Socialization and Identity Project
Use your knowledge of Sociology to improve the world
Everything we know and believe has been formed by our interactions with other people, even though many of us are unaware of it. What we wear, the careers we choose, and the people we date, how we treat each other, the language we use, our core values, and literally everything else we do we learn from other people.
The problem is not everything we learn from society benefits us, or those in our community. Racism, discrimination, even things like genocide are all behaviors that are socially learned. Just look at the bullying behaviors common amongst groups of young people, or beliefs about beauty that lead men and women to starve themselves in order to feel skinny enough to fit the standards set in the media.
The main question you will be answering in this project is:
· What can you do as an individual to break the harmful socialization cycles?
Your Task:
· Design an identity mask that illustrates how you have been socialized in one fixed identity category
· Write an essay explaining your mask, and how you have been socialized to be who you are
Use your knowledge of Sociology to improve the world
Everything we know and believe has been formed by our interactions with other people, even though many of us are unaware of it. What we wear, the careers we choose, and the people we date, how we treat each other, the language we use, our core values, and literally everything else we do we learn from other people.
The problem is not everything we learn from society benefits us, or those in our community. Racism, discrimination, even things like genocide are all behaviors that are socially learned. Just look at the bullying behaviors common amongst groups of young people, or beliefs about beauty that lead men and women to starve themselves in order to feel skinny enough to fit the standards set in the media.
The main question you will be answering in this project is:
· What can you do as an individual to break the harmful socialization cycles?
Your Task:
· Design an identity mask that illustrates how you have been socialized in one fixed identity category
· Write an essay explaining your mask, and how you have been socialized to be who you are