Socialization and Identity Project
In this project, we learned about the cycle of socialization; the process of which we go through as humans. Over the eight weeks we spent on this project, we watched videos to strengthen our understanding on concepts, created masks and decorated them according to how we perceive socialization and how it has affected us, and wrote an essay on how we have been socialized. The essay contained about five paragraphs, the middle three devoted to how we have been socialized based on three identity categories we chose to focus on.
Life as We Don’t Know It
We have all been socialized, the process by which children and adults learn from society. We are categorized in agent or target groups/identity categories without having a choice;we are born into a group. The categories are gender, religion, ability, age, sexuality, race, and economic class. In the article The Cycle of Socialization, Bobbie Harro explains, “Dominant or agent groups are considered the “norm” around which assumptions are built. Agents have relatively more social power, and can “name” others. They are privileged at birth…” Harro also talks about target groups, “...subordinate groups or target groups. Targets are disenfranchised, exploited, and victimized by prejudice, discrimination, and other structural obstacles.” Agent groups include middle and upper class people, men, white people, able-bodied people, middle-aged people, and heterosexuals. Target groups include youth, elders, poverty stricken people, women, disabled people, racially oppressed people, gay people, and people who have a religion other than Christianity. We all fall into these identity groups and are treated accordingly throughout all of our socialization. However, both groups are dehumanized by being socialized into either of these groups, with or without acceptance. The cycle of socialization,which both agents and targets go through, is the oppressive cycle of which humans learn from society. After being born into an identity category, we go through the cycle to fulfill the roles we are given. I personally have been socialized by society as being a smart Asian, a well off middle class woman whose most important goal is to look attractive and be a mother.
Women have been socialized to be housewives, staying home with the children and cleaning, and this stereotype has gotten into my head through socialization. Men are supposed to work to make money for family provisions. Even kids at a young age know what stereotypically men and women should do for their families. In the YouTube video Gender Roles-Interviews with Kids, the children say, “The girl doll stays home and the boy doll goes to work.” Children were also asked to point to either a male doll or a female doll after being asked these questions: “Which doll likes to clean the house?” and, “Who takes care of the babies?” All the children pointed to the female doll. The the question, “Who goes to work?” was posed and the kids pointed to the male doll. Since I am at an age where I have my own opinion on how to live life, I do not think these gender roles are a positive thing in our society. It limits the opportunity of the women and potentially men. It pushes all the cooking, cleaning, and childcare onto the mother. Growing up with this, of course I have inherited the ideas of having children and being a mother for them, but I have rebelled, in a way, against the stereotype. I have wanted to act tougher and be more athletic than run and scream from a ball coming towards me. I have also spent more than half my life in a home supported by one parent, my mother. She has not only had to support our family financially, but also had to take on the “playful dad” stereotype. In the article Single Parent Statistics, Jennifer Wolf says, “...there are approximately 13.7 million single parents in the United States today...approximately 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers and 17.8% of custodial parents (approximately 1 in 6) are fathers.” I believe that gender stereotypes play a big role in why there are so many more custodial mothers than custodial fathers. Since mothers are ‘known’ for being more caring for the child, they automatically assume the position to take the child and raise him/her to the best of her ability. I have been socialized to know that I can be whatever I want to be and not let being a woman stand in my way.
Being adopted in 2000 and moving to America, I did not grow up in a society with people with the same ethnic background as me. Rather, I grew up and was socialized with Americans. I took in the norms and values of Americans and left the Asian ones behind. For women in America, things like fashion and physical appearance are critical to fit in and be “normal”. I have grown up with these messages and values coming from my social groups. The Asian stereotypes, ‘Asians are always smart’, ‘Asians have small almond eyes’, ‘Asians are all identical’ have minorly affected me but are always still circling me. Between 1979 and 2009, there was a one-child policy in China that only allowed a family to have one child. This policy was created to ‘help’ the population in China not grow as rapidly. If twins were born, usually the male or the healthiest child would be kept and the other would be left on the street, put into an orphanage, or, in rare cases, left to die. Knowing this, I am grateful to have been adopted. My mom and I still celebrate Chinese New Year, but I don’t really embrace the rest of my ethnic culture. In 2009, I went back to China with my mom. We decided to make a trip there for me to see where I was born and to experience what my life would possibly look like. If I had never left China, I would have been socialized in a poverty stricken province and have been working in fields. In the end, being raised like an American has socialized me to change my outlook on what should be important in life.
Growing up into a middle-class family, I have been socialized to not take for granted the little gifts. I have also learned how to not overspend; money doesn’t grow on trees. In the video “Wealth Inequality in America,” the narrator describes how unequal America’s wealth distribution really is, “The distribution of wealth in America is so skewed that 40% of the wealth is in the top 1% of the population. The poorest poor are not even seen on the chart, and the middle-class is struggling at half of what they should have.” Even the rich are losing money to the wealthy. Democrats and Republicans alike are shocked at the inequality of money. The main problem is that the middle class is disappearing into the poor and even the rich are starting to lose money and becoming the middle class. This would personally affect me, being in the middle class, it suggests that only the wealthy are being cared for. Everyone else, is “not good enough” and must work a lot more for a lot less. However, no matter what happens to America’s wealth distribution, I am glad to have grown up in a middle class home.
We, as humans, have not chosen to change the cycle out of fear and hopelessness. I have learned that being an Asian middle class woman is definitely an interesting and sometimes tough thing to live up to. There are stereotypes, racism(“Freshman, preps, roxy guys, JV jocks, Asian nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don’t eat anything, desperate wannabes, burnouts, sexually active band geeks, the best people you will ever meet, and the worst. Beware The Plastics.” -Janis, Mean Girls 2004), financial issues, and gender stereotypes. Now-a-days, there aren’t so many gender stereotypes; there are more women doctors and fathers spend more time with the kids. However, stereotypes are still all around us in the media and are still being passed down through generations. Racism is still a prominent factor in America and in other countries. Aside from numbers and facts, we can all help break the cycle of stereotypical socialization. What actions can you take to change the oppressive cycle? Will you stay in the circle and rise on the torrential and disastrous wave of fear and selfishness, or leave and help change the cycle and protect the people? The core of the circle will try to pull you farther in; instead, take the direction for change.
My mask has jail stripes painted on it to symbolize how the cycle of socialization is so constraining and confining. It’s like you stuck in a jail cell. The paper chain is also part of the jail theme. It is not metal because metal is difficult to break. Paper is easy to tear, it is your choice to tear it or not; same as it your choice to step out of the oppressive cycle. The quotes are from my essay. I chose these certain quotes because I thought that they were they reflected my whole essay in parts really well. For example, “I took in the norms and values of Americans and left the Asian ones behind,” this sentence was from my race paragraph. The sentence I chose from my gender paragraph was, “...but I have rebelled, in a way, against the stereotype,” and “...the middle class is disappearing into the poor,” was from my economic class paragraph. I also had words that describe me. I asked friends to describe me in words because I think that they see how I act more than I do. I put them on top of the stripes because I hope that I can bring myself out of the oppressive cycle of socialization.
Project Reflection
1. Mask: What are you most proud of about your mask? Why?
On my mask, I am most proud of my jail stripes and paper chain. This is because I think that they have a lot of meaning related to the cycle of socialization. I didn't start out with this idea and changed it drastically from what my original plan was. It took me a while to come up with this idea and figure out how it directly relates to the cycle. I also had to brainstorm ideas on how I could relate a paper chain to the cycle because I couldn’t get a metal chain in time. I adapted to the situation and was pretty proud of the idea I came up with. Also, I put a lot of time into painting straight lines. That is what I am most proud of on my mask.
2. Quote: Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
“... I do not think these gender roles are a positive thing in our society. It limits the opportunity of the women and potentially men. It pushes all the cooking, cleaning, and childcare onto the mother. Growing up with this, of course I have inherited the ideas of having children and being a mother for them, but I have rebelled, in a way, against the stereotype. I have wanted to act tougher and be more athletic than run and scream from a ball coming towards me. I have also spent more than half my life in a home supported by one parent, my mother. She has not only had to support our family financially, but also had to take on the “playful dad” stereotype. In the article Single Parent Statistics, Jennifer Wolf says, “...there are approximately 13.7 million single parents in the United States today...approximately 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers and 17.8% of custodial parents (approximately 1 in 6) are fathers.” I believe that gender stereotypes play a big role in why there are so many more custodial mothers than custodial fathers.” This is the part I am most proud of in my essay because I reflect on my main argument and give personal experience backed up with evidence and reflect on that. I did extra research for the custodial parents part and I thought that was pretty interesting. That is why I am proud of this part.
3. Biggest Take-away: What will you remember from this project? Why?
The thing I will remember most from this project would be the cycle of socialization and how it pretty much controls our life. Before this project, I knew that society did play a role in our lives; based on where we live, what we do, etc. But, I didn’t know that we are dehumanized by socialization. I’m going to remember this because I don’t like how dominant the cycle is in life and I want to change the negativity I think it has in society. I don’t want to be stuck in these direct stereotype paths the society gives us. I think that this was important thing to learn about and I will always remember it.
4. Habit of Heart and Mind: Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? Why do you need to improve and how that Habit of Heart and Mind will help you?
For the next project, I think the Habit of Heart and Mind I need to work on is refinement. This is because I don’t think that I refined my essay and make as many changes as I needed to create my best work. Also, I think I could’ve persevered a little more through the personal challenges of writing about myself. I need to improve on these two Habits of Heart and mind because both of them are really important to create beautiful work.
On my mask, I am most proud of my jail stripes and paper chain. This is because I think that they have a lot of meaning related to the cycle of socialization. I didn't start out with this idea and changed it drastically from what my original plan was. It took me a while to come up with this idea and figure out how it directly relates to the cycle. I also had to brainstorm ideas on how I could relate a paper chain to the cycle because I couldn’t get a metal chain in time. I adapted to the situation and was pretty proud of the idea I came up with. Also, I put a lot of time into painting straight lines. That is what I am most proud of on my mask.
2. Quote: Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
“... I do not think these gender roles are a positive thing in our society. It limits the opportunity of the women and potentially men. It pushes all the cooking, cleaning, and childcare onto the mother. Growing up with this, of course I have inherited the ideas of having children and being a mother for them, but I have rebelled, in a way, against the stereotype. I have wanted to act tougher and be more athletic than run and scream from a ball coming towards me. I have also spent more than half my life in a home supported by one parent, my mother. She has not only had to support our family financially, but also had to take on the “playful dad” stereotype. In the article Single Parent Statistics, Jennifer Wolf says, “...there are approximately 13.7 million single parents in the United States today...approximately 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers and 17.8% of custodial parents (approximately 1 in 6) are fathers.” I believe that gender stereotypes play a big role in why there are so many more custodial mothers than custodial fathers.” This is the part I am most proud of in my essay because I reflect on my main argument and give personal experience backed up with evidence and reflect on that. I did extra research for the custodial parents part and I thought that was pretty interesting. That is why I am proud of this part.
3. Biggest Take-away: What will you remember from this project? Why?
The thing I will remember most from this project would be the cycle of socialization and how it pretty much controls our life. Before this project, I knew that society did play a role in our lives; based on where we live, what we do, etc. But, I didn’t know that we are dehumanized by socialization. I’m going to remember this because I don’t like how dominant the cycle is in life and I want to change the negativity I think it has in society. I don’t want to be stuck in these direct stereotype paths the society gives us. I think that this was important thing to learn about and I will always remember it.
4. Habit of Heart and Mind: Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? Why do you need to improve and how that Habit of Heart and Mind will help you?
For the next project, I think the Habit of Heart and Mind I need to work on is refinement. This is because I don’t think that I refined my essay and make as many changes as I needed to create my best work. Also, I think I could’ve persevered a little more through the personal challenges of writing about myself. I need to improve on these two Habits of Heart and mind because both of them are really important to create beautiful work.