BreakingTheNormsofSociety EmilyVierling TheCycleofSocialization.Howcanwedescribeacyclethatissoestablishedtothepointofwhereitmight controlus?Wecanbeginbynotcallingitacycle.Thecorrecttermwouldbeanestablishedsystem.Thesystem controlsus,controlsyou.Howisthispossible?youmightask,Howdoesthesystemcontrolus?.Theansweris identity.TheCycleofSocializationimpactseveryonedifferently,independently.Thecycleilluminatesindividual differencesandimpactseachpersonuniquely.Socializationpromotesdifferenceswithinsociety,butthecommunity stillhasntlearnedhowtoacceptthesedifferencesequally,why? I,asanindividual,havebeensocializedbythesociety,media,andpeoplearoundmetothinkofmyselfas theweakergender,thatIamsupposedtobeattractedtomen,andthatmyeconomicclassisfinanciallystable. Gender,oneworddescribesavarietyofdifferencesbetweentwobodytypes,womanandMan.Sofar,the societyhasnotimpressedmewiththeirgenderrolesoftoday.Ihavebeensocializedtothinkofmyselfastheweaker gender(woman),theonewhoisbroughtuptoaccompanyamaninpower.ThatI,aswoman,amnotsupposedtobe theoneincontrol.AsGloriaSteinemsaysinherquote,We'vebeguntoraisedaughtersmorelikesons...butfew havethecouragetoraiseoursonsmorelikeourdaughters..

s..Thisquoteshowshowunfairourgenderrolesarein oursocietytoday. Inthearticle,TheRolesofMenandWomen,itexplainsthatintheZunitribe,womenwerethedominant gender.Thisseemsshockingtothesocietytodaybeingthatthisisawholeanothergenderspectrum,therangeof traitsthatdefinesomeoneasmasculineorfeminine,tothepointofwheretheZuniTriberolesarealmostthecomplete oppositesideofthegenderspectrumoftoday.OneofthereasonstheZuniTriberolesareonthecompleteopposite sideofthegenderspectrumisbecausetheyhavefourgenders.IntheZunitribe,theybelievedthatgenderwas acquired,notinborn.Soforthosethatdidnotliketheirgivengendertherewereotheroptions.ManWoman,and WomanMan,alongwithWomanandMan.Thetwogenders,ManandWomanarefamiliarbutwhatabout ManWomanandWomanMan?Whatdotheserepresent?ManWomanrepresentsamantransitioningintoa womanwhenhehasacquiredagender.WomanManrepresentsawomantransitioningintoamanwhenshehas acquiredagender.Theseareintegratedgenders.Atanothertime,thepeoplewhochosetheseroleswouldbe honored,nowtheyareconsidereddisturbing. InthearticleComplexityofIdentity,itdescribeshowimportantsocializationistowardsyouridentityand gendergroup.Societycanhelpusgainourgendercategory,howevertherearesomecaseswheresomepeoplego againstthenormfortheirgenderclassification,andforsomereasongetpunishedforit. Genderinequalityisfarfromover.Itisstillrivalringoutthere,quietyetstrong. Whenweacquireagenderweareexpectedtodocertainthings.Thesocietyteachesusthenormsthatare inthegendercategoryweareplacedin.Whatifyouchoosetodisagreewiththosenorms?Whathappensthen?We lookatgaysandintegratedgenders,peoplewhogoagainsttheirgendernormsasiftheyarenothing,thatwedont recognizethemaspeople.Howcanwebreakthesegendernormsandhaveitbeacceptedinthesocietywelivein today? TwoSpiritsisamoviethatrevealsalookatatimewhentheworldwasntsimplydividedintomaleand female,andmanyNativeAmericanculturesheldplacesofhonorforpeopleofintegratedgenders.Thestoryisabout aboybythenameofFredMartinez.FredMartinezwasaNativeAmericanlivingonthereservations.Hewas differentfromtheotherkids.Fredbelievedthatgenderwasacquirednotinborn.Therefore,whenhewasreadyto acquireagender,hebecameamanwoman.Thisiswhereamanorboytransfersintoawoman.Fredwasnot acceptedforhischoiceandwasmurderedforit.Fredwasmurderedforhisdifferencesthatwerenotacceptedinthe

societyhelivedin.AsDr.Suesssays,Whyfitinwhenyouwereborntostandout? TwoSpiritsisagreatexampleofgendernorms.Fredwasanintegratedgender,sadlyhewasnotaccepted forhisbeliefs.FredbecameaManWoman.Heswitchedgendersinthemiddleofhisshortlife.Thismadepeople, whoprobablydidntlikehimalready,evenmoredisgustedtothepointofwheretheycouldntstandtoseehim anymore.InthetraileritsaysTheplacewheretwodiscriminationsmeetisadangerousplacetolive.Sadly,Fred Martinezbecameoneoftheyoungesthatecrimevictimsinmodernhistorywhenhewasbrutallymurderedattheage ofsixteen. NewYork,oneofthebiggestcitiesintheUSA,hasapopulationof8.245millionpeople.Whathappens whenyourewalkingdownthestreetlinkedhandswithanotherman?Inthemodernsociety,youwouldexpect everythingtobefine.Thatitwouldbeaccepted.Wearefarfromthat.InNewYork,antigaycrimesaresettodouble in2013with68attacksongaysin2012,includingamurderofamaninGreenwichVillage,thatswheretheGay RightsMovementevenstarted.Iwouldargueitsworsebothinnumberandseverity,saidCityCouncilSpeaker ChristineQuinn,Imean,amanwasshotinGreenwichVillagebecausehewasgay.Ithoughtthosedayswerelong behindus. Evidentlythosedaysarenotlongbehindus.Antigaycrimesarestillmuchalive,andevenworsetheyare ontherise.TheworstpartisthatinNewYorkthereare8.245millionpeople.Mostofthosepeoplewalkonthe sidewalkstowork,dinner,shopping,etcetera.Inoneofthemanyantigaycasestherewasoneattackcommittedin themiddleofNewYork,onthesidewalk.Thesemenwerebeateninbroaddaylightandnoonestoppedthis catastrophe.Someeventookouttheircellphonesandrecordedit.Thisissuchasurprisebecauseyou'dexpect, evenifitwasjustoneperson,tocomeoutfromthecrowdandbreakupthefight.Itmakesmesicktomystomach, 27yearoldMichaelFelenchak,oneofthevictims,saysItscaresme. Itscaresme.Whyshouldthispersonbescaredtobehimself?Societyissocaughtupinthegender normsoftodaythatpeoplejustfinditdisturbingifpeoplebreakthem.Butarethethoughtstowardsthesepeopleso disturbingtothepointofwherewehavetobringviolenceuponthosewhochoosetobedifferent? Ihavebeensocializedbygendernormstobeattractedtomen,wearmakeup,totrytolookperfect,andto actacertainway.MyidentityhasbeenshapedbythesestereotypesthatIhavebeengivenbecauseofmygender category.Ihavecertainstandardstomeet,andmyidentityhasgrowntomeetthem. Economicclassiswhereyoustand,financially,inthesociety.Whetheryouwanttoachievehighstandards ornot,youreconomicclasscaneitherhelpyouorputyoudown. Ihavebeensocializedbymyeconomicclasstoachievehighstandards.Myidentityhasbeenshapedby thepossessionsIhavebeengiven,thepeoplewhoIhavesocializedwith,andbytheareaIlivein.Thethingslisted arebecauseofmyeconomicclass.IlivewhereIdobecauseofmyeconomicclass,Imeetthepeopleinthatarea, socializewiththem.IamgiventhepossessionsIhavebecauseofmyeconomicclass.Intheendeverythingreverts backtoeconomicclass.Atthesametimethough,Ifeellikethisisnatural,thateveryonehasalifelikethis.Itsonly whenyoulookdeeperintothecontextwhenyourealizethatthewealthinequalityinthesocietyisquiteaccurate. ThevideoWealthinequalityexplainstheUSsdistributionofitsmoney,roughly$54trillionin2009, throughoutthedifferenteconomicclasses.ThestudyaskedtheAmericanCitizenstwoquestions,Whatdoyou thinkthewealthdistributionisintheUSA?andWhatdoyouthinktheidealwealthdistributionisintheUSA? Thevideoshowsanidealchart.Themoneyisdefinitelynotdistributedequally,butisstillnicelydistributedtothe lowerlevelsofeconomicclass,themiddleclassishealthy,andtherich/wealthyarelivinggoodlives.Thenextchart showswhatpeoplethinkwhatthecountryswealthdistributionlookslike.Thischartisnotasfair,butstillslightly ideal.Sadly,thischartisntevenclosetothereality.TheactualwealthdistributioninAmericashowsshocking results.ThepoorestAmericansdontevenhaveaspotonthechartandthemiddleclassisbarelydetectablefromthe poor.Infact,eventherich,comparedtothetop10%20%arewayworseoff.Onlythetop10%arebetterofftothe pointofwherethetop25%isoffthechart.Thetop1%?Hismoney,onthechart,stackstentimeshigherthanthe chartcanshow.1%ofAmericahasover40%oftheentirenationswealth.Thebottom80%ofthecountryhasonly

7%ofthenationswealth.Thewealthdistributioninthesocietytodaycausesgrudgesagainstthosewhohaveitall. Economicclassteachesthosewhoarelessfortunatetodislikethemorefortunateandthefortunatearetaughttolook downonthosewhoarelessfortunate.Iguessmymainpointwouldbethatthewealthdistributionofourcountry hasdrasticallychangedourwaysofliving.Thewealthdistributionhasbeguntodistributeourcountry,notbring together.Grudgesagainstgrudges, Obviously,dramaticnewdirectionisrequired.Weneedtoevenouttheeconomicpartofourcountry equallyforthesakeofsavingournation. MynameisEmily.Myidentityhasgrownbecauseofthepeoplearoundme,themedia,andthealready establishedCycleofSocialization.Ihavebeensocializedtonotgoagainstmygendernorms.Toacceptthe stereotypesthatareplacedtowardsme,tomeetthem.Myeconomicclasshasputmeintoaworldofopportunities thatIcouldeitherstriveforornot.Ihavebeensocializedbythedifferencesaroundme,shouldwechoosetoaccept themornot.Itsnotthedifferencesthatdivideusintothesocietywearetoday,itsactuallyourinabilityto recognize,celebrate,andacceptthosedifferences.Everything,everyoneisdifferent,evenifyoutrytomakethemthe same.Iamunique.Oneofakind.Inaworldofothers. Mymaskrepresentsmyself,myidentity,andsociety.TorepresentmyidentityIputmusiconmymask. Musicrepresentsmyidentitybecauseitisahugepartofmydailylifestyle.Myloveofmusiccametomefromthe cycleofsocialization.Becauseofmyeconomicclass,Iwasgivenmyviolinwhichstartedtheloveformusic.Iwas socializedbythepeoplearoundmetoenjoymusic.Thepuzzlepiecesonmymaskrepresenthowsocietyandour nationishangingbyathreadwiththeamountofgenderandeconomiccasualtiesithas.Thetreeonmymaskis representingwhatgrowthwouldlooklikeifwestoodupforwhatwe,asasocietythoughtwasright.Last,butnot least,therearemanydifferentcoloredleavesandbranchesonthetreethatrepresentthedifferencesinsocietyand whetherornotwedecidetoacceptthem.