Weekly Reflection: Socialization

Gender socialization is ingrained into society from gestation to death through various forms of agents contributing to how individuals view society, themselves, and groups. Mass media and peer groups both influence individuals immensely. Society is influenced in a Varity of forms in which are generally controlled by the U.S. Government in one way or another, involving from news to schools, from how we raise our children to how we care for our elderly. The aspects on how individuals go about life, common normality grow and change as individuals take values that have been taught from parents, raise families of their own and pass down the cycle of generational values and belief`s follow along, passing down and growing weeding out is no longer of use and recreating new values, and beliefs.

The video “Killing Us Softly” by Jean Kil explains the stereo type’s society is faced with. The advertisements are polluting the deep recesses of our subconscious altering our perception of beauty. Although, the people who advertise the clothes, makeup, hair products, ect are computer enhanced with bits and pieces of different individuals all creating one perfect person. The ideal image of beauty corrupts societies view influencing individuals to believe they are inadequate and need to purchase products making them more appealing to the opposite sex. In a positive look at advertisement provides society with the knowledge the capitally to research what products to invest in and what not to. Advertisements also inform the public what department stores have on sale in order to save money. As the seasons change leading us from year to year the idea of what is in style, types of outdated technology, as well as current resources are informed through mass media.

The article by Ruth Padawer “What`s so Bad About s Boy Who Wants to Wear a Dress” talks about how society has defined what means to be a woman or man. Whether we are men or woman is not determined by our sex organs. Our gender includes a complex mix of beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics. How individuals act, talk, and behave like a woman or man. Are you feminine or masculine, both, or either. These characteristics presently determine if individuals are accepted in society or if individuals are casted out. In past decades women were to wear dresses or skirts, to be feminine, to raise children, to cook and clean. Men worked outside the home were to be the bread winners, to keep up the conditions of the home. The years have passed and society has evolved to accepting the roles of men and woman have switched. Women are now socially accepted to work as bread winners, to wear masculine clothes, to let their husband raise their children. Men on the other hand are accepted as the primary care giver for their children, to cook and clean.

The idea of what is accepted to wear on the other hand has not evolved. If a boy or man dressed like a woman or even feminine clothes has not evolved, is not socially acceptable. In the article describes a situation that a boy who (does not want to be a girl) wants to dress as a girl is confused. At times he enjoys boy activities, clothes, and knows he is a boy. Society labels these types of behaviors as wrong, parents are concerned these tendencies target their boys to bullies or fear this may not just be a faze. In the U.S. statistic show that male teenagers who are transgender tend to take drugs and commit suicide. Embracing transgender or cross-gender would benefit both parents and children. Positive outcomes could lead to individual acceptance and self awareness, as many situations prove to be a curiosity rather than a way of life in their future.

Chapter 5 of the text explains Anticipatory Socialization as the preparation for the future life roles. As well as Re-socialization the process of old behaviors that were helpful in past role are removed because they were no longer of use. Degradation Ceremony as new members of society loses the aspects of their old identity and is given new identities. In short is the process of maturing from young adult to adult, a individual filters through and detaches from their adolescence maturing to becoming their own active part in society. Anticipatory is forced upon youth to decide and work towards what they intend to do with their adulthood, to prepare educationally. Re-socialization occurs in the process as what individual’s poses until degradation is obtained. Individuals no long have the use of certain tools or possessions as they out grow to maturity.

Re-socialization is forced on how society is forced to change its view`s on how they see a man`s behaviors, to grow and accept that it will eventually be socially normal for a boy or man to enjoy feminine activities. Society is on its way, as more and more men are stay at home parents, who cook regularly, and who keep up the chores. Compared to past generations, in time it will be clothes and the primping of physical appearance.

Violence Against Woman, It Is A Man`s Issue, by Jackson Katz speaks about gender violence. Katz explains that defining the term a woman`s issue clearly blames the males for what harm men inflict on woman. Woman being victim`s of assault in many forms from rape to domestic abuse. Violence is not always inflicted on women but typically this is the case. Katz`s intention is to voice awareness in order to prevent women to victimize repeating to themselves. To educate men that taking the blame for their actions re-stating the issue being a man`s may lead to less abuse. A man taking the responsibility in public, social, mass media forms could result in lessening offences due to the fact that after the phrase is repeated the men are looked upon compared to the woman. Gender violence has been an issue for generations, although not always talked about socially, the gender that was the victim tends to hide, to be ashamed as they could have prevented the attack, as they feel they may have asked for it.

Peer groups can be the ultimate ammunition determining how an individual interacts in society; family encourages values and beliefs as peer groups help influence positive or negative behaviors. Parents enforce by demonstration but an individual has more pressures outside the home, to fit in with their peers, to have friends, to be accepted. The gender socialization process during adolescence defines how boys and girls behave, how a feminine boy is bullied for feminine traits, and how a girl is unattractive when acting as boys do. Tomboys are more bullied then janegirls (feminine boys), as in High School the gender socialization is defined by who one chooses to associate with. Groups prep`s, loners, jocks, nerds, skaters, stoners, and trouble makers.

The groups an individual “belongs” to, define who they are. Teenagers are faced with immense amounts of acceptance from mass media perfection to peer group’s acceptance. Individuals who conform to societies guidelines, appear as perfect as they dress in latest fashion, as hair and makeup appears in the media, as their peers like or don’t like about their appearance. Some social pressures are extremely intolerable individuals are faced with aggression to the weaker which then is labeled as the violence against women. Referring to the video “ Violence Against Women, It`s A Men`s Issue” men tend to take their personal aggression society puts on them out on the weaker sex due to the fact that most women can`t or don’t defend themselves as aggressively as a man can.

Positive effects peer groups to name just a few teach individuals to stand up for their values, to be able to determine how to defend themselves, how to speak their mind. Teaching them who they don’t want to be, who they are, and where they want to go in their future. Peer groups help to determine their individual strengths and weaknesses of self concept. The knowledge of likes or dislikes for future employment or the wide variety of colleges, government agencies such as air force, military, army. These wide variety of educational and government possibilities are influenced by advertisement, news papers, magazines, and highly influenced by peer choices, family support, and religion beliefs.