I Am Just Me.
I can’t really be someone that I’m not. From nearly the moment we are born we begin to be socialized. How we are socialized affects the norms, rules and customs that make up who we are and how we act, behave, and dress. We are socialized by things like our family, school, activities, media, and even religion can play a part in how we are socialized. We are socialized to have stereotypes that women are not supposed to earn money and that they should stay in the house with the kids and cook and clean. While men, are supposed to go and earn money for their family, as a banker, or an architect. But I don't think these stereotypes exist as much anymore. The world has evolved to make them disappear. However, I believe they still do exist. In some parts of the world this kind of norm is still followed. In America we now have a more equal society. I was not brought up to follow this norm, but I know these stereotypes exist because of school and being part of a family that used to follow this norm. My Mom and Dad both work, but my mom did not always work. When I was younger she stayed at home and took care of me and my sister but has always encouraged my sister to get a job. Women have the full right to work so some women try to break away from this norm of staying at home and cooking. Women now can work as high paid CEOs and lawyers. Men also try to break away from this norm and stay home with the kids and cook, although they may get weird looks or negative sanctions for breaking this norm. I think these stereotypes are in many ways ridiculous. I think it’s very good that people break away from these norms.
You are not really given a choice if you want to be socialized. Even if people try to stray from certain norms they can move into different ones. I constantly try to break away from 21st century norms. One example is that I try not to play video games. Instead I do something else that I’ve been socialized to do with my spare time such as skateboarding. This is an example of how while I am trying to break away from an established norm I am socialized into a different established norm. I still think it is worth trying to do. Some people say I am weird for doing this but it’s just part of me. I enjoy standing out as an individual and being myself. Everything you do can affect how you are socialized. For example a girl begins going to a prep school. She loves hard rock and dresses like a hard rock musician. When she arrives at the school every one there is dressed differently and so she stands out and receives negative sanctions. She can’t pretend to be someone she is not. She wants to dress like that because it’s part of who she is. So it is hard for her to change when she receives negative sanctions. This is just like the movie, Ma Vie en Rose where the little boy Ludovic is convinced he is a girl trapped in a boy’s body. His family tries to make him change by doing things like seeing a psychologist. But he is the way he is and no one can change him. Because of this he gets major negative sanctions from his neighbors and at school. He maybe different but that’s just who he is. He can’t change that he wants to be a girl.
My Dad is in the music business, so from the beginning of my life I’ve been socialized by musicians and the music culture. I’ve always been around musicians so when I started playing music it wasn’t a whole new culture. Slash, a musician originally from the band Guns N Roses, has heavily influenced my life. This may seem weird and unusual but I’ve been able to make connections to his life and mine. The way he dresses and the style of music he plays have affected the way I dress and play music. This is an example of the looking glass self. This is how you think people view you or want them to view you. I want people to view me as a rock n roll musician and so that is how I try to make myself appear. I want to dress like this. My parents may not like it but I do. They can’t change who I am. I have put Slash’s top hat on my mask, to represent how he has socialized me to play music and dress.
As I have said, music is a big part of my identity. I play multiple instruments. I don’t play sports. I play music. I hope to have a profession in the music industry when I am older. I care deeply for music. It’s a large part of my identity. It’s something I am passionate about so when it came time to make a mask I knew music would be a part of it. When I thought over my history with music I remembered something I told a friend. I live and breathe music. This figure of speech means to me that I care so much about music that I “breathe” it. The music note coming out of the mouth represents this.
It is a common saying that your eyes are the gateway into your soul. When I put the yin-yang in the eyes it was supposed to symbolize how sometimes people don’t have balance in their lives and are trying to find it, and that people have both good parts and bad parts within them. For example a teen’s parents have recently been divorced so he no longer has the balance of both parents. His identity is constantly in flux. This has happened to me personally. I have had an identity crisis because of my parents divorcing and some positive parts of me have shown through out of my identity to help me through it and the same with the negative. One positive thing is learning music and being able to go play music when things aren’t going so well. But negative things also happen like having a shorter temper and becoming frustrated easier. I can’t help this because I’ve been socialized in a chaotic family where this kind of thing happens.
The fourth and final part of my mask is the face. This is not my face but the face of “The Bat,” the symbol of the camp that I attend during the summer. Winona, a camp I have attended for five years, has become a large part of my identity. When I first started to go to Winona I was shy and reserved. Winona has socialized me to be more confident and assertive. I learned to be more of a leader and more comfortable with who I am. This however came with certain drawbacks. Winona is a boy’s camp, so we are socialized to follow male norms, such as concealing certain emotions of masculinity while letting others shine through. If you act slightly female you might receive negative sanctions. This is why the bat with parts of skin shining through the mask was a good way to show how Winona has socialized me. We are socialized to show parts of our identity but hide others so naturally after spending so much time there I have inherited this trait in the outside world as well.
Socialization is one of the biggest things that shapes who we are. It affects us by making us decide what clothes we wear, whether or not we take part in religion, how we act, whether we are racist or sexist, or not. I have had all these things happen to me, which leaves me where I am today. I dress like a rock n’roll musician, I don’t follow any religion, and I act as if every day could be my last. This is who I am. You have some choice in who you are, and who you decide to be is often based upon how you’re socialized. When I started this project I remember thinking this could be interesting. It has been so much more than that. It has been a view into myself and has shown me what has made me who I am and that I can’t be changed into something I am not. I am just me.
I can’t really be someone that I’m not. From nearly the moment we are born we begin to be socialized. How we are socialized affects the norms, rules and customs that make up who we are and how we act, behave, and dress. We are socialized by things like our family, school, activities, media, and even religion can play a part in how we are socialized. We are socialized to have stereotypes that women are not supposed to earn money and that they should stay in the house with the kids and cook and clean. While men, are supposed to go and earn money for their family, as a banker, or an architect. But I don't think these stereotypes exist as much anymore. The world has evolved to make them disappear. However, I believe they still do exist. In some parts of the world this kind of norm is still followed. In America we now have a more equal society. I was not brought up to follow this norm, but I know these stereotypes exist because of school and being part of a family that used to follow this norm. My Mom and Dad both work, but my mom did not always work. When I was younger she stayed at home and took care of me and my sister but has always encouraged my sister to get a job. Women have the full right to work so some women try to break away from this norm of staying at home and cooking. Women now can work as high paid CEOs and lawyers. Men also try to break away from this norm and stay home with the kids and cook, although they may get weird looks or negative sanctions for breaking this norm. I think these stereotypes are in many ways ridiculous. I think it’s very good that people break away from these norms.
You are not really given a choice if you want to be socialized. Even if people try to stray from certain norms they can move into different ones. I constantly try to break away from 21st century norms. One example is that I try not to play video games. Instead I do something else that I’ve been socialized to do with my spare time such as skateboarding. This is an example of how while I am trying to break away from an established norm I am socialized into a different established norm. I still think it is worth trying to do. Some people say I am weird for doing this but it’s just part of me. I enjoy standing out as an individual and being myself. Everything you do can affect how you are socialized. For example a girl begins going to a prep school. She loves hard rock and dresses like a hard rock musician. When she arrives at the school every one there is dressed differently and so she stands out and receives negative sanctions. She can’t pretend to be someone she is not. She wants to dress like that because it’s part of who she is. So it is hard for her to change when she receives negative sanctions. This is just like the movie, Ma Vie en Rose where the little boy Ludovic is convinced he is a girl trapped in a boy’s body. His family tries to make him change by doing things like seeing a psychologist. But he is the way he is and no one can change him. Because of this he gets major negative sanctions from his neighbors and at school. He maybe different but that’s just who he is. He can’t change that he wants to be a girl.
My Dad is in the music business, so from the beginning of my life I’ve been socialized by musicians and the music culture. I’ve always been around musicians so when I started playing music it wasn’t a whole new culture. Slash, a musician originally from the band Guns N Roses, has heavily influenced my life. This may seem weird and unusual but I’ve been able to make connections to his life and mine. The way he dresses and the style of music he plays have affected the way I dress and play music. This is an example of the looking glass self. This is how you think people view you or want them to view you. I want people to view me as a rock n roll musician and so that is how I try to make myself appear. I want to dress like this. My parents may not like it but I do. They can’t change who I am. I have put Slash’s top hat on my mask, to represent how he has socialized me to play music and dress.
As I have said, music is a big part of my identity. I play multiple instruments. I don’t play sports. I play music. I hope to have a profession in the music industry when I am older. I care deeply for music. It’s a large part of my identity. It’s something I am passionate about so when it came time to make a mask I knew music would be a part of it. When I thought over my history with music I remembered something I told a friend. I live and breathe music. This figure of speech means to me that I care so much about music that I “breathe” it. The music note coming out of the mouth represents this.
It is a common saying that your eyes are the gateway into your soul. When I put the yin-yang in the eyes it was supposed to symbolize how sometimes people don’t have balance in their lives and are trying to find it, and that people have both good parts and bad parts within them. For example a teen’s parents have recently been divorced so he no longer has the balance of both parents. His identity is constantly in flux. This has happened to me personally. I have had an identity crisis because of my parents divorcing and some positive parts of me have shown through out of my identity to help me through it and the same with the negative. One positive thing is learning music and being able to go play music when things aren’t going so well. But negative things also happen like having a shorter temper and becoming frustrated easier. I can’t help this because I’ve been socialized in a chaotic family where this kind of thing happens.
The fourth and final part of my mask is the face. This is not my face but the face of “The Bat,” the symbol of the camp that I attend during the summer. Winona, a camp I have attended for five years, has become a large part of my identity. When I first started to go to Winona I was shy and reserved. Winona has socialized me to be more confident and assertive. I learned to be more of a leader and more comfortable with who I am. This however came with certain drawbacks. Winona is a boy’s camp, so we are socialized to follow male norms, such as concealing certain emotions of masculinity while letting others shine through. If you act slightly female you might receive negative sanctions. This is why the bat with parts of skin shining through the mask was a good way to show how Winona has socialized me. We are socialized to show parts of our identity but hide others so naturally after spending so much time there I have inherited this trait in the outside world as well.
Socialization is one of the biggest things that shapes who we are. It affects us by making us decide what clothes we wear, whether or not we take part in religion, how we act, whether we are racist or sexist, or not. I have had all these things happen to me, which leaves me where I am today. I dress like a rock n’roll musician, I don’t follow any religion, and I act as if every day could be my last. This is who I am. You have some choice in who you are, and who you decide to be is often based upon how you’re socialized. When I started this project I remember thinking this could be interesting. It has been so much more than that. It has been a view into myself and has shown me what has made me who I am and that I can’t be changed into something I am not. I am just me.
Contact
Address: Animas High School 3206 North Main Street Durango CO 81301
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 970-247-2474
Address: Animas High School 3206 North Main Street Durango CO 81301
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 970-247-2474