KW Exercise 9.6

I decided to go to Toys R Us. The store is massive and there is a clear layout of tons of rows sectioned off into girl and boy toys. Being in there was like being in Santa’s Toy shop. Everything and anything a child can wish for.

The toys for boys had the nerf guns and all the vehicles; fire trucks, monster trucks, hot wheels. They had all the super hero action figures (dolls). There were Call of Duty and Starwars toys. In darker colors with red and blue and neon colors.

The toys for girls were all mostly pink and pastel colors like lavender and yellow, brown and white. There were Barbie dolls, baby dolls, toy kitchens, tea sets and crafting things for jewelry. Makeup sets and hospital things for like playing nurse.

The major description that is used to market to children is primarily the color.

Most of the toys seemed to have an image of the sex it was directed to but the color also influenced on that.

The toy I decided to select was Mega Bloks, they were easy to find because they were in the toddler section where there are usually gender-neutral toys. I guess someone could argue that it is for boys but really there are no picture and in my opinion the colors are neutral.

The toys are a means to teach children to act in a certain manner. Most of the toys for boys teach them to be tough and manly (aggressive) or heroic. Some of them are teaching you to become a fireman or police man. In a subconscious level they are teaching you that violence is okay. The racecar games teach boys that one should be fast. That for males everything is a competition. The action figures or dolls in my opinion have a physique and ruggedness to what a male should look like muscular and strong, not to pretty. For girls the toys teach them to be into physical beauty and appearance. All the toys for girls are emphasizing on care taking skills. Like taking care of children, cooking and cleaning. Toys are a means to gender socialization sticking to norms of stereo typical gender roles. Like we discussed in class how men are doctors and women are nurses (submissive behavior). Women are under the supervision and taking orders from a male.

KW Exercise 8.8

As I was growing up my parents never discussed racial issues. We actually began discussing about racial issues when I became aware about them. Probably when I was about 12 years old or so. We would make racial jokes like my brothers and I. My parents would not tolerate that type of behavior. When we did speak about racial issues it had to do a lot with immigration laws and mistreatment of those who were colored. My parents did not raise us to bad talk on those who are different than us. They definitely did not talk about color blindness, well they did and didn’t. Like when we were younger and oblivious to the world they did, they told us we were all the same and equal. We were unaware of the differences of how people were treated. Then came a point where we grew up and saw the world for what it really is, (never knew exactly when I saw the world through a different lens, not the lens of a child’s colorful world).
I remember there was a time where field workers were getting treated like animals if not worst and my parents went to some protest down in Southern California, I also remember that they would talk about how police officers would do racial profiling. Being a Latina, I have experienced a few racial comments within the last couple years. I remember that one time we were at the grocery store and my mom was paying. The cashier told her aloud the amount that was due and she was all confused, I just stood there telling her in Spanish. There was a white couple behind us talking about how we were taking to long and how dumb my people were, and how we should shop at our markets not there's. I was so enraged I wanted to turn around and cuss her out or something maybe punch her in the throat. I didn't. But once we paid I kindly turned around and told her to have a nice day in English and she was baffled, I smiled greatly and walked away, but that was painful.
I've heard people call my dad a wet back because he was working on our yard, right outside of our own home. People are so harsh, and I hate that race and ethnicity are just socially constructed I can't believe or begin to understand why? I do understand I just wish that things were different that we were united. But lets face it racism will forever stain our soil. although we are no better than each other, some were simply more privileged than others.
I appreciate from one point of view that my parents sheltered us from racisim when we were younger because we weren't forced to grow up in that way sooner. I also appreciate that they didn't infuse us with hatred or anger towards a group of people. And that they raised us to be proud of who we are and where we came from.

KW Exercise 7.2

The video on mashable.com talks about how unaware members of society think wealth is distributed. What we think the nations distribution looks like is in a a way, ideal. We don’t realize that our nations poverty line and distribution between classes is actually much, much worse than what we think it is. We essentially believe that our nation is equal, but some people just have it better than us. The Elite or top 1% of  the population own 40% of the nations revenue/wealth. While the other 60% the wealth is distributed amongst the other social classes.
The video enraged me because of how the elite make more money because of the power they have and how the hard working class are paid crap salaries. The elite make this insane amount of money, 380 times more an hour to be exact compared to the average middle class person.

 

 

H- If Hitler Asked You...(pg 269-276)

In this section Milgram's theory was that Americans were less obedient than the Germans. The theme that was running through this section was that we follow orders from an authoritative figure regardless of weather we want to do it or not. When I read that I couldn't help but laugh because it is true, I find myself doing this assignment even though I am extremely tired. I would very much prefer to sleep and watch some Netflix (helps me knock out faster). Anyways Milgram even asked a group of 100 to make a prediction as to when the subjects would "break". To his surprise he got extremely different results 65% went all the way through with the highest voltage, the conclusion to this was that as long as you're being told to keep going by an authoritative figure that seemed legit you would continue. The other alarming thing that he came across was that the location of the experiment matter the subjects at 65% conducted the experiment at Yale University they had a much higher obedience percentage than the experiment done at Bridgeport coming in at 45% for obedience.

This chapter made me realize that although I would like to believe that I wouldn’t shock the individual on the other side of the room, I would most likely go through with it. What really hit me was when I read, “The man in the electric chair is helpless, strapped in. But the naïve subject is free to go.” Shows to me that we become and are incapable of making our own decisions, probably why we have norms. Formal and informal norms.

KW Exercise 6.2

I was greeted at the bookstore, the chic behind the counter asked how I was doing and I hesitated. I felt pressured to say that I was fine, like I typically do. However, because of this social experiment I decided to say what was really on my mind. I told her my day was terrible, that I had just gotten into a terrible argument with my mother because she drinks too much. Her face literally read WTF?! Confusion is what I saw in her face. Many of those who I either approached and started a conversation and was open about how my day truly was going, seemed in shock and confused, probably thought I was crazy too. One asked why I was telling them personal information; he said, “I don’t even know you”.  I just thought believe me bro, this is awkward for me to. There was a point when I was talking to a girl and she actually listened and comforted me and opened up to me, I was in shock. I felt relieved that someone could relate to me but the fact that we were complete strangers made that moment special. After doing this experiment I have learned that, as a society, we never truly express how we really feel, especially while being in public with strangers. I think it has become this way out of being fearful. Our society is so worried about what others will think of us; we do not ever show whom we really are or how we really feel. Most of us do this even with members of our own family and close friends. I do not know if we really even have an idea of who we really are. From the time that we are born, we learned to put on these different acts so much that it is hard for many people to know their individual self.