Straying from Tradition

Tradition is really important when it comes to certain things because it can help you connect with your culture better, but there is a downside to tradition too, it can also keep you in the past where gender roles are prevalent.  Traditional gender roles have played a huge role in society and the media because what they depict alters our view of what's normal and right although at times that is not true. Why is it that the media chooses to show the mother of the household in the kitchen cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry while the father lounges in the living room watching tv?  This is just one example of a traditional gender role.  We've come to believe that image and are told not to stray from it even though everyone in a household should have the same responsibilities.

Beneatha from A Raisin in the Sun chooses to stray from the traditional gender roles placed on her by Mama, Ruth, and Walter, but is immediately punished for being herself.  She tells Mama exactly what she thinks and is slapped because of her forward thinking views on society and God.  It's clear that she wants to move forward but can't because her family is subjecting her to the gender roles it deems normal. 

We have to ask ourselves if tradition is worth not progressing into the future because if we continue to stereotype both sexes then we will never be able to develop our society.

Materials Matter

There is so much wrong with today's society and just by looking at the internet I can tell that many people agree with me.  People seem to care only about what someone has and not what they are actually like. We look at celebrities and the first thing that we notice is what they are wearing-- or which brand name designer they are wearing. We look at who has the biggest engagement ring or who has the highest number of carats in it instead of what these celebrities are contributing to society. From a young age, it is drilled into us that money and socioeconomic status are very important to our futures. What most people don't realize is that society has always been judgmental of everything and everyone. Society has always told us that the happiest people are the ones with everything money can buy, but that's simply not true. 

We can see that materialism was prevalent in Gatsby's life due to the fact that he spent his entire life trying to make the maximum amount of money that he could.  Gatsby was so intoxicated by the idea of materialism and attaining everything that he wanted, that he only wanted Daisy just so he could say that he won her over and not because of his love for her. Obviously this worked for Gatsby because not only does he not end up with anyone by his side, he loses Daisy and more importantly his life.  

Thanksgiving "Thankfulness"

There are so many things that each person should be thankful for, but why has Thanksgiving become a day where you eat until you almost burst and wait for Black Friday? It seems as though people have forgotten the true meaning of Thanksgiving and are buying into the Thanksgiving that stores are creating for them.

During this time of year, people used to come together and spend time with their families, but now to spend time with each other they wait in line on Black Friday for the "best" deals of the year. But when does the Black Friday craze go too far? This year many popular retailers opened their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving day; Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target are just a few retailers that opened at 8 pm on Thanksgiving Day.  People buy things just because there is a deal on the item and not because they actually need the product. Obviously, there are people who hate the idea of Black Friday on Thanksgiving because it's less time to spend with your family. But if we've already ruined the meaning of Thanksgiving then why is it a problem?

The attitude that "more is better" can be seen in the 1920's also.  The idea of having everything seemed too good to be true, so money was spent lavishly. Although times have changed and people have become more money conscious, there is still a sense of "more is better" or else why would people buy unnecessary things?

Past and Present Times

In the 1920's women were starting to get their own rights and freedoms in society because the roles of women were changing.  Women have had to work for their rights for so long, but during the '20's in America they were able to be depicted as strong and independent.  Although they were seen differently it was becoming accepted that women could do perfectly fine with out a man. Even though if they went out and had drinks they were described as "loose" women, which as we all know led to the era of the flappers.


The same concept is true nowadays, society accepts that women can live without someone of the opposite sex and they can be independent, but if they choose to live that sort of life then they are usually mocked and made fun of especially in the entertainment business. They are described as annoying and bossy even though it's inaccurate to generalize because no two people are alike.  It seems as though anything that a female does will be mocked or will be gossiped about, even though that way of thinking is backwards.  The advertisements that were focused on women during the 1920's is extremely similar to the ads that women in the 21st century face.  This is because they focus on what the ideal woman should be like and not what the everyday woman is like.  Most of the products that are from the 1920's advertise for weight-loss/gain or cigarettes (because "cool and stylish" people smoke cigarettes).  It's interesting to see how ads in our time use these techniques to try to get women to buy their products, just as they did in the '20's.


We need to eliminate these false views of women and make them equal to men once again.  We've become, as a society, more hateful towards female empowerment and that needs to change. Girls in developing countries are growing up with out the education that teaches them that females and males are equal, but in the US we have the information and the means of distributing the knowledge but we are not, for some reason, distributing it out to the youth of America.  We need to start teaching everyone that men and women are equal and they should share the same responsibilities. If I know this then why shouldn't everyone else?

Rules or Rebels

Do we need rules for every single thing in the world? A set guideline to follow when we're lost?  The rules of punctuation "provide" for us just that, but instead of helping us it's limiting us in an ever-changing society.  There is supposedly a set list of punctuation rules in the English language, but this is false; we pretend to know every single punctuation rule in the English language, but this is practically impossible-- there are too many.  We cannot continue this charade of pretending to know everything when it's clearly false.  The rules of punctuation are limiting and suffocating. We need to be able to express ourselves when we write. I'm not saying that we should get rid of every. single. punctuation. rule. ever. but we don't need half the comma rules that are in existence today. It seems pointless, to try to argue over something that probably will not change even though it needs to.  Also, we've changed these rules before and let them evolve in their respective societies.  Do you really think the English language hasn't evolved since 1066? Well, guess what, it has changed. So being opposed to changing the rules doesn't make sense at all, since they will eventually change to fit our society better. Always question the man, in this case it's punctuation.

Double-Takes

Don't you just hate it when something happens and it didn't go as expected? And you catch yourself asking whether what you just saw or read actually happened? That was what happened to me at the end of The Scarlet Letter.  I had to do a "double-take" because my reaction to completing it was "Wait, what? why?" Dimmesdale dies at the end. *spoiler alert* I should've put that at the beginning, but shame on you for slacking if you didn't know that!

This happens in everyday life too! A couple of weekends ago, the Saints vs Patriots game was on and until the last 5 seconds in the game, the Saints were leading. It was at the 5 second mark that a miracle shot was threw by Tom Brady and somehow it was caught and it was"legal" and they "beat" the best team in pro-football by 3 points.  This is another example of a time that I had to do a double-take, because it was just so ridiculous that a lucky shot actually caused a touchdown in the last 5 seconds of the game! Another time I had a double-take was just today while watching the MTV EMA's, I was watching to see who won the Worldwide Act and when they announced "Chris Lee" I was in shock. She wasn't a favorite and honestly everyone is confused as to how it happened, because there were 2 favorites and an underdog favorite! One Direction and Justin Bieber were the two favorites, but the Kpop group EXO (best artists ever, like seriously though) had an amazing shot at winning this year despite only having only been here for a year!  The only thought I had was "At least 1D or JBiebs didn't win!" I don't have anything against 1D, but they're not as talented as EXO and honestly who still likes Justin Bieber?! To me, double-takes are ridiculous and I absolutely hate them.  The Saints vs Patriots game could not have been helped but the ending to The Scarlet Letter could have been avoided.

Individualism Issues

I always say that we shouldn't conform to society's wishes and that we should express ourselves freely and in the way that we want, but when we see someone who looks a little different or is wearing something funky, generally no one is going to look at them and say, "wow! that's incredible; how unique! Although their style is different " They would probably say something like "What is that person wearing?! Are they serious right now?" Everyone judges each other based on what their first impression of the person, what they are wearing, what they are doing, and how they speak.

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is judged on a daily basis because she committed adultery and had a child out of wedlock, which of course was scandalous for that time.  The Puritans in this book not only gossiped about her in their private lives, but they also forced her to wear a scarlet A on her all of her blouses to show the world her sin. That's crazy. I understand that this was in the past in a society that looked down upon many things, but how much have we changed?  Honestly, people are still looked down on because of the dumbest of things.  For example, in India there's still a "hush hush" caste system and people continue to follow it, thinking that they're better than someone else because of the "caste" that they were born into. This is kind of the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard because you can't help what you were born into! If your parents are poor then you're born poor too, but you might have the opportunity to change this and become successful. The Indian Caste system was supposedly abolished after India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947, but that obviously did not work, because even today there is a prominent caste system still in place.  In many African countries, homosexuals are killed because of their sexual preference (which they can't help and which shouldn't be a problem).  I just don't understand why this is a problem, why can't we accept everyone for who they are as people and what they are like?

As a world society we need to learn how to be more accepting of others.  People should be able to freely express themselves without being ostracized, but sadly this won't happen soon enough. There needs to be an international acceptance day (sad that it's not everyday) where we learn to be more accepting of people and hopefully in the future it can be everyday.

Patriotism Pains

Every morning, we have to stand and say the pledge, well actually that's not completely true, we don't have to stand and say it, but almost everyone does every morning anyways.  I want to say that we do it to be patriotic and show our love of America, but honestly that's not why most of us stand and say it; we stand up and recite the pledge because everyone else does and that's what is accepted.  I'm not saying that we aren't patriotic, because I know that I am patriotic, it's just that blindly reciting something that we learned in pre-k shouldn't be considered patriotic.  

Some people believe that patriotism is always good and no one can be too patriotic, which is ok because everyone is entitled to their own views, but personally I disagree.  There are times when being too patriotic is a bad thing. Is it ok to kill innocent people just because their country's views oppose yours or their country hates yours? I don't think that violence should be the first response to anything, because violence just breeds hate.  

Malcolm X said "You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it."  This quote basically states that you can be patriotic but also a good person, but it depends on how far you are willing to go in the name of your country. There are things that everyone can do to support their country and show off their pride, but how far is too far? 

Feminism = Equality

It's not a secret that women didn't share the same basic human rights as men until very recently and are still fighting for them in many places around the World.  It's obvious throughout history that men were given more importance and women were treated as property. It seems ridiculous that women would not be able to share the same rights as men especially in this day and age, but women are still treated like they were in the 1600's.  While watching The Crucible, I noticed how the female actors portrayed their characters and how they treated the male characters; they always sought approval and asked for permission to do anything, like speak freely in the courts.

I realized that women in some developing nations are still treated like this, they still have to ask for permission to speak or even to go out.  That, to me, is insane, why are women seen as inferior to men? Why do males throughout history believe that they're the most important to the survival of our race? Why wouldn't people want equal rights and opportunities without bias on gender? 

There is no one answer to each of these questions.  Women have been treated unfairly for hundreds of years and it probably won't stop anytime soon, especially with the attitude that we currently have which depicts the movement for women's rights, Feminism, as stupid and annoying.  When people think of feminism they think of a bunch of men hating, crazy women who demand ridiculous things, but the truth is that feminism isn't that at all.  Feminism equals equality.  Feminis
m is the movement for gender equality, it's not a group of women who hate men and want to watch the world burn.  When people say "what you don't know, you fear" that's true, because people get annoyed or have horrible reactions when talking about feminism, but most of the time they have absolutely no idea of what feminism really is.  There is no possible way that anyone could ever be against feminism because all the movement is about is equal rights without gender discrimination. Don't fear what you don't know, learn about what you don't know, so that there won't be anything to fear. Women should not have to ask for permission to go outside of the house, they should not have to ask for permission to speak, they should not have to get married at young ages against their will, they should not have to be with a male relative at all times, they should not be treated as property because of their gender, which they cannot help.  

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written and signed by the states that make up the United Nations, states in Article 2 that people cannot be discriminated against due to gender. That is considered a basic human right, the right not to be discriminated because of gender. Why is there still a fear of women's equal rights not only in the developing world, but also in 1st world countries? 

Mob Madness

When you hear the words "mass hysteria," what do you think of?  The reaction is probably along the lines of something bad happening in society like the Salem Witch Trials, the Mayan Apocalypse, or even the Red Scare.  Most of the time mass hysteria hurts the idea of a perfect world, but sometimes mass hysteria is good.  

You're probably trying to think of times when mass hysteria is actually good, well there are many times, like the release of the original iPhone.  The release signified the beginning of a new wave of technology, the smart phone era.  Another time that mass hysteria didn't lead to violence or didn't help hurt anyone was the formation and release of boy bands like *NSYNC and BSB (Backstreet Boys). These boy bands linked teenage girls from all over the world because of their mutual love of BSB or *NSYNC.  While on the more political side of things, the Arab Spring was an extremely important example of mass hysteria, because it symbolizes the desire for freedom against oppressive regimes in Middle Eastern countries.  

There are many more times that mass hysteria was used to better the world and that shouldn't dampen our perspective on what we think mass hysteria to be.  

Society's Stereotypes

Mean Girls, Madea's Big Happy Family, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and White Chicks. Those are all well-known and loved movies, but they're all similar in a bad way, all of those movies portray hardcore stereotypes.

In Mean Girls, there is the popular group of girls, who are all mean, slutty, and overly body conscious. The plot line for any Tyler Perry movie revolves around African-American stereotypes, while every Harold and Kumar indulges the stereotypes placed on Asians and Indians, and then of course White Chicks focuses on the rich Caucasian woman.  

When Americans watch movies like these they don't even recognize that what they are seeing is not the truth. Stereotypes have become apart of the culture, but there should be no reason for them.  There are hardly any movies or TV shows that combat the rampant use of stereotypes.  Although, Legally Blonde is an example of how incorrect stereotypes are, because in the movie a blonde sorority girl gets into Harvard Law and becomes successful, according to stereotypes that would never happen, because Elle is both a blonde and she pledged a sorority.  An example of a show that combats stereotypes is a child's show: The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.  In The Suite Life, many stereotypes are broken down, such as the dumb blonde stereotype because Maddy, who is blonde, is the smartest one, whereas her foil, London is Asian, but she's an idiot. 

The sad reality is that stereotypes are now socially accepted and have become a huge part of the film industry due to the changing minds of the American public and their views of humor.  There aren't enough movies like Legally Blonde or shows like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, because most movies that come out today have the same stereotypes. By choosing to accept and believe stereotypes, we are letting the youth of America know that it's ok to separate everyone because of their skin, hair, or ethnicity.  There is no way that stereotypes will ever be gone from our society; the only thing we can do now is educated people on the falsehood of stereotypes.

America's Own Kind of Racism

The American Civil Rights Movement happened in the late 50's and carried on into the early 60's. It was 1964 when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 got passed and African-American's enjoyed the same rights as their Caucasian neighbors. Fast-forward 49 years in the future and although everyone has equal rights, racism still exists and it affects everyone through stereotypes.  How can society judge an individual based on what it believes are characteristics that everyone of the same ethnicity face? We see stereotypes everyday and most of us just accept them. Why are stereotypes so common in today's society?

In the Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, the author comes to terms with the stereotype of a Native American.  It is widely believed that Native Americans are all alcoholics; Alexie brings this to light and acknowledges this problem, while relating it to his own life and battle with alcoholism.  The difference between Alexie and other authors is that he combats stereotypes by using humor. On page 183 of Alexie's book, he recalls the time a police officer pulled him over and racially profiled him, later telling him that he didn't "fit the profile of the neighborhood." You think to yourself, that this could not happen in today's society and that no cop would ever say something like that to a citizen, but you are wrong because racial profiling is common throughout the US especially in states such as Arizona.  If we want to be the "melting pot" of the world, then the people of America need to stop stereotyping people.

Sherman Alexie poses a question for us all in his writing; he asks if racism is worth it, because every single person has faced a stereotype in their life at some point.  Is the stereotype you think someone fits under really worth saying out loud? It's not.

Separated Genes

Genes are passed from parent to child, but does that mean that we turn out like our parents?  Even though we inherit many things from our parents, that does not have a huge impact on how we turn out.  The environment that you grow up in and the conditions you were raised in ultimately determines what type of person you will become; genes do not determine personality.  The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls explores the idea of how children and their parents are different.  After suffering through a painful childhood, where she was loved but neglected Walls expresses her anxiety in raising her daughter the way her parents raised her.  Walls constantly moved her whole childhood and when her family settled down it was never in a nice place and it was never permanent.  In one of the chapters near the end of her novel, Walls shows her concern of becoming like her parents while talking about how she does not want to raise her daughter the way she was raised.  Just because Jeannette Walls shares her genes with her parents, it does not mean that she is the same as them or that she shares her parents personalities.  Unlike the constant moving she faced when she was a kid, her daughter doesn't have this problem because they live in a more permanent home with little to no troubles, proving that she is a better parent.  The link between Walls and her parents stops at physical properties.  Since the late 1980's the APA (American Psychological Association) has yet to determine whether genes can carry important personality traits or whether they develop during childhood.  This is another reason proving that heritage has little effect on the type of person one becomes.