Reflection

At the beginning of the semester we had to write a paper on our beliefs are. My belief was pretty much “what goes around comes around,” and I still believe this because people still need to take responsibilities for what they have done whether it is good or bad.

After taking this class, my belief has become much stronger. I discovered the invisible narratives that I have for myself. I make myself feel like an introvert. I make myself believe that I have no power due to my ethnicity and my gender. I discovered that even though I say I am a person who does not conform to the social norm, in reality I follow it down to a T. I speak the language that everyone else is speaking. I write like how I was taught in my English classes. I also act a certain way so that people will perceive me in a certain way.

I follow all of the standards that society has made for us because that is the only thing that we were taught. We were taught our roles in society at an early age. I admit that I don’t follow every role a woman must play, but I do conform to the role a motherly figure that embraces all children. I am also quite submissive in front of authority figures, and I wear make up because I think it will make me look prettier.

All of my life I have been taught to act like a girl and dress like a girl. I of course rebelled because I didn’t want to be defined by what I was taught to be, so I act like a tomboy. Acting like a tomboy is much easier than acting like a girl, because as a girl I must represent cleanliness and organization. As a tomboy I can dress like a boy but still add a bit of a feminine touch to my wardrobe. I also keep my room in disarray, and my mother always gets on case saying, “Girls should be clean and organized rather than a pig who lives in garbage.” I must admit that my room is not something I should be proud of, but I honestly don’t care about being clean or following the rules of being a girl.

I want to demolish the rules that say what we are supposed to do or be. I see no point in segregating the girls from the boys. Girls are not better than boys and boys are not better than girls. I view as equals, so we should treat each other as equals. What was the point in defining us? We all go through the same pain and difficulties but in different ways so there is no one gender being stronger. Its just their character to be strong so that they can be recognized in society that is full if segregation. People must prove themselves because of these rules that some caveman made saying that people are supposed to be a certain way and that it is the only way in the world.

We need think differently from the way that we have been taught and we need to start thinking of what strength we have equal to each other. We need to mend the separation that has been made centuries ago, and we can do that by taking down the social norm and creating a new kind of social norm.