Sarah Berg

Mr. Block

English 3

8 March 2018

Advanced Essay #3: Social Media and Activism

Society is constantly evolving, and with that comes changes in every aspect of it. Each generation has been defined by a social or political movement, and the tactics involved in the movements have matched the times. In the twenty-first century, social media has become one of the most prominent forms of communication,- seeing as in 2017, 81% of people in the United States had an account on a social media (Statista)- and has subsequently become central to modern activism. On various platforms, different bubbles of accounts have formed based upon political and social opinions. People within these groups use social media to affirm their identity as activists. But is social media actually helpful in accomplishing real social change?

First, it is necessary to note the groups that are present on social media and how they interact. The groups that I have observed are usually comprised of young people, and therefore are a representation of the faces of future activism. There are two examples of groups that interact with activism by, for one group, being a part of it, and for the other, criticizing it.

One group is commonly referred to as “Social Justice Warriors” by others in a disparaging way. This group is made up of feminist, pro-gay, or pro-black accounts, for example, who follow and interact almost exclusively with each other, sharing opinions on topics relevant in current events. Examples of people in this group are Laci Green and Anita Sarkeesian. The other group is anti-politically correct, anti-”SJW” people who act in similar ways to the previous group, but are centered around near opposite opinions. An example of someone in this group is Paul Joseph Watson.

Both of these groups exist because people of like minds flock together to create a space in which they feel safe, a space in which they can base their identity. As Malcolm Gladwell says, “the self is irreducibly social”. A self is defined by those of others. On social media, you can pick and choose who will influence you the most, and members of these groups choose influencers by their political views. Interestingly enough, it does not appear that the members of these groups are always on opposite ends of the political spectrum, the far right or far left. Many appear to be on the left or in the middle. However, social justice has expanded farther to the left with more radical ideas, which lends to more conflicts between liberals.

The fact that arguments are occurring may not be a bad thing for activism. It means that conversation is happening, and that’s one of the biggest things to come out of the rise of social media. This may be because social media platforms are essentially breeders of “weak link” relationships. They encourage correspondence between acquaintances, people with mutual friends, and people with similar interests. These relationships are highly useful in terms of increasing awareness and participation in a movement. If someone has a message, they can send it out to hundreds or even thousands of people instantly, people who will now know what others are saying about the topic without seeking it out. Groups and pages can be created around a topic, allowing for everyone who wants to be involved further to do so. These interactions have contributed to social media’s usefulness in aiding political change. According to Professor Clay Shirky, “social media have become coordinating tools for nearly all of the world’s political movements.” Shirky also argues that social media utilizes the two step flow model of communication, which “proposes that interpersonal interaction has a far stronger effect on shaping public opinion than mass media outlets” (Britannica). In the first step, information is spread to the general public on mass media. In the second, people begin to talk about it. It’s this part - hearing the opinions of people you know - that forms one’s own opinion about the topic.

The argument against social media in activism is centered around the same weak-link relationships that increase participation in it. This is because the increase in participation is caused by a “lessening [of] the level of motivation that participation requires” (Gladwell). This means that people are less invested in the causes and their connections to the causes are less personal. It takes a much deeper commitment to participate in a protest that could turn violent, such as many during the Civil Rights Movement, than it does to hit “retweet”. The masses would much rather like a Facebook page than show up to a march. While there are still people who participate in real-life activism, social media can be unhelpful in organizing such events. Because these movements are not planned and put into action by a hierarchy of activists, ideas within the movement are more likely to conflict, and there is a “real difficulty reaching consensus and setting goals” (Gladwell).

Do the pros and cons even out? Would 1,000 people going out and risking their lives for a cause have the same effect as 100,000 people reposting a message? It’s hard to say, and could be different case by case. Claiming one way is better than the other may not be as productive as accepting this change in society. As long as the “slacktivism” found on social media does not serve “as a replacement for real-world action but as a way to coordinate it,” (Shirky) there will be benefits from its role. We must be aware of how much we depend on it, because if the stakes of everyone involved in a movement are low, the movement is bound to fail. Activists have still been getting things done recently, including the Women’s March, the #metoo movement, and protests for stricter gun control. They will undoubtedly continue to adapt to the rise of social media.

Bibliography

“Percentage of U.S. population who currently use any social media from 2008 to 2017.” Statista,

March 2017. Web. March 2018.

www.statista.com/statistics/273476/percentage-of-us-population-with-a-social-network-prof

ile/

Gladwell, Malcolm. “Small Change.” The New Yorker, 4 October 2010. Web. March 2018.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell

Shirky, Clay. “The Political Power of Social Media. Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political

Change.” The Council on Foreign Relations, January/February 2011. March 2018.

www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-12-20/political-power-social-media

Postelnicu, Monica. “Two-Step Flow Model of Communication.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 28

November 2016. March 2018. www.britannica.com/topic/two-step-flow-model-of-communication

Salsabeel Elbakhadaoui

English 3

Block

8 March 2018

Me Modeling

All my life, I’ve wanted to be a model. People have always told my parents --I’d make the perfect suit. As I grew up, I realized it was my passion. It’s something I always found interesting and fun. Aside from all the bad, I always saw good. As I grew up I began looking for connections, like close friends that could help me achieve my dreams. As I did that I got closer and closer. Modeling is a very difficult career. You must put your mind into it, have a lot dedication, and bravery if not you will lose.

Modeling comes with a lot of hardships that will possibly break you down. There are so many standards that come along with being in the industry-- size, height, weight, looks. A lot of models tend to form eating disorders. Like Sadie Robertson who performed on dancing with the stars. Also Zuzanna Buchwald who has developed Bulimia and Anorexia. They were told they were too fat and may not get any jobs. People will tell you that you're not pretty enough like for example some of the managers of some shoots or hate comments on social media. Jordyn Woods said an inspirational quote that stuck on the show Life of Kylie. “I'm not the typical model. I'm not size 0 and I’m not 10 feet tall. So I think it's really cool for you girls to see you can do anything you put your heart to, the possibilities are endless.” This quote resonated with me because society tells girls they must be a certain way but you can achieve anything. Getting into the industry you cannot trust anyone. Many photographers can use your body to make millions of dollars and give you nothing. You must know what you are getting into before anything.

Despite all the bad things, modeling comes with great and amazing experiences. I've always wanted to be a model because I always found and felt a great feeling while taking pictures. A quote from my friend who is a model “I feel unstoppable like superman on the runway.” Young girls look up to models but because of society and social media it makes it seem like one type of model is how women are supposed to be. These things are shaping young women and girls identity and making them feel like they are not beautiful. But you can do anything if you put your mind to it and everyone is beautiful in their own way.

Modeling nowadays can break you down and you have to be very confident and love your body. Modeling not only can hurt the model but also young girls making them believe their is only one kind of beautiful but if we all looked the same this world would be a boring place.

Fashionable trendy Clothing companies barely had any clothes that were Plus sized. Women who loved a piece of clothing weren't able to buy it because it didn’t come in their size. Lane Bryant was the first to start working with Plus sized clothing. If you are aware of Fashionnova which is a very successful company in which all celebrities and models purchase clothing from. They made two seperate pages on instagram one for Plus sized and the other for the main running sizes, instead of just having the sizes running to the highest number they have.

Calvin Klein also came out with their first Plus sized model in 2014 and had many people angry. “Tell me is this a joke? Plus size!? Congrats on giving another generation of girls eating disorders and insecurities.”(Tyldesley, Tweet) These things really damage a women and girls confidence.

Modeling is also a very enjoyable job. For example they get their makeup and hair done. There are a lot of clothes to pick from and they also get paid well for a job they enjoy doing. My father is my role model and he supports me everyday, he tells me how beautiful I am all the time and always buys me the clothes I want. My father makes sure everything is perfect for me. Sometimes he helps me do my makeup and hair and always gives me advice. My father always supported me through my dreams and one of them, of becoming a model. My father helped shape my identity and the person I have become today.

In conclusion modeling is the art of showing beauty and being confident. My father pushes me to become a model and he sees the potential in me. Modeling gives women and girls a sense of love for their inner beauty.

Sources:

Life of Kylie episode 1 Quote from Jordyn Woods

Mailonline, Unity Blott For. “'Congrats on giving another generation of girls eating disorders': Furious debate over 'plus-Size' Calvin Klein model after Corrie's Catherine Tydesley posts an angry tweet .” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 23 June 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3656549/The-truth-Calvin-Klein-s-plus-sized-model.html.

Colin Taylor-McGrane

Mr. Block

English 3-Earth

March 7 2018

How the Media Can Cause Invisibility

One issue with our media has had harmful effects on the youth of america is the harmful effects of the absence of representation of marginalized groups in America. The reason why media representation is so important is because children are highly receptive to the characters and images they see in books, on television and in film. Children are impacted by messages from the media and carry them throughout their lives. When children do not see people similar to themselves in the media, researchers have found it lowers their self esteem and contributes to a self-view of unimportance. In a Huffington Post article entitled “Why On Screen Representation Actually Matters,” sociology professor Nicole Martin of Indiana University stated, “There’s this body of research and a term known as ‘symbolic annihilation,’ which is the idea that if you don’t see people like you in the media you consume… you must somehow be unimportant.”(Boboltz) The article describes a study that she conducted in which she showed children of color and white children a television program featuring white lead characters. She found that white children had much higher self-esteem after watching the program while the children of color reported much lower levels of self-esteem.(Boboltz) This suggests that seeing characters like themselves in the media may have a noticeable impact on their views of themselves and their roles in society. This can influence their aspirations about the life that they want to lead, the careers they wish to pursue, and the level of confidence that they have in navigating life.

One prime example of this phenomenon is the psychological effects of the lack of hispanic representation on the children of the latin community. In a 2017 study by USA today on racial representation in film, it was revealed that only 3.1% of speaking roles in films are were given to hispanic actors, despite the fact that hispanics make up 17.8% of the American population.(USA Today)  In a Ted Talk by Maria Hinojosa, founder of  the newspaper Futuro Media Group, “As a little girl, I understood the importance of journalism, reporting and media. But I never saw myself there. My stories didn’t appear. We were invisible. I was invisible from the media narrative. No one in the reporting that I saw I saw looked like me, looked like my family. So I began to think that maybe somehow my life —my story— was less valuable, less important.”(Hinojosa) This clearly shows how media representation affects the aspirations of minority children. If minority children do not see themselves receiving proper representation in the media, they will not view themselves as important members of society, nor will they feel that they have any place certain careers or social groups.

When a group is underrepresented or invisible in the media, the impact of any one character can be profound.  This can be clearly seen with the character in the Simpsons named Apu. This year, Indian comedian Hari Kondabolu made a documentary called the “Problem with Apu” where he interviewed many famous South-Asian actors about the impact that the character had on their childhoods, as well as their professional pursuits. Though one may initially believe that the fact that Apu is an Indian stereotype voiced by a white man was the character’s main issue, that is not the case. Nearly all of the Simpsons characters are stereotypes, however, when Hari was asked in an interview why Apu was so problematic, he replied by saying that:

“There are other representations of Italians. I'm not saying they're all good. But there's a - wider representations of people who are Italian, people who are Scottish. I don't know of any kids who are Scottish that grew up with - who are like, God, Groundskeeper Willie really embarrasses me and my parents. But, like, for me, because of my skin color there was no hiding from it. There was no, that's not me. You know, I didn't have a bunch of other brown characters. This was it. And that's the big difference.” (Kondabolu)

While this character is a stereotype of Americans of South-Asian descent, the main reason why this character is so unacceptable in the eyes of many South-Asians is because he was their only form of representation while growing up. Because there were no other forms of South Asian representation in the media at the time, one stereotypical portrayal became all the more harmful to the lives of people of South Asian descent.

The media is an amazing outlet for people of many different races and ethnicities to share their culture and talents with the rest of the nation, and sometimes, the world. However, many members of marginalized groups of people do not get the opportunity to share their talents and culture through the media. Therefore, each individual of that group that does get that opportunity has a significantly larger impact on the perception of children of the same minority group.

Bibliography:

“Study finds films exclude women, Hispanics.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 31 July 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/07/31/study-finds-films-exclude-women-hispanics/104158948/.

Hinojosa, Maria. “From Invisible to Visible.” Latino USA, 31 July 2015, latinousa.org/2015/07/30/from-invisible-to-visible-2/.

Kondabolu, Hari. “In 'The Problem With Apu,' Hari Kondabolu Discusses South Asian Representation.” NPR, NPR, 17 Nov. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/11/17/564936511/in-the-problem-with-apu-hari-kondabolu-discusses-south-asian-representation

Boboltz, Sara, and Kimberly Yam. “Why On-Screen Representation Actually Matters.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Feb. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-on-screen-representation-matters_us_58aeae96e4b01406012fe49d.

Insecurities with myself vs the world around me

When my parents first migrated from the beautiful atmosphere of Morocco to the United States they were astonished to discover that their assets were very useful to their adaptation to the new environment. They won the lottery and came from Morocco with their diplomas and have gotten more in the US. In my household we speak Moroccan, Reefiya, Berber, French, and Spanish. I was born and raised in Kensington, Philadelphia. The majority of the race are hispanic/latino. I went to school in Kensington and made most of my closest friends here, and are now family to me.

After attending Elementary school and 6th grade in Kensington my mother realized I wasn’t receiving the education I should've been receiving, she wanted my siblings and I to have a goal in life. She began working with the School District Of Philadelphia, which allowed her to notice the differences between schools. I was in cyber school for 7th grade until my mother found another school I could attend. For 8th grade my mother took me to McCall which was how I found out about SLA. I struggled a lot when I was put into McCall, the teachers were no help all they did was put me down. All the students were already taking Algebra 2 meanwhile I haven't even gotten to Pre Algebra.

When I first attended SLA it was a whole new different experience for me, I was so insecure to talk because I knew my grammar was off and I was afraid they’d think I was not smart enough, as the way I was seen as in McCall by my classmates and teachers. I saw a huge difference between my friends at home and my classmates at SLA, everyone here has a goal and knows they're going to reach it one day. Most of the people I'm around don't have goals and aren't really thinking about college because they need to help support their family.  I noticed simple differences at SLA, like how their are barely any fights and especially how the teachers treat the students with such respect and value.

“There was christy blogger who at sixteen was dealing and according to rumor was a pimp as well.¨ This quote has resonated with me and I feel like I can relate to this story the most because the kids who come from certain areas do not have a large choice in schools and do not know of many. Most of the schools don't care about the students and their education because they know the school ratings are not as high. The treatment of the students is also terrible which causes them to feel less the what they are.
My youngest sister had an advantage she is only 4 and my mom placed her in a daycare downtown with children who have parents in really high positions. I noticed the difference in how she speaks vs my brother and I. I hear her using complex words and choosing her vocabulary wisley. One morning we were having breakfast and my sister was telling a story, as she was speaking she sounded so mature it would be impossible to think she was still young and at that age.  

It reminded me of how she is adapting to her surroundings and learns from the environment around her.

I learned a lot at SLA and being here has shaped me into the person I have become and the person I am molding myself to be in the future. I have gotten better at many things since my first year here. Attending SLA has showed me a lot about who I am, the world, and has expanded my thoughts and ideas on different topics.

Introduction:

This goal of this essay was to explore how people are judged based on the way that they speak English. I am very proud of the way I narrated the experiences of my family members. Something I could’ve worked on is my time management with my social activities, so I wouldn’t have to ask for an extension. I also could’ve provided a deeper analysis of Amy Tan’s work, and how I integrated it with my ideas.

Advanced Essay:

My mom often tells me a story from her childhood. She grew up in Fairless Hills, a predominantly white working-class suburb. It was 1974. She lived with her two parents, recent Filipino immigrants, and her younger sister. They were the only people of color in that area, besides her relatives who lived in the same suburb. On one of their first nights in the neighborhood, while they were sleeping, my mom heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass. Someone had thrown a brick through their living room window. Later when she was in high school someone had vandalized their new van by spray painting in large neon yellow letters, “CHINA BASTARDS.” Over ten years later the message was the same; my mom and her family were not welcome. They were not wanted.

I have grown to understand that these awful events happened because my grandparents were obvious immigrants.They had dark skin, jet black hair, and almond-shaped eyes. They also spoke to each other almost exclusively in Tagalog, a mix of Spanish and clucking, tangy sounds. For both of my grandparents English is not their first language, but when they speak English they do so with extremely thick accents. Even though they both lived in the United States for over 40 years, they were never able to grasp English like a native speaker. This is what made them stand out the most. Often they complain that I talk too fast. Even talking to them now, having spoken English their entire lives, it’s still hard to have a strong and detailed conversation. I find myself speaking extremely slowly to them, our conversations mirroring a parent speaking to a child. While I recognize the unfairness of this analogy, it has been my view of their literacy skills my entire life. While I have an abundance of empathy and understanding, I still can’t shake that feeling. And I know that this is condescending.

The essay Mother Tongue by Amy Tan resonates with my ideas about who determines what proficient literacy looks like, and how people are judged by their English speaking skills. Proficient literacy in America is defined by white men, who have the most cultural capital. This is because of their place in the hierarchy of America. White English speaking American men are very privileged and are in a position of power. They don't usually have to worry about being judged or treated unfairly because of their literacy skills. In this short essay, Amy Tan describes in depth the experiences of her mother not being a proficient English speaker, and how judgment follows that. Quoting Amy Tan, “You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands.” This quote reminds me of how I am able to interpret what my grandparents are saying. I often rely on their expressive way of communication to understand them. For example, when my grandmother’s voice rises, I can tell she is excited about something. When my grandfather defers to his off-topic phrases, I can tell that I spoke too fast and he didn’t understand what I said. And when they sit quietly watching as my parents, brothers, and I chat and joke with one another, I can tell that they’re happy to be around us.

Building on the ideas of expressive communication and the complexities that lie below the surface level of people’s English communication, an idea I want to explore is that language is more than words. As Amy Tan said in Mother Tongue, “Like others, I have described it to people as 'broken’ or ‘fractured’ English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than ‘broken,’ as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. I've heard other terms used, ‘limited English,’ for example.” I used to think of my grandparents’ English as broken, but limited is a more appropriate term. Language doesn’t only revolve around speaking or English. That is an easy way to judge people, considering that is the main way people communicate in the United States. My grandfather has many other ways to demonstrate his literacy skills. It can be through his printing press, his vast knowledge of classic swing music, his fluency with Tagalog, his knowledge of his homeland, his social skills, etc. All of these skills are independent of his ability to speak English. His interactions with the world are richer than merely speaking English, but this is not recognized in the United States. Without “sounding smart” opportunities are limited.

I understand there are more complexities to people who appear not as intelligent because they aren’t originally English speakers. My grandfather worked at the Princeton University Printing Press for over fifteen years, and never got promoted. He was perfectly capable of receiving a promotion and the responsibilities that would come with it. I’ve come to the conclusion that he did not get promoted because he wasn’t able to communicate as well as his co-workers, which isn’t fair at all. His bosses should’ve taken into account that he is an immigrant, and isn’t as skilled with English. This is very analogous to my experiences with my grandparents. I used to assume they weren’t as smart when I was very little, but as I grew older I found that not to be true. Just because I can’t always understand what they’re trying to say to me, doesn’t mean they’re unintelligible. My grandparents are very smart people in so many ways. They read, write, speak, hear and think in two languages. But more amazing, is that they have decades of wisdom in their ability to navigate between their world in the United States and their home country.

Works Cited:

Mother Tongue, Amy Tan

Intelligence versus what is considered smart. What’s the difference between them? You can be intelligent and smart, you can be intelligent and not smart, you can be smart and not intelligent, you can be neither smart nor intelligent. This is because in order to be intelligent a person has a vast knowledge on any particular topic. In other words the person knows a lot of things. In order to be considered smart a person must know how to implicate the knowledge they know. The person doesn’t necessarily have to know a lot of things but they do know how to use what things they do know to their advantage in life.

In I Just Wanna Be Average, Mike Rose argues that teachers in vocational education struggle with helping students apply knowledge: “Students will float to the mark you set… Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools. Some serious programs succeed in doing that, and through exceptional teachers… students learn to develop hypotheses and troubleshoot, reason through a problem, and communicate effectively- the true job skills.” The reason why teachers struggle with helping students apply knowledge is because the students are not being given enough knowledge to apply to things. That is because the students give up on themselves and, eventually, the teachers give up on them also.

This leads into another idea about knowledge. In Other People’s Children, Lisa Delpit elaborates on the idea that knowledge is controlled by other people: “These issues include: the power of the teacher over the students; the power of the publishers of textbooks and of the developers of the curriculum to determine the view of the world presented;… and the power of an individual or group to determine another’s intelligence or ‘normalcy.’” To put this idea into simpler terms, people do not control what knowledge they take in from their education. This makes it easy for textbook publishers and educational leaders to control what students learn. A lot of times the textbook publishers and educational leaders limit the amount of knowledge the students take in. This leads to the students not being given enough knowledge in order to be smart or intelligent making it hard for the students to succeed in life.

In Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie points out how someone’s identity can influence whether other people think you’re smart or intelligent: “He reads ‘Grapes of Wrath’ in kindergarten when other children are struggling through ‘Dick and Jane.’ If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy.” In this quote Alexie is referring to himself and the reason why he probably isn’t considered a “prodigy” is because of his race and his family’s background. His race should not influence whether or not he is considered smart or intelligent. However, in our American society race does influence whether or not people think you’re smart or intelligent.

Many times racial influence can lead to people making assumptions about other races and whether or not that race is smart or intelligent. For example, in Other People’s Children, Lisa Delpit assumes that White people are very closed minded: “When you’re talking to White people they still want it to be their way. You can try to talk to them and give examples, but they’re so headstrong, they think they know what’s best for everybody, for everybody’s children.” Based on this assumption, the closed mindedness of White people causes them to not be as smart or intelligent as other races. This however is an assumption because in 2015 the SAT test was given to elite people in the United States with a variety of races. After this test the mean scores were taken and White people had the second highest mean score. The race with the highest mean score was Asian people. Now if White people are not smart or intelligent then why did they have the second highest mean score? The answer is that most White people are not closed minded and therefore are smart and intelligent. There are only a few White people that are very closed minded and not smart or intelligent whatsoever.