Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Social Construction.
Self-made. Successful. Love. Dreams. The idea of the American Dream is one that we are all quite familiar with -considering it's been shoved in our faces since childhood. From Leave It To Beaver, to the latest Disney Channel Original Movie, the idea of achieving true "happiness" has been the goal of our lives. This happiness can seemingly be distilled into the concept of the American Dream. The effects of this "dream" are a prime example of how a socially constructed idea can build a world of ideas and aspirations within a culture. Because of this socially constructed world, it's weird to see someone NOT be married, or have children, and it's certainly disconcerting to see someone without financial means. The American Dream has built a world in which success and happiness (two extremely arbitrary ideas) are determined by very specific factors, thus creating a private world within our own culture.
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I really liked your post. I especially liked the part that said in a socially constructed world, it is weird to see someone NOT married or have children. I always hear people say to others who are not married or have kids, “ At your age I was already married and with kids” or “ you at that age where you should at least be married.” It is so true what you say, in our socially constructed world, it is almost mandatory to have kids and be married by a certain age. I think that regardless of what culture you are there is always a certain age that you have to married and have kids by. I really enjoyed your post! Great job =)
ReplyDeleteIts funny to think about how our socially constructed world of happiness includes marriage, children, and the house with a white picket fence. Your post made me think about how we see the norm of happiness and how it might differ from people in other parts of the world. Your right that this idea has been shoved in our faces forever, and when we see a person who does not fall into this norm, we think its "weird". This day in age things are changing and I wonder what the socially constructed standard of normal will become. With all the different cultures in our country and ideas about hapiness varying from person to person I cant imagine our standard idea of normal, to last forever. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDelete-Larisa