Tough guise

Two weeks ago in sociology we watched a video about how boys and men think they have to be tough in order to be accepted in society. From such a young age boys are introduced to toys and products that are very masculine, because if you were seen with dolls you were considered "girly" or "gay". These stereotype of genders have been going on for many years. If we want to change that it wouldn't happen right away, it would take years to change the overall images what is considered male and female. This all shows just how much media truely effects us as people. If you aren't doing what's advertised you're considered "different". Media shapes us the day we are born and as of now it's almost uncontrollable.

Media's Effect on Society

This week in sociology we watched a couple different videos about how media, such as television can shape the way we think. I thought it was ironic that we were watching a movie on tv that talks about how we watch too much tv, which was brought up in sociology as well. The show talked about how company's were making toys for little children based off tv shows or movies that they watched, such as ninja turtles, Spiderman, transformers etc. It also stated how girls from a young age were starting to get the impression that the only way you could ever be pretty was to be skinny. We read something off of sal's blog that said women in Fiji thought being big and round was considered beautiful, but after shows like 90210 came out, girls from Fiji claimed they had purged at least once to try to lose weight. We don't realize how much media effects us. Especially from such a young age, it almost brainwashes us right away. The show we watched also talked about how people who create commercials, measure the amount of times children blink during certain commercials. They aim to have children not be able to blink at all because they're so mesmerized by what they're watching. There are so many ways media shapes us, but since they start at a young age, we hardly notice.

Socialization Matters

This week in Sociology we talked about how socialization was just as important if not more than anything else with growing and developing. We watched an Oprah episode about this 6 year old child who was found neglected in a room for most of her life with the skills of a 6 month old infant because nobody had taught her how to do any of that. Her mom barely fed her and pretty much left her in there to die. When child services found her, she was wearing a soiled diper, with no other clothes, and insect infested hair. They took her out of there immediately and brought her into their care. A lovely family chose to adopt her, but little did they know how underdeveloped she really was. She couldn't walk, talk, feed herself, dress herself, and do all the normal things a 6 year old child should be doing. Just this case alone shows how much other people really effect our lives, and help us to develop. It's not just our brain or our genes that make us who we are but the people surrounding us as well. I'm so thankful for the family I have, and I wouldn't do anything to change that.

The Nothing Assignment

I never had my opportunity to blog about the nothing assignment we had to do a couple weeks ago, so I thought better late than never. I chose to do my nothing assignment at home just around my family, because to be honest I was way to nervous to be doing it in front of other people. I felt extremely uncomfortable while doing it, but I think I thought it was worse than it actually was. My family was too zoned out to really notice. My mind kept wandering, and I tried to get it to stop but it was almost physically impossible to do. For a couple minutes I was able to actually focus on the assignment, but then other things would come to mind and I would forget that I wasn't allowed to do that. Overall, I think this assignment was something fun and interesting to do. It was definitely different than any other homework assignment I've gotten. It was a cool experience all in all.

Tuesdays With Morrie

The week before spring break in class we watched the movie, Tuesdays With Morrie, about how an older man named Morrie was diagnosed with a terrible illness that started by paralyzing his feet and slowly moved up his body. He always had a positive outlook on life, even in the toughest times of his disease. The story is about a man named Mitch who used to have Morrie as his coach back in high school. They shared a very special bond. So when Mitch found out about Morrie's illness he decided to give him a visit since he hadn't seen him since he graduated. He ended up visiting him every Tuesday and grew a very special bond. At the end of the movie, Morrie ended up passing away. This movie taught me a lot about how no matter what the circumstances I should live everyday like it's my last because you never know what may happen a day, week, month, or year from now. This movie definitely taught me a lesson about life, and I was definitely able to connect emotionally to this movie.