Category: Discussion 7

While reflecting on the readings on Institutions that I have covered during this semester, I have discovered that there is a lot I have acquired regarding the subject gender in institutions. For this particular discussion, I will focus on the institution of marriage which I believe has more than enough artifacts to review for this study. Artifacts in this institution come in great varieties, even though they are all products of the human actions that are meant to serve certain purposes. However, for this study, I will mainly center on the religious wedding ceremony, between man and woman, as well as between gay couples as an artifact that would provide a broad analysis of the interpretation of gender. Likewise, the study will apply three main concepts that I have picked up from the readings of this semester; gender roles, gender inequality and gender differences.

Looking at the concepts mentioned above, I believe that they provide an excellent reflection of the artifact that will be analyzed in the study. While gender roles are the respective behaviors acquired by someone because of their gender, gender inequality is the practice of treating men and women differently because of their gender and gender differences are the obvious dissimilarities between men and women. The three concepts do not just provide an opportunity to learn through reflection, but also enhance the insights and meaning acquired from the subject. These concepts combined with certain religious wedding traditions and practices uncover the differences between same-sex and heterosexual relationships, how the nature of weddings somewhat define gender stereotyping and the topic of traditional gender expectations. In other words, these concepts form a strong foundation for the research of this particular study.

In conclusion, I believe it is extremely important to understand the difference in sex and gender for the better of society. sex tends to relate to biological differences. There is a lot of people that has a binary gender perspective assumes that only men and women exist, obscuring gender diversity and erasing the existence of people who do not identify as men or women. Furthermore, this view fails to account for human intervention. As human beings, we have an impact on the social arrangements of society. This has led to many issues in society when it comes to equality for people that identify differently. Oppression and discrimination of normal people toward people that identify as differently than heterosexual has led to many issues in society when it comes to equality for groups that identify differently. It is unfortunate for the assaults and crimes that are targeted against the LGBTQ community. Marriage recently started to be legalized for people of the same sex in some places around the world. We all need to come together and accept that there is also, people that have different identities and feel different from the sex they are born.

 

 

 

My Institutional Artifact Project, I would like to analyze family as the primary social institution that influences society, communities, and individuals at large; as well as the communication between parents and their children. Everything does, in fact, begin in a household and those in that household learn all the emotions, basic needs, morals, ethics, etc., which begins with their early environment. We shouldn’t promote what a “normal” family looks like or is because not every family is the same, everyone has their own ideas of how or what a family should look or represent like but, that does not mean another family should discredit or even has the right to discredit, the other family for what they look like and who they’re composed of. As an example take a child with two father, they would see that as normal but if they were to say I have two dads, another person would perceive it as odd, strange or wrong, and that is the mindset that society needs to let go of; the world is changing and we as people keep evolving.

This of course directs me to the communication between family/parent and child(ren). In any relationship whether romantical or parental, communication is important but, having that communication between a parent/family and child(ren) is the most important relationship someone can have. A child, should feel comfortable in their own home and also comfortable with their parents to where they can tell them anything that is happening to them and whats going on in their mind.

I will be focusing on gender roles. Men are always seen as the dominant person, the head of the household meanwhile women are expected to depend on men and be a stay at home wife who only enjoys the money  and socializes with friends.

The artifact for analysis that I will be using is the show “F.R.I.E.N.D.S”. I will mainly be focusing on Season 1 and a little on Season 8. I will be focusing on how Rachel was someone who did not work, was not independent and who was going to marry Barry simply because he was a professional and wealthy. At some point in the show Rachel’s sister Amy talks about marring and older guy because of his wealth. When Rachel decides not to get married her father makes it seem as Rachel wont make it out alone without his money. Rachel is forced to live without the luxury she was used to and is forced to live with Monica and get a job. Through out the seasons Rachel evolves and she gets her dream jobs. Another example of gender roles in this show is when Rachel gets pregnant and Ross offers to marry her because he does not believe she would be able to do it a lone without him by his side. This is a great example as to how men feel as if women will not be able to accomplish being financially stable for their children without their help.

The institution I want to explore and analyze is Disney princess movies. Because there are quite a few of them I want to focus on the original set of princesses. That would be Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel and Belle. I want to focus on these specifically because they play a very big part in how I believe we define beauty, stereotype the gender roles of both men and women, and how we view consent. Through all the readings then thing that stuck out to me the most is how important language is. How we describe ourselves matter, how we identify matters, and the words we choose matter. For all these Disney princesses it is interesting to hear how the narrator describes the women, they are spoken of more as objects than as people. These movies also play very heavily on stereotypes and gender roles.   The woman stays home, she cooks and cleans, she isn’t very smart but man is she pretty. Then here comes a strapping young man to save her, to rescue her from a a tragic end. Most of the time kissing her whiles is unconscious. I just find it very interesting now that I can go back to these movies with a fresh pair of eyes. As a young girl you don’t pick up on the messages these movies are telling you. You just know that one day I want to be a princess and I want my Prince Charming to come and save me.

 

 

I will be writing about Inequality when it comes to job opportunities. I want to specifically focus on stereo types towards African Americans and Gender roles on television and in the industry. I will discuss racial politics and how division between the two has caused lack of opportunities.  I will also use am article i read named

It Poussaint, Alvin “Why Tv so segregated”  &

“Distribution of TV viewers for series with a predominantly black cast or black main character in the United States in 2016-2017, by ethnicity”

I will also use a clip i saw on you tube of the sequence intro to the classic TV show named a different world . In this clip it will show the different career positions and faces of blacks on television that we would rarely see portrayed. I will also talk about the limitations of gender roles in the industry and how social constructions plays a part in it.

Overall i really want to highlight the roles women play and men play on sitcoms, movies etc. One example to give an idea is that usually black men and Hispanic men who plays characters in films or shows are portrayed as a kid on the streets affiliated in gangs or a thief. As far as women they play the roles of nurses, prostitutes etc. For some reason its always a negative or stereotypical light shed upon them . Other races have attached stigmas to them as well, such as Chinese people seem to play a role of being extremely smart. I will find more examples and add them in my paper.

Social institution: Womanhood

Artifact: Bras

Concepts:

1. Relation between sex and gender (scientific perspective)
2. Gender expression
3. Objectification
4. Cultural norms
5. Femininity

Social institutions influence our behavior and sense of identity. I am interested in writing about bras and how this simple piece of clothing unconsciously portrays and influences an individual’s identity. This will not only be a tremendous learning experience, better yet I hope to have an increased understanding of gender and the binary system we live in. I look forward to asking myself what role does a bra play in objectifying a female’s body, what is the representation of a bra in society, and how does this influence how we view our bodies. Some concepts that have greatly influenced this artifact is the objectification of bodies, gender expression, and cultural norms.

The cultural norms and societal views on a female’s body greatly makes up how women dress. Then the question of what it means to be a woman arises, and no one really understands what this means without having in mind a specific type of gender expression. Wearing a bra was always directly correlated to the morphology of an individual, though in recent years it has become part of a gender expression statement through fashion. This in all, is very complex because even though some may try to reclaim power through these fashion statements, wearing a bra goes way further than that. A bra can be a symbol of empowerment and self love. If a push up bra is worn it can be a sign of my own validation and love of how my body looks this way, yet this same artifact objectifies a female. Wearing or not wearing a bra can also be a sign of modesty for many and boldness/liberation for others. Reclaiming our power through this simple piece of clothing is so complicated. A child may be in need and only feel secure by wearing a bra because a female’s breast size and nipples have been widely sexualized. We can see how this is a double edge sword and that which every way we try to approach it there is always going to be an obstacle. My goal is to create different levels of understanding on the influence of bras in gender expression and identity formation. What does this artifact exactly do for individuals? I have further ideas but I will organize my thoughts in order to thoroughly explain them and portray the power of this artifact.

My apologies for the late post!

For the Institutional Artifact I’d like to analyze is Family and more specifically parent/child communication within a family. I believe everything begins at home and all that a child learns, such as love, hate, how to treat others, morals, etc., begins with their initial surroundings.

First off, I believe we need to stop promoting this notion that a “normal/traditional” family consists of a mother, father and siblings because that is just not the case in every “family”. Each person has their own idea of family and one type of family shouldn’t discredit another nor should their be a “standard” to which a family is held against. A child with two mothers would see their family as “normal” as would a child who has “two dads” and who would we be to say that it’s not? The world is ever changing and we need to continue change right along with it.

That leads me to the parent (family)/child communication. Communication in any relationship is important, but one of the most important relationships is a child with their parents/family. Children should be able to talk to and go to their family about anything, such as, issues at school, issues with a family member, bullying, to talk about their feelings, sex, and so on and so forth. Children need and should be able to feel safe and comfortable at home. On the other hand, children also need to be taught to be accepting of others despite appearance, skin color, gender, etc. Children need to be taught that not one person or group of people, regardless of gender, sexual identity, health, disability, etc., is better than the other. And all should be treated equally.

I have always taught my sons people are people, because that’s how I see it. And sometimes I am actually not sure if that is a good thing, which I’ll get to why in my next paragraph. I am the first to admit I don’t know much about my heritage, culture, etc., so there wasn’t much in that department for me to pass on to my sons. And knowing so little about my own heritage guaranteed that I knew even less about the many other people, cultures, backgrounds, etc. that are out there, but the one thing I knew and always felt was that that shouldn’t matter in helping to decide whether or not their a good person, criminal, straight, gay, black, white, Hispanic, etc. What matters is the person you are, how you treat your own family and others around you along with any contributions you may or may not make to your family and eventually to society. As long as you teach your children And that is what should be seen first.

As I said above, sometimes I am actually not sure if teaching children that people are people is necessarily a good thing. One day while scrolling through Facebook a high school friend of mine had updated her status to read “if you’re teaching your children not to see color, then you’re part of the problem.” Her post wasn’t open for comments as she felt she didn’t need to “explain it any further.” But it left me feeling perplexed and because I really don’t understand. I am one that taught my sons not to see color. And I mean it in the sense of a person’s skin color should be the first thing you see. A person’s skin color doesn’t define a person. It is part of a person’s makeup, but not something that should be used against someone. And shouldn’t that be what you should be teaching them? Shouldn’t we be teaching our children not to judge others based on based on their looks, how they are dressed, their occupation, their nationality, etc. so they grow into adults who are decent human beings? At least when it would come to judging someone.

Which brings me back to my initial statement on family. I believe children should be taught from a young age that there are many different types of people in the world, and each person may or may not fall in to more than one “category” but that not one person is better than the other and we all deserve respect regardless of our circumstances, education, health, etc.

For my Institutional Artifact Draft, the artifact I will utilize is the movie, “The Color Purple.” The three concepts I would like to cover are Intersectionality, Social learning, and multiple masculinities. As I progress, I may add a few more concepts to showcase the complexity of intersectionality within the black household (family) and the impact/constraint of religion. Choosing an artifact was a challenge because I wanted the institution to align and also wanted to have lived through the experience as well. I would consider myself as the outlier in my family. I’ve always been the one to challenge old/toxic generational theories and concepts. I remember getting in trouble for whistling and how furious my father was when he heard me. He said it was an abomination for women to whistle and I couldn’t understand why… I wanted to know why. So later that day, 8 years old me, went to God in prayer and asked why “he” (God is masculine, according to the bible and tradition and maybe patriarchy) (I also wondered why.. but that’s a different story) … had given me the ability to whistle and why was it wrong for women to do it.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever gotten the answer. However, the next day I challenged my father’s masculinity and his authority/belief and whistled. Of course, there were repercussions but, I never regretted it. In my opinion, when I think of men and whistling, I think of catcalling. So how dear I, a child, a black girl, utilize this tool that is often used by men and meant to dehumanize women, so freely? When I think of whistling and Black men specifically, I think of Emit Till and his cause of death. I also think about how Black men were easily prosecuted and lynched just by looking at white women. I am also aware of the generational trauma/theories and concepts that have dispersed across the African diaspora. These ongoing traumas without treatment have led to oppression among the oppressed. Throughout the years, the desire to regain the generational control /power they have lost to white owners/abusers have led to Black men exerting their masculinity unto their families and within their communities. This idea of what it means to be a man, a husband, a friend, and a human being to himself is compromised and crammed with white patriotism.

• Artifact for analysis is the 2017 Netflix Original show “13 Reasons Why”.
• My main focus will be on all 4 seasons on how the bullying/harassment throughout the season has improved throughout the seasons.
• Three concepts I learned throughout the semester to apply to my project will be:

1. Gender expression
2. Gender Stereotypes / Masculinity
3. Socialization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSOZxHcCXTE 

(I provided a video for better visualization. )

• Gender expression is how an individual shows their identity whether its clothing, hairstyle, makeup, etc. In season 2, episode 3 “The Drunk Slut”, demonstrates how Hannah Baker was going through an emotional response due to a tragedy and she didn’t want her hair to no longer solely to represent her image. Hannah’s haircut was impacting because it was a new year, she wanted a fresh start with herself.
• Gender stereotypes are beliefs about how males and females differ in personality traits, interests, and behaviors. Throughout the seasons, the boy’s baseball team are the jocks of the school. Unlike traditional gender stereotypes whereby boys are expected to be tough and masculine, we get to see a new side into the lives of teenagers through Clay. He is not the kind of person who impresses girls with fistfights or showing off. He stands up for what is right due to his sensitivity and compassion, facets that are never encouraged in boys in a society where gender is strictly treated as a binary. We need to stop placing boys into a box that keeps them “tough, insensitive, and violent” to prove their manhood. We also need to keep girls out of the box that reduces their bodies into objects.
• Socialization is the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable in society. In the show, socialization plays a big role. The group of friends always has each other backs but sometimes out casters influence their behavior based on gossip.
• These concepts show a correlation to the show “13 Reason Why” because it illustrates the life of a teenage student. Being a teenager can be the toughest stage of life in knowing who you are or want to become. Hannah Baker was a new student at Liberty High school, she was hoping to start a new life and make new friends. She was a beautiful young girl who was traumatized from an experience and these concepts will help me portray in my project.