Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Reflection on 9.19 Class Discussion


       After the class discussion of the four terms we learned which are myth, schema, ideology, and hegemony, I have been thinking about these ideas and how I apply them to the world around me. I thought about things like how men sit on the train versus how women sit, what happens when an elderly person gets onboard, the figures on top of wedding cakes, and most of all trends and fads. I am curious about the origin of fads and how they develop. Does the fashion industry create them or are they created within society? 
      The class discussion based on Christina’s question was extremely thought-provoking. I think that most people view race as a touchy subject that should be avoided because it is “uncomfortable” while I think it should be spoken about more in school. Being open minded is a learned trait. I can relate the class conversation to a conversation with an author working on her memoir who came to one of my classes. She is writing about her struggle with her identity as a result of the pressure that are forced upon her by the hegemonic ideas. For the majority of her youth, she was brought up as white in a racist suburb when her birth parents were black and Chinese. Her parents were forcing her to pass as Hawaiian because of the light color of her skin. She speaks about the term “passing” in her memoir. 

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