Mask essay
Connor Whitesell
The Way It Is
“To learn a culture is to learn peoples values, their ideas of what is desirable in life. When we uncover peoples values, we learn a great deal about them, for values are the standard”-Sociology Textbook.
Socialization is how people are taught willingly or unwillingly what roles they have to play, how they should act and what people think of them as. Socialization can come from anywhere. Many people say that the main five agents of socialization are Religion, Institution, Peers, Family and Media. This is important to understand because if you believe that your ideas are your own, then you will understand the points I will make throughout my paper. People act and dress a certain way because they have been socialized to look like that. If you judge someone by how they look, then you are not judging that person but that subculture or group.
I have been socialized my whole entire life from the moment I took my first breath. I have been socialized through the shows I watch, the things I have heard, and what my peers have told me is cool. In “ The Cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Harro he state that “We are then socialized by powerful sources in our worlds to play the roles prescribed by an inequitable social system.” This means that we have little choice in what role we are put in. Another quote from “The Cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Harro says: “ Our socialization begins before we are born, with no choice on are part.” This is true to some degree in that we have no choice in what gender, social class or race we are born in to. Socialization can happen throughout your life no matter what age. You might be socialized to believe something about teenagers, but the truth can be very different.
I have been profiled throughout my life. When I was young I thought that older people had it made. They could go places by themselves and make their own decisions. This is mostly true; I can go where I want and make my own decisions, but I also am judged harshly on my actions and stereotyped about what I do and where I go. An example of this is from the movie “Mean Girls.” In a scene from the movie Mean Girls depicts a group of teenagers going to a party with alcohol. The stereotype that the scene was made from was that teenagers go to parties and get drunk. This may be true for a few teenagers but most of us don’t party. Another scene from “Mean Girls” is that a teenage girl is being very disrespectful to the teacher. This is a stereotype as well as it is the truth. Most of the time I am very respectful. Sometimes though I can be disrespectful and I don’t even know it unless someone points it out to me. These perceptions have maybe not affected me as much as other people because people in Durango are a lot more open minded than other places. There are many agents of socialization and they all effect how you think.
There are shows, newscast, movies, and stories about what teenagers, or any other group should be. These stories may be blown out of proportion, biased or the truth. All of these things even if you don’t believe them, are socializing you to believe something. In the past year alone I have been asked many times, “ Do you do drugs.” This question has come from peers, and upper class men. This has made me feel uncomfortable then I began to wonder why they had even asked me. I believe that it is believed to be the norm for are age group. We are taught these norms through media and peers. Media shows us pictures of drunk or high teens. TV and movies show us that all the “cool kids” go to parties and smoke after school. Peers reenforce these ideas even farther. At this age peers are probably the biggest force in our lives. Because of this everyone has similar ideas of what is the ideal and they all want it.
My view has changed throughout this project. I now believe that stereotypes all have to be looked at before you believe or disbelieve the stereotypes that are feed to you. I also believe that you have to get to know individuals before you can judge them. Most people even if they don’t under stand what happening, they start to believe the stereotypes that they have seen around them in media and institutions. I also understand that all socialization is not bad. Without it we would be feral and unintelligible. Also what would people be without socialization. Would we be all individuals or would we not understand what to do, how we should think. Our civilization would not be a civilization. It would be an unruly, uncontrolled mass.
My mask has three different layers. The first layer is representing how people see me on the outside. The second represents the negative stereo types that teens have to face. The third layer is representing my values and words that represent me. I understand now that when I watch a TV show or an movie that it not just entertaning and fun. It is also a agent of socialization.
MAsk project reflection
5. I want to remember all that I have learned about socialization and try to break the harmful cycle of socialization. I also want to remember my thesis statement which is basically that you have to meet someone before you judge them based on appearance. |