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Introduction

My goal for this paper was to try and teach some people about the reasons behind some refusals to vaccinate. I'm really proud that I included sources that explained more about what my topic was about. Areas for improvement are that I could've elaborated more on the idea of value systems and their impacts. Another area for improvement could be that I should expand more on analyzing the quotes. Overall, I'm proud about my topic because not many people think of the reasoning behind this choice.

Advanced Essay

According to the Collins Dictionary, “the value system of a group of people is the set of beliefs and attitudes that they all share.” Refusing to get vaccines is something that some parents choose to follow for their children’s health. Nowadays, many parents are choosing to delay how often their kids get their vaccines and some also choose to just not get them. According to the U.S National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, “These reasons vary widely between parents, but they can be encompassed in 4 overarching categories. The 4 categories are religious reasons, personal beliefs or philosophical reasons, safety concerns, and a desire for more information from healthcare providers.” (McKee, Chephra, and Kristin Bohannon. “Exploring the Reasons Behind Parental Refusal of Vaccines.” The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics : JPPT 21.2 (2016): 104–109. PMC. Web. 8 Mar. 2018.) Personally, I believe that everyone should get vaccinated because I know that it would most likely prevent people from receiving certain diseases.

I think that people don’t realize that not getting vaccines is dangerous because if they’re in the same area as vaccinated kids and the kids with vaccines have something like whooping cough, the non-vaccinated kids can catch it. People could be spreading viruses onto kids that don’t have their vaccines. I think it’s important that parents should be educated enough to know what their choices could lead to. Parents should get enough information to know what would happen if their child got sick and didn’t have their vaccines. I think that children should have some say when parents are hesitant about issues that concern their public health. I believe that some value systems that have been set in place should be removed because in a way they “punish” those who have different beliefs.

I understand that it wouldn’t be ideal if some kids got to choose whether or not they wanted them because there are kids that would refuse it because it “hurts.” I’ve seen a poster at a pediatric office I intern at and it says something like, “If there were a vaccine against cancer,  wouldn’t you give it to your child?...” Most parents wouldn’t even think twice about giving their child a vaccine to prevent something like cancer, so why not for other diseases? This value system that has been set up doesn’t take into consideration that children may die if they get a disease that they aren’t protected from. What does it have to take in order for a parent to ignore their values and actually do what’s best for their child’s health? For example, there’s a story about the death of a boy named Colin Durkin. I think that the personal story of the family who lost a child is an important source because they speak about how maybe if they’d gotten the chance to give their child a vaccine, it’s possible he wouldn’t have died. In the story, the parents explain, “We never had the chance to immunize Colin as he was still too young, but an ounce of prevention could go a long way in saving your child's life…” (Durkin, Pamela and Kevin)

In situations like this, it’s difficult to receive a vaccine because the child is so young. However, this family realized that if they could’ve done something, in order to prevent this death, they would’ve done it. This is an example of how refusing to give your child a vaccine could result in something devastation, sometimes even fatal. Sometimes there aren’t “in your face” symptoms, which is why it’s important to receive a vaccine because it could detect what your eyes couldn’t.

Personally, those who don’t get it because of “religious reasons” should have to give proof that is a legit reason for the exemption. I understand the thinking behind those who do it because they’re concerned about the health of their children. “Religious reasons tend to account for the majority of total vaccine refusal, while parents with personal beliefs against immunization tend to be more willing to compromise and at least partially vaccinate their children. Parents are concerned with doing the best for their children, and hearing reports of potential safety issues or that childhood diseases are not a large threat can hinder them from vaccinating their children.” (McKee, Chephra, and Kristin Bohannon, 104-109) This quote really speaks about how most parents could be influenced in vaccinating their child if they’re told about what major illnesses it could prevent. My mom has chosen to not give us the flu vaccines because everytime that we used to get them, we would get extreme fevers and even more sick. I understand that some parents don’t want to risk their children’s health even more because of the symptoms that may occur afterwards. I think that society needs to get rid of these systems set up with specific beliefs because it doesn’t allow for those who oppose those ideas to speak their minds.

Bibliography

McKee, Chephra, and Kristin Bohannon. “Exploring the Reasons Behind Parental Refusal of Vaccines.” The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics : JPPT 21.2 (2016): 104–109. PMC. Web. 8 Mar. 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4869767/

“Infant and Child Vaccines - Personal Testimonies - The Death of Colin, Pamela and Kevin Durkin's Infant Son.” Accessed March 8, 2018. www.vaccineinformation.org/infants-children/testimonies/whooping-cough/colin-durkin.asp.

I grew up living in a different lifestyle than most Americans. I remember waking up asking myself ,“Why am I so  different from all of my friends?” What I should be asking is, “Why am I different from the people who share the same culture as me?” My culture dictates that the ideal man gets a job and becomes successful, wants to start a family, raise a son, and teach him to be strong and courageous to pass down the family name. I, however, orbit the idea of the social norm in our tradition culture of being Asian, not being completely part of the Teochew (chinese) culture yet I haven’t left it. Both of my parents tried to raise me to be the best at math and science so that I could go to college and become a professional doctor. As I grew older, I realized that being a doctor never interested me. Being a doctor was just an option, but making movies was something that has been in my mind as something I would want to do as a career for a very long time. As time thickened the air of maturity, I consulted myself and began to wonder what my parents’ opinion would be about my career goal of becoming a filmmaker.

I’ve lived the life of being an Asian American, who was raised by a pair of Chinese Cambodian immigrant parents. The American culture was never embraced with my parents and they haven’t adjusted to the norms of what the typical American would do in the United States. As a family, we have always strictly followed our multiculture of being both Chinese and Cambodian. From food to language to family roots, gender roles were never a conflict for my parents because of where they are from. It was as if they already knew what their responsibilities were and what they wanted to do in their future. My mother was raised to stay in a home to cook and clean, and my father was raised to survive hard times through many jobs and small businesses just to make an effort of living. Once they came to America to escape the war that was happening in Cambodia and Thailand, they thought about the possible “freedom” they could have in a new country. After having three children once moving here, they realize how my siblings and I grew up with are different than what they have experienced in their country. They keep telling us, “You don’t know how lucky you are to be born in America with more freedom. You don’t have to do what was expected to for you do back in our country.” They claimed, “You didn’t have to wake up four in the morning to work day and night and come back home to cook and clean the house.” My father would then sometimes tell my sister to sweep around the house and he would tell me to go unload and load the restaurant stocks with him. This is when I realized that the gender roles are becoming a mental concept and what acceptance is for a typical Asian family. I have to learn to accept both options myself as a responsibility. Masculinity hides what I want to do in the future without being judged by others and especially my parents.

What I wanted to be was a professional filmmaker. Directing a film and working with cameras was a dream of mine since childhood. Ever since my parents allowed me to watch horror movies as a child, they told me that it couldn’t be real because the camera man would have been killed the minute the movie started. It brought a question to my attention: “What if I could make movies like that and understand how people make movies.” Unfortunately my parents disagreed to my thought process. They said, “Making movies is a waste of time and it’s not as fun as being a doctor. You get to study for money. Once you become a doctor, you can help people. That helps your good karma and you don’t have to struggle with losing anything.” The words stabbed me like a burning hot knife gutting my heart out.  As their son, they want me to be better than who they were. As the oldest of the siblings, my parents only supported me to be highly skilled at math and science, training me to do multiplication when I turned four. My mom thought it would help if I learned the multiplication table of two in Cambodian as well. They set the expectation so high, but after reaching the seventeenth year of my life I feel as if I was the one who is backstabbing my parents of their hard work raising me for something they didn’t expect. Filmmaking to them seemed unmanly and non-educational in a traditional Asian family.

For generations, my family has been very traditional with gender roles and how masculine a son could be. America is still changing the norm of having a diverse culture and gender is becoming a loose idea of how we consider our identity to be. From New York Times, The Boys Are Not All Right, the author stated, “It’s funny because it shouldn’t be that easy to rob a man of his masculinity, but it is.”(1). When describing what masculinity looks like around different cultures, Asian men are very vulnerable of how masculine they are. Whether it is a situation of life and death or something smaller, we accept the fact that we can be light hearted in the inside. Most men won’t show how they feel as if there was a secret male language that could not be spoken. In The Boys Are Not All Right by New York Times, the author mentioned, “They are trapped, and they don’t even have the language to talk about how they feel about being trapped, because the language that exists to discuss the full range of the human emotion is still viewed as sensitive and feminine.”(2). Not showing any sign of being feminine, males consider themselves not vulnerable or sensitivity. Cooking and cleaning in a household would be considered feminine and ladylike, but in my case I cook and clean as a practice to when I leave for college. From Coming Home Again by Chang-Rae Lee, Lee wrote, “She shooed me away in the beginning, telling me that the kitchen wasn’t my place…” I find the skills of cooking to be essential to my everyday life, rather than focusing on how masculine I needed to be in order for myself to be accepted in certain societies. Sometimes masculinity is viewed as “life or death” for mankind, especially when I have two different cultures to fit into. I feel as if I live in two different lives, one at home being some of the Asian expectations, and one socially in the American society where people are more accustomed to the American Culture.

What is considered the most valued aspects of being Asian is that we surround ourselves with our culture and our “identity”. Also being a American citizen, I have to consider the cost of what is accepted of the American society and what is accepted within the traditional Asian family. Playing two different people is hard enough as it is, and trying to bring one culture into another is a pessimistic goal.  What I want is a lot different from what other people expect, but it isn’t always the case where two diverse cultures can go hand in hand with each other. However, I can live two lives but the only assumption I have is that I have to expect the unexpected. I will expect disappointment from certain people, and others will expect disapproval.

Work Cited

Black, Michael Ian. “The Boys Are Not All Right.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/opinion/boys-violence-shootings-guns.html.

I often hear people predict, “You look like a [name]” and guess something scarily accurate. During childhood, many children craft their appearances and personalities to resemble people with their same name, identifying with that group and subconsciously conforming to match it. The names we are given dictate our identity starting the day we are born. They present us with shoes to fill, or to defy; they offer a personality (e.g., unique, traditional) to take on. However, these names are only the first step. Our parents label us with these names likely as a mere suggestion of the person we should be, but as we grow, our communities and societal influences begin to use names as restrictive measures. Children’s development of feelings of identity and belonging stem directly from these labels.

Given names are the first label one is awarded and a lifelong one at that, offering a persona for the child to take on. They are similar to visual first impressions and for this reason, they carry a strong associative power. One article notes this trend, “When a new person introduces himself to you (let's call him "Spencer"), your first instinct is to assemble a rough mental sketch of everyone you have ever known named Spencer… You subconsciously judge this new Spencer, at least a little, based on all the other Spencers you have ever known” (Hedrick). People create some expectations for others based on their name prior to any interaction with them or other information concerning them, thus enforcing the external influence a given name has on identity.

Names have drastic effects on internal views of identity as children learn to build their identity based on their names. Naming trends vary, with many parents handing down a relative’s name and tacking on “Jr,” while others try to find the most unique name possible for their child, and with many variations in between. Whether they choose to name their child with a numerical suffix or an uncommon name, both are encouraging their child to lead a certain type of life. Being named after one’s father or another family member gives a child a standard to meet, but some learn to instead challenge the notion that they should be another “chip off the old block.” Familial connotations, religious connotations, gendered implications, as well as having a name with no connections, affects where a child feels they belong or do not belong.

Aside from given names, children are further labeled as they grow and learn in a community or school context, quickly learning behaviors that are labeled masculine or feminine, intelligent or stupid. Children are given names associated with their gender and their perceived capability early on, and these names become who they are as it is easier for them to give in to societal pressures than to defy them in their early childhood.

As for gendered labels, girls and boys find themselves restricted by the implications that the words girl or boy come with. Girls are taught to be “girly” which in many contexts means submissive and shallow, while boys are taught to be violent, stoic, and powerful to fulfill the notion that “boys will be boys.” In the case of boy’s learned identities based on their labels, it has become an issue that boys go through this “shame-hardening process” (Velasquez-Manoff) because it creates a destructive culture of hypermasculinity. One researcher mentions that men are not inherently bad, that their power complex derives from their interpretation of being male from childhood norms, explaining, “They’re ‘over conforming’ to common, if exaggerated, notions of masculinity. They’re doing a five-star rendition of what they think manhood requires” (Velasquez-Manoff).

Children are also affected by the names of intelligence parameters bestowed to them in early childhood. When given the label of “smart” or “dumb,” children take the label to heart and follow the norms associated with them as they do with gendered labels. One woman, Amy Cuddy, shared her testimony in her TED Talk, describing a traumatic car accident that resulted in her being withdrawn from college and her IQ dropping two standard deviations. She stated, “I had identified with being smart, and I had been called gifted as a child,” (Cuddy) so it was very difficult for her to understand who she was without her “core identity.” Due to the names she was given in childhood, she struggled with recovery as she no longer followed what society said was accepted or expected from her and had to essentially create herself over.

Effects of naming are not strictly positive or negative. People often feel connected with their given names as they remind them of their families. Gendered labels can be empowering when used correctly, and positive reinforcement through intellectual labels can build confidence in children. The issue is the misuse or abuse of labels: when these names take over a child’s identity in a negative sense. Children often have very little control over how these labels shape them and similarly minimal recognition of their influence. However, in adulthood, some have taken to renaming themselves as a form of rebirth, properly addressing themselves to match who they are. They change their names in defiance of the restrictions that their names implied to embrace their true identity (e.g., references to countries of origin, variations of words that resonate with them) and have ownership over themselves.

Works Cited

Cuddy, Amy. “Your body language may shape who you are.” TED. TEDGlobal 2012, 6 Mar.

2018, Edinburgh,

https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are#t-1234115

Dahl, Melissa. “Junior status: Sharing dad's name a mixed bag.” NBCNews.com,

NBCUniversal News Group, 19 June 2009,

www.nbcnews.com/id/31416975/ns/health-mens_health/t/junior-status-sharing-dads -name-mixed-bag/#.Wp3xwOinHrd.

Hedrick, Michael. “How our names shape our identity.” The Idea Factory , The Week, 15

Sept. 2013, www.theweek.com/articles/460056/how-names-shape-identity.

Velasquez-Manoff, Moises. “Real Men Get Rejected, Too.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 24 Feb. 2018,

Introduction

Feminist identity has been a topic discussed in more modern eras of what it means to fight for equality. This essay explores feminist identity in relation to what it means to be more feminine or masculine, and the connotations of such. I am proud of the ways I analyzed outside sources to develop larger themes and ideas presented in my essay. If I were to do this again I would connect more books and stories.

Advanced Essay #3

Reading sources that reflect how modern day feminism has attempted to shift the ways we raise boys to be the people that can shift society’s patriarchal agenda has opened my eyes. Many observations on recent interpretations of being a strong “feminist” consist of being a strong and powerful woman, both characteristics of stereotypically masculine demeanor. Women  free of discrimination is one of the priorities of feminism -- being free of the patriarchy and being free to express themselves.

In the earliest days of feminist movement, there was a fight. Women were fighting for societal equality, in which was not granted to them in the extreme. Shifting to today’s age, the fight has not ended but it has been subdued. We as women have the right to vote, we no longer see the majority of us as housewives, and we no longer see marriage as quite the priority in its earliest sense. The fight has shifted from constitutional rights to the general state of societal norms. The patriarchal society we live in has not only dominated opportunities, but also the way certain versions of feminism play out.

My view of  feminism is that it is a spectrum; there are different versions and interpretations of the main basis that female equality to men should be standard. Many modern feminists today preach an idea of strength and perseverance to get to the top where the men reside. Using a voice and screaming your strength, which in my eyes, can diminish the fact that we are women, and we can be feminine and still be a feminist. In her book “We Should All Be Feminists,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses a time where she was going to a class she was teaching and decided to leave her pretty dress and lip gloss at home. She replaced her ideal outfit with a blazer and pants to seem more respected. This respect, she came to realize, was her idea of respect that came from looking more manly and less feminine. In that moment she believed that if she dressed more like a man she could be respected as one. This is just one example of us as women claiming our respect that we deserve, but falling to the patriarchal demands of needing to look or act more manly to receive that respect. Chimamanda realized her mistake and changed her mindset, “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femininity. And I want to be respected in all my femaleness” (Adichie, 39).

The action of looking more “manly” to be respected as one, may work for some feminists -- act as they wish to claim the position they deserve. However, I wish to be respected as a woman without having to fall into the trap of a patriarchal society that only respects women who can claim their actions as more “manly.” This plays back into the ways we raise boys and girls. The ideal of parenting which focuses on expression can implement feminism and not discourage a strong pinpoint on masculinity or femininity. Freedom of expression is the true meaning behind feminism. Freedom to obtain power and equality while also being able to be a woman should be the priority. Having to use “masculine” features in order to get that power takes away from freedom, and reestablishes the patriarchal motive that being a man is the only way to have that power.

Girls are told that if they dress a certain way they’re just demanding the attention of a man, and boys are taught to give that attention. When women dress more feminine they aren’t taken seriously because obviously (according to current societal attitudes) they’re “demanding extra attention from men and drawing focus from their point.” If we as women dressed more like men we wouldn’t be forcing additional attention. However, we would be losing our femininity and betraying the origins of feminism as being actions of women.

The deepest bubbling down of this comes into how we perceive gender, and the stereotypes of such. What does it really mean to a boy or girl besides the genetic origins of sex? We as people have evolved and changed, and with that change comes another spectrum of gender and what it means to look or act like ones assigned sex. These roles and ways ones gender should dictate how they act is the poison behind it all, and the reason why some are treated with more respect than others solely based on how they choose to identify.

All of us, not just men, are taught to be tough in order to be respected. The human feelings of being sensitive are often frowned upon, and our empathetic humanity forgotten. When being sensitive is accepted, is when we as a society see it as only a feminine feeling, calling people names for expressing emotion. This is where we have to change to accept our humanity between each other, and accept that it’s natural to have feelings. It’s natural to want to be ourselves in a society who doesn’t let that thrive.

Works Cited

Velasquez-manoff, Moises. “Real Men Get Rejected, Too.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/opinion/sunday/real-men-masculinity-rejected.html.

Black, Michael Ian. “The Boys Are Not All Right.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/opinion/boys-violence-shootings-guns.html.

Berlatsky, Noah. “Can Men Really Be Feminists?” The Atlantic, The Atlantic, 5 June 2014, www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/06/men-can-be-feminists-too/372234/.

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. We Should All Be Feminists. Anchor Books, 2015.

David Roberts

Mr. Block

English 3

9 March 2018

The Battle of Battle Royale Games

Recently, within the gaming community, a furious debate has emerged between the supporters of the two most popular battle royale games: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite. PUBG, for short, the first game to be released of the two, is a “realistic military shooter at its core,” as Erik Kain stated in his article comparing the two games on Forbes.com. 100 players, all fighting to survive, are released into an arena to fight to the death. Only one survives. PUBG, which is praised for its mechanics, the inner workings of the game, exploded into the gaming community, selling 10 million copies sold in just 6 months. In addition, Fortnite shares the same overall plot. But there are some differences. Fortnite, from the day it was released, has been a less realistic, almost “cartoonish,” as Kain  called it, and has always been called a ripoff of its predecessor PUBG. Despite this, Fortnite has been revered for its smooth gameplay and its absence of cheaters, both of which occur in PUBG. Regardless, the debate between the PUBG players and the Fortnite players has reached monumental proportions. Both sides argue that their game is better, without actually listening to the other side’s opinion. However, all this bickering leads back to one main question: are players of Fortnite real gamers? The gaming community is very particular about who is part of their community, and having this debate is a way to filter out people who don’t deserve to be a part of it.

Players of PUBG have always thought of Fortnite as the more childish game of the two, and for good reason. First, the graphics, the overall looks, are like a “cartoon,” states user Pedro Deuces on a skynetgaming.net forum. The characters are animated and modeled after fictional figures. The building structures and terrain features of the map can be compared to those seen in children’s books. But most importantly, the game is free to play. This means that a possible player does not have to pay any monetary value to download, install, and play the game. The main reasoning behind the hate for free to play games is that “the majority [of free games] are garbage, pay to win, clones of actual good games,” stated user FarplaneDragon on a GameSpot.com forum. Free games are incomplete rip offs of paid to play games. All of these things put together give PUBG players a reasonable excuse to accuse Fortnite players of not being real gamers, which is a huge insult to those within the gaming community. Fortnite players are quick to fire back though.

Despite its recent glory, PUBG has many flaws. Because of its realistic nature, the game is incredibly hard to run. The graphics make its loading times longer and its lag, which occurs when the screen freezes for shorts amount of time, increase. Therefore, players, or even prospective players, who do not maintain a high quality computer, which is a large part of the community, can experience these issues much more. Fortnite, on the other hand, does not have these issues. Also, PUBG is riddled with cheaters. Players that download external programs into the game to help improve their aim and other things are called cheaters. As Kain states, “playing against cheaters in a competitive shooter is about the least fun thing I can imagine.” These two things about PUBG, although being overlooked by current players, are slowing gaining attention and in turn forcing players away from the game. Nonetheless, PUBG is still considered the more mature game, and therefore the better game.

The gaming community is very particular about who gets in and who is rejected, and players of Fortnite are in the gray area. The players fit the description. They play on console or PC, and not on mobile, which is a whole other debate. The game format is also compatible. Other battle royale games like PUBG and H1Z1 get a pass. But the issue is the game itself. Being free to play, Fortnite can initially rejected, as most free to play games are. To add on, the graphics are cartoonish and childish, making the whole game childish. Finally, Fortnite is considered by many a rip off of PUBG, a game made and released before Fortnite. These reasons are the key issues for players of Fortnite impending induction into the gaming community.

Bibliography:

Kain, Erik. “'PUBG' Still Does One Thing So Much Better Than 'Fortnite'.” Forbes.com, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2018/02/23/pubg-still-does-one-thing-so-much-better-than-fortnite/#53c53a8f510e.

Thier, Dave. “'Fortnite: Battle Royale' Does One Thing So Much Better Than 'PUBG'.” Forbes.com, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2018/02/25/fortnite-battle-royale-does-one-thing-so-much-better-than-pubg/#76905b222e1d .

Sarah Berg

Mr. Block

English 3

8 March 2018

Advanced Essay #3: Social Media and Activism

Society is constantly evolving, and with that comes changes in every aspect of it. Each generation has been defined by a social or political movement, and the tactics involved in the movements have matched the times. In the twenty-first century, social media has become one of the most prominent forms of communication,- seeing as in 2017, 81% of people in the United States had an account on a social media (Statista)- and has subsequently become central to modern activism. On various platforms, different bubbles of accounts have formed based upon political and social opinions. People within these groups use social media to affirm their identity as activists. But is social media actually helpful in accomplishing real social change?

First, it is necessary to note the groups that are present on social media and how they interact. The groups that I have observed are usually comprised of young people, and therefore are a representation of the faces of future activism. There are two examples of groups that interact with activism by, for one group, being a part of it, and for the other, criticizing it.

One group is commonly referred to as “Social Justice Warriors” by others in a disparaging way. This group is made up of feminist, pro-gay, or pro-black accounts, for example, who follow and interact almost exclusively with each other, sharing opinions on topics relevant in current events. Examples of people in this group are Laci Green and Anita Sarkeesian. The other group is anti-politically correct, anti-”SJW” people who act in similar ways to the previous group, but are centered around near opposite opinions. An example of someone in this group is Paul Joseph Watson.

Both of these groups exist because people of like minds flock together to create a space in which they feel safe, a space in which they can base their identity. As Malcolm Gladwell says, “the self is irreducibly social”. A self is defined by those of others. On social media, you can pick and choose who will influence you the most, and members of these groups choose influencers by their political views. Interestingly enough, it does not appear that the members of these groups are always on opposite ends of the political spectrum, the far right or far left. Many appear to be on the left or in the middle. However, social justice has expanded farther to the left with more radical ideas, which lends to more conflicts between liberals.

The fact that arguments are occurring may not be a bad thing for activism. It means that conversation is happening, and that’s one of the biggest things to come out of the rise of social media. This may be because social media platforms are essentially breeders of “weak link” relationships. They encourage correspondence between acquaintances, people with mutual friends, and people with similar interests. These relationships are highly useful in terms of increasing awareness and participation in a movement. If someone has a message, they can send it out to hundreds or even thousands of people instantly, people who will now know what others are saying about the topic without seeking it out. Groups and pages can be created around a topic, allowing for everyone who wants to be involved further to do so. These interactions have contributed to social media’s usefulness in aiding political change. According to Professor Clay Shirky, “social media have become coordinating tools for nearly all of the world’s political movements.” Shirky also argues that social media utilizes the two step flow model of communication, which “proposes that interpersonal interaction has a far stronger effect on shaping public opinion than mass media outlets” (Britannica). In the first step, information is spread to the general public on mass media. In the second, people begin to talk about it. It’s this part - hearing the opinions of people you know - that forms one’s own opinion about the topic.

The argument against social media in activism is centered around the same weak-link relationships that increase participation in it. This is because the increase in participation is caused by a “lessening [of] the level of motivation that participation requires” (Gladwell). This means that people are less invested in the causes and their connections to the causes are less personal. It takes a much deeper commitment to participate in a protest that could turn violent, such as many during the Civil Rights Movement, than it does to hit “retweet”. The masses would much rather like a Facebook page than show up to a march. While there are still people who participate in real-life activism, social media can be unhelpful in organizing such events. Because these movements are not planned and put into action by a hierarchy of activists, ideas within the movement are more likely to conflict, and there is a “real difficulty reaching consensus and setting goals” (Gladwell).

Do the pros and cons even out? Would 1,000 people going out and risking their lives for a cause have the same effect as 100,000 people reposting a message? It’s hard to say, and could be different case by case. Claiming one way is better than the other may not be as productive as accepting this change in society. As long as the “slacktivism” found on social media does not serve “as a replacement for real-world action but as a way to coordinate it,” (Shirky) there will be benefits from its role. We must be aware of how much we depend on it, because if the stakes of everyone involved in a movement are low, the movement is bound to fail. Activists have still been getting things done recently, including the Women’s March, the #metoo movement, and protests for stricter gun control. They will undoubtedly continue to adapt to the rise of social media.

Bibliography

“Percentage of U.S. population who currently use any social media from 2008 to 2017.” Statista,

March 2017. Web. March 2018.

www.statista.com/statistics/273476/percentage-of-us-population-with-a-social-network-prof

ile/

Gladwell, Malcolm. “Small Change.” The New Yorker, 4 October 2010. Web. March 2018.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell

Shirky, Clay. “The Political Power of Social Media. Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political

Change.” The Council on Foreign Relations, January/February 2011. March 2018.

www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-12-20/political-power-social-media

Postelnicu, Monica. “Two-Step Flow Model of Communication.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 28

November 2016. March 2018. www.britannica.com/topic/two-step-flow-model-of-communication

Salsabeel Elbakhadaoui

English 3

Block

8 March 2018

Me Modeling

All my life, I’ve wanted to be a model. People have always told my parents --I’d make the perfect suit. As I grew up, I realized it was my passion. It’s something I always found interesting and fun. Aside from all the bad, I always saw good. As I grew up I began looking for connections, like close friends that could help me achieve my dreams. As I did that I got closer and closer. Modeling is a very difficult career. You must put your mind into it, have a lot dedication, and bravery if not you will lose.

Modeling comes with a lot of hardships that will possibly break you down. There are so many standards that come along with being in the industry-- size, height, weight, looks. A lot of models tend to form eating disorders. Like Sadie Robertson who performed on dancing with the stars. Also Zuzanna Buchwald who has developed Bulimia and Anorexia. They were told they were too fat and may not get any jobs. People will tell you that you're not pretty enough like for example some of the managers of some shoots or hate comments on social media. Jordyn Woods said an inspirational quote that stuck on the show Life of Kylie. “I'm not the typical model. I'm not size 0 and I’m not 10 feet tall. So I think it's really cool for you girls to see you can do anything you put your heart to, the possibilities are endless.” This quote resonated with me because society tells girls they must be a certain way but you can achieve anything. Getting into the industry you cannot trust anyone. Many photographers can use your body to make millions of dollars and give you nothing. You must know what you are getting into before anything.

Despite all the bad things, modeling comes with great and amazing experiences. I've always wanted to be a model because I always found and felt a great feeling while taking pictures. A quote from my friend who is a model “I feel unstoppable like superman on the runway.” Young girls look up to models but because of society and social media it makes it seem like one type of model is how women are supposed to be. These things are shaping young women and girls identity and making them feel like they are not beautiful. But you can do anything if you put your mind to it and everyone is beautiful in their own way.

Modeling nowadays can break you down and you have to be very confident and love your body. Modeling not only can hurt the model but also young girls making them believe their is only one kind of beautiful but if we all looked the same this world would be a boring place.

Fashionable trendy Clothing companies barely had any clothes that were Plus sized. Women who loved a piece of clothing weren't able to buy it because it didn’t come in their size. Lane Bryant was the first to start working with Plus sized clothing. If you are aware of Fashionnova which is a very successful company in which all celebrities and models purchase clothing from. They made two seperate pages on instagram one for Plus sized and the other for the main running sizes, instead of just having the sizes running to the highest number they have.

Calvin Klein also came out with their first Plus sized model in 2014 and had many people angry. “Tell me is this a joke? Plus size!? Congrats on giving another generation of girls eating disorders and insecurities.”(Tyldesley, Tweet) These things really damage a women and girls confidence.

Modeling is also a very enjoyable job. For example they get their makeup and hair done. There are a lot of clothes to pick from and they also get paid well for a job they enjoy doing. My father is my role model and he supports me everyday, he tells me how beautiful I am all the time and always buys me the clothes I want. My father makes sure everything is perfect for me. Sometimes he helps me do my makeup and hair and always gives me advice. My father always supported me through my dreams and one of them, of becoming a model. My father helped shape my identity and the person I have become today.

In conclusion modeling is the art of showing beauty and being confident. My father pushes me to become a model and he sees the potential in me. Modeling gives women and girls a sense of love for their inner beauty.

Sources:

Life of Kylie episode 1 Quote from Jordyn Woods

Mailonline, Unity Blott For. “'Congrats on giving another generation of girls eating disorders': Furious debate over 'plus-Size' Calvin Klein model after Corrie's Catherine Tydesley posts an angry tweet .” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 23 June 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3656549/The-truth-Calvin-Klein-s-plus-sized-model.html.

Colin Taylor-McGrane

Mr. Block

English 3-Earth

March 7 2018

How the Media Can Cause Invisibility

One issue with our media has had harmful effects on the youth of america is the harmful effects of the absence of representation of marginalized groups in America. The reason why media representation is so important is because children are highly receptive to the characters and images they see in books, on television and in film. Children are impacted by messages from the media and carry them throughout their lives. When children do not see people similar to themselves in the media, researchers have found it lowers their self esteem and contributes to a self-view of unimportance. In a Huffington Post article entitled “Why On Screen Representation Actually Matters,” sociology professor Nicole Martin of Indiana University stated, “There’s this body of research and a term known as ‘symbolic annihilation,’ which is the idea that if you don’t see people like you in the media you consume… you must somehow be unimportant.”(Boboltz) The article describes a study that she conducted in which she showed children of color and white children a television program featuring white lead characters. She found that white children had much higher self-esteem after watching the program while the children of color reported much lower levels of self-esteem.(Boboltz) This suggests that seeing characters like themselves in the media may have a noticeable impact on their views of themselves and their roles in society. This can influence their aspirations about the life that they want to lead, the careers they wish to pursue, and the level of confidence that they have in navigating life.

One prime example of this phenomenon is the psychological effects of the lack of hispanic representation on the children of the latin community. In a 2017 study by USA today on racial representation in film, it was revealed that only 3.1% of speaking roles in films are were given to hispanic actors, despite the fact that hispanics make up 17.8% of the American population.(USA Today)  In a Ted Talk by Maria Hinojosa, founder of  the newspaper Futuro Media Group, “As a little girl, I understood the importance of journalism, reporting and media. But I never saw myself there. My stories didn’t appear. We were invisible. I was invisible from the media narrative. No one in the reporting that I saw I saw looked like me, looked like my family. So I began to think that maybe somehow my life —my story— was less valuable, less important.”(Hinojosa) This clearly shows how media representation affects the aspirations of minority children. If minority children do not see themselves receiving proper representation in the media, they will not view themselves as important members of society, nor will they feel that they have any place certain careers or social groups.

When a group is underrepresented or invisible in the media, the impact of any one character can be profound.  This can be clearly seen with the character in the Simpsons named Apu. This year, Indian comedian Hari Kondabolu made a documentary called the “Problem with Apu” where he interviewed many famous South-Asian actors about the impact that the character had on their childhoods, as well as their professional pursuits. Though one may initially believe that the fact that Apu is an Indian stereotype voiced by a white man was the character’s main issue, that is not the case. Nearly all of the Simpsons characters are stereotypes, however, when Hari was asked in an interview why Apu was so problematic, he replied by saying that:

“There are other representations of Italians. I'm not saying they're all good. But there's a - wider representations of people who are Italian, people who are Scottish. I don't know of any kids who are Scottish that grew up with - who are like, God, Groundskeeper Willie really embarrasses me and my parents. But, like, for me, because of my skin color there was no hiding from it. There was no, that's not me. You know, I didn't have a bunch of other brown characters. This was it. And that's the big difference.” (Kondabolu)

While this character is a stereotype of Americans of South-Asian descent, the main reason why this character is so unacceptable in the eyes of many South-Asians is because he was their only form of representation while growing up. Because there were no other forms of South Asian representation in the media at the time, one stereotypical portrayal became all the more harmful to the lives of people of South Asian descent.

The media is an amazing outlet for people of many different races and ethnicities to share their culture and talents with the rest of the nation, and sometimes, the world. However, many members of marginalized groups of people do not get the opportunity to share their talents and culture through the media. Therefore, each individual of that group that does get that opportunity has a significantly larger impact on the perception of children of the same minority group.

Bibliography:

“Study finds films exclude women, Hispanics.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 31 July 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/07/31/study-finds-films-exclude-women-hispanics/104158948/.

Hinojosa, Maria. “From Invisible to Visible.” Latino USA, 31 July 2015, latinousa.org/2015/07/30/from-invisible-to-visible-2/.

Kondabolu, Hari. “In 'The Problem With Apu,' Hari Kondabolu Discusses South Asian Representation.” NPR, NPR, 17 Nov. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/11/17/564936511/in-the-problem-with-apu-hari-kondabolu-discusses-south-asian-representation

Boboltz, Sara, and Kimberly Yam. “Why On-Screen Representation Actually Matters.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Feb. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-on-screen-representation-matters_us_58aeae96e4b01406012fe49d.