September Blog

In class, we've recently discussed the topic of social construction. There is a huge variety of subfields under social construction that mold our society into what it is today, and will probably continue to be. It's interesting to observe these certain societal "norms" and really ask ourselves: "who made up these rules?" It is very important that we analyze these interpersonal communication skills, that way we can develop a better understanding of our world, leading us to greater success in our lives as a whole.

When I say the word "norms," I am talking about certain actions and ways of life that humans have collectively inherited from one another, due to those individuals policing these certain rules. The people who have a say in what is our societal "norm" usually are holding positions of power, in which they have the ability to discipline those who don't stay within those "norms." These norms then turn into what we call stereotypes, which are easy conclusions abut people that reduce them from unique individuals to predictable types. Stereotypes could lie among many different topics. For example, gender. With boys and girls there are many assumptions we make about each gender's abilities and even certain "norms." In class, we discussed the example of gender reveal parties, where when it is a girl, light pink is used, when with a boy, light blue is used. Looking back, it's weird to think: "who came up with this rule?"

This is what leads to the idea of Social Constructivism, meaning that we are the products of our communication. This is true in the case of gender, as slowly and gradually through time, we have given each gender certain "norms" that we most of the time don't even think twice about, since it's been present in society for so long.

September Blog Post-McKenna Kynett

From the reading Man Upby Carlos Andres Gomez, something that really stood out to me was the certain stigma that boys are not allowed to have fear in order to grow up and become a man. When talking about perception this week, this piece tied in very well because this is something that has been going on since forever and it is something that affects a boy’s overall perception of who they are and how they should act. One thing that Carlos Andres Gomez said which capture this very well was when he stated, “Every day I watch men around me struggle with the burden of concealing their fear, like I did for so many years. Men puff up their chests and curse and yell and fight and even die to avoid being called afraid, as if it were a mortal sin, the worst one of all” (p. 39). This was very interesting to me because I never realized how hard it can be for boys to grow up with that certain pressure society puts on them. Carlos talks about how at a certain point, his fear was controlling his life and the way he chose to act so he decided he needed to change. He wanted to ‘be a man’ and he couldn’t do that without getting rid of his fear. I think many boys growing up are expected by their peers to be rugged and aggressive so they hide their true feelings in a lot on situations. This can ultimately influence their perception of themselves and the overall world, and also their identity and how they shape that growing up. 

One example that I thought of for this would be from the movie The Outsiders. A group of tough young men were constantly under the pressures of being the ‘man’ and being ready to fight whenever they walked the streets. They were looked down on when they showed fear or held back from a fight. They were expected by their peers to be tough, mean, and aggressive because if they weren’t they would probably lose their life. This never ending battle to ‘be a man’ was especially evident in the character Pony Boy. Whenever he showed fear and weakness, he was pressured back into being ruthless and strong. He was never fully able to show his true emotions, and that ultimately affected the way he carried himself, and the way he looked at his role models. 

Overall, the perception that we have of each other and ourselves ultimately shape who we are. We are influenced by the ‘social norms’ of our world and we conform to them in order to be accepted by our peers.

Blog Post 2

Throughout our lives in one way or another, we have acted differently when it came to certain people and certain situations. We have put on a "performance" - who we are as the result of repeated, patterned actions - for our family, and our friends without even realizing it. However when we put on this act, we sometimes may find ourselves in the front of the stage, presenting our self as we are. This usually happens when we know we can trust the audience in front of us, or else we wouldn't be executing such a role. As the old school saying goes -just imagine the audience in their underwear and it will be easier to present. But other times when we find ourselves nervous or unaware of the people around us and unable to imagine an easy crowd, we make our way to the back of the stage where we hide our whole, or part of our self. This plays in a big role in identity, and who we are personality wise. We may always be at the front of the stage because we're outgoing and automatically trust those surrounding us without even second guessing. However, if we're introverted and not accustomed to our environment, showing our true traits may come with time. Role-playing is one of the most important ways we show our gender, since that in itself is a performance for some individuals in our world today. And sometimes when this happens, those who watch may react negatively or positively, depending on how difficult our gender choice may be.
Personally, I would say that the biggest example of me giving a performance was during my high school years. I always found myself at the front of the stage; comfortable because I knew the kids I went to school with since we were kids, and I was able to find for myself an identity quickly. No matter what environment or situation I was in, I was always my goofy and nice self to everyone I met and spoke with on the daily basis. However, as high school ended and I found myself searching for colleges, this outgoing self slowly disappeared. And when I arrived at my chosen university (obviously Boise State), I quickly ran to the back of the stage. Without touring the school or the city, I found myself coming into a world blind and without any guidance which made it difficult for my true self to shine. This soon became my new identity, and it was something that was very hard to adjust to. But, as time has gone by and leaps have been taken, I have seen that it is possible to make it back to the front of the stage even when it seemed intimidating and impossible to reach. With perseverance and time, its possible for us to to look at our audience in the crowd as just somebody in their underwear.

September Blog Post

I decided to do my blog post on identity and the idea of stereotypes. The book defines identity as "more than a collection of traits, more than skin or physical features..." The continue with, "identity is always a historical idea, a product of social norms and patterns of thinking that, solidified over time, have become taken for granted and seemingly 'normal'".

I think identity and stereotypes go hand in hand, because this is how people categorize and remember people. Stereotypes can be positive, but they can sometimes leave a pretty negative connotation on people before they even get a chance to show who they really are. I have had this happen to me quite a few times. I was a cheerleader in high school, and I had people tell me that they thought I was going to be mean until they actually talked to me and found out otherwise. When I asked them why they thought that, I found out that they put me in a category because of the activity I did and the friends I had. It was super interesting to see a stereotype actually play out because it really did give me a negative appearance for no reason other than something I was involved in and blind accusations. Identity is should be something we grow into, along with some traits we were born with. I totally think that how you are raised and the environment you are surrounded with have a huge affect on the type of person you become. It was super interesting learning about Identity and negative or positive roles it can play.

September Blog Post

Very recently we as a class have learned about identity and how we as people portray ourselves. The given definition of identity is the totality of someone's self attributes at any given time. Individually, we all have a few different identities within us and it is a matter of what circumstances we are in in order for one of our identities to become salient. The given definition for saliency is the most utilized identity in one moment. I find these concepts so interesting because if you truly sit back and think about it, there are so many different identities within one person that could come out at any given time. This also makes me question if a certain identity comes out in a situation, am I truly being myself? Think about it again and I know I am being myself because it is one of my identities. Not only did identities and saliency interest me but so did the idea of performativity. Performativity is the continual repetition of performances that produce a 'series of effects'. Ones' performativity can go one way in their head while someone else may see their doings as something completely different. The best and most interesting example I can think of is in the reading of Andres Gomez and his fears of the world. He let fear drive his performance because it motivated him. He became this very brave guy who thought he was making manly decisions. When Gomez's father came to have a conversation with him, it was a completely different perspective of Andres' performativity. His father told him that he was selfish, not disciplined, and never followed through on anything. How can there be this big of a difference in perspective when they have been around each other for most of Andres' life? His repetition of performance caused this 'series of effects'. A decision to perform a certain way caused his father to talk to him about being a man even though Andres thought he was making grown-up decisions. Perspective is such a big deal when it comes to trying to understand someone's identities. That is what I took from these lectures in the past couple of days and I can see it in everyday actions.

Blog Post 2

Blog Post 2

            Recently we learned about the 3 Orders of Signification which include: denotation, connotation, and myths. Denotation is the literal definition or dictionary meaning of a word. Connotation is the secondary meaning. Lastly, myths are the cultural value or beliefs that are expressed through connotation. Myth allows the connotative meaning of a something or an image to appear denotative, literal, or natural.

            First thing that comes to mind when I think of a myth is the phrase “knock on wood”. It’s been told that knocking on wood after saying something that may jinx yourself will not make it jinx you. I personally do this and have seen many people around me partake in this common myth. If wood is not nearby, some people may even knock on their head. The denotation of this phrase would be the act of knocking on wood without it meaning anything other than what you’re doing. The connotation would be the meaning some people know as preventing from jinxing yourself. Along with the myth of literally knocking on wood or your head. This phrase is monosemy which means it has multiple meanings. It’s interesting because the idea of jinxing yourself is also somewhat of a myth. The idea that just because you do something so simple, that it will automatically not happen. I don’t feel the universe takes our knocks on wood into consideration with how things happen, yet I still am guilty on knocking on wood or my head when I think about it possibly being jinxed by something.

           

September Blog Post

I am centering this months blog post around the idea of identity and perception. Within this topic comes the idea of stereotyping which are the easy conclusions we make about people that reduce them from unique individuals to predictable types. I see stereotyping on a day to day basis. We see it within society when we group individuals into different subcategories based off of our initial judgments of them. I have been in situations where I have been stereotyped and in situations where I was stereotyping someone else without intentionally doing it.
In class this month we read sections from Barthes Mythologies. In the "Toys" chapter, it exclaimed the idea of how French dolls are made for little girls in order to teach them how to prepare for motherhood. I see this as a way of stereotyping that all little girls will grow up to be house wives and taking care of the children. It stereotypes them into a group that they have to be mothers simply because they are girls.
We also see stereotypes on a day to day basis. When we make judgments about who somebody is based off of who they hang out with or what they wear, we are subconsciously placing them into a stereotype that we created for them. Whether the stereotype turns out to be accurate or not, we will constantly hold onto that preconceived idea of them now.

September Blog Post

September Blog Post

For the month of September, I have decided to focus my blog post on the idea of Symbolic Interactionism. I found this concept important for many reasons and I chose it in order to better understand how Symbolic Interactionism has altered and shaped my personal life. According to text Symbolic Interactionism “theorizes that the self is a product of the messages it has encountered in past interactions” (Warren, 2014). In other words, who we are today is a result of the things we have experienced and done throughout our youth as we develop our personalities and beliefs. Symbolic Interactionism is the understanding of how the environment around us can have an effect on our lives and shift us for the future.

The situation that I like to look at Symbolic Interactionism in is parenting. I think that an understanding of Symbolic Interactionism can have a major effect on how parent raise their children and, as a result, have a much greater effect on the lives of their children in the future. We see this a lot with morality and religion. Religious individuals will teach their children the importance of the symbol God or Christ, whatever the belief may be, and they will teach their children why this symbol is important to respect. This can eventually lead to the child developing a morality that believes everything should be done in the way their God would want it done, or everything should be done in a way to please their God. This interaction shapes the child’s life and will change the outlook of their future. An understanding of how the symbols we apply to our children’s life can change them for the future will lead to more effective parenting.

I think that Symbolic Interactionism is important to understand and learn about for an abundance of reasons. I believe that the benefits offered by an understanding of how the things we surround ourselves with shape our personality can lead to a more optimistic future. Symbolic Interactionism can also lead to a better understanding of others and a deeper empathy for the things they believe and goals they have. This understanding also creates a community that shares a much greater level of respect and consideration than cultures we may find ourselves in today. 

Sources:

Warren, John T., and Deanna L. Fassett. Communication: a Critical/Cultural Introduction. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2014.

September Blog Post

A concept that we talked about in class this month that interested me is the idea of a stage metaphor. The concept of your front and back stage self, or your hidden and presenting self is a concept that really made me think about the application. I really enjoyed when Professor Ivey said that one is not wrong because you are the show in its entirety, even if you have both of those identities. I believe it is vital to not only understand this concept, but also apply this to your current life to reflect on who you allow to see which identity.

            I can apply this to my life because I have few people that I allow see my back stage self, allowing most people to see my front stage or presenting identity. I believe this can also relate to the idea of performance which is how we perform our identity on a day to day basis. Personally I believe how I perform my identity depends on what is salient at the time. I believe first and foremost I perform as a student at Boise State in order to show that main side of my identity in class, but when I am outside of class being a supportive friend, family member, and significant other is what I want to perform. Another term we discussed that relates to the situation of my performance is Fiske’s idea of ideological claw back which means people who police norms by bringing you back to the norms when you see alternate ways. I believe I can relate to this when I am in class because my student performance is what is most salient, but at times I make a connection or friend in the classroom which makes me want to perform my friendly identity. Although I want to do this during a small group discussion, there is normally an individual who is not open to sharing or connecting besides being similar as the student identity which feels as though they are pulling me back to that norm.

            Another place where I see an example of performance and the ideological claw back is in the realm of social media. I believe that people perform their identity in a particular way on social media for people to only view their presenting self, and very rarely their hidden self because they only want their audience to see the “best” sides. I have also seen social media as an ideological claw back because it enforces many norms. For example, some of the most famous people on the Instagram platform are beautiful men and women, who have created this success from social media itself. Many individuals begin to believe that they too can become “Instagram famous”, but when they try the claw back of society comes back to show that being “Instagram famous” is not a norm in our society. The people who police this norms are ones who choose to judge individuals by their looks or lifestyle to see if they are worthy, when there really should never be a place where you have to be worthy of anything in my opinion. Overall I believe performance is a concept that is very applicable and instilled in our society, which can be viewed as both a negative and positive thing.

September Blog

Stereotype by definition is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.  There are both advantages and disadvantages to stereotypes, although on the flip side it does create misconceived ideas about groups of people before even interacting and making personal judgements yourself.  It also eliminates us to see differences between individuals and make generalized opinions, some that most likely are not true.  Although one advantage to stereotypes is it allows us to make decisions rapidly in situations because there's a chance we can relate to the situation.  Stereotypes lead to social categorization, eventually leading to judging those who are "in" your group versus those who are "out."  It is important to not view those who are not like you as less than but as unique to yourself.  For instance those with disabilities should never be seen as less intelligent just because people stereotype them as "not capable."  Overall stereotypes may or may not accurately reflect reality.     

In class we discussed two readings: Man Up and Sister Citizen both addressing stereotypes from different viewpoints.  For example Man Up was more from a personal experience where he expressed his life and how he had a preconceived idea about how he could not be afraid as a boy.  It was his job to "man up" and be strong when it came to things he was afraid of.  There is a stereotype that men are strong and not sensitive which impacts how young boys grow up hiding those emotions.  Whereas in Sister Citizen it is more universal and broad in how the reading talks about groups of people and how they "adjust" to images in this crooked room based on where they come from.  Not everyone has the same opportunities to education for example, and there is a stereotype about low income students not being as intelligent as those who come from higher income families.  This has to due with the accessibilities that some students have other another because of where they grew up.  

Although the term stereotype has a common universal meaning, I think it is still interpreted in a variety of different ways.  One key example of stereotypes is in the movie "Mean Girls" with Lindsey Lohan, where she is homeschooled her entire life leading up to high school.  She moves from Africa to attend a public school for the first time, and there are immediate responses and judgements made about her because of where she is from and that she was homeschooled.  Stereotypes are made about groups of people based on looks, what their interests are, and ultimately how they present themselves.  For example in the movie there is a map made of where everyone sits at lunch, again categorizing people. 

September Blog Post

Stereotypes/Stereotyping. No one wants to be put into a group and have assumptions made about their lives based on appearance, gender, or interests. We all say that we don’t stereotype, but it is a natural thing to automatically do. It is not a bad thing (to an extent) because you subconsciously do it, however when you apply the stereotypes and act on those, that is when it becomes bad. Stereotyping is putting people into a box and basically telling them “hey you, you appear to be this, so you obviously fit into this group and act in certain ways.” Stereotyping in the world of cultural communication retracts our ability to properly communicate with others. When we make assumptions about someone, our brain shuts off the ability to communicate without any barriers between you and the other.

(Forgive me because what I am about to talk about may have been mentioned in class)         

Now, I am a HUGE fan of the television show, The Office. It is one of my go-to shows whenever I cannot decide what to watch on Hulu or Netflix. My husband and I have seen the complete series multiple times (don’t judge me). In season one, episode two (I Googled it, I am not that crazy of a fan…) Michael (Steve Carell) holds a “Diversity Day” (you can watch this scene in the link that I provided to help you better understand what I am talking about) training seminar where he tries to teach about the stereotypes with different cultures/races within the office. He later assigns each staff member an index card that is taped to their foreheads that has a different race/gender/culture on it. The staff goes around talking with one another trying to guess what is taped to their foreheads. The staff members are not into the ‘exercise’ because they see that stereotyping is wrong and inappropriate. They are going around and helping the others guess what is on their forehead by talking like the stereotypes that have been assigned to those cultures/race/etc. Obviously, this is highly inappropriate for any setting, especially a place of business. But it is a great example to show how stereotypes are seen and how they can build up a wall that blocks the field of communication between two people. 

September Blog Post

I am going to focus my blog this month on the idea of impression management. Goffman argued that “people engage in impression management, observing that we build an impression for ourselves of ourselves for others.” What we wear, how and when to speak, and many others influence how we portray ourselves when dealing with impression management. In my Communication 221 class, we are currently talking about the idea of presenting yourself and maintaining a public self. Somebody’s face is the person they are showing to others and it influences how others view them. We are also learning about masks, which are used to conceal people’s faces. Basically the mask is used to conceal the private self, so that people can control how others see them. This all relates back to impression management because the face and the mask are similar in the way that they somewhat control how others view us and what they think of us.

All of this brought me back to the every job interview I have had in my life so far. When interviewing for a job, it is important that the interviewee is on their best behavior, dressing for the occasion, and portraying all of their best qualities that would fit that job description. If somebody is interviewing for a prestigious job, it is important that they do all of these things in nice business clothes, but this isn’t the same at every job. If somebody is interviewing for a job at a daycare or somewhere less serious with a more open environment, it may not be required that the interviewee wears nice business clothes and speaks a specific way. They may want to show their more fun side since they will be dealing with kids. This all deals with the idea of impression management because we want to build an impression of ourselves in a way that will make others see is in a certain way. This isn’t just for jobs though, people use impression management everywhere they go. A teenager would probably act a little bit different around their grandparents as they would around their best friends or their teachers. Impression management is something people do every day whether we realize it or not, and it completely shapes the way others think of us.

September Blog Post

The concept I will be discussing is perception and identity. Perception is how people see, influenced by the social, political, and cultural experiences that influence and mark them. A similar way to describe perception is someone’s point of view. As for identity it is the totality of the persons self attributes at a given moment in time. Identity is who someone is such as a daughter, student, where they’re from and more concepts that makes an individual unique. Our perception has to do with our identity. For example, if someone is a strong republican, then that shapes their perception based on their identity. 

In class Mrs. Ivey talked about a picture of a glass mason jar with big rocks, pebbles and sand. The big rocks go in first as they take up the most room, then the pebbles which fill in between the big rocks, lastly goes the sand that fills up the rest of the jar. This is an example of perception because the big rocks represent what is most important in someone’s life which must always be first such as family and friends. The pebbles represent the second most important things that are still a priority but not as much as family or friends. Lastly is the sand which is the outside factors. The mason jar can only be filled up in that order or else not everything fits. This represents the influences that makes up who you are by what you believe is most important to you must go first and everything else will fall into place.               

Everyone’s perception is different just like their identity. My identity first comes as a daughter and girlfriend. My family is the most important thing to me and being a daughter to my parents is the biggest part of my identity because I wouldn’t be who I am without them. Second would be a girlfriend as I have been with my boyfriend for a long time and he is basically part of my family, being in a relationship helped me grow into the person I am today. The last factors of my identity would be volleyball and being a Washingtonian. I have been playing volleyball since I was 12 and today it consumes my life. Even though I go to school in Idaho I am from Washington and growing up there is a big part of who I am and has an impact on the people I have met throughout my life. There is a term called saliency which is what is being utilized the most. For example, if I was in the moment playing volleyball I would be salient toward volleyball because that is what I am doing in the moment. 

Identity and perception are important because these concepts make you who you are. Identity and perception are something that is unique to everyone because everyone is different. Where you grow up and the people you’re around shapes your perception and identity so knowing the importance of the influences around you is important for shaping who you’re. 

September Blog Post

My communication classes have all overlapped and in my comm 221 class, we have also discussed social construction and stereotypes in the context of forming perceptions of others. I think in today's culture you often hear people say "don't judge" me and automatically assume that we will automatically put them into a box. I used to think that this was all completely wrong, but I realized that everyone does it to reduce uncertainty about others. Sometimes this can help us maybe be more emotionally intelligent, but it can also just as easily build up walls between ourselves and potentionally great relationships.
One of the best examples of sterotyping that I can think of in pop culture is in the Disney movie High School Musical. All of the characters have distinct identities and interests that categorize them and make them belong to a group. It makes it easier for someone to look at them based on how they dress and act and reduce the uncertainty that might be there. For example, when Troy meets Gabriella, it is easy for her to categorize him into a social group and find out information about him, by looking at how he acts, and who he associates with, which is Chad and the rest of the basketball team.

However, like I said earlier this can also negatively affect how we treat others and act towards them in a negative way. If we don't give others enough room to speak for themselves, they might feel like they are stuck in a socially constructed way of acting, thinking, and feeling. Just as Troy was scared that his basketball buddies would reject him if he sang in the school talent show, we also are fearful of rejection. We want to belong, but there is also a fine line we must walk with ourselves and also teh way we see others. Being self-aware when we are meeting people for the frist time is important so that they can have the chance to speak to who they truely are and how they may or may not follow social construction, and stereotypes that we have already given them.

September Blog-Taylor Schellenger

For my September blog post, I am going to focus on stereotypes and Goffman’s Impression Management. We are all well aware of what stereotypes are, but for those who don’t know, they are defined as conclusions about people that reduce them from unique individuals to predictable types. Most people stereotype without even realizing it because it is so easy and common to do so. Goffman’s Impression Management is probably something many people haven’t heard of, but often without thinking about it or realizing there is a name for it. It’s an impression of ourselves for ourselves and others. My own personal definition of stereotype is judging someone based on preconceived notions. My interpretation of Goffman’s Impression Management is the way we view ourselves and how we think other people view us. 

An example of common stereotyping in today’s society is based on people who don’t fit the mold of what is socially acceptable to wear or look like in public. We have preconceived notions of what we think are “good looking” versus “not so-good looking” people. If we see someone wearing a floral printed shirt with striped shorts, some of us would automatically stereotype them as weird or different for their outfit they are wearing. This goes for Goffman’s Impression Management as well.

An example of this is how we perceive the world, is how we are going to make ourselves be perceived to the world around us as well. If we see a repeat of different people wearing black pants and a white t-shirt we may wear that same outfit too because we know it is socially acceptable based on the people around us. Celebrities are a very good example of this, in magazines and online articles, there are always people like Gigi Hadid or Kendall Jenner being photographed in different outfits. Girl around their age look up to them and automatically want to dress the same way. These celebrities establish social norms for us as a society. Attached is an article of different outfits of Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner. If you look at some of the outfits they are wearing, many girls have tried and replicated the same looks. This is where stereotyping and Goffman’s theory come into play.

https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/kendall-jenner-gigi-hadid-matching-outfits-twinning