Sociology Identity Mask and Essay
We studied sociology for about 5 weeks in Mr. Fisher's class. We had the opportunity to learn a lot about it and to watch videos and hear stories about people that have been socialized in different ways. For example we learned about "feral children" these are children that at a young age were forced to live out by themselves only around animals. They started to act like the animals they were living around and would make the same noises and movements as them. An example is a girl named (sfb) Her parents kicked her out of the house at a very young age and she was forced to live with the dogs out in her backyard. These dogs raised her and became her family. When she was around 12 years old, some people found her and took her away from that situation. She was runing like a dog, eating what the dogs ate, and would bark like a dog and have the same feriousouse moments as dogs sometimes do. Now, she is living in a place specially for children like her and is able to talk now and comunicate in a positive way. This is one of the stories and situations we studied to better understand sociology and how it can influence people so drasticly. However, we did study sociology of humans and the human nature, and what is accepted in todays societys around the world. To better understand this we did the identity mask and essay project, which I have posted below.
Mask Essay
A Woman’s Image
Women have been socialized in good and bad ways. When you look at the images the world has created for women, you see how we are pretty much destroying ourselves to get this image of beauty that the media tells us we should have. this is probably the worst part of socialization for women, and the one thats talked about most and therefore paid the most attention to. Even though there are bad socialization pieces in the world, there are also good pieces of socialization. Some girls and women are encouraged to be active, exercise and eat healthy rather than not at all. This is very good because it shows that some of us care about our bodies, and know that being thin doesn't always mean not being healthy.
I have developed my mask around this topic. I used two different masks to show the bad, and the good parts of socialization for women. These two are collaged with a lot of pictures and words to show how everything about how good and bad socialization fits together. The top mask is how women have been socialized in a bad way, that was put on the top to show how women might be coming across as, and how it might be hard for them to get rid of the mask on top to show the bottom mask. This one is healthy and beautiful just the way she is, and everyone, will respect her more for being herself, not for being fake.
For the top layer of my mask, I used a lot of symbols and pictures such as, the Facebook sign, a dollar bill, and a picture of a cellphone. I used these to represent what people say a woman should have to live up to ‘the standards’. They could be anything from wearing whatever is in style that day, doing your hair right, having face book, a cellphone, or a lot of money, or anything else that agent groups might be privileged to have or get, and that target groups might not have therefore being the target. An agent group is a group or ‘social class’ that has the better things, or, inmost cases, is more privileged that others that might be in the target group. A few examples of an agent group might be; having white skin instead of dark, having a lot of money, being a man rather than a woman, or in this particular case, it might be being pretty or not.
I have put an eye on my mask to show how a woman might be seen in the world or how she sees the world. A woman that is considered beautiful in today’s society might see the world as a good place, and be seen by the world as of a higher status because of how she looks and how people “respect” her more because of that. On the other hand, a girl who does not live up to ‘the standards’ might see the world as cruel and unfair and be seen as an outsider because she doesn’t look like the girl in the poster.
I was surfing the internet last night and an image popped up saying ”loose weight in just 30 days! If your thinner, your happier!!” Some women might believe that this is true and be doing everything possible to look good and trying to accomplish this happiness that will never truly come to them by looking beautiful. Yes, it might make people look at you in a good way and you might have more friends, but then in the end, whats a friend that is only your friend because of the way you look? I have found in my life that the only thing or one that can fill that gap, is God. I used to try to look as good as possible all the time because I thought that no one would like me if I didn't look as good as I could. Then I found out that God loves me and always will no matter what I look like! I’m not saying that trying to look good all the time is a bad thing. In my personal experience it makes me feel better to look as good as I can make myself look. I’m only trying to say that I know that God loves me more than anyone else, and I don’t have to look beautiful to get that perfect love.
I’ve put pictures of models and of women who are considered beautiful in today’s society, along with pictures of perfect hair and nails. These show what the world is turning women into. People are putting pictures of photo shopped women in magazines and on big signs, and are telling girls that this is what they should look like, when really these women don’t even exist. Girls are becoming anorexic to look like that ‘one girl in that one music video’ that she considered beautiful with her legs so thin that she could barely walk. Or, they are using chemicals to dissolve layers of their faces to have perfect skin, and almost killing themselves to look like this impossible image of beauty that the world has created. Some girls feel as if they can’t accomplish this beauty and might be turning to alcohol or drugs to maybe fill in that gap that they think they have in their lives, when really again they are killing themselves because they can’t accomplish the impossible image of a woman in today’s society. I’ve known some girls that regularly spend three to five hours just on makeup or hair every morning and skip breakfast and lunch so they can feel good about themselves, and maybe come close to that girl in the movie they saw last night, that had an eating disorder, and re-did her make-up completely for every clip she acted in.
The words acceptance, popular, and happy were put on the mask to show what everyone tells women there life will be like if they look beautiful or have and do the right things, they say that we will be happy if we kill ourselves to look beautiful or the phrase “beauty hurts” that girls use a lot, but it doesn’t just hurt us physically, it can hurt us mentally as well. Girls can always be reaching for the goal of beauty that doesn’t exist unless they are a model that has a million layers of a makeup on and have been altered by Photoshop to get the perfect look that is impossible for women to achieve.
As the bottom layer of my mask I have things to symbolize the good or better part of socialization. How girls are being healthy, not anorexic to look good, and are enjoying their free life without spending all this time calculating how many calories they ate that day.
One example is how, in Durango specifically, along with other places around the world, women are encouraged to exercise and be active all the time. We might go mountain biking or running and that is healthy for us. I have noticed that people look at us as healthy and strong and as someone who cares about themselves, if they do take the time to be healthy and exercise.
Women have been socialized in good and bad ways. When you look at the images the world has created for women, you see how we are pretty much destroying ourselves to get this image of beauty that the media tells us we should have. this is probably the worst part of socialization for women, and the one thats talked about most and therefore paid the most attention to. Even though there are bad socialization pieces in the world, there are also good pieces of socialization. Some girls and women are encouraged to be active, exercise and eat healthy rather than not at all. This is very good because it shows that some of us care about our bodies, and know that being thin doesn't always mean not being healthy.
I have developed my mask around this topic. I used two different masks to show the bad, and the good parts of socialization for women. These two are collaged with a lot of pictures and words to show how everything about how good and bad socialization fits together. The top mask is how women have been socialized in a bad way, that was put on the top to show how women might be coming across as, and how it might be hard for them to get rid of the mask on top to show the bottom mask. This one is healthy and beautiful just the way she is, and everyone, will respect her more for being herself, not for being fake.
For the top layer of my mask, I used a lot of symbols and pictures such as, the Facebook sign, a dollar bill, and a picture of a cellphone. I used these to represent what people say a woman should have to live up to ‘the standards’. They could be anything from wearing whatever is in style that day, doing your hair right, having face book, a cellphone, or a lot of money, or anything else that agent groups might be privileged to have or get, and that target groups might not have therefore being the target. An agent group is a group or ‘social class’ that has the better things, or, inmost cases, is more privileged that others that might be in the target group. A few examples of an agent group might be; having white skin instead of dark, having a lot of money, being a man rather than a woman, or in this particular case, it might be being pretty or not.
I have put an eye on my mask to show how a woman might be seen in the world or how she sees the world. A woman that is considered beautiful in today’s society might see the world as a good place, and be seen by the world as of a higher status because of how she looks and how people “respect” her more because of that. On the other hand, a girl who does not live up to ‘the standards’ might see the world as cruel and unfair and be seen as an outsider because she doesn’t look like the girl in the poster.
I was surfing the internet last night and an image popped up saying ”loose weight in just 30 days! If your thinner, your happier!!” Some women might believe that this is true and be doing everything possible to look good and trying to accomplish this happiness that will never truly come to them by looking beautiful. Yes, it might make people look at you in a good way and you might have more friends, but then in the end, whats a friend that is only your friend because of the way you look? I have found in my life that the only thing or one that can fill that gap, is God. I used to try to look as good as possible all the time because I thought that no one would like me if I didn't look as good as I could. Then I found out that God loves me and always will no matter what I look like! I’m not saying that trying to look good all the time is a bad thing. In my personal experience it makes me feel better to look as good as I can make myself look. I’m only trying to say that I know that God loves me more than anyone else, and I don’t have to look beautiful to get that perfect love.
I’ve put pictures of models and of women who are considered beautiful in today’s society, along with pictures of perfect hair and nails. These show what the world is turning women into. People are putting pictures of photo shopped women in magazines and on big signs, and are telling girls that this is what they should look like, when really these women don’t even exist. Girls are becoming anorexic to look like that ‘one girl in that one music video’ that she considered beautiful with her legs so thin that she could barely walk. Or, they are using chemicals to dissolve layers of their faces to have perfect skin, and almost killing themselves to look like this impossible image of beauty that the world has created. Some girls feel as if they can’t accomplish this beauty and might be turning to alcohol or drugs to maybe fill in that gap that they think they have in their lives, when really again they are killing themselves because they can’t accomplish the impossible image of a woman in today’s society. I’ve known some girls that regularly spend three to five hours just on makeup or hair every morning and skip breakfast and lunch so they can feel good about themselves, and maybe come close to that girl in the movie they saw last night, that had an eating disorder, and re-did her make-up completely for every clip she acted in.
The words acceptance, popular, and happy were put on the mask to show what everyone tells women there life will be like if they look beautiful or have and do the right things, they say that we will be happy if we kill ourselves to look beautiful or the phrase “beauty hurts” that girls use a lot, but it doesn’t just hurt us physically, it can hurt us mentally as well. Girls can always be reaching for the goal of beauty that doesn’t exist unless they are a model that has a million layers of a makeup on and have been altered by Photoshop to get the perfect look that is impossible for women to achieve.
As the bottom layer of my mask I have things to symbolize the good or better part of socialization. How girls are being healthy, not anorexic to look good, and are enjoying their free life without spending all this time calculating how many calories they ate that day.
One example is how, in Durango specifically, along with other places around the world, women are encouraged to exercise and be active all the time. We might go mountain biking or running and that is healthy for us. I have noticed that people look at us as healthy and strong and as someone who cares about themselves, if they do take the time to be healthy and exercise.