Co rec

After visiting the weight and cardio sections at the co-rec, I noticed that there was a clear separation between each room. As I walked through the weight area, I primarily saw relatively muscular guys. At one point, there were actually guys who were checking themselves out while flexing in the mirror, staring at their “oh so buff” muscular groups. When I walked through the cardio area, the majority of people there were girls. While there were a few guys there, no one there was actually “fat”, or really even that muscular. The walkthrough of the co-rec generally reinforced the stereotypical expectations of the male and female gender.

As explained previously, the stereotypical man should be a buff, tough, emotionless beast. The co-rec reinforces this idea, with guys constantly working out in comparison to girls, and constantly trying to show off their muscles. The guys in general seem to think that cardio is not worth their time compared to weight lifting, as being skinny or fit always succumbs to muscle mass in the eyes of a guy. Actually, the co-rec does not necessarily reinforce the idea, but I think it is probably the product of the expectation of men.

The girls tend to work in the cardio area, and the girls that do not usually lift light weights for toning. Society today expects girls to be skinny, yet fit, and the cardio section aims to do both to help out girls. The girls were not “hardcore” in their aerobic exercise compared to guys, since it seemed that the guys were only there for endurance training rather than weight loss. Again, the co-rec’s cardio section is the result of society’s harsh expectations of what is expected from girls.

The co-rec’s separation of genders in the weight and cardio sections represents what the world sees of men and women today, even if they do not think about it. Society’s expectations pushes everyone everywhere.

The CoRec

I go frequently to the Co Rec, depending on my week load. Until this assignment was given I had never really payed attention to the types of people there. I had always noticed but never really thought about it. But as many would say, the guys are on the left side where all the weights are, and the girls are on the right side where all the cardio machines are. This seems to be, because guys want to get buff and show off how much they can way. And well, for a girl, you don't really want to be as buff, but still be in shape or shed a few pounds. During one visit to the CoRec I did notice that a few girls were lifting weights and these were really buff manly girls, just girls wanting to stay toned and that had obviously lifted before. But the guys were all staring them down, maybe some liked that they could lift, others might have been wondering "what in the world are you doing here." Many times I have seen guys doing cardio workouts. They aren't usually the most buff, but still in shape. I know from playing soccer, that many guys will run on treadmills or elliptical machines. It all depends on what you are trying to improve for yourself. I have never been over to lift weights, but from what I have seen most seem to know what they are doing. And yes of course, at the same time they are probably trying to show off. Most of these guys walk around with their chest pushed out, trying to appear tough. I spend most of my time on the cardio machines, and I've noticed that the majority of people around are usually in shape and appear to have done this o ften. But every now and then there are few people that aren't in such good shape. I don't really feel like people stare at them, but I could certainly see how someone might feel that way.

I have always noticed from working out at the co-rec, or anywhere else, the behaviors of men and women. In their own opinions, there is not a single weak guy in the gym. Everyone walks around with their chest pushed out with the attitude of getting ready to show someone up. No one just walks in lackadaisical or with a “wimpy” mindset. I have always noticed the amount of women on the side of cardio machines compared to men. You will rarely find a guy over on the cardio side, and if so, rarely are they muscular. Men are pressured to be big and muscular. Big bulky muscles only built by pumping up iron, trying to out do one another. Most people here are not athletes, just trying to better themselves. In our society, the woman what we picture as normal is slender, not big and muscular, or fat. You will find many women on treadmills, or elliptical machines. We don’t consider it normal for women to be lifting weights among the men. How men act in our society, everything is a competition, and I don’t know why, but we have to be superior to women for whatever reason. Weight lifting has long been considered a very masculine thing; of course not something just to keep you healthy. I remember a young lady that I went to high school with that could do a heavier weight on squat than I could, at first I personally felt weak. It took awhile to realize that I didn’t necessarily be stronger than all women. She, now is a Division I collegiate track athlete.

I leave right across the street from the co-rec and since i love playing sports, i'm always there playing soccer or basketball. i'll occasionally go down the the weight room, but i understand my frame was built to be small and fast, not big and hulky. Anyway, whenever i play soccer, i usually head over with five friends who are guys and get a pickup game going. We're there to get some exercise and have some fun, but usually shortly after we get a game going, super intense foreigners come in and ruin my friends (who don't play a lot) fun. one thing i notice is girls will never willfully join a game unless other girls are already playing. I'll see a few wander in and they always leave immediately. When i do make my rare trips to the weight room, i always seem to laugh at the behavior that goes on. I go at peak hours usually and its packed so i can;t honestly say what it looks like when there aren't as many people down there, but when i'm there, there is a HUGE devision betweeen males and females. Guys always leave their weight on the bar to show off how much they lifted. the best part is they are exercising totally wrong just to look like they can throw up some weight. the girls on the other hand are always trying to shave a few extra pounds albeit on the treadmill or situps. This is a trend that shows males want to be bigger and women wantin gto be smaller.

Co-rec

Being a common user of the correct, I was looking forward to analyzing the behavior of those involved in it. Believe it or not, I was unaware that there was even a "female side" in the co-rec until I took a good look around. As a male, I can tell you that I feel the need to lift weights and to life more than other individuals. My workout buddy and I always have competitions and discuss who can lift more than the other. I think this is an aspect of the "male side" of the weight room; competition. Men, it seems, are much more likely to compete with each other and see who is the strongest while women seem more content just running. Looking at the faces of the women, I felt like they were much more content with being alone in the weight room. Men are almost always accompanied by partners. I don't think that the need for a spotter contributes to this entirely since the staff there are "more than willing to assist you" but rather because men need to lift with someone else for conversation, for morale boosting. I thought that women seemed more content going to the co-rec alone simply for the purpose of running and losing some weight. I also think that the division between the co-rec is very much a part of society's portrayel of what is masculine and what is feminine. I believe men are bombarded by the image of being very buff that influences many males to get really into lifting as to be significantly larger than the average male. Meanwhile, women are also bombarded by the extremely skinny female to the point that their main concern is running and losing weight or maintaining how much weight they've already lost. In summation, the co-rec is a large reflection of society's norms and values of both men and women and the behaviors and work-out tendancies of individauls directly show this relation.

co-rec

While visiting the corec the most blatant observation I made involved male behavior. The fashion in which men carry themselves in the weight room is comparable to animal behavior. Just as the alpha male in a pack of wolves throws out his chest and shows superiority with his body language, weightlifters flex their arms and pump their chests whenever they need to impress or intimidate anyone. If an attractive female walks by, I literally saw five or six students flex their arms, pump their chest, and suck in their stomachs. Also, their appears to be a constant comparing of weights and guaging of strength. Even I unintentionally notice exactly how much weight each person is lifting and compare it to my own. Although there is no direct competition in the weight room, there is significant indirect competition. It is nearly every beginning weightlifters dream to be able to lift more than everyone around them. This is evident when looking at most beginning weightlifters. For instance, instead of doing bicep curls correctly, many amatuer weightlifters curl much more than is beneficial in order to fit in with the stronger men.
Weightlifting is in many cases a guage of masculinity. Seeing a weightlifter lay down and benchpress 400 pounds evokes awe. Without even knowing the person, the assumption is automatically made that he is a tough, confident, agressive individual: the apotheosis of masculinity. In many cases strength in females is looked down upon by the male population. Perhaps men feel emasculinized if the woman they are dating can out-bench them. Maybe strength is so tightly associated with masculinity that men feel as though strong women are less feminin.

Someone finally made me go to the Co Rec

After weeks of telling myself that I was going to be healthy and in shape this semester, I finally found the one thing that got me there: a grade. Upon entering, I saw mostly the same thing that everyone else has noticed. The gym was fairly polarized, as I expected. Another thing I noticed was that most of the people I saw looked like they belonged there. That is kind of an obvious statement, I suppose, but what I mean is that all of the guys lifting weights looked like they lift weights often. The girls running seemed like they run pretty often. This is generalized, of course, and there were exceptions, but overall I believe that a big factor in who goes to the Co Rec is how people feel about themselves. A small, scrawny guy who really needs to lift weights will probably not go, whereas a huge guy who can easily afford to lose a day of weightlifting will be much more willing to go. It almost defeats the purpose of having a weight room, because people who could use a good workout will probably be too embarassed to go. The interesting thing is that its pretty much all in their head. I don't really think that all of the other people are going to look over at the small guy and make fun of him, either outwardly or even in their head. In my experience, most things that seem embarassing to someone are only so to that person. Anyway, I think that is the most important thing I noticed.
PS. I didn't end up working out when I went.

The Co-Rec

I have been to the co-rec numerous times since my arrival on campus. The first time I went was during the first week of school, I went with two of my girl friends at around 9pm. The biggest shock I felt when walking through the doors was the fact that it was completely divided, males on the left and females on the right. Of course following everyone else’s example I rode a bike then ran a mile or two, but the main reason I came to the co-rec was to lift weights. As I walked over to the “male” side, I was given looks and if they could speak they would have said, “What the heck are you doing over here you don’t know how to lift weights.”
As I looked around I understood that a woman being on the men’s side seemed to deflate their ego of being macho. I usually keep to myself during a workout and it seems common among women to do so. All the women running or riding the bikes were watching the news on television or listening to mp3 players and i-pods. It seems that a girl’s only reason to go to the co-rec is to work out, of course. Men on the other hand seem to go to have conversations and competitions. They may not be having a competition literally, but they are always looking around to make sure they are lifting the most weight or to see how much more they need to build up to be able to match another man’s weights. What needs to happen at the co-rec is men learning that you cannot be perfectly in-shape by just lifting weights you need to do aerobic activities such as running. And women should always keep their bodies toned, and weights do exactly that while running can help you loose carbs and shed a few pounds. Men shouldn’t shut women out of the weights area just because most girls do not know how to lift weights. Maybe they can help women who want to learn and are just too scared to cross over to the other side.

The Co-Rec

Before today, I had only been to the Co-Rec one time, and I had simply walked around to see what it was all about. So today, I grabbed my roommate and went to explore the Co-Rec once again, except this time with a new mind set. Instead of observing the swimming pool, weights, and basketball courts, I would be observing the people at these various stations. I headed up to the track and basketball court first, and noticed a few guys enjoying a game of basketball. On the track, there were only two girls who were so focused on running that they did not even notice me as they ran on by. Next, I headed to the weight room. As I went into the weight room I immediately noticed that the left side was filled with weights and males. They all seemed to be there for the common goal of building muscle to look buff and impress the ladies. I decided not to venture over on this side, as I knew I would feel extremely out of place. So I turned right and headed to the back of the room to a stairstep machine. As I walked up my sixty flights of stairs I looked around the room, and observed everyone around me. I was surrounded by girls all though I did notice a few guys on this half of the room as well. Everyone was listening to their I Pods, watching television, or even reading as they burned as many calories as they could. They were all so engrossed in their exercise routine that they seemed not to even notice what everyone around them was doing. I do not know exactly why everyone was there. Some were most likely trying to improve their body, some may have just wanted better health, and others were probably there for entertainment. While I enjoyed observing the many different people during my visit, I was very glad I had drug my roommate along, as I know I would have felt extremely out of place with out a friend.

At the Co-Rec

I first visited the Co-Rec back during BGR (Boiler Gold Rush) week , the week before school started. While I was there, there was a huge party and such where the building was full of new freshmen like myself, both guys and girls. My second visit to the Co-Rec though, was very different. Walking around, it seemed to me as if most of the females that were so excited about it during BGR week, juts vanished. For the most part, the Co-Rec was full of guys, and they were everywhere. Cardio, swimming, and of course, lifting weights. Anywhere I went in that building, there was a majority of guys, if not all guys. The few places I saw girls were on the running track, swimming, and on some of the cardio machines. Also, I never saw a girl lifting weights during all my time wandering the Co-Rec, it was all guys. All the girls that I did manage to find were also with at least one friend, I saw no lone girls wandering about like me. Feeling a little intimidated after a while, I decided to leave. I want to go back there, because a lot of the activities look like a lot of fun, but I don't want to go alone, I don't want to be the lone girl again. A lot of girls may feel the same, that's why they don't go, they have no one to go with.

where's the co-rec again?

When given this assignment, I really felt a little awkward about it at first. I have never been to the co-rec, and therefore had no clue where it was. When I asked someone where the co-rec was, I swear my face fell off because the look I got was one of utter disbelief. Apparently all college kids are supposed to work out. I missed the memo somewhere along the way...So, on my way to the co-rec I wondered what I would see, and I really had no idea what to expect. I figured there would probably be a relatively even number of males and females and that they would be divided like we had discussed in class. However when I got there, it was predominently male. I went by myself and immediately felt out of place. The few girls who were there were grouped together in twos or threes. It was like any other girl activity, it is nearly impossible to do alone! Because there were so many men there and the girls were all grouped together, I felt out of place and decided the co-rec was to be visited with friends and I left without testing out the whole "college workout regimen". Maybe I'll return someday, but for now, I can understand why it was so segregated. I felt intimitated and I think I would have to be with friends to feel comfortable working out there.

working out the good way

The Co-Rec seems to be the hot spot once the street lights come on. I was only able to make it there because I had to be in the athletic training room from 7-9:30. But, right by where I was hanging out there were numerous events taking place. There was karate, some fake wrestling stuff (kind of like the Matrix), Tae Quan Do. I noticed that the majority of the people were males. It is known that not to many women participate in these fun endeavors, which is where the real shocker comes in place. Drum roll……there were ten people on the treadmills and I’m pretty sure nobody can guess how many of each sex there were. You were wrong, there were nine guys and only one girl.
There were two other times I happened to be at the Co-Rec. One of these journeys was to the pool. This is where I noticed that there were really no ladies there. Let’s just say that the hot tub used to be enjoyable. The other occasion was to play a little two on two basketball. For anybody that is wondering, I won. There are primarily males in there as well. There wasn’t one lady in the gym when I was. While leaving the gym I also observed that there were mainly women on the cardio side of the building when I come to think about it. Purdue is known to be more males; which could be a little bit biased.

Co-rec

Every time that I have been to the co-rec I have noticed the attendance between the girls and guys is different. There seems to be more guys then girls working out. Even the times I have gone swimming there have been a drastic amount of more guys then girls. It seems to be down in the work out room the girls favor the cardio equipment and the guys favor to lift weights. However, it’s not unnatural to see a guy using the cardio machines. It is odd to see a girl lifting weights though. There is not anything wrong with it. It just does not happen very often and I think the guys get shocked when they see a girl doing so.
I have also noticed while being in the co-rec that people are no very social. Every one seems to be in there own little world and oblivious to the others around them. However, I have found many times guys trying to “show off” for the other girls that are in the gym when they are lifting weights. I find it humorous to how people get so into working out, that they are in like a “zone”. It seems to me that girls go to the gym to keep from getting fat while as guys go to the gym to get big and buff. It is just so interesting how the female view and male views are so different. There is not anything wrong with a woman wanting to lift weights, and the guys should not look down upon that

Contrasting Workouts

After recieving this blog assignment I decided to work out thursday night at about 9:00 pm, and then again friday morning around 10:00am. The two experiences were very contrasting.
Thursday, when I entered, there were hot sweaty bodies huffing and puffing all over the place. Almost every machine had an occupant. All of the women seemed to be crowded by the cardio machines, or on the mats doing various ab workouts. The men on the other hand, were lumped up in big groups over by the free weight section. All of them grunting and sweating like crazy as the girls looked over occasionally to get a glmpse of a man in pain. The girls were also reserved and to themselves, most of them with their ipods hooked up, not looking to meet anybody with their slicked back hair, and red faces.
On the other hand my friday morning work out was very different. When I entered the fitness center, there were only about 20 other people in the room with me. four of them were over the age of 60, and the rest were girls, with a guy popping in every now and then. When I observed the surroundings I noticed that there were about ten girls in the free weight section, and the others on the cardio. I found it so ironic that when there weren't guys there to look down on the girls, then their confidence levels rose drastically. The influence and power that the guys hold is on gilrs' confidence levels is outrageous, and I was shocked to make the comparasin that I did.

As a very regular member of the Co-Rec I am able to see, quite often, the body language and perceptions of both the men and women that work out there. The first time I entered the most noticeable thing was that on the right side of room, where all the cardio equipment is located, is where all of the women were working out. But on the left side of the room, where all of the weight lifting equipment is located, is where all of the men can be found. Very seldom would you see a woman lifting weights with all of the guys, or a guy do a cardio machine around all the women. In my own experience when I go over to lift weights, often times I am given weird looks from guys as if they are trying to say, “What are you doing over here, girls cannot lift weights.”
Another interesting observation that I had, while working out, was that if you watch all of the women doing cardio the majority of them are completely tuned into their workout, either watching the televisions or listening to the music in their headphones. Rarely would you see someone just looking around at other people or talking to someone else. In contrast, on the weight lifting side, you will often see guys looking around, watching other people, and holding conversations as they are working out. Guys seem as though they are trying to give the perception of being tough, strong, and macho, always looking around to see who can lift more weight than they can. The ideas and observations that are seen at the Co-Rec are the same things that are represented at any workout facility or gym. I used to be a member of the YMCA and the same perceptions were true there also.

Hazing School

The idea of the Palestinian Intifada consists of rights of passage. As such, it is represented in many facets of American culture. I find hazing to be the most latent form of rights of passage.
As a class takes the place of freshman, its corresponding senior class has the duty to make sure that they have what is necessary to go on. Throwing freshmen in trashcans, having flour fights, egg fights, and no end of brutal activities toughens the freshman class and prepares them for life, or so some people believe.
Hazing in high school is a school in the same way that prison is for Palestinian males. With it boys become men by having to toughen up and learn to trust no one, always watch their back, and be weary of all, among other valuable lessons. Or not.
There is one plus to hazing though. The bond created between freshmen and seniors lasts for many years to come. I, for instance, still keep in touch with my seniors. I believe hazing is wrong to a certain extent; students have to know when to stop. However, I see this as a very latent form of the Intifada in our society.

Hazing School

The idea of the Palestinian Intifada consists of rights of passage. As such, it is represented in many facets of American culture. I find hazing to be the most latent form of rights of passage.
As a class takes the place of freshman, its corresponding senior class has the duty to make sure that they have what is necessary to go on. Throwing freshmen in trashcans, having flour fights, egg fights, and no end of brutal activities toughens the freshman class and prepares them for life, or so some people believe.
Hazing in high school is a school in the same way that prison is for Palestinian males. With it boys become men by having to toughen up and learn to trust no one, always watch their back, and be weary of all, among other valuable lessons. Or not.
There is one plus to hazing though. The bond created between freshmen and seniors lasts for many years to come. I, for instance, still keep in touch with my seniors. I believe hazing is wrong to a certain extent; students have to know when to stop. However, I see this as a very latent form of the Intifada in our society.

Why go through the pain?

Coming from the North Shore of Chicago, I never thought about initiations involving violence or pain. The only instance I heard of such a thing in the area was the Glenbrook high school girls’ soccer hazing incident that spread all over the U.S. news. I knew that gangs in Chicago maybe had such rituals, but not to the extent of the Palestinian rituals. Having been given the idea of pain or almost a “perseverance” for a goal, I thought about how it related to today’s society. Many television shows, reality shows specifically, place people in uncomfortable physical and mental situations, all justified by the end; the money, the popularity and the glamour. Does the end justify the means? (cliché)
Right before college, my brother was telling me about fraternity hazing, and as I read the story, it made me think about why someone go through this process. As my brother told me stories of hazing, such as throwing someone into the Wabash River, carrying bricks in one’s backpack for a whole semester, excessive drinking, I kept thinking to myself why in the world would anyone ever join a fraternity. Later, as it became closer to college, a reason hit me. To go through this initiation makes the person one of the group, someone who has gone through the exact same torture, the exact same situation, and probably the exact same feelings. The initiation almost becomes a never-ending circle of violence or initiations, as when the new members are hazed, they will end up hazing the other new members years later, and so on and so on in a never ending chain or circle. Each person will feel that they fit into the group. Not only this, but who would ever want to end this long string of tradition and suffering, if they had to stand up to every single member? Who knows, but violent or painful initiations/rituals will always exist, in a never ending loop of the pain givers and receivers.

when i first read this article i was a little confused on why a man would put himself through such torture. after out class discusion on the ohter hand i realized that it does happen a lot her in America. i used to be baby sat by a girl who was in a gang and i remember her showing me the signs they had and the way they had to wear certain things and i asked her once how she got into the gang and she would always tell me that it was better that i didnt know. she would also come over with new things that they would all give to her. she would have a new gift all the time. and i also learned that she was dating the leader of the gang because she had to for a while.after learning about how some females are initiated into gangs i hope that that wasnt the way she had to goin. i also remember her coming over with tons of bruises on her face and hands and she would tell me about all the fights that she had gotten into. She would always talk about how much she liked it though. she thought she felt a part of something and that they needed her like she needed them. people respected her. in the story this is portrayed also. when the boy get beaten and goes back to his family they all have this new respect for him along with the community and friends. they know that after going threw all of that he is a man is ready for leadership positions. in the mob, one of the most common ways to be accepted is to do a hit for the leader of the mob, he needs somebody killed and you want to be a part of the mob, then you have to do the hit. if you do then your in, if not your out and most of the time they kill you for knowing too much or just that you know who they are going to kill and dont want any leaks. mobs and gangs, to me, are just like the palestinian intifada. some people want to be accepted, in the palestine, they want respect.

Rites of Passage

After thinking about the reading for a while, it occurred to me that there were many similarities between what happened in the Intifada and what happens in our society today. Although most of what occurs in our society may not be as extreme as what happened to the Palestinians, one can see likenesses all around in American culture today. As was discussed in class, gang initiations in the United States are somewhat similar. In order to join the gang, one must endure a savage beating from many other members of the gang at the same time. This somehow proves one's masculinity or worthiness. Once in the gang, one probably learns the politics and hierarchy and does certain deeds in order to gain more respect and more power within the group. According to the gangs' mentality, one probably has to go through the same or more experiences and processes as the other members in order to be seen as an equal or a leader.
These rites of passage into groups in American society today do not just occur in gangs; they can be seen in a number of facets of society. Hazing in the military and in fraternities and soroities are examples. Even sports teams have their rites of passage. I remember when I was a freshman in high school, and I played on the varsity baseball team. The other freshmen and I were told to do what the older players told us to, which was basically to do more of the work, but after a couple of weeks into practice, before our first game the seniors all chased us down and shaved our heads. After that incident, things seemed to cool down a bit.
These rituals for gaining acceptance into a group occur all the time in our society and culture, and they have probably existed for an even longer time. They are used to see one's willingness to belong, and in doing so they also break one down a little or a lot. Once accepted it is easier to install the politics and policies of a group especially if one has been to a certain threshold. Rites of passage are used to make sure the group's beliefs and lifestyle are passed on.

I can easily compare the initiation type way of becoming a man to the American society. It is not as gruesome as many gang initiations, or other things that might easily be associated with the idea. Where I have seen this take place is in the good sport of football. We spent all summer training almost everyday of the week in the hot sun. At the end of the summer was our grueling two days of workout stations. Whether you thought you were in shape or not, these were easily the hardest days of the season. Most of the time, many of the guys did not make it and quit right then and there. If someone missed any of the stations they had to make them up. When someone missed the stations, the coaches always put it into the other players’ hands to complete them. We made the stations extremely difficult to all of these players, usually with the main goal of seeing how many of them we could get to throw up. You were considered weak and not talented if you could not make it through stations. I know this seems very minuscule compared to gang initiation, but I believe it takes on the same aspect. If you could not physically make it through stations, or quit, most likely respect won’t be earned from the players, or even the coaches

Earning Respect Among Peers

Before discussing the article Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada in class, I did not think to relate this article to our American culture. Growing up in a small town, I have never been around gangs and therefore first missed the similarity between the initiation of gang members and of the Palestinian men. However, after our class discussion my interest was intrigued. I searched for gang initiations on the internet and was amazed and what some people go through in order to belong to a gang. Members go through various things ranging from being beat in to deeded in, or even sexed in for many females. Once someone has proved that they are strong enough for membership, then they are a member of the gang. This same concept is present within the Palestinian underground resistance movement. Once a young man has been in prison, survived the beatings, interrogations, and other forms of torture, he goes home to new respect from his family, friends, and neighbors. He is granted a position of leadership and honor. In both of these cases the men (or women in the gangs) earn their respect by withstanding such harsh treatment. This same concept of enduring an initiation process to be accepted is present on our own campus within sororities and fraternities. Many sororities and fraternities have prospective members go through hazing in which they are sometimes harassed and are forced to complete physically or mentally difficult tasks. However, it is becoming increasingly rare for initiations to consist of beatings as many college students are beginning to realize the dangers of these rituals. Gang members, many Palestinian men, and fraternity and sorority members are all trying to fit in or earn respect by withstanding sometimes harsh procedures. All three of these examples help to show how much, even to the point of self-sacrifice, people are willing to withstand in order to be a part of a group.

Different Worlds...Same Goal

I didn't fully understand the point and information, more importantly the message, of the story "Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada" until I read it a second time. The deeper I looked, the more I noticed the similarities between the Palestinian Intifada and our own military here in the United States. Jail for Palestinians can be easily related to time spent in basic training. This is were you first learn of what you're life is about to be. The most basic of instructions and knowledge are gained. You understand leadership roles, positions, and the hierarchy of the system that was set in place before you were even born. You find out that you don't know everything and have much to learn. Even deeper are the fundamentals behind the "training." Both systems break you down to the point when you don't know what you're doing or why you're even there. In order to progress in the military, you are put through situations with no understanding, but left wondering when the next punishment will take place, always with an open mind and retaining as much knowledge as you can. For Ali, being wrapped up and beaten weeks at a time would be the equivalent.

Hussein's time spent in what they call "interrogation" is almost identical to prisoner of war (POW) training. Both the main character and myself can relate. At times, it seemed as if giving information to the interrogator sounded easier then getting the crap beet out of you. For a small piece of information you could stop the pain inflicted on you and the others around. We also had to learn to work as a team, to help each other, and support one another in the worst of times.

You never knew when the punishment would come, and more often then not, it was most unexpected. When one would be singled out, the others would surround him and "lift him up." The airmen who had gone through training would give guidance and support to the younger, inexperienced trainee. The same can be said in this story. When Ali gets rolled up for the first time, Sami is there to give him support and advice saying, "Don't cry or shout. Don't let them know it hurts." The same advice was given on me...in the same situation.

This story takes place on the other side of the world and even though both groups have different goals and accomplishments to undertake, the basic fundamentals of training the members go through are easily relatable. The scars are real. They remind you of the pain you suffered, and the knowledge you gained.

After reading and discussing the beatings and hard times people put themselves through in order to become a part of something, it got me thinking about th many ways people do that in every culture. Even in the United States, people do that stuff all the time. The most obvious and familiar ones are hazing in fraternaties and gang initiation. However, I was watching TV and I realized that many of the reality TV shows have or had similar situations. Shows like Fear Factor and Survivor pit people in painful and disgusting situations. They do it for many reasons: for fame, for money and prizes, and maybe even simply to prove themselves. Everytime I hear about those shows I wonder why the people do it. It does not seem worth it to me. There must be something about it that makes it worth doing for those people, though. I think that, aside from the cash, people like to overcome problems to become victorious and gain what they think is respect. The same thing can be said for all of the other situations we talked about. While getting beaten half to death may not seem worth it for one of us, there has to be something about it that makes it worth it for those people. Again, I don't think its those fancy gifts, I think its the respect and bonds that are made once the hard times are over.

Initiations

I have always been aware of gangs and the initiation process people have to go through to be a member. I have never understood how the benefits were worth putting themselves through what they do. I do not know much about these initiations so I took it upon myself to do some searching online. I found the two ones we talked about in class: being sexed in or jumped in. There are many other though they just may not be as frequently used. Some of the more interesting ones I thought were where you are "deeded in". In this case they have to have sex with a female or male that has a sexual disease without contracting it. Another is being "punched in". Here they hit you once very aggressively on the sternum, which consequently people have died from. The third interesting one was called "Freein Hoover". The gang members throw six pennies on the ground and all six pennies have to be picked up, while being physically assualted by several gang members, before the beating will stop.
Being in college you can see something similar to this, called hazing. Soroties and Fraternities do this to their pledges. While talking about this in class I was reminded of a story I heard recently about a sorority here on campus that was partying at a fraternity. The older sisters went out to the bars and made the pledges stay back and drink till they got back from the bars. That is a very dangerous thing to do and one of the girls ended up being taken to the hospital.
I’ll never understand the crazy things people will do just so they can be accepted. It never seems worth it.

Gang Initiations

After our discussion in class about gangs in America relating to Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada: A Cultural Politics of Violence; I started reading about gang initiations. I had always heard of gangs, but where I grew up there really weren’t gangs or I was oblivious. Now that I have read of the numerous initiations that can get an individual into a gang I think it is directly related to the Palestinian underground resistance. Some of the initiations that occur are being jumped in or beat in, sexed in, jacked in, drive-by shooting, Russian roulette, and a blood in. Jumped or beat in is being beaten up by the gang members, sexed in is usually for females and they have to perform sexual favors to one or more of the gang members, and jacked in is initiation by theft or larceny. Drive by shooting is another way to get in, Russian roulette is acceptance if you win and if you loose obviously you are dead, and lastly blood in is initiation by death and some have a blood out where you kill to leave the gang. After you survive these initiations you are accepted with gifts and praise just like the Palestinians who returned from prison. Just as an initiated gang member has learned street smarts throughout the initiation, Palestinian young men were educated in prison and then considered smarter men. I know that fraternities and sororities have an initiation period before they can officially be in the organization. Some houses are more severe than others, but most sororities do not haze their new girls, but fraternities do paddle and may even haze worse than the paddle. I think that many of the gang initiations are not worth becoming a member of the gang, and that they are sacrificing their lives for no reason.

Initiation

During the class discussion, I had a reoccurring flashback from the movie Jarhead. He was told in the movie that he had to earn his brand, and this mad it all of a sudden a desire. It seems that in Gangs today, the guy that has earned the privilege to receive a brand or initiation is already respected for one reason or another, and once they survive the grueling and brutal initiation, they are respected for being manly. Gang initiations (for men) are a test of how much one can endure. If you are able to survive, then you are in, and showered with protection and respect from fellow gang members.
The Women gangs, for the most part, are not as much of a physical test. They are required to do certain tasks that risk major consequences with the law. (This is also prevalent in male gangs as well.) Women tasks also include things like being slept in, which was mentioned in class on Tuesday. These kinds of tasks are very dangerous and put ones health into danger, as well as emotions.
Anyway you look at it, Gangs, and the initiation process that follows behind, are very dangerous and even sometimes life threatening. The pain that a member must endure is unfathomable, and the benefits do not seem to measure up!

gang beatings

After reading the story Male Gender and Rituals of Resistence in the Palestinian Intifada, I realized the similarity of the prison beatings in the story to street gangs in America. I couldn;t begin to tell you where the concept of suffering leads to respect came from, but it is sure a practice many gangs use today. Initiation into a gang involves hardship and trust. You have rights of passage laid before you before acceptance by the group is granted. You have to prove your loyalty by putting up with brutal beatings by the entire gang. Its almost as if there is a belief when you are broken down through a hardship (in this case, brutal beatings) you develop a sense of security with the people that just inflicted pain. In any respect, this ac t of "bonding" and initiation needs to be stopped. there is nothing respectful about having yourself severely harmed.

Initiation: First Step into a Gang

After I read "Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada," it became apparent to me that the lives that many of the boys in this article, were very similar to American gangs. As many know, when a new recruit wants to join a gang, he or she must be initiated before he or she can be an accepted member of the group. For males, the initiation can be massive beatings, called jump-ins, and for females, sex-ins, which is basically that they have to sleep with one or many men (sometimes members of another gang). This article described that many boys would get themselves beaten time and time again, then join a underground rebellion group. These boys, after receiving these beatings, would then be seen as men with stature and worthy of respect. Just like in American gangs, these boys had to prove themselves by savage beatings before they would be considered gang material, or masculine men. Another American similarity to these beatings, although on a much less severe note, are college fraternities and sororities. It is not necessarily beatings (as far as I know) but rather other, many times unsafe, actions. These activities range from things as simple as a water drinking game to "trust" exercises where the newbie has to do something incredibly dangerous, VERY stupid, and trust the fraternity brother or the sorority sister to keep them safe or save them. I feel that these initiations are incredibly stupid and dangerous, and really have no real point to them. In fact, these initiations are one of the reasons that I refuse to go Greek.

Gangs

After discussing the story “Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada” by Julie Peteet, in class, I began to notice the similarities with the issues pertaining to the Palestinian men and of gangs here in the United States. Gangs are known for their excessive beating methods as a way of initiated for new members. Once you have paid the price then you are considered an official member of the group. These rights of passage also happen to young Palestinian men before joining the underground resistance movement. As the result of being beaten and tortured, both gangs and the Palestinian men are given a stature in the community. In this story, after becoming apart of the resistance movement, one of the men declared, “I’ve already paid the price, I might as well be active.” This idea is also true of gangs, which is why there is such a great deal of violence associated with these groups. These men feel as though all of the suffering they have endured will be worthless unless they follow through with the other activities their gang is associated with. These activities include killing innocent people, robberies, and much more.
On a less severe level, some fraternities and sororities can also relate to the ideas and concepts in this story. They too have an initiation process that new members must go through before they can official join. Even though this procedure usually does not contain excessive beatings from the members, it can however involve rituals called hazing. Hazing is way for people to show their dedication to a certain group that involves embarrassment, harassment, ridicule, and sometimes injury.

Gangs

After discussing the story “Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada” by Julie Peteet, in class, I began to notice the similarities with the issues pertaining to the Palestinian men and of gangs here in the United States. Gangs are known for their excessive beating methods as a way of initiated for new members. Once you have paid the price then you are considered an official member of the group. These rights of passage also happen to young Palestinian men before joining the underground resistance movement. As the result of being beaten and tortured, both gangs and the Palestinian men are given a stature in the community. In this story, after becoming apart of the resistance movement, one of the men declared, “I’ve already paid the price, I might as well be active.” This idea is also true of gangs, which is why there is such a great deal of violence associated with these groups. These men feel as though all of the suffering they have endured will be worthless unless they follow through with the other activities their gang is associated with. These activities include killing innocent people, robberies, and much more.
On a less severe level, some fraternities and sororities can also relate to the ideas and concepts in this story. They too have an initiation process that new members must go through before they can official join. Even though this procedure usually does not contain excessive beatings from the members, it can however involve rituals called hazing. Hazing is way for people to show their dedication to a certain group that involves embarrassment, harassment, ridicule, and sometimes injury.

Masculinity

During the class discussion, I had a reoccuring flashback from the movie Jarhead. He was told that he has to earn a brand from the guys. It seems that in Gangs today, the guy that has earned the privelage to recieve a brandor initiation is already respected for one reason or another, and once they survive the grueling and brutal initiaton, they are respected for being manly. Gang initiations (for men) are a test of how much one can endure. If you are able to survive, then you are in, and showered with protetion and respect from fellow gang members.
The Women gangs, for the most part, are not as much of a physical test. They are required to do certain tasks that risk major consequences with the law. (This is also prevalent in male gangs as well.) Women tasks also include things like being slept in, which was mentioned in class on tuesday. These kinds of tasks are very dangerous as well for health and safety issues.
Anyway you look at it, Gangs, and the initiation prcess that follows behind, are very dangerous and even sometimes life threatening. The pain that a member must endure is unfathomable, and the benefits do not seem to measure up!

Proving Yourself

After our discussion in class, I was very intrigued. Since I am not a part of a gang, or know anyone who is, I did some research on gang initiations. It was unbelieveable to see what some gangs would do for initiation. The kind of danger one would chose to put themself in. There were all types of initiations. The robbing, drive bys, allowing the rest of the gang to beat you up. Then there were some that were a little more extreme. I read about being sexed in, where girls have to have sex with members of the gang to be allowed to join. There was also an initiation where a guy or girl has to have sex with someone who has a sexually transmitted disease, and not get it. I could never imagine putting myself in this type of danger just prove myself. As a female we are not suppose to be seen as masculine. Therefore, this could be the reason behind not wanting to prove myself to be masculine. For females I think it is a little different, obviously. It's not necessarily proving that we are masculine, but that if we do want something we are capable of getting it. I remember in grade school trying to play tag with boys, I was required to show them that I was capable of being a good competitor. Once I gained their approval, they no longer tease me like they would the other girls. I don't know if it was because now they thought of me as boy, or that they knew I was capable of defending myself, and would if I felt it necessary. But I can easily see how boys may feel the pressure to prove their masculinity. And if they don't or are unsuccessful, they are seen as weak or feminine.

Masculine Rite Of Passage

In our society, many people have a different idea of what exactly a man is and how each person is to prove that they are a man. The palestinian culture defines a man as someone that can take a beating, can resist, has "signs" to show his beating. This actually happens to be something very common in our society. Sure, we have discussed the beatings that new gang members recieve in order to prove that they are masculine enough to be men but I assert that the impact of masculinity in the male goes much deeper than that. As a member of the male gender, I can confirm that, growing up, I was bombarded by "chicks dig scars" and that a man knows how to deal with pain. Many times have I fallen, scraped a knee, sprained an ankle , or been bleeding or something of that sort and it has hurt but no way would I ever tell anybody that it did hurt. Furthermore, guys are supposed to like to fight, have scars, be manly. It sounds to me that the palestinian intifada and their want to get caught is a much more dramatic way of proving you are a man. I remember seeing a video describing the experiences of palestinian children. The video showed many children who couldn't have been older that 13 throwing rocks at a tank. I know when I was 13, I would not throw rocks at a tank. Their response to the question, "why do you throw the rocks?" was "To prove I'm not afraid." With the constant evolution of different cultures and definitions of masculinity, it is apparant that a dangerous activity like throwing rocks at tanks is going too far and that prison is not the proper place that boys need to learn to become men. Hopefully we can all recognize the unrealistic rite of passage that many are forced to go through and can do our best to correct it.

Gang initiation

The variety of different gang initiations are insane ways of proving masculinity for approval. Whether initiation includes hurting an innocent bystanders or themselves, these acts are moronic. After looking for several different internet sites talking about gang initiations, I found several that were particularly disturbing. First, a particular gang was reported forcing new members to have one night to use a knife to gut someone. If the new member did not come back in the morning successfully, he/she was in danger of being gutted. Also, I found typical stories of new members robbing stores or instigating gang brawls in order to be initiated. There has never been a time where I felt that I have been emasculinized to the point that I needed to kill somone to make me feel like a man, but there certainly have been times where I have done questionable things in order to be accepted or prove my masculinity. For instance, years ago in junior high I was put in the position many times. Making fun of others was something that I never felt was right in any way, but in order to fit in with my friends I humiliated several classmates by playing tricks and making fun. Also, I have been put in the postition to defend my masculinity several times. Men are looked down upon if they back down from a fight or challenge, and I have been forced to wrestle and box many times.

Stereotypes

People always judge by one’s looks. It is the easiest, many times the only way, to make an opinion of someone. It is impossible to know who the exceptions to stereotype are, or who someone actually is unless one can somehow read each other’s thoughts and personalities instantaneously at will. As a skinny Asian teenager, I have always been stereotyped as an extremely studious, unathletic, instrument playing individual. I have always been skinny my whole life, always underestimated in sports or any social activities. People who do not and did not know me see me as this stereotype, and while I have come to accept this stereotype because of my looks, I do not generally like/accept it myself. I do not think anyone would think that someone like me would be a lazy, relatively social and athletic person who is anything but studious and shy. I can not show that to everyone and I understand that it is the stereotype that I portray, but it is really annoying to have people asking me questions about some homework, or even expect that I somehow know what every Asian person speaking their native language is saying. When I open my mouth, I think it surprises some people that I have no Asian accent, or that I even can socialize with people.

Stereotypes are created because they generally are the best generalization for a group of people, and this probably does hold true for the stereotype of the studious, shy Asian. Yet there are always exceptions to the rule, and being one of these exceptions, I feel I have to prove to everyone I know that I am not one of them. I do not feel like I have to show everyone that I am not part of the stereotypical group, as it is up to them to make their own opinions on me. It is their fault for misjudging me, for misjudging everyone who is lucky or unlucky enough to have this stereotype put upon them.

Stereotypes

The main stereotype that I have faced up to now is that I am a jock. I have always participated in many sports throughout my life. I wore my letter jacket a long with all of my closest buddies. I was a varsity football player dating a varsity cheerleader. From all this it obviously appeared as a jock. The true stereotype of a jock however is being dumb. Some of my closest buddies however and I took school very seriously. Some of my close friends received academic scholarships over athletic.
I think that I and others have accepted this stereotype is because we prove that it is not true. It does not personally concern me when I am called a jock. I feel the best way to stand out from your stereotype is to prove against it. I do not think a dumb jock could make it into Purdue. I consider myself a jock only because of my athletic career. I do not see my self as dumb. I think on the most part when someone calls you a jock however more often than not it is directed towards athletics. I worked year round for athletics. I feel that stereotypes are a negative thing, but if you do not work to prove yourself against it, if you do not want to be categorized in that stereotype, you will still be considered the same. I do not let it affect me when I am called a jock, because I know that I have appeared as one, but I work hard academically to prove that I am not.

Goody-Two-Shoes

Ever since I can remember have been called a goody-two-shoes. I do not know when exactly I received this nickname but I am guessing is started up in late elementary or early middle school. Dictionary.com explains that a goody-two-shoes is any person who will focus on extreme good behavior in order to impress others, an extremely virtuous person; also called a goody goody. I believe that this stereotype describes me perfectly, of course I do not fit it exactly but it is extremely close. I am one of those girls who does not like to take too big of risks, and I always have my reputation in mind. I not only value my reputation but also my family’s and I never want to do anything that will damage it. I have never done drugs, smoked, or publicly embarrassed myself, besides falling down stairs or running into doors. I always work hard and get good grades, I have always excelled in sports, and I am very involved in school organizations. But, I did have a social life out of school. I like the nickname/stereotype goody-two-shoes because it fits me and I am proud to be known as that. I think that it is a positive stereotype and that a lot of people that might say it in a negative way, but they might possibly be jealous that they do not fit in this stereotype. Another stereotype that I fit into is being Preppy. I have always been to private schools many kids in private schools are considered preps. This stereotype has not bothered me at all. I admit that I dress preppy in J-Crew, Hollister, or Abercrombie clothes and that I pop my collar. I have done it for years and I feel weird when I don’t. Being called a prep just stuck with me because of where I’m from, where I went to school, and how I have dressed. I have no problem with this stereotype either because it’s who I am and since it’s who I am I shouldn’t be bothered by it.

Sterotypes are definetly everywhere nowadays. Everyone uses them now and most people do not even know it. They are used widely throughout all cultures. I happen to stereo type about football players. I know that some of them are smart but I don't care. I am also very insinsitive to people that in don't think highly of. I see the football players in the halls and around campus and I just am always digusted. I realize that they are great athelets but I just do not like how they are treated completely different than any other group around. The are also the most cocky people that we have around. They all think that they are the stuff and I know that they are great and all but I do not think that they should show boat like they do. Some people I know say that steoreotyping is a form of envy but I think that it is just a way to express some feelings that you have bottled up and you don't know how to get rid of them. Stereotyping is a bad form of communicating but I think that if you try to change it it will be useless because it has become so natural to everyone.

Stereotypes

My dad is a dentist and I live in a two story red brick house in a suburb next to a golf course. Both my sister and I have our own cars, I wear Hollister, and I hang out with the “popular” people. I’m shy, I have morals, I go to church, I do my homework, and I do not get into trouble. Therefore my stereotypes are a rich stuck up brat, Mrs. Goody Two Shoes, or a prep. My whole life I have lived with these stereotypes and they used to bother me. Honestly they really do not so much anymore. If people can not give me a chance to show who I truly am then they are the ones missing out. I come from a high school of about two thousand kids. A high school with ghetto, preppy, gothic, goody-two shoes, jocks, sluts, etc. Those are the stereotypes I’m used too. They do not all apply to me and are not all associated with me. I hate stereotypes. Everyone is entitled to be whatever they want to be and they deserve to be given the chance to show that before people classify them as something just because of the way they look. I get stereotyped everyday and I am sure I stereotyped everyday also. The stereotypes associated with me do not bother me so much because I know who I am. However, the things that bother me the most are racial stereotypes. Everyone is different and no one should be generalized.

I am who I am...

Throughout a persons life they will run into many stereotypes. In high school, we saw kids stereotype themselves as well as each other. Even though it might have a negative connotation, I don't see stereotyping as such a bad thing. You can take you're "label" and change it, if it bothers you. But this "classification" also might give someone a sense of belonging. An outcast labeled a skater might search the halls of his high school for other skaters. A gear head might keep an eye out for someone who enjoys working on cars as much as he/she does. Stereotyping has a way of bringing people together who have the same interests.

My stereotype in high school was the Nice Guy/Band Nerd/Jesus Freak. People knew they could come to me for advise or guidance with a problem. If they needed help or someone to lend a hand, I was there. The negative connotation would come into play when friends would take advantage of the situation and walk all over you. When someone would take advantage of the "nice guy" because they knew they could get away with it. Band nerd was the more prevalent of the two. The first time hearing if made me madder then hell. Why would someone go out of their way to try and put others down. "Oh he doesn't have a life or friends because he's a band nerd." Wow, how much farther from the truth could he be. My freshmen year of high school I made more friends because of Marching Band. The almost god like seniors (remember, I'm a scrawny little white guy) came up to me my first day of practice, put their arms around my shoulder, and told me if anyone ever gave me trouble in school, to tell them who it was, and they would take care of it. That might not seem like much but with a school of almost 4,000, it seemed to make the transition a little bit easier. I belonged to a group. I sweet my ass off for four years and have more medals, plaques, and rings to show for it then my high school football team. As a senior, I returned the favor to MY incoming freshmen, because I was so grateful for the seniors before me. Did we adopt the name and use it to describe each other...No, but we learned to accept what other could not understand.

A "stereotype" is nothing more then a word. To believe and use them on a day to day basis to describe other's is is to claim ignorance. To think that you can group every individual in this world is stupid. I am the stereotype Brian Robert Flohr. That is who I am. There is no one else in this world like me.

Stereotypes

With every group, gender, race, or social class a stereotype is sure to follow. Even though I try not to labeled people into a certain group, I still subconsciously find myself saying, “Oh they are a jock, a prep, a hippie, a goth.” I am sure that people say the same things about me and label me into a specific group when they see me. Whether or not the way people stereotype each other is right we are all guilty of doing it each and every day. There is not necessarily one specific stereotype that I would consider myself to fit under. When speaking of gender I can be labeled the typical girl. For example, my favorite color is pink, I am an extremely organized person, I love girly movies, and I have to do my hair and makeup before I go out. All of these characteristics, along with many others, fit the picture that many people think of when they think about girls. On the other hand when discussing racial and socioeconomic stereotypes I definitely fit the standard white, middle class, suburban label. I came from a very normal family with both parents that have good jobs; I went to a wealthy and highly esteemed school, and I am blessed to have nice clothes, a car, and a good house to come home to. All of these stereotypes I have come around accept and agree with because they are true. I have begun to realize that stereotypes are not always a bad thing. If someone labels you as something, and it is a truthful stereotype, then why deny who you really are?

Dumb Blonde

Q: What do you call it when a blonde dies their hair brunette?
A: Artificial intelligence.
In the past decade, blondes, specifically girls, have become the but of all jokes. They are stereotyped as being dumb, and the most unintelligent of the human race. In the past, I have let something "not so smart" slip out of my mouth, and in an instant, my stupid comment is based on my hair color, and I hear about it for the next couple of months. How can the color of my hair determine weather I am educated on a certain subject or not? The blonde stereotype seems so ridiculous to me. It is automatically assumed that because of genetics or perhaps choice, that that person is dumb.
Because the blonde stereotype is so prevalent in society, girls with natural or even artificial blonde hair seem to start believing that they have a reason to be unintelligent, and even act dumb. This is common in young teens girls, when the blonde jokes are all at an all time high with kids their age. If the jokes were on brunettes or red heads, then teens with brunette or red hair would start believing that they are unintelligent as well. Society makes blondes act the way they do, and hair color should have nothing to do with someone’s intelligence.

Everyone in the world can fit under a sereotype. people from certain regions, towns, and countries have same behavioral tendencies. Some people feel it is not good to fit under a stereotype. people want individual,original personalities. Being labeled as a stereotype can sometimes be very offensive to someone. The stereotype which i feel i perpetuate would be a jock. I've played sports my whole life. It isn;t really a stereotype that follows me now, but my middle and high school career were very different. I played soccer and baseball because i love to stay active and play team sports and i also trained pretty hard to stay in shape. people saw me as always doing something sports related and naturally categorized me as a jock. i did not personify the stereoypical attitude of a jock because idon't have a cocky personality at all. i've come to accept this label because i absolutely love sports and i see no problem being associated witht this group. there does tend to be some cockiness with personalities in this group but most people are pretty humble.

The Good Girl Next Door

The first stereotype that comes to my mind that I perpetuate is the common "girl next door." While, no one has specifically called me this, I know it is how I am generally more or less categorized. I think this stereotype has been placed on me because of my actions and social status. In my hometown, I am generally seen as a plain, white girl, similar to almost every other girl in my county. I am rather shy, do not talk a lot, and did not really participate in sprots. I was generally just a nice girl that my friends and classmates could count on. I was never the girl every guy wanted to date, and was by no means a star athlete. Another stereotype I accepted was a "good girl," I made good grades, worked hard, did not drink or party, dated a "good boy," and even spent time with my family. While this stereotype is not the coolest way to be looked at in high school or even college, it has never bothered me. I have obtained this stereotype through my actions. No one has really annoyed me with this stereotype as if it is a bad thing, they just know it is how I am and have always respected my actions. I have come to accept this stereotype because I know that this is how I am. I have no desire to illegally drink or to change the crowd I hang out with, in order to lose this stereotype. I am happy the way I am regardless of what my stereotype may be.

Stereotypes

Many people are given stereotypes, and this is unfortunate. From studying psychology, there is a little bit of reason for this. Our brains cannot remember everything and everyone, therefore, we categorize, group and put labels to things to simply help us remember. This isn't necessarily a good thing, but just the way our brain works. Unfortunately, I am usually labeled with the rich, partying, stuck up white girl. I get this label mostly from the people I hang out with. My friends like to party a lot, and you will often find me partying with them. But people fail to see that that isn't all I do, or what I mostly enjoy doing. I have nice clothes and live in a nice area, in a nice home. But those that haven't taken the time to get to know, don't realize that my parents don't pay for all my stuff. That in reality I pay for all my clothes and work hard for what I have. I am fortunate to have parents that can pay for college, and support me at home. But anything I ever needed that wasn't a neccesity I had to buy on my own. I even remember having to pay to redecorate my room, because I didn't like it anymore, but my mom didn't think I need to. A label I will agree to is that I am white. That is something I or no one else has control over. I don't really accept all this labels that I am given, because I don't feel they truly fit. I am not a hardcore partyier like all my friends, and I'm not spoiled by my parents. Many might think that I am stuck up, because I don't usually talk that much. Some people take this as me thinking I'm too good for everybody else. But in reality I am just a shy person, and it just takes me a while to get adjusted and open up. I greatly dislike that sometimes I put of this vibe, but I'm just not as outgoing as some people might expect with all the other labels that have been put on me. But often times I see that I just let people believe these things to be true, because it would take too much effort to try and show them otherwise. It takes a lot longer than a couple hours of talking to someone to get to truly know them. A lot of times people just aren't willing to put in all that time.

I am a hippie.

For years now I've been called a hippie. I have never really sat down and thought about why people call me this but for the most part I've accepted it as truth. Sitting here now, however, I can see how people can make this broad generalization. To begin with, I've got longer hair than most other guys at my age. Not so bad, I think it looks good and that's all that matters. Secondly, I am an extremely easy-going person. The late Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band <> wrote in his song "Blue Sky", walk along the river, sweet lullaby, it just keeps on flowing, it don't care about where it's going. This happens to be one of my basic outlooks on life. I am ready to have a good time, and I'll end up wherever the flow takes me. I believe in the power of music. If you've ever seen a hippie music festival, one of the things they do is say something like "this show is going to change the world." I, for one, think that music and its ideals have the ability to inspire and allow people to see how much more there is to life than what they think. Also, to go along with the hippie stereotype, I love to play the guitar, acoustic is good stuff and I've definately sat around a campfire, eaten smores, and played the guitar. This is the ultimate hippie stereotype. Although I don't think anyone is deserving of a single label that makes them everything that they are, I've come to accept a generalized stereotype that I am a hippie and proud of it.

The Nerdy Gamer Geek

The stereotype I fall under is the gamer/geek/nerd stereotype. I'm pretty pale from staying inside playing video games, like most gamers. I'm also one who enjoys to learn a lot, much like my fellow nerds. I also enjoy emerging myself in fictional stories from TV shows and video games, just like geeks do. People can call me this, and I will not deny it. I refuse to deny it because it is who I am. As I've said. I enjoy playing games, I enjoy learning about different things and I also enjoy putting myself into the story of a book, TV show, or video game. I accept who I am because I feel that if I don't, then who will. Even if someone doesn't call me a gamer, geek, or nerd, I'll always feel like one because that is who I am. I'm a gamer because I play games, who cares. I like to learn like a nerd, people used to get made fun of for it but they can make a lot of money after collage. Geeks love the stories that life gives them, so much that they imagine themselves being a part of it. If someone feels like they are making fun of me by calling me names representing the things I love to do, they will be sorely disappointed. No matter what you call me, I will love playing video games, I will love to learn, and I will love putting myself into stories. I understand maybe not all people can do the same with what they may be called, but this is me. I accept who I am.

Surferboy

The main stereotype that I perpetuate is the "surferboy". For years I have been categorized as a suferboy because of my appearance and liberal views, but I have never considered whether it was a positive or a negative classification. I condoned this stereotype without truly considering its enveloping aspects.
The surferboy stereotype involves several attributes. First, the surferboy appearance is tyically seen as a dark, long haired young man with a trim, muscular build. Although my case does not strictly follow this aspect due to the fact that im pale and scrawny, I follow the rest fairly closely. The surfer boy stereotype also includes a liberal, free spirited set of beleifs. This aspect is closely connected with the "hippie" stereotype in that both are seen as long haired, free spirited, pot smoking individuals.
I allowed this stereotype because I did not realize it was in any way negative. I assumed for years that being called a surferboy simply meant that my long hair made me look like someone that surfs, but nothing more thant that. After thinking about exactly what the "surferboy" stereotype actually entailed, I decided it is not a desireable category to be in.
I had always assumed that being called a surferboy was not a derogatory statement, but after more thought I have decided that the surferboy stereotype was not a compliment. This stereotype contains aspects which I would not like to be a part of.

Perpetuated Sterotypes

We perpetuate a lot of different sterotypes like if a person is on a football team, then he must be a jock, if a girl is a cheerleader then she is a prep, or if a person is good at chemisry or math the he or she must be a geek. these stetotypes have been around for a long time. i remember my mom and dad talking about it but not so much my grandparents. my mother was shy in school and never really got out and did things and she would often wear hoodies or longer shirts and people that dressed like her in school and acted the way that she did were often called "hoods". i think that these sterotypes that we give to people are just a way for society to categorize where people "fit" as a whole. if there are different groups then we are able to strive for a certain social standing or to steer away from a group that we dont want to be a part of. i think that initailly the sterotypes started though as a way for people to feel superior to others. the eariliest example that i could think of was in a story about preps and people called greasers. the preps made the greasers feel insuperior because they were greasers and because of that they couldnt do the things that the preps did and recieved differnt treatment no matter where they went and when the law got involved, the preps would be the ones that got away with everything. i think that we have come to accept the fact that sterotypes exist because no matter where we go, school or work, they are always going to be there. as a person grows up they see the sterotypes already, they play around with the kids that are most like themselves. from there they see who they like and who they dont like and get sterotypes planted in their heads. then they grow up with the same ideas in their heads because no one ever tells them that its wrong to have sterotypes. so now its just normal to see the different groups and to be okay with the groups in which we fit. from middle school all the way up till now,because of the way i dress and act i have been called a prep and i am ok with that because the name prep doesnt botherone bit and i think that if a person is comfortable in their group, they dont really read to much into it.

myspace

I have never created a myspace account, simply because it takes way too much time to make it all fancy. It appears to be too time comsuming. Even though I can be the same way with facebook. But myspace seems to be a little different. While looking at different profiles I noticed some of these differences. A lot of the girls profiles had pictures of them trying to show off their bodies, trying to look sexually appealing. Girls profiles were very flashy, with lots of stuff going on. Most had music, one even had a song about sex. There were also a lot of slide shows of friends and parties. These profiles seem to represent who they are, or who they want people to see them as. I couldn't believe how just anyone could look at these. Although I did run across a few who were smart that set up protection to non friends from viewing their profile. As I was looking at these profiles, the only thing that came to mind, was what would these girls parents think if they knew what was on here. I think that these girls use this flashyness and sex appeal, to get noticed. But I think they are sending off the wrong message. By looking at the profiles I was able to learn a lot about them. What type of music they likes, movies, pretty much anything they put I on there, I could know. The boys on the other hand were quite the same. The boys were more plain, some had music. Most had the same basic picture, of them either trying to show of their muscles, or looking away trying to look tough. The music was typically rock some R&B, it really did depend on the person and their likings. There wasn't as much to find or do on the boys profiles. Most didn't have any additional pictures or little surveys you could take about how much of a slut you were. Just their basic information. It wasn't as easy to learn about the boys by just looking. They seemed to keep more in, or just didn't want to put in all the effort. Or even maybe seem "girly" with all the details.

Myspace

Instead of looking around on random pages of people I didn’t know, I just started looking through a few of my friend’s pages. For the most part the guys and girls pages are very similar. For the most part, basic bold colors were used for the backgrounds of the guys’ pages. The guys’ had the typical “boyish colors” like blue and green, while the girls used pinks and purples. Sometimes a picture was used but nothing too elaborate. On the girls’ pages, many basic colors were used but more pictures were used all over the place. On a few of those pages, glittery, shiny, pictures of random things were used. Also, on almost every girl’s site I found something like, if you were underwear what would you be, or what Laguna Beach star are you. Most of the time, it didn’t describe them at all. Of all the pictures I looked through, they were mostly of stuff that that person was proud of. For example, most of the guys are or were athletes, and many pictures were of them competing. There were pictures of graduations, and prom, and of when they were little kids for a laugh. In almost every about me section, they told about what there school plans are, or of their favorite sports team. The guy’s threw in the height and weight. The audience of these particular sites is geared to only us friends. Thing’s we already know, and just look at to have a good laugh. All of these pages have music. They might not necessarily be their favorite songs, but a good one that they just found. Of my friends’ sites, there isn’t really a big deal about showing masculinity or femininity. While basic things are used such as color choice, nothing else really stands out. In this case there is mostly a competition of humor. Most of the time, I see it as people putting basic info about themselves, just to be able to communicate with their friends.

crazy

Myspace might as well be called the stalker hotline. It has been so long since I have been on my Myspace that I start to recognize how much information people put out there about themselves. The little surveys that people do have got to be the stupidest thing ever, especially if it is a girls. The surveys give out all the specifics about the person, such as: birth date, hair color, height, name, eye color, and other specifics that people shouldn’t know about yourself.
People tend to represent themselves pretty decently considering that everyone that person knows will be looking at their page finding all the little things about them they can. Although, there are some people that have beer bottles and pictures of themselves along with other people getting drunk and crazy. This is not all bad but people put a lot of unnecessary things on their page just to get attention and to be cool. The ones that had some bad stuff just tend to represent themselves in a negative way and give other people the impression that they party and have a good time all the time so more people will want to be their friends.
The music is awesome! The music that people had was pretty good. It really sets the mood for the page and takes your mind off of anything else that might be going through your mind. The other thing that most people have are layouts. All of the layouts were pretty cool and didn’t have any negative influence in them. It may be a little sheltered since I haven’t been on my page in like a year and I only have my close friends on it. All in all, the only thing that I legitimately found wrong with Myspace was the survey things that give out every single piece of information about that person.

Myspace or theirspace?

Myspace is a wonderful little invention that allows everyone to express themselves freely on the web. I had never even thought of getting one for myself because I would much rather go out and meet people up front and learn what they are like first hand rather than reading about the way they think they are. When people write about themselves in my space, they almost always go extremely over the top in trying to make themselves sound fun and interesting to others. Therefore myspace isn't really mine, it is theirs.
These profiles are just one more place where gender and society control us. Women set up their spaces one way and Men do it in another. Women's profiles, for the most part, are highly decorated with background pictures and pink colored text boxes, contain a huge amount of pictures and videos displaying everything they do, self-flattering comments posted on their pictures and a huge number of posts. Men's profiles, on the other hand, are extremely "un-groomed". The 4 men's profiles I looked at were in the standard white background with the standard text boxes, little or no pictures and little or no comments as well. This really says a lot about how society splits us up in genders.
I also found the way these profiles are set up to be extremely displeasing. People cram all sorts of useless little details about themselves in a low quality, poor resolution html webpage with a monotonous, pixilated background. Scrolling up and down most of the girl’s pages really made me dizzy. Aesthetics are definitely something that myspace does not have.

myspace

As I was looking through peoples myspace accounts, i realized that a persons personality could be portrayed through the types of things that they choose to put on their profiles. most of the girls that i saw had stuff like slide shows with all the pictures of their girlfriends and and boyfriends and the parties that they had gone to. there were also things with a lot of glitter and flashy icons and such. as i was looking at the profiles of older women i realized that there wasnt as much glitter and flashy things, there were however pictures but they werent in a slide show with the funny way of changing the picture, they were just on the page. the songs on the younger girls profiles were more provocative along with the pictures that they had on their of their own bodies and that of their friends. the older women had pictures of themselves in way less provacative ways. there were even pictures of their husbands or wives and children. their songs are more likely to be country or speak of things like love and family and not so much about promiscuity. The guys profiles were more plain and basic backrounds with pictures of hot girls that they had never meet or pictures of their favorite cars. their songs are mostly portraying masculinity in was that show that men are pimps or they look hot in their white T's. The pictures that they have of themselves are mostly them with their shirts off or just sitting in front of the camera with a "ya...im tough" look on their faces, i even saw a picture of a guy on his four wheeler with the dirt flying around him and the thing on two wheels. they dont have any or hardly any pictures on their profile and if they do its pictures of parties that they have gone to and gotten trashed at or of sports events that other people took of them. i think that myspace is a way for people to see what they are too afraid to show off the internet. this way if a girl is used to being the sports person and wears clothes like the long shirts and sporty shorts they can show their girly side by putting glitter on their pages. a person who is shy aroud crowds of people they dont know can show what they are really like around people that they are used to. its just another way for people to show how they are without feeling stupid.

My space

After viewing several myspace accounts I began noticing trends. The owners of the accounts presented themselves in several different ways, but which all fell into a series of categories. While some presented themselves as unique, others fell into the more traditional, plain representation.
Several of the accounts I looked at painted an "individual" picture of themselves. Instead of pointing out the aspects of themselves that were associated with cultural norms, they showed the rebellious, anarchist side of themselves. The music that was associated with these websites were similarly different, including a variety of non-mainstream works to impress their individuality.
Other accounts I viewed had a more traditional approach to representing themselves. Instead of pointing out differences, they tended to focus on the personal charachteristics that linked them to cultural norms. For instance, these accounts would have mainstream music playing and a single picture of themselves. The owners of these accounts were, in my observations, mostly females.
The accounts of these two categories were put together differently. First, the accounts of the individuals were often brighly colored and attention grabbing. They also had a a variety of very interesting photos. On the other hand, the accounts of the more reserved individuals turned out to often be very plain.
The accounts I viewed turned out to be divided into "unique" individuals and "reserved" individuals. Each group had a completely different approach to showing the audience an image of themselves.

Stalker Space

Considering the fact that I am obsessed with facebook, it was interesting seeing how myspaee worked. I have never seen any myspace profiles but I was aware that myspace was a hot spot for online predators. The first profile I looked at was of an eighteen-year-old girl. The picture she had posted was extremely provocative, her music was about sex, and it explicitly said that in with lyrics, and she loved beer and Bacardi. After looking at her profile it just went downhill. I have never seen so many girls publicize themselves this way online. Their profiles were crammed full of pictures with friends, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, screen names, and even how much money they make in a year. No wonder it is so easy for stalkers to find their prey! Myspace is a wonderful place of visual rhetoric; you can look at a person’s profile and just read it once and know more about them than possibly one of their friends. The girls have kept their audience in mind by considering their only audience to me males. Most of the girl’s music represented them because it was rap or bringing sexy back, and it matched their profiles perfectly. Not all of the girl profiles I looked at were provocative; many were extremely girly and cute with quotes from The Notebook, Dawson’s Creek, and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. They were able to show their true selves to both female and male audiences and they had more friends than the provocative girls did. But it was a completely different story when I looked at male’s profiles.
The male profiles I looked at were particularly simple. They just wrote a paragraph about themselves had their favorite rap song playing and maybe some funny quotes from Wedding Crashers. Most boys had pictures of themselves without shirts on trying to show every possible muscle that they might possess. These boys usually were full of themselves and they wrote it in their profile. Other boys had goofy pictures of themselves; one was in a wiener costume, others had pictures of them in togas or other random costumes that they most likely wore to a party. I think that even though the boy’s profiles were simpler, they could express themselves easily without all the glitter and glam that the girls used. Each gender showed exactly what society would want. The girls had “girly,” pretty webpages, and the boys tried to show off how masculine they were. Of course society most likely would like girls to be girly in a non-provocative way, but this is how these girls wanted to show themselves off. Myspace is the perfect place to show who you are, but you can also ruin your reputation.

Myspace

Having only Facebook, I have never actually seen a full Myspace profile. Upon looking at people’s sites and profiles, a number of themes and patterns appeared. There were large differences between a guy and girl’s profiles, just as stated in class. Guy’s profiles represented the male as tough, almost emotionless individuals, with pictures generally showing off some sort of physical act. From pictures of my friend jumping off a high building, to mirror pictures showing off biceps, the male stereotype was definitely showing its colors through these profiles. Tough, muscular, carefree and emotionless were the themes that seemed to represent every male profile I saw. Profile wise, the guys seemed to be much plainer, with white backgrounds and short, undescriptive phrases to describe themselves.
Girls, on the other hand, seemed to have put much more effort into their profiles, with outrageous colors and patterns and more in depth profiles. Their pictures were “naughty but nice” in nature just like someone said in class, but they also tended to have more boyfriend/girlfriend pictures, to showoff to everyone that they have a boyfriend. The profiles were not only more in depth, with longer descriptions and phrases, but the girls’ profiles tended to give away more personal information than the guys, which I thought was very interesting. In general, girls’ profiles seemed to have some need to show off to the world what they think their own social status is, along with almost being as “slutty” as possible. (With some exceptions of course)
I think that each individual’s profile was their own representation of themselves, yet many of them were all the same in the way that they tried to fit in to a certain gender or social stereotype. Some gamers I know did not even mention it in their profiles, instead exaggerating their interest in something one would consider “manly”, such as sports. People tended to fit their descriptions/profile to what they thought everyone else expected out of their gender and social status. I do not think that Myspace truly represents someone as a person. Everyone just wants to be considered “normal”, and it is through these stereotypical profiles where everyone can “fit” in.

MySpace

I had often heard my friends talking about the website MySpace, but I had never really been on it or viewed it for more than a minute or two until I got this assignment. As I looked over some various profiles, I began to see differences in how males and females presented themselves through their profiles using visual rhetoric. It became apparent that both the men and women in these profiles that I viewed were representing themselves in a "normal" way according to the heteronormative society.
The profiles of the males that I looked at all had some striking similarities. The main pictures for the majority of men were just them by themselves. Most of them just had kind of a half smile, or they were not smiling at all. It almost seemed like smiling was prohibited for some of them. The backgrounds of many of the profiles were darker, or like a couple that I saw, were of scantley crad women. The songs that usually accompanied the openings of most mens' profiles were of the rock nature; there were no male profiles that I viewed that opened with a song sung by a woman. Some male profiles contained some things that were pretty offensive and sometimes a little diturbing. Others contained some material that could be perceived as homophobic.
The womens' profiles that I looked at to me, a male, seemed a lot more feminine. To start it off, their pictures had a lot more smiling going on. Women tended to have many more pictures of themselves with their friends in which they were hugging and a lot closer as opposed to the males. There were also so many more colors. Females' backgrounds were a lot more bright and colorful. The songs ranged from country to hip-hop, but the majority were slower than those of the males. I did see some things that seemed a little crude, but they weren't nearly as bad as what I saw on some of the guys' profiles.
In the heteronormative society we live in today there is a dichotomy of gender. Men are supposed to be tough and independent. Women are supposed to be sweet and friendly and caring. Hence the differences of MySpace profiles between men and women. This is how society views gender as normal, but there is no normal; everyone is different. Gender is a role just as performance theory says. MySpace and other internet sites like it allow one to visually portray oneself in whatever manner he or she wants to; one can meet and interact with a variety of people, but one only knows those people through what is presented on the computer screen and vice versa.

Myspace

I have been using myspace for over a year now and a good majority of my friends have a myspace profile also. My own profile background is pink with different color hearts, I have my likes and dislikes on there, and mine and my boyfriend's song. If anyone were to look at my profile, they would learn a lot about what I like, but I have no real personal information on there. A lot of the guys and girls have real sexual pictures on their profiles in attempt to get attention from the oppostite sex. You can learn a lot about a person by the way they have their myspace set up. Such as if they have a boyfriend or girlfriend, what they look like, what kind of movies, music, and tv shows they like. Most of the girls profiles that I have looked at have hearts, or bright colors, pocka dots, stripes, beach scenes, and such in the background. They usually also have some kind of love song, whether it be R&B, pop, or country. Where as the guys usually have a rapper, a professional basketball player, or a girl in there background. The guys usually have a rap song on their page. None of the pages I looked at really gave out too much personal information, such as a phone number or address or anything of the sort. However, a lot of the girls tend to lie about their age.
Myspace in generally a way for people to keep in touch with one another in a more unique way then talking on the phone or e-mail. You can make your myspaces very personal, to let everyone know who you are. Myspace is definately a representation of who people are. However, all this can sometimes create problems. Many people will post things on myspace they wouldn't dare say outloud or to someone's face, however the older and more mature someone gets the less likely that is to happen. As long as people are careful about what they are posting on there, I think myspace is a fun way to be yourself and have fun with your friends.

My Space

As I browsed through various profiles on myspace.com, I was shocked at the amount of personal information some people included. Many profiles included cell phone numbers, addresses, and other contact information. I first viewed the profiles of girls. The first thing I noticed on many of the girls’ pages were the very seductive pictures they had used to represent themselves with. One girl’s entire background consisted of her and her friends lying around a pool with bikinis on. Three of the girls’ pages advertised their interests as drinking and partying. As I noticed another girl listed her favorite drinks as vodka and beer, I scrolled to the top and saw that her age was 20. Many of the pictures involved partying as everyone in them had a bottle of alcohol in one hand as they danced around the room. I was appalled by how many underage people included alcohol is some way in their profile. I think it is crazy that they would advertise their illegal behavior in this way. Next, I looked at the guys’ profiles. The first male’s profile I looked at had a paragraph about himself; in which one of the first things he told about was that he had recently been suspended at college for his poor grades. I was astounded that one would want to project such an image to their friends, peers, and people they do not even know. Most of the guys’ profiles held many similarities; the main one being, they generally kept a serious face for their display picture. Most also had hard rock music or rap playing in the background, and many pages had videos available to anyone browsing My Space to view. There were also similarities between the profiles of the males and females. Music was generally on every profile, as well as many surveys that must have taken the My Space users hours to complete. The questions ranged from many topics concerning piercings and natural hair color to much more personal questions about religious beliefs. Finally most of the pages seemed to be flashing with animation and colors. Although I have heard many comments from friends referring to My Space, I had personally never been involved with it in any way until this assignment. I found it very interesting to look through various profiles and was amazed at the way people presented themselves. It has certainly made me think more about how I want to present myself in other ways throughout my daily life.