And the title of the post is actually what the post is about... shocking I know. I apologize for the tardiness of the post, but my computer has been rather hateful the past few days. In any case, I post this returning from work at lovely Barnes and Noble.
Let's start with language and the five or so floating around in my head. I am enrolled in Spanish, speak English, am teaching myself French and Japonese(with a dabbling in Romanian- I can carry pleasantries), and learning Russian from a CD and some friends. That's a mouthful, eh? I'd like to note the similarities though and if I can't relate them to sociology, at least to psychology. It seems many ideas are communicated similarly around Europe. For example milk tends to sound like something else soft or smooth on the tongue like leche or creme. Across the pacific, I don't even know how to say milk, but I imagine it must be the same as the way the human brain accepts things tends to be based on characteristics of said object that don't change. Daniel Tammet, an autistic man, suggest a similar phenomena in his book Born on a Blue Day, so everyone run out and read that. Seriously, it's worth it. So that's language.
Now for the fun part that DOES fit directly into what we are covering in class. First I would like to state I feel more and more priveleged to attend Stevenson as I take this class. Especially this unit about gender and societal roles, I can finally step back and note what an INCREDIBLY tolerant and diverse culture our school has. However, I have also noticed something like subliminal bullying, where it's amongst friends. I've never seen anything like the gay-baiting the article explains from some bullies, but I have seen it in groups of friends and I believe that makes it almost worse. In this setting, it's not initially thought of as damaging and it takes some sub-conscious effect that is more lasting. So I don't mean to preach never toss an insult or always watch your tongue so carefully you don't have anything left to say, but I do think we should all think. Even if we know the person won't be offended, we don't know what chemicals they have enough or too little of in their heads and we could be digging our own graves. Of course that's too morbid. Let's talk gender in the context of society as a whole. I did not see a single magazine at my place of employment with anyone "normal" on the cover. Always rich people, famous people, or animals/computers. I don't think that bodes well for society when we lose interest in what is and just dream about what other people have. Sure riches and glory are worth trying to get(I mean who doesn't want to be the next Alexander the Great, Nero, Napoleon, Hitler, Mao, or Brad Pitt?), but they're not obtained by the current mindset our society fosters: one of looking at others before oneself. Honestly people, let's look at me for an example. I have a strong jaw, several facial blemishes, an anarchonistic hair style, and some preppy things in my wardrobe. I get A's, B's, C's, have a girlfriend, hang out with some unique folks, and don't drive a car even though I've had my license for about four months. I also make $30ish every time I'm employed and I watch opera. Now the fact I could go on should prove we, normal people, are more interesting than our preconceived ideas about Demi Moore or Orlando Bloom. Orlando Bloom has a beard, was in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, and... And Demi Moore was in Charlie's Angels and married Ashton Kutcher... and? At least know everything about them to a creepy level before you make them things to live up to. Oh but they're successful! Right... so random strangers who know nothing about them drool at the chance to shake their hands and they have enough money they could cure AIDS, fix the national debt in a few years, and keep themselves warm with a fire made of 20's. That is indeed success. But why we keep slamming these impossibilities down upon ourselves is the curious part. Is human nature so against itself at every turn that we just love being thwarted? Are we "Only Happy When it Rains"?(I'm listening to Garbage as I post this, see? More "normal" details). Insight welcome, I think I'm losing my track here. Good night!
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Interesting post - as you rambled on (:-) you touched on a number of issues that the magazine rack at B&N reveals. Our culture not only socializes us to believe in the gender roles that we discussed, but we also promote capitalism and consumption as a way of life and a symbol of success, and we promote individualism and narcissism as a value as well. So I think you strayed away from gender but you stumbled onto the socialization process in America at work.
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