StudyingAmerica

Differences and Similarities in 6 Years Time

Recently on November 11th, I visited my Middle School, Hillsdale Middle, in almost the first time in 6 years. It was a riveting experience because I had to help my sister and her classmates as I volunteered, as well as visited old teachers. What I noticed that was very interesting was that, their are many similarities for my time in middle school and the times that I see these kids today. What I noticed was that their was some slight difference in attitude. It seemed that all the kids that I had come across with seemed to act older then they were. That seemed to be the new theme of their generation, try to act older. But there was so much segregation between boys and girls, and I remember that being a big specific thing when I was in middle school as well. They still were little kids at heart because many of the boys and girls seemed to be segregated, and gender was definitely a large factor. I noticed that girls and boys seemed to stay away from each other, even when trying to work with each other in class. They tried to keep their distance which was very interesting. But there were always that select group that was comfortable and that this whole factor really didn't apply to them. But overall it was an interesting experience and I was glad to visit and see how things have changed in 6 years.

Aspects of Femininity

    Women use their clothing as an extension of their personalities in order to portray specific aspects of femininity. During my visit to Regal Cinema, I observed a couple of twenty-somethings having lunch. The girl was dressed in a modest, cream colored blouse, a structured jacket in navy, and a pair of dark jeans. Her boyfriend was wearing a plaid button down and jeans. She spoke quietly, yet lively. This could be seen by the laughter which her speech would evoke. Also, she publicly displayed her affection very minimally. I took notice of a group of six jewelry store employees, one was female, and the rest were male.  The male employees would address each other as a group and laugh and joke all together, but the female employee would address each male individually. She would seductively, touch their hands, while looking into their eyes and smiling. She wore a very fitted white blouse, a black bra, a skin tight, charcoal miniskirt, black pumps, and a belt under her chest to accentuate her breasts. Both of these women were emulating feminine gender roles. The flirtatious girl wore the hat of the "bad girl" or a "harlot", while the other would have been considered a "good girl". Still, women have portrayed their stereotypical roles for centuries. 19th century Harlots would use their dress to draw attention to themselves. They would wear bells on their ankles, and brightly colored, loud clothing, while the clothing worn by other women of that time period was used to portray the image of a domestic goddess. They used corsets to cinch their waists, hoop skirts to create an hourglass figure which referenced their fertility, and aprons to show the domesticity.

Family Dynamics

  Family dynamics in a America in 2009 are different between different races. Latino men seem more engaged with their children than Anglo men. During my time at Holiday Park, I observed different interactions between parents of different races and their children. I noticed that the white parents would hardly take notice of their children. In fact, it seemed most of them were more concerned with their cell phones, than their kids. A White mother sat and watched her six year old play on the jungle-gym, looking bored and uninterested. The only White father at the park that day opted to spend his daughter's play time eyeballing a female jogger and chatting on the phone instead of taking advantage of the time he could have been spending with his little girl. The complete opposite was true for a young Hispanic father who spent the day running around playing football and soccer with his two young boys. This could be a result of the strong culture that continues to bind Hispanics together while White families are becoming less and less interactive on that intimate family level.  It seems White people have acted similarly for centuries. This can be seen by comparing the family dynamics of the English Europeans who came to settle in America and the Native Americans who were already living here. The Europeans wanted to have their own private estates where one man would have many acres of his own land.The Natives, however, could have had all the land they wanted yet they still chose to live close together in communal living spaces.

Trip to the Charger Game
On Monday Night I went to the Charger game, against the Broncos, and the first thing I noticed about our culture is how we disrespect. Yes, rooting for your favorite team has been America’s Pastime, but the way some individuals go about it the wrong way. This greatly shows how some of us look at gender and race in America. Most of the fans said many racist things to each other, swearing, and saying an insurmountable collections of things that could hurt someone with verbal abuse. Obviously I wasn't affected by it, but it made me connect to how slaves, and African-Americans must have felt when they were ridiculed, how hurt they must have been to get smashed with words, and even physical abuse that really effected them in the long run. I should have said something, but I didn't want to take part in what they were doing and bother them. I just observed and notice that even their body language exalted racism and the way they spoke to some woman that walked by, whistling and making them all uncomfortable. I just observed is all, and I noticed that our society has been part of an ecosystem of race and gender discriminations, and thats how its going to be for a long time ahead into our future as well.

Visit to Sonoma

The one thing that I greatly noticed when I visited Sonoma, was the differences in people, language, music, and the atmosphere in general. What this tells me about America, and how this connects to history is that our society generally tends to evolve as the people around them evolve. What this shows is that America’s culture tends to feed of the people and how we act. When only visiting a place about 800 miles away, I noticed the major differences in culture in Northern California compared to San Diego. This shows that there are vast differences all around America and shows that cultures are often varied throughout or society. I noticed that many of the language use that took part up there, confused me and relatively made me uncomfortable in a place that I wasn't used to. In general this shows me that America has greatly evolved over time, and shows that our language, or atmosphere connects to how our culture in different places tend to vary. This connects to all the themes, race, gender, language, etc. Just noticing the differences when traveling to Sonoma made me realize that people create different worlds around them based on where they live. This makes them different people then in a place that you are often used to, which created an amazing experience.

Majority Holds Power

America is known as a melting pot filled with diverse ethnicities and cultures; however, despite the diversity, individuals tend to associate with people of their own ethnicity.  The Kindergarteners were aware of their race and showed the same tendencies and behaviors Americans tend to carry in their adult lives.  There are several ethnicities in the classroom- most of the students white, Mexican, and African American.  Because the white children outnumber the others, they tend to take charge and control the other students.  Typically in social situations, the dominant race in place holds the power.  In one study group, there are two African American girls and one white but because the white students hold the majority in the classroom, the white girl directs the other two.  One can see this in neighborhoods, the ethnic group that holds the highest number of people generally takes charge and controls the activities held.  For example, in my neighborhood Christmas is noticeably celebrated by activities for children to participate in and parties while the other religious holidays are ignored.  There is only one Mexican boy in the class and he keeps to himself, he does not have any friends in the classroom and keeps quiet.  When the whites came to the new land, the Native Americans kept to themselves because they did not want to assimilate with the whites.  The whites took over the land because they were able to dominate the natives.  Though America prides itself on equality, various ethnicities want to be the best and dominate the rest.

Confidence Comes with Status

Economic status plays a role in the behaviors of American residents of all ages, verifying America pushes its society members to rise to the top of the social class latter.  Analyzing the interactions of the Kindergarteners and First grade students, it was apparent that the children were unconsciously aware of their social class.  Race played a role the divisions as well, the white students tended to be more privileged than the students of other ethnicities.  Looking at the clothes worn and the backpacks carried, the difference in class groups was noticeable.  Upper-class children wore name brand clothing, such as “GAP” and “South Pole” and had newer backpacks.  The wealthier students seemed to be more dominant and often participated more often than the other students.  These trends can be seen throughout the lives of Americans, young and old.  For example, wealthier Americans are presented more opportunities, leading to further success which tends to produce a higher confidence level.  Tracing back to when European settlers came to America, it was commonly believed among the race that they were superior to the Native Americans because they were a wealthier and more developed people.  Because they had more money, they were confident they could take over the new land easily and the Native Americans would conform to their culture.  Confidence comes with class in America due to the common goal to achieve economic success.

Kindergarteners and Gender Roles

Working at an elementary school with Kindergarteners and first grade students, it became evident that the gender roles that people generally carry with them throughout life in America have already set in the young children I observed.  The girls tended to volunteer more for class activities; however, the boys spoke louder than the girls, which can be seen in adult life as well.  For example, in a group discussion, men usually are the dominant speakers because they take control and speak louder.  When it was time to read in small groups with me outside, the girls were more inclined to read first.  Girls read and took their time, sounding out the words whereas the boys rushed through, reading the sentences incorrectly and skipping words all together.  As I asked one boy to read the sentence over again, slowly, he responded “oh I knew that word, I just forgot.”  If a girl had trouble with a word, the boys would whisper it to hurry the process along instead of waiting for their classmate to sound it out and get it on their own.  Girls in the classroom took more time with their work as well; they wanted examples and reassurance, while the boys completed their tasks quickly and efficiently.  These roles have been apparent in American history from the beginning of time; they can be seen in the play The Indian Princess which portrayed women to be inferior and generally more accepting throughout the story by making the Princess willing to assimilate to the European culture.  Most of the behaviors I observed carried a pattern that has been seen throughout history in America, males dominant and females willing to cooperate.

To disrobe or not to disrobe?

Tamarack beach explores a woman’s gender and sexuality as a social trap in America. At Tamarack beach the women there regardless of age are wearing a bikini or something similar and without a doubt something revealing. The more skin being shown at Tamarack reflects on the amount of lurking eyes from males and even females. The women look and judge every other female competitors outfit as if they were on stage being given a rank for epidermal friendliness. And when looking closely at the reactions of every new female addition to Tamarack a distinct but covert scowl given away only by the slightest arching of the brows is an indicator for disapproval of an unwanted outfit or perhaps jealousy of a better one or body for that matter. In other words females at Tamarack dress not for themselves but for social approval and as a result it‘s become competitive. However, unlike today’s skimpy apparel, women clothing styles of early America consisted of hoopskirts, chemises, and corsets. Although corsets were tight they were not like today’s counterparts which are smaller and usually only seen in people’s sexual desires. This casual clothing style of the past isn’t destroyed completely in today’s attire but has been transformed into a sexual outfit for females but worn for males. Proving that females and the clothes they wear are just objects for the male audience who undoubtedly yield the responsibility for creation of the ideal American woman. It seems that with every year of American history is another layer being taken off of women and more social pressure. Every woman going to the beach or any beach for that matter is expected to have a bikini on even if they prefer another kind of bathing suit. Social pressure from clothing and sexually oriented magazines along with television embed the ideal American woman at the beach as someone wearing revealing outfits and representing a fit slender body. This kind of pressure manifests itself in American women, that, when at the beach it is a requirement to have the unmatched characteristics of a slender body with augmented breasts and a spherical behind. Although most women aren’t genetically built with those qualities, American beaches such as Tamarack beach uphold this perceived notion of women. This system of ideal women and pressurized gender clothing leaves a gap between those that are luckily enough to maintain the body and outfit to those who aren’t capable. Leaving the incapable to social ridicule while the lucky few bathe in America’s ideal glory. Ironically obtaining these bodies is usually unhealthy and because of male domination in the clothing industry to demand more skin women in America are pressured to do so or remain to most men, social flaws.

Child Indoctrination

    Recently attending a local church service, I noticed the amount of children present and how child indoctrination into any religion has been an ongoing dilemma in early America history as well as today. Observing the children, like any child, these children didn’t want to be here and probably were forced to attend by their parents. Some tried to escape the ongoing preaching by sneaking a game via game boy or texting on their phone while others weren’t so lucky. Early America children didn’t have these diversions from boredom like today’s technology and were incapable to enjoy the freedom of independent thought because their families tradition was that particular religion, therefore since it was their families it was theirs-theirs to pass down to their child and so on. Family life in America has differed because of the increasing technology and laws passed since then. Today people aren’t so afraid to stray away from their fixed family beliefs systems and choose what they believe is right all while successfully obtaining independent thoughts, not family thoughts. Early American religion was a much bigger influencing device on the lifestyle of the family than it is today but even though religion and family life aren’t as strictly enforced in the household doesn’t mean today’s America doesn’t follow the same principle of child indoctrination. Simply bringing a child to church, like I witnessed, is indoctrinating them into that particular religion without letting them explore other belief systems. Parents in America want their children to believe what they believe so they can have a pyramid effect on their family tradition and religious views. Although preserving a family tradition such as religion isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in order for it to work, child indoctrination must be accomplished and therefore leaving children in America narrow minded and usually hindered of independent thoughts because of it.