Spheres of Influence

     As I read through Annah Anti-Palindrome’s article, “This White Feminist Loved Her Dreadlocks Here’s Why She Cut Them Off” I felt a mixture of emotions. I was familiar with what cultural appropriation was but I never really put too much thought into it. At first, I felt similar to the way Annah felt when her friends were telling her it was offensive to wear dreads. In my head, I was thinking that people need to loosen up…what’s the big deal- it’s just hair? But the more I read it the more I realized why it could be seen as offensive. As a person of color, I am lucky to live in a city that, compared to other cities, is pretty open-minded and diverse. Because of that, I have grown up without feeling the same weight of discrimination and oppression that people of my race feel in other parts of the country. So I have to remind myself that just because even though I am half black, I don’t have the same experience as other people of color. Just because I am not offended by a white person wearing dreads, doesn’t mean it isn’t offensive to other people and should be something treated with cultural respect.                                                                                                                                          

      I found Drew Dudley’s TED talk about every day leadership to be very inspiring. The way he discussed leadership really resonated with me because it is so true that society makes it into something so much bigger than what it should be about. I do not see myself as a leader because I am an anxious and introverted person, and while I do want to make a difference in the world and do my part in making it a better place, I feel hesitant to carry the responsibility and pressure of being a leader. It is interesting to think about those “lollipop moments” that he mentioned and how we might not even remember certain times we have had impacts on people’s lives and been leaders to them. He made a huge impact on a girl’s life and he did not even remember doing so. That day, he was that girl’s biggest leader, and that probably was not even his goal.                                                                  

     Nicholas Christakis’s TED talk on the hidden influence of social networks really opened my eyes up to the strength in social networks. The examples he used of the obesity epidemic, or the widow effect made me realize how these connections we have are so much larger than we think. How we act, what we believe, and the actions we do, impact so much more people than we think. I really liked the point he made at the end when he said, “if we realized how valuable social networks are, we'd spend a lot more time nourishing them and sustaining them, because I think social networks are fundamentally related to goodness.” This is so true- I feel like if we really knew how valuable social networks are, especially in today’s age where social network consists of our social groups on social media as well, we would be a lot more careful about what we were putting out there. 

Empowerment

     The videos and the readings were very inspiring this week. One of the readings, The Liberal Millennial Revolution from The Atlantic, made me realize just how many millennials there are and how different they are from older generations. This generation is so much more left and liberal than the older generations. The article said this has to do with the fact this generation is so diverse and other factors. It probably also has to do with the internet and the easy access to information. The more knowledge we have, the easier it is have an open mind and stand up for what is right. That said, as mentioned in Professor Sepp’s blog, many people are guilty of “click-tivism” in which “often we are tempted to call out the circumstances in some way (social media, for instance) and vent our irritations – then move on.” I found myself questioning whether I am guilty of this and I realized that I am, in a way. I often find myself so wrapped up in my own life and school work that I will make a big deal about something but not do anything to try and fix it. For example, when the election was going on, I was very much against Trump and would talk and talk about how bad it would be if he won and how we have to stop it from happening, but at the end of the day, I really did nothing about it. I didn’t attend any protests or anything. Was I not empowered enough to do something or did I just not care enough? Maybe a little of both.

     One of the TED talks that I found really interesting was by Vernā Myers: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them. In her talk, she discussed the ways in which we can help society overcome its biases, particularly against black men since they seem to be the population with the most biases against them. She mentioned names of recent innocent black men killed by officers and said there are three ways we can prevent this from happening. One of the first things was to get out of denial and admit that we all have biases. That is such a hard thing to do, especially when you try to be an open minded person and would like to think you don’t have any biases. The next thing she said to do was to “move toward young black men instead of away from them.” The third thing she said was “when we see something, we have to have the courage to say something, even to the people we love.” I have a hard time with this one, especially when it comes to standing up to a family member or friend. When it comes to standing up to a stranger, it is a little easier because you don’t have to worry about seeing them later or ruining a relationship, but you can make the most impact by standing up to a loved one. 

Institutional Inequity

This week’s assignments really opened my eyes up to the institutional inequity that goes on in the world- especially in the United States. While the U.S. might be advanced in some areas- it is far behind when it comes to the prison system. The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world- while it only makes up about 5 percent of the world’s population, it is responsible for 24 to 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. About half of these prisoners are non-violent. In the video, Frontline: Prison State, it shows us into the Kentucky prison system and the one year journey through the system of 4 residents from Beecher Terrace, a housing project in the west end of Louisville, Kentucky.

What really stood out to me in the video was the obvious prevalence of the population being targeted by the police- African American. Starting at a young age, African Americans are put at a higher risk for run-ins with the law. For example, 2 of the high schools I went to in Austin were Bowie High School, which is a primarily white school in South Austin and Austin Can Academy, which is a primarily black and Hispanic school in East Austin. During my time there, which was only a few months, I did not see one white kid there. By contrast, most of the staff and security officers there were white. Bowie had about 2 unarmed security guards and rarely had random drug searches done. At Austin Can Academy, there were probably about 10- if not more- armed security guards who, along with the staff, treated the kids like cattle and would literally pull them out of the crowd by the back of their shirts if their shirt was untucked or they were wearing a hat or they seemed the least bit suspicious. They treated the kids with no respect and were constantly kicking kids out and busting kids for breaking the rules of their probation. They also had random drug searches at least once a week- if not more. Well, of course if you put that much police presence in a school you are going to end up with more arrests and instances of drug possession. If you did the same number of random drug searches at a school like Bowie or Westlake, you would probably end up with quite a bit of offenders- the only differences is that instead of going to jail, their parents would send them to a rehab center and be able to keep their record clean.

A particularly sad moment from the video was when one of the girls who had been locked up, Demetria Duncan, was talking to the camera and repeating how she just doesn’t care anymore. I watched a video in one of my other classes that talked about how when kids say “they don’t care” it really means that they don’t feel cared about. And it makes perfect sense why she would feel this way- the system has let her down. She would be able to be out jail but her own aunt won’t take her back in and she doesn’t have anyone else to stay with. It seems like there should be a better solution for kids in her position. As a social worker, I would try to find a therapeutic environment for them that doesn’t make them feel like prisoners and work on giving them the life skills and resources to be a successful member of society. 

Stigma

When it comes to stigma, I feel that we all have certain kinds of stigma we worry about being labeled as. A common stigma for boys is to be seem as weak or unmanly. The video and reading, “There's Something Absolutely Wrong With What We Do To Boys Before They Grow Into Men” and “11 'Girly' Things Men Wish They Could Do Without Judgment” does a great job at analyzing how this stigma affects males. I am often too focused on all the unfair advantages men have over women in society that I don’t stop to think of their struggles. In the article, they pointed out how it is easier for women to get away stigma-free wearing masculine clothes that it is for men to wear feminine clothes and act ‘girly’. This is so true, in women’s fashion, we have boyfriend jeans and can wear pantsuits- but if a man wore a dress, he would be seen as a cross-dresser and would most likely not be accepted by most of society as a male. They would categorize his as transgender, even if he identified as a straight male and just enjoyed wearing dresses.

One aspect of the ‘be a man’ mentality that really bothers me is that they are discouraged from showing emotion and being sensitive. Men have the potential to be just as sensitive and emotional as women but the fact that society frowns upon these type of men and our quick to stigmatize them as weak or gay, causes them to turn those feelings into anger and frustration. I feel that this is part of the reason why most rapists are men. If we didn’t put so much pressure on boys to prove their manhood and strength, maybe we wouldn’t have so many instances of violence from men.

The articles and videos this week made me realize just how strong of an influence society has on young boys. My brother is two years older than me so growing up we were pretty close. My parents raised my brother and I the same way and made a conscious effort not to use language like ‘be a man’ or ‘act like a lady’ so as not to make us feel pressured to act any other way than our natural personalities. They taught my brother it was okay for him to cry and be sensitive- my dad leading by example as I have actually seen him cry more than my mom and is a very sensitive and caring man. This seemed to work well with my brother up until he got into school. I remember we used to play dolls together and he would dress up in my dresses, but once he realized that that was considered ‘gay’ or unmanly, he quickly stopped. Before he realized that boys were not ‘supposed’ to play with these girl toys he enjoyed it, but once he learned it was not cool, he no longer wanted to play. Even with open-minded parents who encourage their son to be sensitive and caring, the fear of being stigmatized as unmanly is stronger and ultimately won.