Monday, February 15, 2016

Breaking Social Norms and Understanding Subjectivities


There are social subjectivities all around us.  How we are expected to act, through race, religion, and gender, we are living in social subjectivity.  Even with job occupations.  We are expected to act a certain way, almost like stereotypes, however they are real.  How we act is embedded into our brains. 

An example of this is racism in today’s society.  African Americans and Caucasians are often divided in music and violence.  It is evident in pop culture too.  Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Beyonce are all artists who emphasize on racial issues in America.  Now it is easy to fall into the beats, the music as a whole and like the performer, but when you listen to the lyrics they have a deeper meaning.  It is those social subjectivities that are dividing us, especially in politics.  Even in the news.  We are quick to blame African Americans.  It is sad, but it happens.  Human subjectivity is important because it explains that when one acts one way, others follow and it becomes a social practice, which is why racism has become a huge concern in America.

Media is used to empower this social subjectivity because it is a highly rated occurrence in America, especially with actors and singers coming together to voice their opinions on racism.  The news is a media form that is used to publicize racism.  Campuses have groups solely for African Americans to be apart of, no one else.  In my opinion, this isolates them and does not solve the issue at hand.  If we came together as a society, a country, and did not delve into racism as much as we do, we would break the cycle and move forward through this subjectivity that has become a social norm.   

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