Friday, February 12, 2010
week 2 question 1
I think the way we "build worlds" through communication varies. Everyone has their own habits, set of beliefs, and rules for the way they live. In the California culture there are lots of beautiful girls around and so we all tend to communicate about our looks and what is "cute", "hot" and "sexy". I have traveled to other cultures before and their ideas about beauty were completely different. I found the other cultures to have a more pure idea of what beauty truly is about. I think in America we put a big focus on whats beautiful. We have beauty pageant's that put so much pressure on the women to look, act and be a certain way. This is one part of our culture that I feel contributes to an unhappier "world" that we create. Another idea we talk about in our young culture of Santa Clara and probably a lot of other cities is partying. When a teen hits around 14 or 15 they start getting the pressure to drink and smoke pot because its considered "cool". I find the idea of drugs and alcohol kind of interesting because I have been to other cultures and each one seems to partake in some of those kinds of things. Partaking in things like drugs and alcohol have been apart of our "world" for along time. We even have special terms known as "slang" to communicate and that also builds our world that we live in.
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Hey Ray-Ray,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you when you say that other countries define beauty differently than Americans. Also, I agree that people in America put too much pressure on people to look a certain way, especially in california. In my other classes that I am taking this semester we discuss the media and how powerful it truly is. The media stretches the truth and almost turns it into something else. For example, people from Michigan and Texas think that Californians surf, have bond hair and earthquakes happen non-stop. We all know that is not true but the media says otherwise. The same goes for criminals on tv. If someone from another country were to watch tv to learn about the American culture, they will see that criminals are African American males and white people are always the good guy, which we know is not always the truth.
Hi! I'm enjoying reading everyone’s different perspective on this perspective. It is so interesting how though it is the same topic, it is expressed and thought of very different ways. I suppose that it could be because of our culture and our way of communicating, and therefore it shapes how we focus on topics. I agree with you that beauty stereotypes and expectations are a form of symbolic communication that affects the way we view the world. The communication that we receive of what is beautiful is more powerful than the experience we have on a daily basis of real beauty that is not at all what we see on television or in magazines. Like you said, every country has its own definition and representation of beauty. Very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI love how other cultures see beauty. I love how beauty was seen years and years ago. When woman who ACTUALLY looked healthy (curves and all!) were considered beautiful and those who were no meat and all bone were not. It's sad that we live in a country and society that will talk about thess "fat celebrities" who are by no means even in the range of fat. Instead woman who are all skin and love bones popping out are praised, being called beautiful and someone who should be looked up to. I don't know if eating disorders and self image issues are not seen, but it is getting way worse than when I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what you wrote about girls (and guys!) smoking pot and drinking to be "cool". It's sad when something that is actually pretty lame (and stupid. I can talk about that for experiences) is seen to be so awesome and something that the cool kids need to do, or someone needs to do to fit in. If only parents can show kids the mistakes they made when they tried these things, it might have the effect of "well my mom/dad did it and they are by no means cool" and they wouldn't do it to fit in.