About the Project
The socialization project, which is a right of passage at Animas High School, is an eight-week project that taught us about the good and evils of socialization. This project not only helped us learn about socialization, but also helped us figure out who we are. For this assignment we were required to write an essay about how we have been socialized. We were also required to create a mask that represented our identity. Throughout this endeavor, we got to know one another better.
Mask Essay
Pretty in Pink
By Nicole Wiley
Socialization is the ceaseless process in which a person is molded by society to fit the norms. Based on Bobbie Harro’s writing The Cycle of Socialization this cycle flows through eight parts: the beginning, first socialization, institutional and cultural socialization, enforcements, results, direction for change, actions, and the core. The beginning is the very first socialization and starts when you are born into agent and/or target groups. First socialization refers to when infants/children first start learning basic rules. Institutional and cultural socialization is how people are socialized at school, places of worship, or places of business. Enforcements are when a person is punished for not following rules/norms. The results are the consequences of embracing the cycle. Actions is doing something to break the cycle. Direction is working together to break the cycle. The core is the fear and insecurities that keep people from doing something. Norms are what is considered “normal” in society. Identity categories are the seven categories people are born into and in which they identify. Those categories are gender, economic class, religion, culture, ability status, sexual orientation, and age. People are socialized into agent or target groups also known as identity categories. Agent groups, those who are “privileged” in society, include men, white people, middle and upper class, and abled people. Target groups, those with “disadvantages”, include women, racially oppressed people, Jews, and disabled people. Because I have been homeschooled, most of the ways I have learned through the process of socialization are positive. The main identity category I have been socialized in is gender. Throughout my life, my family, and some media sources have socialized me to not follow gender dress, activity, and role/career norms, which I believe is a positive aspect of my social identity.
Unlike most high school girls, I have not been socialized to be obsessed with fitting into female gender norms of dress in society. Starting at birth in hospital nurseries, girls get dressed in pink and boys get dressed in blue. As demonstrated by this quote from the movie Mean Girls “On Wednesdays we wear pink,” both the media and society have a great influence on the clothes people wear. Society and the media have influence on the designers, who decide what people wear. For women, that often means skimpy, tight-fitting clothes that simply serve no function except attracting attention, and not in a good way. Because of my unique socialization, which occurred from homeschooling through 8th grade, I feel free to shop in the men’s section, so I can get clothes that I feel are functional for the activities in which I participate. Society attempts to dictate standards of fashion based on gender.
I have been socialized to participate in any activity I choose whether or not it fits with my gender norms. This quote from The Cycle of Socialization Bobbie Harro states “We might learn at school that girls shouldn’t be interested in a woodworking shop…” shows the impact of institutional socialization. Typical female pastimes include activities like ballet, sewing, arts and crafts, and other indoor activities. Although this may be true for others, I didn’t go to a traditional school, so I didn't experience enforcements of peer pressure that told me I couldn’t or shouldn’t do an activity because I am a girl. Most activities in which I participate, such as archery, gun shooting, SCUBA diving, and snowboarding, are not activities you would think an average high school girl would do. This is caused by my lacking in the enforcements that require most young women to be delicate, gentle, and not participate in active outdoor sports/activities. U.S. cultural norms seek to define “appropriate” female activities.
Unlike most young women in society, I have not been socialized to conform to traditional female roles in society. According to Bobbie Harro in The Cycle of Socialization “Most of the messages we receive about how to be, whom to “look up to” and “look down on,” what rules to follow, what roles to play, what assumptions to make, what to believe, and what to think will probably reinforce or contradict what we have learned at home.” Since I was homeschooled, and I don’t live in a neighborhood with many teenagers, I haven’t received any conflicting messages about who to be. My institutional and cultural socialization is less than many other people my age; I was never forced to fit into a certain “role” that society demands I play. My parents, who were both majors in the U.S. Army, didn’t follow society’s career norms. Both my parents are doctors; my dad is an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and my mom is an orthodontist. Traditionally, women are the dental hygienists or the dental assistants, while men are the dentists. Based on the messages I have received from my family, I feel free to choose any career pathway I want; my success depends on my effort.
This cycle is possible to break if people work together. If we work together as a group, we could break the harmful cycles of socialization by celebrating individuality, not ridiculing it. Another way we, as a group could break the cycle is pay women the same as men for doing the exact jobs; in the U.S. Army, people are paid based on rank, not gender. However, people are afraid to break the cycle, because they don’t want to face the consequences of acting out against the cycle. I, as an individual, can break the harmful cycles of socialization by continuing to be myself, because I already break a lot of society’s norms/rules. Each person needs to take a critical look at herself or himself to realize the impact of socialization on her or his personality development and decide what parts he or she actually likes and change the rest.
The first layer of my mask represents the stereotypes and forced norms of young women in society or in other words the mask of society most young women feel they have to where. I chose pink for the first mask, because it is the “feminine" color. All of the images depict what is supposed to be “important” to them. When the first mask opens, it illustrates the breaking those norms. The second layer of my mask symbolizes who I am with out the “mask” of socialization I was never forced to wear. On the top right corner of the second mask there is a picture of Scuba gear; it represents my love for scuba diving. The bow symbolizes my enjoyment for archery. Likewise, the snowboard indicates my enthusiasm of snowboarding. The U.S. Army emblem portrays my interest in the U.S. Army.
By Nicole Wiley
Socialization is the ceaseless process in which a person is molded by society to fit the norms. Based on Bobbie Harro’s writing The Cycle of Socialization this cycle flows through eight parts: the beginning, first socialization, institutional and cultural socialization, enforcements, results, direction for change, actions, and the core. The beginning is the very first socialization and starts when you are born into agent and/or target groups. First socialization refers to when infants/children first start learning basic rules. Institutional and cultural socialization is how people are socialized at school, places of worship, or places of business. Enforcements are when a person is punished for not following rules/norms. The results are the consequences of embracing the cycle. Actions is doing something to break the cycle. Direction is working together to break the cycle. The core is the fear and insecurities that keep people from doing something. Norms are what is considered “normal” in society. Identity categories are the seven categories people are born into and in which they identify. Those categories are gender, economic class, religion, culture, ability status, sexual orientation, and age. People are socialized into agent or target groups also known as identity categories. Agent groups, those who are “privileged” in society, include men, white people, middle and upper class, and abled people. Target groups, those with “disadvantages”, include women, racially oppressed people, Jews, and disabled people. Because I have been homeschooled, most of the ways I have learned through the process of socialization are positive. The main identity category I have been socialized in is gender. Throughout my life, my family, and some media sources have socialized me to not follow gender dress, activity, and role/career norms, which I believe is a positive aspect of my social identity.
Unlike most high school girls, I have not been socialized to be obsessed with fitting into female gender norms of dress in society. Starting at birth in hospital nurseries, girls get dressed in pink and boys get dressed in blue. As demonstrated by this quote from the movie Mean Girls “On Wednesdays we wear pink,” both the media and society have a great influence on the clothes people wear. Society and the media have influence on the designers, who decide what people wear. For women, that often means skimpy, tight-fitting clothes that simply serve no function except attracting attention, and not in a good way. Because of my unique socialization, which occurred from homeschooling through 8th grade, I feel free to shop in the men’s section, so I can get clothes that I feel are functional for the activities in which I participate. Society attempts to dictate standards of fashion based on gender.
I have been socialized to participate in any activity I choose whether or not it fits with my gender norms. This quote from The Cycle of Socialization Bobbie Harro states “We might learn at school that girls shouldn’t be interested in a woodworking shop…” shows the impact of institutional socialization. Typical female pastimes include activities like ballet, sewing, arts and crafts, and other indoor activities. Although this may be true for others, I didn’t go to a traditional school, so I didn't experience enforcements of peer pressure that told me I couldn’t or shouldn’t do an activity because I am a girl. Most activities in which I participate, such as archery, gun shooting, SCUBA diving, and snowboarding, are not activities you would think an average high school girl would do. This is caused by my lacking in the enforcements that require most young women to be delicate, gentle, and not participate in active outdoor sports/activities. U.S. cultural norms seek to define “appropriate” female activities.
Unlike most young women in society, I have not been socialized to conform to traditional female roles in society. According to Bobbie Harro in The Cycle of Socialization “Most of the messages we receive about how to be, whom to “look up to” and “look down on,” what rules to follow, what roles to play, what assumptions to make, what to believe, and what to think will probably reinforce or contradict what we have learned at home.” Since I was homeschooled, and I don’t live in a neighborhood with many teenagers, I haven’t received any conflicting messages about who to be. My institutional and cultural socialization is less than many other people my age; I was never forced to fit into a certain “role” that society demands I play. My parents, who were both majors in the U.S. Army, didn’t follow society’s career norms. Both my parents are doctors; my dad is an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and my mom is an orthodontist. Traditionally, women are the dental hygienists or the dental assistants, while men are the dentists. Based on the messages I have received from my family, I feel free to choose any career pathway I want; my success depends on my effort.
This cycle is possible to break if people work together. If we work together as a group, we could break the harmful cycles of socialization by celebrating individuality, not ridiculing it. Another way we, as a group could break the cycle is pay women the same as men for doing the exact jobs; in the U.S. Army, people are paid based on rank, not gender. However, people are afraid to break the cycle, because they don’t want to face the consequences of acting out against the cycle. I, as an individual, can break the harmful cycles of socialization by continuing to be myself, because I already break a lot of society’s norms/rules. Each person needs to take a critical look at herself or himself to realize the impact of socialization on her or his personality development and decide what parts he or she actually likes and change the rest.
The first layer of my mask represents the stereotypes and forced norms of young women in society or in other words the mask of society most young women feel they have to where. I chose pink for the first mask, because it is the “feminine" color. All of the images depict what is supposed to be “important” to them. When the first mask opens, it illustrates the breaking those norms. The second layer of my mask symbolizes who I am with out the “mask” of socialization I was never forced to wear. On the top right corner of the second mask there is a picture of Scuba gear; it represents my love for scuba diving. The bow symbolizes my enjoyment for archery. Likewise, the snowboard indicates my enthusiasm of snowboarding. The U.S. Army emblem portrays my interest in the U.S. Army.
Reflection
I am most proud about how the finished product of the inner mask turned out. I came up with an idea and followed through with it. Although it may not be perfect, I feel that I accurately depicted myself through this mask. I am more proud of this mask than the outer one, because I worked harder on it to represent myself. I brought the mask home over the weekend and plastered, sanded, and mod podged it, so I didn’t feel as rushed creating the second one. I spent more time and effort on it, because this mask was supposed to represent me.
The section of my essay that I am most proud of is the third body paragraph. “Unlike most young women in society, I have not been socialized to conform to traditional female roles in society. According to Bobbie Harro in The Cycle of Socialization “Most of the messages we receive about how to be, whom to “look up to” and “look down on,” what rules to follow, what roles to play, what assumptions to make, what to believe, and what to think will probably reinforce or contradict what we have learned at home.” Since I was homeschooled, and I don’t live in a neighborhood with many teenagers, I haven’t received any conflicting messages about who to be. My institutional and cultural socialization is less than many other people my age; I was never forced to fit into a certain “role” that society demands I play. My parents, who were both majors in the U.S. Army, didn’t follow society’s career norms. Both of my parents are doctors; my dad is an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and my mom is an orthodontist. Traditionally, women are the dental hygienists or the dental assistants, while men are the dentists. Based on the messages I have received from my family, I feel free to choose any career pathway I want; my success depends on my effort.” I am most proud of this paragraph, because I felt most strongly about the argument in this paragraph. I feel that this paragraph could potentially convince someone that they can chose any career they put their mind to do. When each person decides to choose a path they want, and are able to do it, we are on our way to a better society.
The biggest take-away from this project is probably the fact that socialization is caused by everything around us, and everything we do reflects that socialization. I will remember this because it shocked me. I never thought socialization came from songs, movies/shows, books, games, friends, and family. I never thought that what you wear and the people you socialize with are a reflection of how you’ve been socialized.The habit of heart and mind that I need to work on to get better at Project Based Learning is refinement. For example, I had some imperfections on my mask, like chipped paint on some spots and globs of paint on other areas; I need to improve at that habit, because it will eventually help me make my work more beautiful. The pressure of due dates made me refrain from refining my mask, because I felt like I barely had enough time to finish the masks.
The section of my essay that I am most proud of is the third body paragraph. “Unlike most young women in society, I have not been socialized to conform to traditional female roles in society. According to Bobbie Harro in The Cycle of Socialization “Most of the messages we receive about how to be, whom to “look up to” and “look down on,” what rules to follow, what roles to play, what assumptions to make, what to believe, and what to think will probably reinforce or contradict what we have learned at home.” Since I was homeschooled, and I don’t live in a neighborhood with many teenagers, I haven’t received any conflicting messages about who to be. My institutional and cultural socialization is less than many other people my age; I was never forced to fit into a certain “role” that society demands I play. My parents, who were both majors in the U.S. Army, didn’t follow society’s career norms. Both of my parents are doctors; my dad is an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and my mom is an orthodontist. Traditionally, women are the dental hygienists or the dental assistants, while men are the dentists. Based on the messages I have received from my family, I feel free to choose any career pathway I want; my success depends on my effort.” I am most proud of this paragraph, because I felt most strongly about the argument in this paragraph. I feel that this paragraph could potentially convince someone that they can chose any career they put their mind to do. When each person decides to choose a path they want, and are able to do it, we are on our way to a better society.
The biggest take-away from this project is probably the fact that socialization is caused by everything around us, and everything we do reflects that socialization. I will remember this because it shocked me. I never thought socialization came from songs, movies/shows, books, games, friends, and family. I never thought that what you wear and the people you socialize with are a reflection of how you’ve been socialized.The habit of heart and mind that I need to work on to get better at Project Based Learning is refinement. For example, I had some imperfections on my mask, like chipped paint on some spots and globs of paint on other areas; I need to improve at that habit, because it will eventually help me make my work more beautiful. The pressure of due dates made me refrain from refining my mask, because I felt like I barely had enough time to finish the masks.