The Results of My Observation

After observing my surroundings a bit, really looking at my situation at home, surveying and really thinking about dinner time, watching kid's entertainment, reminiscing back to the old days of Disney movies, and surveying my environment in high school, I found that my previous perception of society and of my culture has not drastically changed. 

I chose to write about dinner time in my house because of the fact that it is so unconventional, so nontraditional, and I am so not welcome at the table, or in my parent's "adult" conversations. This is their place, their time, where they sit down and watch the news, where they sum up their day to each other, and where they chose to talk about subjects that I am not allowed to talk about or "butt in" because I am not an adult. Although they may seem spiteful, I think they just try to protect me from the stresses they go through, and deep down inside, they don't mean to banish me to the dining room to sit by myself. They have long days, and at the end of the day, they want to sit down and enjoy a meal, talk about what's on their minds without their kids bothering them. This has become a tradition in my house, for as long as we've had the television in the kitchen; they have tuned in to news 12 every night at diner and watching in on the current events of our society. I've always though they didn't pay much mind to the news, and that they only became interested in the events that shocked them or were interesting to them. But, i came to learn after a while that even though they are not showing interest, they are still listening in on news about the economy, about crime, about accomplishments in our society, about the world, and it still gets registered in their heads. I think news is definitely important to them, and it is their tradition and almost daily ritual to sit down during dinner and watch the news, and of course, like almost all places a group calls their own, outsiders are not welcome, and always are on the outside looking in, just as I sit in the dining room- the outside- looking in. 

Disney's movie Brave has been my favorite so far since it came out. I remember when i was little i used to say i wanted to be a princess, and now that I’m grown i remember the values and morals the movies taught children through exciting and magical stories. But, as I grew older, and became aware of society, and of expected roles of men and women, my views on these Disney movies changed. I no longer appreciated the love stories and happy endings, because I knew that they were there to restrict and distinguish the female roles as dainty, obedient, duty-full, kind, and compassionate, a cleaning, cooking, and submissive little "princess." Although some values and traits are still important to me, like compassion, kindness, and obedience (to an extent), I find that the female roles in the traditional Disney movies are really outdated. In our society now, in the 20th century, the roles of women have changed dramatically. Brave is the prefect movie to play out that change. Instead of the protagonist being a dainty soft spoken princess, it is a rowdy, wild-at-heart girl who doesn't want to conform and give up her free spirit to fit into the gender role destined for her. Although in the end Merida is told she has to become queen, and get married, she does learn valuable lessons, including the one to follow her dreams, and that it’s OK to break the norms of society. 

I couldn't say I just recently stopped and observed the hallways at school, because I've been observing them since I became a part of the flow of students in them. I've always been very observant of the styles, the personalities, the music and fashion choices, and the overall choices the people that walk in the hallways in between each class make. We are the face of this generation, we are the future, we are the society that will prevail, and our values, traditions, and rituals reflect this. To our generation, music is important, clothes to most is important, our friends and relationships are important, and to some our education is important. This says a lot about our generation as a whole. Although some might think we are shallow, and are straying away from traditional values, we are just growing and adapting to the times, and as the times pass, so will some values, and as the time progresses, so will others. 

Our society, our culture values education, by going after our goals in high school we achieve what we want to be. We value important traits such as persistence, determination, and "breaking the mold," being different, and not fitting into gender roles chosen for us by being what we want to be. Our society values the freedom of expression, the freedom to be who you want to be no matter what sex, or sexual orientation. Our society strays away from oppressing girls and women, from being submissive to being powerful and independent. We all make our own cultures, and we chose places that are important to us to act out these cultural traditions and daily rituals, and sometimes we also have to be on the outside of others' culture looking in.