Throughout our lives these identities follow us and create how we view the world around us.For instance in the video that matt showed us “What Would you Do,” it demonstrates three different culprits in stealing a bike. The three actors were a white teenager, an African-American boy and a girl, the white man did not get many police calls or even many people asking him what he was doing. Then for the African-american boy almost every person that walked by became concerned by the situation. The worst situation was the girl, because when she was attempting to steal the bike many people came to help her. We look at others and see their skin and change the way we talk to them accordingly. Our life is a bunch of stages of us constantly being swayed in the way we think and what we believe. These stages happen at all times during your life and shape you to create a “better” or “worse” you. By realizing what and when this happens, you can see it in the act and work to change how it affects you and everyone.
Since the moment I opened my eyes, I have been socialized to act like the rest of my gender. The stereotypical young girl plays with barbies, wears a pink princess dress, and plays with a pink castle. Even though most young adolescent girls are not exactly like that, they still somewhat tie into that. I on the other hand, was no where close to that, I'm not denying I didn't have barbies I just didn’t like to play with them as much as my plastic dinosaurs. From as long as I can remember I’ve had a massive dinosaur collection. I played with these day in and day out. Those were my go to toys. Even today young girls are still playing with barbie dolls, “every second two barbies are purchased around the world”, and the “average american girl between the age of three to eleven has ten barbies.” (Barbie fun facts) There are 3.49 billion girls in the world, assuming that about 1 billion of them are younger girls, thats is .Between my sister and I we had the total of seven barbies. But now I follow the social norm because if I don't I will be judged and be called “different”. Girls are what is know as a target group, these are a carefully watched group that if you do not look like the rest of the group you will be laughed at judged or even called names. A common stereotype in girls is what is known as a “white girl” this is when a girl goes to Starbucks, wears expensive pieces of clothing, with leggings, has long hair and a white IPhone. White girl can be taken for a good or a bad thing depending on where you live and your age. Most girls today will express themselves to a point where they will try to be themselves to the point where they will still look like a regular girl. this makes girls create a perfect figure in their heads and that is what society pushes people to do. Gender has socialised me mostly negatively because of the tight line of stay inside the norm or to be judged by my social identities.
Soon enough I began going to new cultural institutions and seeing different people of different skin color and ethnic backgrounds which were races, that a whole new realm were just outside my door. Being so young and living in Durango there were only a few different types of races that I saw and being so small it just seemed normal variety of people. As I grew older I realized that not all people have the same cultural background, and the same skin tone. Mostly these races grew up either around each other or went to the same ceremonial places. This subconscious action carried with the different races of people to their cultural institutes. Even though this was not a racist gesture towards whites can't hang with the native americans it just, happened. For example, when we watched the Tucson Arizona High school video “Precious Knowledge” that even when they didn't have the cultural classes the students still separated themselves. Even though we weren't forced to create these mostly segregated social groups by our race we just did.Also that when we go to regular history, math, english and science classes we learn about mostly white history and our point of view of creating america, even though white is the dominant race different cultures had a large impact on the creation of our country. Going back to my first paragraph when I talked about people judging you on the color of their skin the episode showed that most people think it is more common for an African-American kid to steal, and a white girl and boy is not a thief at all. As a whole culture we were socialized to look at each other by our skin tone and cultural background as something that separates us, and affect us how we go to school and what we learn. This put a generally negatively socialized me because human race is so low by judging people by what their skin tone is, but it also has a positive because I was raised around by at least a few people who had a different cultural background and I could learn about their culture.
After a while of being in a cultural institution like a school or a club, we soon become more generalized by our class. As I still grow older it becomes apparent to me that not every family has the same finance flow of income, some have more and some have less. This generalization asserts you into a certain class. For instance, I am in the middle class because I only have one parent that works, so I was always taught that you shouldn't waste what we have or there will be nothing. It was also very clear that some of my peers have more and they are more privileged than the rest of us. An example is for swimming a regular practice suite costs around thirty-five to forty dollars and those who have more money can buy more suites or better ones. also when I started thinking, as an adolescent, why can't things be fair? Why everyone can have the same? een as a younger kid in some of my classes the popular thing was to have sets of tys, and i noticed that But I soon realized that life was never going to be fair and there will always be someone that has more and someone who has less.
Our identities are what makes us different from each other, but when we begin to compare ourselves to each person that walks by, it sucks the joy from our soul. now after studying the cycle of socialization I have realized that I am affected by socialization with my gender, class, and race and I will melt away the perfect girl and just be myself. even though I am classified by these they do not make me want to change who I am. comparison with not kill my joy I will live my life with these in the back of my mind and know what I am suppose to do and that is to be a person who makes mistakes and to keep on living. “Comparison is the thief of joy”- theodore roosevelt. my final say is socialization will affect your every move, but you just have to live your life and be proud of all of your identities.
"Barbie Fun Facts." Barbie Fun Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
http://collectdolls.about.com/library/blbarbiefacts.htm
""Precious Knowledge:" The Love and Struggle of Learning." Arizona Daily Star. N.p., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34oz5pslPjE
http://tucson.com/precious-knowledge-the-love-and-struggle-of-learning/article_e7601b00-50c4-11e0-84d2-001cc4c03286.html
"What Would You Do? Bike Theft (White Guy, Black Guy, Pretty Girl)."YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg
Thief of Happiness
Close your eyes and think, think of how many people girls, boys, men, and women, they are all different races and class getting dressed for the day. These people are usually going to wear what they find attractive to their body type and what society will call “acceptable.” As Franklin Roosevelt says “Comparison is the thief of joy.” As long as we live we will compare ourselves to each other, by our flaws and attributes. These are things that make us different, they are not something we should criticize ourselves to. Because no guy or girl is ever perfect even though society want everyone to look like they are they are struggling deep down. If we try to change yourself, you become lost from the life you were given. From the day we are first born we begin to be socialized by the ones we love and those who are around us, they are the ones who taught us how to think today. In my own life gender, race,and class have defined me for who I am today in both a positive and negative way depending on the situation.
You may be asking yourself,“What is socialization? and how does it have such a large impact on our lives?” In the morning when you get dressed you are most likely not going to put on an outfit that might differ from social norms.This is because you are worried about fitting in with what society says you should be according to your social identity. There are seven different social identities that classify people: race, gender, class, religion, sexuallity, ability or disibillaty, and age, these all classify the way we we all judge each other by our outer skin, and this influences the way we talk to each other. Throughout our lives these identities follow us and create how we view the world around us.For instance in the video that matt showed us “What Would you Do,” it demonstrates three different culprits in stealing a bike. The three actors were a white teenager, an African-American boy and a girl, the white man did not get many police calls or even many people asking him what he was doing. Then for the African-american boy almost every person that walked by became concerned by the situation. The worst situation was the girl, because when she was attempting to steal the bike many people came to help her. We look at others and see their skin and change the way we talk to them accordingly. Our life is a bunch of stages of us constantly being swayed in the way we think and what we believe. These stages happen at all times during your life and shape you to create a “better” or “worse” you. By realizing what and when this happens, you can see it in the act and work to change how it affects you and everyone.
Since the moment I opened my eyes, I have been socialized to act like the rest of my gender. The stereotypical young girl plays with barbies, wears a pink princess dress, and plays with a pink castle. Even though most young adolescent girls are not exactly like that, they still somewhat tie into that. I on the other hand, was no where close to that, I'm not denying I didn't have barbies I just didn’t like to play with them as much as my plastic dinosaurs. From as long as I can remember I’ve had a massive dinosaur collection. I played with these day in and day out. Those were my go to toys. Even today young girls are still playing with barbie dolls, “every second two barbies are purchased around the world”, and the “average american girl between the age of three to eleven has ten barbies.” (Barbie fun facts) There are 3.49 billion girls in the world, assuming that about 1 billion of them are younger girls, thats is .Between my sister and I we had the total of seven barbies. But now I follow the social norm because if I don't I will be judged and be called “different”. Girls are what is know as a target group, these are a carefully watched group that if you do not look like the rest of the group you will be laughed at judged or even called names. A common stereotype in girls is what is known as a “white girl” this is when a girl goes to Starbucks, wears expensive pieces of clothing, with leggings, has long hair and a white IPhone. White girl can be taken for a good or a bad thing depending on where you live and your age. Most girls today will express themselves to a point where they will try to be themselves to the point where they will still look like a regular girl. this makes girls create a perfect figure in their heads and that is what society pushes people to do. Gender has socialised me mostly negatively because of the tight line of stay inside the norm or to be judged by my social identities.
Soon enough I began going to new cultural institutions and seeing different people of different skin color and ethnic backgrounds which were races, that a whole new realm were just outside my door. Being so young and living in Durango there were only a few different types of races that I saw and being so small it just seemed normal variety of people. As I grew older I realized that not all people have the same cultural background, and the same skin tone. Mostly these races grew up either around each other or went to the same ceremonial places. This subconscious action carried with the different races of people to their cultural institutes. Even though this was not a racist gesture towards whites can't hang with the native americans it just, happened. For example, when we watched the Tucson Arizona High school video “Precious Knowledge” that even when they didn't have the cultural classes the students still separated themselves. Even though we weren't forced to create these mostly segregated social groups by our race we just did.Also that when we go to regular history, math, english and science classes we learn about mostly white history and our point of view of creating america, even though white is the dominant race different cultures had a large impact on the creation of our country. Going back to my first paragraph when I talked about people judging you on the color of their skin the episode showed that most people think it is more common for an African-American kid to steal, and a white girl and boy is not a thief at all. As a whole culture we were socialized to look at each other by our skin tone and cultural background as something that separates us, and affect us how we go to school and what we learn. This put a generally negatively socialized me because human race is so low by judging people by what their skin tone is, but it also has a positive because I was raised around by at least a few people who had a different cultural background and I could learn about their culture.
After a while of being in a cultural institution like a school or a club, we soon become more generalized by our class. As I still grow older it becomes apparent to me that not every family has the same finance flow of income, some have more and some have less. This generalization asserts you into a certain class. For instance, I am in the middle class because I only have one parent that works, so I was always taught that you shouldn't waste what we have or there will be nothing. It was also very clear that some of my peers have more and they are more privileged than the rest of us. An example is for swimming a regular practice suite costs around thirty-five to forty dollars and those who have more money can buy more suites or better ones. also when I started thinking, as an adolescent, why can't things be fair? Why everyone can have the same? een as a younger kid in some of my classes the popular thing was to have sets of tys, and i noticed that But I soon realized that life was never going to be fair and there will always be someone that has more and someone who has less.
Our identities are what makes us different from each other, but when we begin to compare ourselves to each person that walks by, it sucks the joy from our soul. now after studying the cycle of socialization I have realized that I am affected by socialization with my gender, class, and race and I will melt away the perfect girl and just be myself. even though I am classified by these they do not make me want to change who I am. comparison with not kill my joy I will live my life with these in the back of my mind and know what I am suppose to do and that is to be a person who makes mistakes and to keep on living. “Comparison is the thief of joy”- theodore roosevelt. my final say is socialization will affect your every move, but you just have to live your life and be proud of all of your identities.
"Barbie Fun Facts." Barbie Fun Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
http://collectdolls.about.com/library/blbarbiefacts.htm
""Precious Knowledge:" The Love and Struggle of Learning." Arizona Daily Star. N.p., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34oz5pslPjE
http://tucson.com/precious-knowledge-the-love-and-struggle-of-learning/article_e7601b00-50c4-11e0-84d2-001cc4c03286.html
"What Would You Do? Bike Theft (White Guy, Black Guy, Pretty Girl)."YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg
Artist statement:
The mask that I created has many representations of society affecting me. The first symbol is the fire and ice section of the mask; this represents how people are so angry with themselves on the inside. When someone says they're fine on the outside but they are actually burning in the inside, but they make they seem perfectly fine on the outside but everyone struggles on the inside. For the other half of the mask it displays how people make it seem like they are ok even when we are struggling down deep. Society wants everyone to look perfect even when we are a very imperfect. The symbols on my mask have very broad representations, but still describe society to me.
The mask that I created has many representations of society affecting me. The first symbol is the fire and ice section of the mask; this represents how people are so angry with themselves on the inside. When someone says they're fine on the outside but they are actually burning in the inside, but they make they seem perfectly fine on the outside but everyone struggles on the inside. For the other half of the mask it displays how people make it seem like they are ok even when we are struggling down deep. Society wants everyone to look perfect even when we are a very imperfect. The symbols on my mask have very broad representations, but still describe society to me.
Mask Project Reflection:
Socialization is all around us, it a black shadow that follows us and helps guide us in the assumptions we make in our life. Socialization has such a large impact on our life everyday for every person.Even if you don't believe you are affected by society, society taught you to think that way. We all have to embrace that society does affect us, but we shall not let it control us in our entire lives. For society it has impacted me greatly, that every person i talk i have been socialized to talk to them that way or treat them a certain way because of how they look. our society which is the culture we live in the people that surround us, they have all been socialized to to “fit into” society. culture is created by socialization because we all have to interact with each other to bond relationships and start new institution together, we all have to be socialized to create these beautiful thing in our lives.
For a person who has never been to Animas High School our project was to veiw society from different points of view. this project made us step outside our normal lives.This one of our very many large project that we will do throughout the year. For people who have never been to Animas all you need to know is this that we spend a extensive amount of time on our projects to go more in depth to learning that we will always need for the rest of our lives
In creating our essays for our project we had to go through many different critiques in have our final draft be fully understandable to people who do not attend Animas high school. One of the most important things I learned in this project is even when you think you are finished there is something you can always fix. This always helped me each time we had an other person edit no matter if it was the teacher or another student.Important techniques I learned during this project was to always improve because everything could always be better.
For my project I am proud of many parts of it that created the whole project. for my favorite part was the essay because I have never written an essay with so many edit critiques and this showed me that everything can use refinement. I am very proud of my final draft of my essay. This makes me feel strong that I can become a better writer.
Socialization is all around us, it a black shadow that follows us and helps guide us in the assumptions we make in our life. Socialization has such a large impact on our life everyday for every person.Even if you don't believe you are affected by society, society taught you to think that way. We all have to embrace that society does affect us, but we shall not let it control us in our entire lives. For society it has impacted me greatly, that every person i talk i have been socialized to talk to them that way or treat them a certain way because of how they look. our society which is the culture we live in the people that surround us, they have all been socialized to to “fit into” society. culture is created by socialization because we all have to interact with each other to bond relationships and start new institution together, we all have to be socialized to create these beautiful thing in our lives.
For a person who has never been to Animas High School our project was to veiw society from different points of view. this project made us step outside our normal lives.This one of our very many large project that we will do throughout the year. For people who have never been to Animas all you need to know is this that we spend a extensive amount of time on our projects to go more in depth to learning that we will always need for the rest of our lives
In creating our essays for our project we had to go through many different critiques in have our final draft be fully understandable to people who do not attend Animas high school. One of the most important things I learned in this project is even when you think you are finished there is something you can always fix. This always helped me each time we had an other person edit no matter if it was the teacher or another student.Important techniques I learned during this project was to always improve because everything could always be better.
For my project I am proud of many parts of it that created the whole project. for my favorite part was the essay because I have never written an essay with so many edit critiques and this showed me that everything can use refinement. I am very proud of my final draft of my essay. This makes me feel strong that I can become a better writer.