Vulnerability of teenagers

In class we've discussed the effect of the media on teenagers, specifically girls. The media has prompted many teenage girls to view the ideal woman as skinny, sexy, and beautiful. Some believe this has caused a significant amount of girls to have low self-esteems and overlook the beauty that lies within themselves. I can relate to this with some of my own personal insight. I read magazines such as Seventeen and so on and I watch shows like America's Next Top Model, etc., where I see images of perfect women. While I know in magazines it's all about the photo shopping aspect and what not, I still think to myself, well I wanna look like that. But at the same time I think about what makes me who I am and I don't want to try to be something I'm not. My dad has told me since I've been maturing that he likes when my hair is natural and not straightened. He says that he likes when I look natural and don't wear make-up. My mom always used to ask me "how does it feel to be such a pretty natural girl?" My parents have made subtle but strong efforts to make sure that I would love myself for who I am and not what I would like to be. Also, my ex-boyfriend would tell me that he likes when I don't wear make-up too because it's a more pure look. Many girls believe they need make-up to look good but in reality that shouldn't matter. When we put make-up on, it's like we're trying to hide ourselves. It helps us feel more confident but we shouldn't need make-up to feel confident.

Another thing I'd like to mention is my dad was in Los Angeles the week before school began. He would call me everyday telling me what celebrities he saw and how he ate lunch next to Jamie Spears and her mom, and how he saw Jessica Simpson crossing the street. His point was that they looked so different in person because they weren't touched up by professionals in every way possible. He saw them how they really are and not how the media shows them to us.

Agents of Socialization

As we read in the article Agents of Socialization, family was the largest aspect to help shape us as individuals and form our personalities. I can relate to this and corroborate this finding as it has completely applied to my life. My family and the experiences in which I have gone through with my family have caused me to attain certain beliefs and values. For example, my parents divorce taught me the strength I need to have in order to get through the roughest times in life. It taught me that life isn't fair and that as long as I keep my head up and take on the challenges I'm faced with, I will get through it. It taught me independence and responsibility because I needed to do a lot for myself at an early age. There are many more values that I've picked up from my childhood that I will forever carry with me through life. Another example of an agent of socialization that has affected me is the workplace. I'm currently a hostess at Kona Grill and when people ask me if I have a job or what I do on the weekends, I may reply with "I'm a hostess at Kona." The workplace is also a chance for me to meet new people and widen my horizons farther than my family and friends. I have work friends. I've formed close bonds with some of my work friends and I enjoy their presence. Also, I'm a girl with a great work ethic so the fact that I have a job helps to bring out that trait in me.

Socialization- Growing Man Metaphor

In class today we discussed the growing man metaphor. As many other things we've discussed have been of interest to me and have opened my eyes, this is another thing to add to the list. We don't usually stop to think about how we have evolved over the years and what factors have shaped who we are. We start out as little babies born into the world with no abilities other than breathing, crying, and going to the bathroom. We're simply helpless, as Mr.Salituro put it. But then, over time we get older and begin to learn new things and become less dependent on our parents. We learn to be self-sufficient and we begin to walk and talk. We become aware of our surroundings and see what it is we need to do in order to survive. Everything around us in one way or another influences us. For example, I grew up in a separated family. That alone has influenced me in many ways. For one, I've inherited the womanly role in the household so I've been doing my own laundry and cleaning since I've been in 3rd grade. I've been forced to mature and grow up a lot quicker than many other kids. I learned what it meant to be responsible and take care of myself. I can almost guarantee that if my parents hadn't gotten divorced, I wouldn't be half as independent and self-sufficient as I am now. The experiences that we go through and the challenges that we face throughout life define who we are. We are affected by everything around us and it's really fascinating how everything comes together.

The Guest Speaker

When Mr.Salituro's former student came in to class and talked about her experience in Kenya, Africa, it really got me wanting to do something like that in the future. Since we've been studying culture for the past couple weeks, it seems like it would be such a cool experience to be able to live in another culture for a good period of time. She talked about how she had to research for a while before her trip to learn about the culture in Africa so that she wouldn't offend them or anything of that sort. Because I want to go into medicine, I think it would be so rewarding for me to go some place like Africa or somewhere extremely different than America. I would be able to help the underprivileged and give to them what I've been so lucky to get my whole life. While I appreciate everything I have been given and while I've learned to not take things for granted, I feel like I'll never truly appreciate the life I've been living until I step outside of our culture and explore one much different. I want to do something that I can learn a lot from and get a sense of what it's like to not be an American for once.

America- How do you see it?

In class we've been examining American culture. We've touched upon what our norms are and how they differentiate from other countries'. I think that it's been some food for thought since most of us have probably never tried to look at our nation from an outsiders point of view. Everything that we've grown accustomed to is normal to us. But from a foreigners point of view, what we do is not normal. For example, in the article we had to read called "Bemused in America", there are scenarios about the norms of our American culture and how one from a different culture may perceive them. We, as Americans, have adapted to the lives that we've been provided with. From advanced technology to designer clothing, we've evolved into a materialistic country. Keeping in mind the "Affluenza" reading, our culture circulates around money. We have become a fast paced, greedy society. Whether that's good or bad is a personal opinion, but it's quite interesting examining our culture and the reputation we have earned.

Affluenza

The article we read about "affluenza" was quite an eye opener to me. I never exactly thought about how America revolves around material items and how inclined we feel to constantly spend our money. It was interesting to see the habit of spending compared to the flu. I think that it's terrible how shopping can become like a sickness or addiction. We've become so accustomed to receiving gifts that it's become normal for us to get presents. It may depend on the person whether they appreciate what they get, but for the most part, we expect to get things on our birthdays or during the holidays and I feel like my generation barely appreciates things anymore. Also, while I was reading the part of the article that mentioned how we often go to malls to waste time, my friend was asking me if I wanted to go to the mall because we were both bored. I was able to make that connection right away and realize how it really is true that we usually spend money out of boredom. The article really elaborated on how materialistic Americans have become. It's unfortunate that our lives revolve around spending money on many things that we don't need because if that wasn't the case, everyone would be a heck of a lot richer and more appreciative of what they have.

A Bronx Tale

The past few days we watched A Bronx Tale. The boy in the movie, who is called C and Collogero is influenced in many ways as he gets older. We see him as an innocent little boy sitting on the stoop of where he resides. For his age, he is exposed to many hard core things and acts of violence that kids at a young age don't typically ever see. He sees what the community he lives in is all about and he learns the ways of the Italian mobsters. His parents try and protect him from the violence but C gets attached to Sunny, the Italian mobster, and can't seem to keep his distance from him. The town he lives in is mostly racist and they don't like when groupies or gangs are on their grounds. Since C comes from a family that doesn't have a lot and because his parents are always trying to protect him, C doesn't do anything more than observe everything that goes on. When C was in the bar when Sunny and his clan beat up those guys, C just watched. He didn't fight because he wasn't taught that way. When C's friends beat up the African American boy, C tried to convince them not to and he didn't take part in it, he just watched it happen. C is the perfect example of a boy who is greatly influenced by the community he was brought up in, yet he still holds his own values and tries to do the right thing.

Obama's Speech

In class we were able to watch President Obama's inspirational speech about education. While listening to Obama speak, there were many things going through my mind. He mentioned that our country depends on us and that the future of our world depends on us. And as I thought more and more about that, it made me realize that it's true. What all of us in our generation do with ourselves now and what we accomplish is going to be what will shape the future. Generations from now, people will be studying our era of time and the innovations we came up with and all of the things that we accomplished. We all might individually think, well I'm just one person, I'm not gonna make a difference in this world or change anything, and in a sense that may be true, but if we all do what we are capable of and work together, we can all make a difference in this world together. We don't know what we can do if we never give it a try. Also, Obama made me think about how if I become a doctor one day, while I might not change the world, I can help better the lives of sick children and people. Our education really is important, and so is being sociologically mindful of that :)

Social Construction

Today in class, we learned about the social construction of reality. We saw an example of this through the experiment Mr. Salituro had one of our classmates do. She had to fill a spoon with saliva and when he asked her to put it back in her mouth, everyone was disgusted by it and she refused. This lesson was really interesting to me because I've never really thought about how we become accustomed to think something like that is gross or how we adapt to think of something in a certain way. The only difference between the saliva is how we thought about it. The saliva was still the same on the spoon, but because we percieved the saliva as spit when it wasn't in her mouth, it was gross to us. It's like when one of my friends asks me to use my chapstick I usually always say no because I don't want their lips touching the same object that mine do. It's my perception of how their germs would be transferred on the chapstick and it grosses me out. But I know a lot of people that don't mind to share chapstick because they don't percieve the sharing the same way as I do. Another example is that I don't like to drink out of glasses in restaraunts without a straw. Some people may never think about the idea that hundreds of people have put their mouths on the side of the glass. Even though they get cleaned, the fact that I think about all the peoples germs that have touched the glass, it makes me grossed out and needy for a straw. It's crazy isn't it!?

Silence

On the first day of class as we all know, we experienced an "awkward silence". It was awkward for us because we expected the teacher to begin talking, but instead he sat down in a desk and we all sat there in silence. The only reason why it felt awkward to us is because we made it feel that way. Or so that's what I believe. I think silence is only awkward if you make it awkward. When I'm just hanging out with my friends and nobody has anything to say someone will blurt out " well this is awkward" when in reality it only became awkward when they said that because they made it feel awkward to the rest of us. I think we need silence sometimes to help us gather our thoughts and think of what to say next. We can constantly be talking unless you are one of those people that never shuts up.

Who am I?

I'm Jennifer Rose Feldman. There are obviously many things that make up the person that I am and things that make me different from everybody else. For one thing, my most unique characteristic is that I'm insanely neat and organized. Everyone that knows me well, knows that I'm very peculiar about certain things and can't stand a mess. They like to say I have obsessive compulsive disorder which I probably do. As far as my personality, I'm friendly and I like to think I'm funny. I didn't have the easiest childhood so with that being said I turned out to be a very independent, self-sufficient girl. I do many things on my own and I rarely ask for help unless it's necessary or if I can't do something on my own. I'm stubborn when it comes to certain things but I'm not difficult to deal with. I live to impress nobody but myself. All I want is to be healthy, happy, and successful. My dream is to become a doctor, specifically a pediatrician, one day. I have a passion for kids and I love helping them. When I want to do something, I put my mind to it and my determination helps me achieve whatever it is. My goal/purpose in life is to help people while also helping myself. I can't stand self-ish, ignorant, or inconsiderate people so I never want to become that way. I work two jobs and I try to do my ultimate best in school. If I can be successful down the road, I'll have accomplished just what I've always wanted. And on a completely different note, One Tree Hill is my absolute favorite show! I have 2 older siblings, a sister that just graduated from college, and a brother that just graduated from high school. I argue with my parents every now and then but I'm thankful for everything they've done for me over the years and if it weren't for them I wouldn't be who I am.