Courtney Wilson

Sociology

Breaking the Norm Essay

Breaking the Norm

        My venture began on a Thursday evening at 6:36 PM. The weather had just begun getting cold, therefore adding to the adventure. A leopard one piece bathing suit firmly against my body, laughter filtered throughout my body as I walked by the windows of the Little Bakery between Scott, Parker, and Wentz dorms on campus.  I am a frequent guest at this Little Bakery, therefore I was expecting shock and questioning from a variety of the workers that see me every day. I was aware that people would be curious as to what I was doing, but I was extremely surprised by the variety of reactions; from myself, the workers, and the other students eating, because each response was quite different.

        The reactions I received from the workers was an extremely professional one, which surprised me considering these are people that I see on a daily basis. Although I have no personal ties with anyone that works in the Little Bakery I do however frequently have small talk about the weather and school with the workers. As I walk in to order my regular turkey, onion and tomato sandwich on wheat bread, I was greeted as I am any other day. Greeted with a smile, a bit of small talk about the cool fall weather that had arrived, and how were my classes today. However even though the manner of most of the workers was extremely professional, there is one gentleman that works at the Little Bakery that I have an extremely friendly relationship with. This gentleman did question if I was cold today, not emphasizing on why, but slightly giggling and saying that I was an extremely unique and cute individual. To be quite honest that was not the attention I was expecting at all considering I am very uncomfortable and insecure about wearing a bathing suit at the pool, let alone in a small college bakery. The women workers at the Little Bakery were also a different experience for me. The women workers almost went out of their way to be exceptionally nice to me throughout the duration of my visit. I can only assume their kindness had something to do with the insecurity that I portrayed and was probably obvious. On the other hand if I had walked into the bakery in a two piece bikini, seemingly confident, and attracting attention from every male in the room, I doubt their enthusiasm would have been quite as prominent. The experience with the workers at the Little Bakery was enlightening to me, because overall they kept a professional attitude and did the job they were there to do.

        The students throughout the bakery were split pretty equally in how they reacted. One half of students were confrontational with me about why I was wearing a bathing suit. The other half of the students would not even make an attempt with eye contact if I was looking near or around them, although I would catch them glancing at me a variety of times. “That bathing suit is kickass,” was a response I received from a girl dressed in a modern hippy attire which included a long flowing skirt with a loose crocheted sweater and a paisley bandana tied around her mangled bun. This girl was quite friendly and asked what I was doing, but as I had decided before I would not expose my researching reasoning, only allowing her to assume this was a personal decision. My approach at allowing people to assume this was a personal decision actually improved how I was able to observe the reactions. For example when I portrayed to the girl that this was a personal decision, I could see the shock on her face, and she smiled at me and giggled and emphasized on how much she enjoyed my lovely, leopard, one piece bathing suit. I also was confronted by a group of sorority girls that were dressed in white from head to toe (the white initiation dresses allowed me to assume they were sorority girls). As each girl threw away their trash, I could see as the line of ladies would look back and giggle. Much to my surprise a few of the girls in this group came over to me and expressed how much fun I looked like I was having, and that my bathing suit was really cute and vintage. I was even inquired by one of the girls on where I got it, so I smiled and exposed the secret of Wal-Mart. I was confused by the comment about how much “fun I looked like I was having,” considering I was not having a particularly good time, rather an awkward analysis of people.  On the other hand, there were groups of two or three people that I could see watching my every move throughout the duration of my visit. I sat silently watching the Big Lebowski and eating my sandwich, yet observing those who seemed to dodge my eyes.

        Although I was flattered by the compliments I had received on my bathing suit, I was more intrigued by the reactions of the students that were silent. The students that I did not speak to were generally in groups of three of less. The students that did talk to me were either in larger groups with more than four people, or they were solo. I can only assume the reasoning for this is when an individual is in a smaller group and surrounded by two opinions, they are more judgmental and nervous to approach a situation that makes them uncomfortable. The single hippy girl acted as if hesitation was not in her vocabulary, but she did not have anyone around her that would stop her opinion. The sorority girls that I encountered separated themselves from the others, all four having a common interest in what I was doing rather than just merely judging why I was doing it. Last but defiantly not least the small groups of two or three people seemed to be observing me in the most critical fashion. One would look over at me, giggle, and then there was a repeating action from everyone at the table, almost as if none of none of them had a personal opinion, rather a group decision was assumed.

        The first assumption that I came to when beginning this project was that it would be simple and easy. However I learned quite quickly how wrong I was to believe that breaking a social norm would be an easy experiment. I now know that often times what society assumes is abnormal, may just be what society is scared of or even inspired by. Normality is not something that I have been known for throughout my lifetime, actually I have always had the label of "unique," but throughout the project I realized how incredibly normal I actually am. I could observe the reactions of how an individual acts, a small group acts, and a large group acts, and as I watched all of this happen I realized that is exactly how I act in most situations. This experience enlightened me in a variety of ways, one being I got over my fear of wearing a bathing suit in public, recognizing that I am just as different as society labels me, and most importantly realizing how little of what we do is actually our decision. 

Norm Breaking

            A few weeks ago I received an assignment where I was required to go out on my own time and break a “norm”. At the time when I received the paper I didn’t realize what an experience this project would really be. Every week on the seventh floor of Wentz, the residents of Wentz put together a Grays Anatomy watch party.  Around eight forty five in the evening you will find quite a few of Wentz’s residents residing in this lounge, to watch their favorite television show. As my norm breaking assignment, I made the decision to at this time walk into the lounge and sit directly in the middle of the room and watch the people watching the show rather than look at the television and watch the show with them.

            I arrived at the lounge about four minutes till nine. When I approached the lounge entry I got nervous. I was not prepared to go have a stare off with a bunch of people I didn’t know. My friend Rachael came with me and had to encourage me to go do it, “Its for a grade Cassidy, you have to do it, and no one will care that much, it will be funny.”  I walked to the middle of the room and perched myself criss cross, in the middle of the room a couple feet away for the T.V. I could barley keep a strait face and I had already received a number of funny looks. In the room were seven girls who all seemed to be friends, and a couple guys that looked to be a couple of the girls’ boyfriends. I sat there staring for what seemed to be forever but was only like two minutes, and not a single person said anything. After a while one of the guys yelled, “What the hell are you doing sitting there staring at us?” I was taken off guard, and  didn’t know what to say, so I just giggled and continued sitting in the same place. So, I sat there for a little moment later when a girl asked me if I would move cause I was in her way of the T.V. At this point I was ready to leave, because this girl wasn’t the friendliest. I didn’t move, and I continued my project but I inched over just enough to where I wasn’t in the way. I sat there through the entire first part of Gray’s. I’m guessing since they could all see they weren’t worried about what I was doing anymore. When the first set of commercials appeared on the T.V. a girl asked what I was doing and told me that I was creepy for watching them. When she confronted me with these comments I asked here why it mattered so much to her  if I wanted to face the opposite way of the T.V. She was surprised to here me respond in such a way and so were the others. For a while, we argued back and forth, she said things like, “Its weird, you are creepy, why are you watching us,” and I just responded with the simple “why does it matter?” after a while she just gave up and ended the argument abruptly when the show came back on. I could here a couple of the girls talking about how weird I was but I continued to sit. After it had been about ten minutes I felt I had enough research for my paper so I left the lounge.

            When breaking this everyday norm, of watching the people watch T.V. instead of watching the television, I felt awkward. I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want people to look at me funny and I wasn’t prepared to be laughed at and made fun of. I personally believe that the people in the lounge reacted about how I figured they would. I wasn’t expecting them to be quite as blunt as they were, but their reactions were about how I thought. These residents were neither friendly nor understanding. They didn’t accept it, because of the fact that someone was doing something outside of the daily routine.  This particular group of people took what I was doing as, creepy, or weird. What is even more interesting to think about is that I would have probably acted the same way, towards someone who would do that in front of me. Being on the other side of the perspective really does open your mind and make you feel more partial to those things considered “weird” or “creepy”.

            Throughout my life time I have always been somewhat open minded, or what I thought was open minded. My mother was always teaching me to accept things, even if I felt that they weren’t socially “right”. In doing this norm breaking project I have discovered things that are normal that I do every day that I wouldn’t consider to be normal. I never realized that waling on the sidewalk was a norm, or that sitting at a dinner table for dinner, was a norm. I’m very appreciative that I got to participate in  this project and have this learning opportunity. It really made me too observe the different aspects of people and discover their reactions. Like we discussed in class people do what other people do, and if someone doesn’t follow that path they are out of the loop. I figured this out by realizing how secluded and lonely you feel to not be doing the same thing as everyone else. People conform to what is expected. Due to what is around them and what they are raised to do they will do it, cause they feel most comfortable doing this and don’t feel left out. I have to admit at end of my norm breaking adventure I did go back to the lounge and told them sorry for distracting them from their show and causing a seine. I also explained the class assignment and how what I was doing was specifically for a class. But was this wrong of me? Due to the fact that I went back to apologize, was I conforming to society’s wishes? I don’t necessarily think so, but who’s to judge?

Courtney Wilson

Government

October 3, 2007

Mean Girls Government

            Mean Girls is a movie based on the way that different classes of people interact. There is Regina George who is the “queen bee.” Means Girls is about the Government in High School. Each High School has its own government system and the high school in the movie Mean Girls is much like the American Government. There are four girls and each one of the girls has a duty, or a “group” that they have a control over. Throughout the movie conflicts arise and the entire school goes into a war, a war between girls. There is a book that Regina George writes in about people in the school. Regina George exposes the book and when the book gets out Regina George blames the book on the her three followers, not taking the blame. Regina George does not do any of this to expose the knowledge for truth, but merely starting a war disguise her evil intentions.

 Regina is the girl that everyone hates, loves, knows everything about, but above all who the rest of the school follows. Regina George is like the President of the “Plastics.” The Plastics are a group of four girls, Regina George, who is the leader, Cady Heron, who is like the Vice President, Greitchen Weiners who is like the Senate, and Karen Smith who is like the House of Representatives. Regina George finalizes the majority of the decisions, but most of her decisions are backed up by her three loyal followers. Cady Heron who is a new girl at the school has been deemed the new favorite plastic by Regina George. Cady is in charge of controlling what Greitchen Weiners does, just as the Vice President of the United States is the President of the

Senate. Greitchen Weiners has a limited power, but still has control over a large majority of school. There are also perks to being a “plastic.” For example, just as congress has franking, which is not having to pay for postage, the “plastics” have table priority. Throughout the lunch room there are a variety of good and bad tables, but the plastics receive the best table each day. The plastics table is not within view of the bathroom, or right by the lunch line, but rather directly in the middle of the cafeteria. The plastics also get top priority in walking through the hall, for they are always directly in the middle of the the hallway and NO ONE ever steps in their way.

Regina “George”, being much like our President “George” Bush, begins wars for her own gain. George Bush, to a degree has prolonged the war in Iraq. For example George Bush’s intention began with money and Oil, whereas Regina Georges intentions were attention and fame. In a sense both of these “presidents” felt it necessary antagonize situations. Cady Heron took over Presidency when Regina was kicked out of “office” by her fellow classmates, just as the Vice President takes over if anything happens to the president or he or she is impeached.

Throughout the movie there are also a variety of political parties involved. For example in our American Government system we have the main parties which are the Republicans and the Democrats. In the movie Mean Girls the main political parties would be the Athletes and the Drama kids. These two groups of people were continually at war with each other throughout the movie, much like the Democrats and the Republicans are within the United States. In the United States we also have the minor, yet very familiar political parties such as the Green Party, The Libertarian Party, and even the Constitution Party.  The other groups of people throughout the movie mean girls would include the “girls who don’t eat,” “the girls who eat their emotions,” and the “sleezy guys,” and the “math nerds.” Those are just a few examples of other “parties” that are shown throughout the duration of the movie.

In conclusion I felt that the movie Mean Girls was extremely helpful in the use or how our government system works. It seems whenever groups are formed between people, especially in a high school setting, there is always a form of government. Our initial reaction is to form “groups” or “governments” amongst ourselves, especially since the majority of the people in America have been brought up by the American lifestyle which includes a variety of branches of leadership. For example, even excluding the social groups and governments that are formed between our peers, there is also a social class with teachers and principals and even the custodians. I feel that this movie would be extremely useful to show in class because it completely outlines how a government works in general. There is a hierarchy of people involved, and there are a variety of ways to look at this movie. I had seen this movie before, but when I watched it again I was extremely shocked and enlightened by how much it did represent our governmental system and the way we work together as Americans in general.

Cover Page

Mean Girls

2004

Reviewed by Courtney Wilson, October 3, 2007, WED 6:30 PM

Cassidy Wilson

Professor S. Hill

English Comp I

September 20, 2007

Success

As a child I had plenty of hopes and dreams. I was always the type of child that thought I would someday be famous, or be the next Miss. America. I was forever thinking of a new way I could try out for a commercial and how I would go about it. My mom would get tired of the traditional Christmas play that I would put on every year and be the star of. I was always looking up to someone on television or in the media and dreaming to become a “successful” individual, but was what I considered a success wrong? Was becoming the next Britney Spears or Miss America a wrong analysis of success? I do not feel that success should be derived by the appearance of a person or how well they dance, but rather the effect they have on people intellectually and morally.   As said by Albert Einstein, “try not to be a man of success, but rather to be a man of value.” (A few examples of successful people would include a single mother, young men in the military, and teachers.

Throughout the twentieth century, single mothers have become more common. In a span of thirty years from 1970 to 2000 the number of single mothers went from three million to 10 million. To society, not only America, but throughout the world, being a single mother can often times be looked down on by many religions, cultures, and people in general. In my experience a single mother is someone extremely successful. To raise a child or children is a full time job in itself, not to mention affording it means a mother must also keep a full time job. A mother brings more to the table than just food and clean clothes; for a mother also helps establish morals, behaviors, and the determination to become whatever a child can dream. Single mothers are extremely successful individuals, because not only are they raising children on their own, but they are also building the foundation of their future.

            Men in the Military are a success not only to their friends and family, but to our country as well. Young men in the United States are not forced to join the Military, they must register when they turn eighteen, but they are not forced. Yet as many of us sit in our seats, drinking our diet cokes, there are men in Iraq fighting a war that has been going on for longer than many of us may realize. These men are a success. These are men who without force have gone to serve their country in order to keep our country safe. From 2001 to 2007 in “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” 4,219 men and women have died, for us, for our country. The men that have lived and came back to their homes still suffer from injuries, and psychological problems. These are men that are successful, they have values that will forever be instilled within them and stories that they will be able to tell their great grandchildren in years to come. These men have risked their lives to save the ones they love and the people they have never even met, maybe you or I.

            “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops,” as stated by Henry Adams. A teacher’s success cannot be measured, for what a teacher may say once in a child’s life, could very easily stick with them throughout their entire life. When I was younger I had a teacher named Ms. Patterson. Ms. Patterson was feared by most children who walked through the halls because she was not only strict but gave off the vibe of meanness. In the beginning I was terrified of my new forth grade teacher, but as the time went on I fell in love. Mrs. Patterson made a huge impact on not only my life, but the other 21 students in my class as well. Even as just a mere second grader I looked up to her and wanted to be just like her, successful. As a teacher you have the ability to change and influence the younger generations more than you would even realize. This makes teachers successful. Having an impact on another, is an fulfilling experience only few people get, and teachers are one of the few.

            There isn’t one way to define success. Success can be found in a mother’s nature, in a young man going off to fight for his country, or even in just a second grade teacher. But who is to judge who is successful?  Looking at all aspects of this word, and taking into consideration what success really means, I have learned a great deal by writing this paper. You can not measure success by money, or even by jobs, but by the impact one has on another.

Work Sited

Guillements, Terri. 1998. “The Quote Garden.” Phoenix, Arizona: Guillements, Terri.

            Retrieved September 24, 2007. (http://www.quotegarden.com).

2007. (http://www.secretsofsuccess.com).

Fritsch, Jane. May 2001. “New York times.”  New York: Fritsch, Jane. Retrieved 

            September 24, 2007. (http://www.womedia.org/taf_statistics.htm).