September Blog Post

The reading I am choosing to discuss is the Man Up by Carlos Andres Gomez was very interesting to me. This is because he chooses to target a stigma that I feel as if is never targeted, or given a chance to be heard. One of the things we talked about in class is Perception, and this article gives you a whole new look on it. There are many different ways to look at being a man. But what many people probably agree on is the stereotype of having no fear, being strong in all ways, providing for the family, and that kind of thing. I loved how this article challenged that stigma by showing that its simply not reasonable for every man to be like that. How we look at being a man, our perception of it, was drastically changed as we went through the authors life and learned about fear. 

Something that is seen in the outside world that is helping to challenge this is the job roles being changed. In older years, it would be very unusual to see a man as a nurse or a flight steward. Likewise many women are finding jobs in a "Mans Field" like mechanics or doctors. Societies perceptions are constantly changing, sometimes for the worse and sometimes for the better, and with those changing perceptions comes the change in our culture. So as our perception of a man being able to be afraid was challenged in this article, it opens up a lot of perceptions and stigmas that bear looking at. It also opens up ways to change those perceptions. 

The concept of perception is very important in how we shape our culture. The way we view how other people look and act is how we view our society and how we treat others. If we have a negative perception of something or someone, then its hard to treat them differently as an individual. For instance, if we had the perception that a doctor was the least desirable job in the country, then nobody would want to do that and or help with that. If nobody wanted to be a doctor, then our society would be vastly different. Our focus on health care and that kind of thing would be drastically lower. That is a good example of what can happen with negative perceptions or ideas, but we also have good perceptions. This keeps our culture and our society healthy.