Deviance

Learning about the concept of deviance was something completly new to me. Before this class, I hadn't heard of it before. But it's really interesting. Going aganist the norm in society is rare for most people whether it's good or bad deviance. The story about Julio was especailly interesting. How he acted so clam when someone was mugging him, and actually invited the man to come to dinner with him was shocking. I would never have been able to handle a situation like that even though it ended up working out in Julio's favor. His positive act of deviance saved him from getting hurt and got him his money back. Most people would never think to treat a mugger the way Julio had, and I found that very inspiring. Of course not all deviance is good. The Saint and Roughnecks being a good example. They were both wild young boys looking for fun, but sought it out in the wrong way. They went against the way the should be acting, but the results weren't as positive as Julio's. I am excited to try out doing a little act of good deviance. It'll be interesting to see someones reaction if I were to help them out with something.

Adulthood

This week in class we talked about what it means to become an adult in our society. But in our culture, it has become very hard to tell when exactly you are included an adult. Teens feel that once they are eighteen, they are adults because they have so many more rights and privilages, such as being able to go to the army and being able to vote. It's being able to make decsions like these that make them feel in power of their lives, when the reality is that they still need their parents and family members for just about everything. They technically don't have all the freedom they thought they had when they still need their parents for so much. I think that in our society, we truely become adults when we are able to take care of ourselves and live on our own. It's a big step for most people to move out and be on their own, but I think it really shows when someone has become an adult. Most people still have a lot of learning to do about the world at age 18, and they're still dependent on other people. So I don't think that we are ready to be called adults at such a young age. I can't even imagine living on my own yet without the help from my parents, and I'm only a year away from being eighteen. So if I'm still not ready, I doubt many other poeple are too.

Gender

I loved talking about gender differences this week. I think it's so interesting that even from a young age, we are taught that girls are suppose to be passive, sheltered, and emotional, and boys are suppose to be dominat, strong, and independent. We looked at everyones' baby toys in class, and just from that, you could clearly see the difference society has created between boys and girls. The girl toys were all little dolls, stuffed animals, or something pink. Society has created an idea that girls are dependent, when the reality is that a lot women would be fine without the constant sheltering. We also looked at the affect the media has on women and their bodies. I did my junior research paper on media's affect on girls body image and some of the things I found out were shocking. Studies show that it take a little more than a minute for a ordinary woman to feel depressed after looking at a flawless model. And women are constantly bombarded with images of beautiful modles. The irony is that the image displayed by the media is impossible for anyone to achieve, including models. The media tells women that Barbie is the ideal way to look, even though another study showed that if barbie was a real person, her back would be too weak to support her upper body and she would eventually die from malnutrtion. Even though the media says us ladies should look a certain way, we have to understand that that isn't the only way to be pretty. And we have to understand that our outward appearance aren't everything!