Socialization was a lost though until this mask project started. This mask project has been one of the most useful project I have done. This project consists of many things but involves the creation of a mask and a essay. Above is a picture of my mask, it shows how I have been socialized as a white male in America. The words on one half of my mask show the names people and myself are called for being growing up white, the other half shows the names for being a male. the red, white, and blue show how I have been socialized in America and the black and white stripes show equality between the race. Below is my essay and my project reflection.
David Bygel
Growing Up as a White Male
Growing up we are all socialized to be the way we are today. Socialization is the process of inheriting norms, values, and much more. It is how we learn and use the social skills we do today, whether we are shy or not. Socialization consists of seven identity categories - religion, gender, race, social class, sexual orientation, ability/disability, and age.Growing up being a white male kid I have been socialized to be tough, don’t be gay, and because I’m white to get good grades.
When we are young we are all socialized in different ways gender is a big one. Gender has been socializing me, for example, when I was a kid if my brother were to scare me with the “monkey mask” a scary mask of a evil monkey and I was to cry, he would tell me to man up or to not cry like a girl. When we are all young whether you are male or female we all learn that pink is a girl color and that blue is more of a male color. Why is this you ask? Some people think these gender norms reflect some biological difference between the sexes. Others think it is culturally based. According to livescience decades of research was done by the university of Maryland. Jo Paolettie a student at the university suggests that, “there was no gender-color symbolism that held true anywhere.” The research done in Maryland shows that this symbolism didn’t start showing up until the the 1950s, that baby books, articles, invitations, and announcements from the early 1900s indicate that pink was just as likely to be associated with boys as it was with girls. From my past experiences when I was young if a male were to like pink they were called a girl, wimp, or unmanly. Men are all stereotyped to be tough and strong and even as a male these gender norms can be very harmful to people and if we don’t take action then what would America be.
Man up, don’t cry, don’t be a girl, and much more are all things most of us men have been called. As we age a stereotype for men is that we get tougher, and a stereotype for women is they are supposed to stay home and clean, or take care of the kids. We often grow up to be like this. Cliff Notes states, “These sorts of stereotypes can prove harmful; they can stifle individual expression and creativity, as well as hinder personal and professional growth.” Most people have all heard someone say, “thats so gay”or have been called or have seen someone be called gay when they aren’t for doing something unmanly or girly, this word can be harmful to not only the people who aren’t gay but also to people that are. Just like most other agents of socialization gender especially can be targets as well and can hurt america if we don’t act on it.
Growing up as a white kid in America I have seen and heard most of the stereotypes, from how white kids are rich, I am certainly not rich nor poor and I have been socialized to not be greedy and want everything. Some of these stereotypes can be harmful and could be considered racist. Being a white male living in America I have witnessed plenty of racism, not to point like others have but when people are called things that are very harmful, it can cause people to bad things to themselves or others. What does this make America look like? In our daily interactions with news and pop culture as well as anti-racist movements and protests, Eternity Martis a Huffington Post writer states, “Black men become the representation of violence in America.” Where does this come from? The NAACP shows that African American people are incarcerated almost six time more than white people are. Could this be because people of color are more likely to be arrested than whites. This by itself shows that racism in America is still here and in effect. For no reason should a black man be arrested if he did the same thing as the white person who didn’t get arrested. Even though during my life I have never been called such names, they can be very harmful especially if you come from such background. The racism in America even though it’s getting better slowly it is still in effect causing bad thing happening to good people such as Michael Brown, a young black man that was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The thing that sparked riots and a bunch of outrage was that witnesses say he had his hands up when Darren pointed his gun. Instead of cuffing him he decided to put six shots into Brown. Even if he didn’t have his hands up, if a police officer is to fire, unless the target is firing back, the police officer should not shoot to kill. Six shots is sure not just to take down, this was much more. After hearing this myself made me think about myself. Growing up as a white kid I have been socialized to get good grades and have respect for others.
When we think of how we grew up and usually think of our best and even worst memories. These memories are usually created while we are being socialized by these 7 identity categories such as being called a girl after you fell on the concrete at school and cried, or if its for being called called a name for being a certain race. These things need to be noticed and not just thought about but also taken into action. Kids can still be socialized in good ways as long as they can be themselves without being called names. In conclusion, if we can all just be our race, be our gender, and all be ourselves without being harmed then we can finally enjoy who we are.
My mask represents race and gender in four different ways. On two sides of the mask, one side representing race the other, gender there are words and names that people are called depending on that category. right down the middle is a long stripe painted black and white this represents the equality between races.
Project Reflection:
Mask: What are you most proud of about your mask? Why?
For our mask project we had to create a mask that fit our faces ,for my mask one of the things I am most proud of is the refinement I put into it. I started off just with a simple mask painted one side red one side blue one of the sides represented race the other, gender. After that I put on words the sides that people are called depending on race and gender. But I wasn’t satisfied so on the black strip down the middle deciding the blue from red i painted it half white to show equality between the races.
Quote: Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
The racism in America even though it’s getting better slowly it is still in effect causing bad thing happening to good people such as Michael Brown, a young black man that was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The thing that sparked riots and a bunch of outrage was that witnesses say he had his hands up when Darren pointed his gun. Instead of cuffing him he decided to put six shots into Brown. I like this section of my essay a lot because I can really make a good argument off of it and I really just like the way it flows. This sentence is a proud piece of my essay.
Biggest Take-away: What will you remember from this project? Why?
Probably one of the biggest thing I will take away from this project is the way I think of others and the way I see others. The next time I see someone with glasses I will not think of them as a nerd or see them as “four eyed.” This whole socialization project really made me think of how these sort of names can hurt and cause people to wear their masks. I definitely feel this is the biggest thing I will take away from this project.
Habit of Heart and Mind: Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? Why do you need to improve and how that Habit of Heart and Mind will help you?
I feel that advocacy is the biggest habit I need to work on. In this last project I think my essay could’ve been a lot better if I had used advocacy and asked about how I could’ve fixed my essay and how I could make it better. Advocacy will help me in the future for sure. I think this because even when I get peer critiques it helps a lot.