From the identity map I created in class, I decided I would explore my personal connections more. The readings: “The Fat Girl”, “The Bluest Eye”, and “Between the World and Me” were the texts that stood out to me the most because they can all interlink with each other in one way or another. Naturally I would like to explore body image, race, beauty standards, and society’s expectations within the selections I chose. From the selections I chose to write my essay about I think “The Bluest Eye” is what connects the three stories the most because so much is challenged in this novel, though not all is overcome. In “The Fat Girl” Louise struggled with her weight for all her life even after she became slender. Even when she was a girl her mother …show more content…
In my opinion beauty standards are not meant to include ever, it’s only meant for a specific kind of person. A lot of times I think we also forget about the beauty standards expected for men. In the media a majority of the time we only see attractive models with perfect bodies. Beauty standards is what I thought connected “The Fat Girl” and “The Bluest Eye” the most in totally different ways. I connected with “The Bluest Eye” a lot more than “The Fat Girl” because I think about being black more than my body. Pecola particularly stood out to me because she was so blind to her own self-worth and self beauty. When paying attention to the media especially in her time, Pecola did not see models and actresses that looked similar to her. If she did see a black person in film, they were probably playing a role inferior to the main character and as “the bad …show more content…
In my opinion race is a tactic used to produce stereotypes and to categorize. Though rights have been gained by many races, racism still exists. Racism is a social issue that needs to be addressed because in the law we are equal, but in society we are not. Colorism is also a thing I think is something minorities have created within themselves. Minorities have separated themselves based on lighter skin tones versus darker skin tones. Back to the societal sense we have come up with the mindset that lighter skin is better, and the closer one is to white the more likely society will accept
The study of race and its social formation in the article "Racial Formations" by Michael Omi and Howard Winant challenge our socially accepted concepts of "race", race being defined as the social categorization of black, white, yellow and red people. Race plays a pivotal role in society because it has a overwhelming influence on an individuals life choices and outcome. Society has historically placed positive and negative stereotypes on different races. Whites are presented and in many cases perceived as the standard of civility and beauty. People of color are conveniently grouped together as disingenuous to American patriotism in addition to being subjected to perpetuating stereotypes such as being lazy, criminal, and deviant to general society. Race in scientific terms is a fabrication, and societal terms it is a reality. Through the study of race and it's history we are able to understand it as a myth while analyzing it's social implications.
There is a specific meaning to race and how its role impacts society and shapes the social structures. Race is a concept that “symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi & Winant 55). In other words, Omi and Winant get down to the crux of the issue and assert that race is just an illusion. Race is merely seen as an ideological construct that is often unstable and consisting of decentered social meanings. This form of social construction attempts to explain the physical attributes of an individual but it is constantly transformed by political struggles. The rules of classifying race and of identity are embedded into society’s perception. Therefore, race becomes a common function for comprehending, explaining, and acting in the
Firstly, I am going to talk about the one video we all watched which was Race the Power of an Illusion part 2. I am choosing this one because I gained a lot of information on it. It started off by talking about our constitution and how all men are created equal. Well when you look back at it, was every man created equal? The answer is NO! Back when they first started this country they had slaves and men were more dominant then women. A slave had no rights at all and resorting back to the saying, they definitely are not treated equal. After that part, they talked about how race became to be, basically one man thought they were better than someone else because of their skin color. Race is more of an idea, no one is born to be prejudice, or even to discriminate a certain person because of their skin color. I believe if everyone tried we could get rid of this concept completely, but it will take a whole lot of effort and is not an individual task. When we went over this video in class, we talked about what if there was no such thing as race? Would our society be a whole lot better, or would we still have some other kind of hardship? I believe that we would have another hardship but to me, it does not matter the color of someone’s skin, it...
Race, in the common understanding, draws upon differences not only of skin color and physical attributes but also of language, nationality, and religion. Race categories are often used as ethnic intensifiers, with the aim of justifying the exploitation of one group by another. Race is an idea that has become so fixed in American society that there is no room for open-mindedness when challenging the idea of racial categories. Over the years there has been a drastic change with the way the term "race" is used by scientists. Essentially, there is a major difference between the biological and sociological views of race.
and white society has conditioned her to believe that she is ugly. Pecola.s physical features
The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.
What is racism? Racism is the believe that one race is superior than another. When using racism one may use a person’s skin color, language, customs or place of birth the judge them quickly in a negative way.This causes many things to happen such as war, slavery, formation of nations, and legal codes. It has been in human history for a really long time(Racism). Although it was there it wasn't always automatic, but it did end happening at some point or another. When people feel this way about other races they may think of them a subhuman of savages and may want segretain between themselves and the others(Racism). Though some think that race is a good way to classify people scientist say other ways:”There are few genetic characteristics to be found in England that are not found in Zaire or China…the differences that most deeply affect us in our dealings with each other ar not to any significant degree biologically determined”(Racism). So it is scientifically proven that using race to judge someone isn't really fair because they could be more genetically connected to you that you
Race: The Power of an Illusion was an interesting 3 part film. After watching this, it made me questioned if race was really an illusion or not. It is absolutely taboo to think that the one thing that separates people the most may be a myth in itself. “We can 't find any genetic markers that are in everybody of a particular race and in nobody of some other race. We can 't find any genetic markers that define race.” (Adelman and Herbes Sommers 2003). Racism is something created in the U.S made to create supremacy for the creator. Racism is not just the way someone thinks, it is something that has is manifested in our society to separate us and can be traced to our everyday activities.
Throughout society today, colorism and racism play a huge role in many lives. Though the similarities between the two may confused individuals, there happens to be a difference between colorism and racism. Racism is the belief that all members of each race processes certain characteristics or abilities specific to that race. Gloria Yamato says, “Racism is persuasive to the point that we take most of its manifestations for granted believing, “That’s Life” (Yamato 65). Racism can vary seeing as though you could be a specific type of racist. The four different types of racism that exist today are the “aware/blatant, the aware/covert, the unaware/unintentional, and lastly the unaware/self-righteous” (Yamato 66). Colorism is prejudice and discrimination against individuals with a darker skin tone. Colorism typically happens between individuals of the same ethnic and racial groups. In society today, colorism exists due to the accumulated experiences of racism, “which can generate questions and doubts in the minds of people of color about their place in a predominately white society” (Osajima141).
People believed that the darker the pigmentation, the poor and less powerful one is. When the African Americans, Mexican Americans and Asians migrated to the United States, the belief that darker skin tone holds less power inaugurated. Although in 1955 the Supreme Court outlawed segregation, and introduced the idea that “all men are created equally”, we still experience discrimination, racial, prejudices, and stereotyping comments today (add citation). In a symbolic interactionist perspective, according to the Sociology textbook, prejudice is a “belief about an individual or a group that is not subject to change on the basis of evidence.” No matter what evidence, proof you provide their opinion wouldn 't change. Like the Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman said “ Man is before his acrs; nothing he does may change what he is.” Discrimination, stereotyping and stigma are almost the concept, but the main difference is discrimination is the “unequal treatment of individuals on their basis of their membership in a group.” Where on the other hand, stigma is “ An attribute that is deeply discrediting to a individual or a group because it overshadows other attributes and merits the individual or group may possess.” And Stereotyping is more of “generalization of a set of characteristics to all members of a group.” Stereotyping is very common in everyday life, for example, when I’m sitting in my car alone in a parking lot while waiting for my parents to finish shopping, if I see a group of African American guys, I will lock my doors and make sure all the windows are up. Or even when we the teacher announces that only “one” persona got an A on their exam, and we all are more towards looking at an Asian person, because they are noted to be hardworking and smart. Lastly racism is “ the idea that one racial group is inherently superior to another; often results in institutionalized relationships
The argument for understanding race as a social construct is that there is a lot of cultural assimilation in the United States, as a reflection of social, economic, and political worlds. There is an understanding that some groups are inherently different than others and some groups are more dominant because of this. There are social divisions of race as seen on the US census, college applications, medical papers, etc. Also, the social, economic, and political divisions that have arisen around the different categories of people in different races have amplified the social differences between groups. By example, there is more likely to be poor academic performance in inner city schools due to social factors, but this has nothing to do with biological factors. Race today is generally defined by how people are seen by other people. These perceptions can be based on ancestry or based on phenotypic characteristics but are more subjectively seen by cultural beliefs, economic needs or political affiliations. Modern racial categories are so subjective that they are ever changing as time is passing. For example, not all black people share the same origin, culture, or economic status, but they may all be grouped to categories based off of their looks rather than what they actually are like. Race is socially constructed because it is not fixed/fact. People decide who belongs to which race and these decisions can
According to Omi and Winant, the term race can be defined as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” From their framework of racial formation and concept of racial projects, Omi and Winant asserts that race is a matter of social structure and cultural representation that has been intertwined to shape the nature of racism. Racism has been seen since the events of early English colonization of the indigenous people and the racialization of African Americans through slavery, all in which the United States is molded upon as a nation. Thus, this social structure of domination has caused European colonials and American revolutionists to create racialized representations, policies, and structures in order to oppress indigenous and black populations in their respective eras.
Race, as a general understanding is classifying someone based on how they look rather than who they are. It is based on a number of things but more than anything else it’s based on skin's melanin content. A “race” is a social construction which alters over the course of time due to historical and social pressures. Racial formation is defined as how race shapes and is shaped by social structure, and how racial categories are represented and given meaning in media, language and everyday life. Racial formation is something that we see changing overtime because it is rooted in our history. Racial formation also comes with other factors below it like racial projects. Racial projects seek
“It is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder - seven million women, and one million men.” (“South Carolina Department of Mental Health”). Skinny by Ibi Kaslik is about two sisters, Holly and Giselle, whose lives and relationship are impacted by the others’ state of condition. Giselle is a medical student who wanted to see what would happen if she stopped eating, and because of this she developed anorexia. Holly is an eighth grader who was born deaf in her left ear. The story jumps back and forth, changing every chapter, from Giselle’s point of view to Holly’s. This helps show the reader how one sister affects the others life. Skinny by Ibi Kaslik shows how family problems can have a great effect on the lives of the people within the family.
In the third story of Loves Executioner: “The Fat lady” , Dr.Yalom decides to treat a twenty-seven year old overweight woman named, Betty. Though Dr. Yalom was reluctant to treat Betty at first due to her being obese, Dr. Yalom decides to put aside his counter-transference issues and views treating Betty as a way to improve his skills as a therapist. Not only does Dr.Yalom learn throughout treating Betty that there was more substance to her than he had initially anticipated, but he connects with betty while overcoming his counter-transference issues,helping Betty uncover the pathology of her depression and discovering her identity.