Pink Shirts

When I read this article, I was shocked that the parents actually let their son have all of these princess/pink things. My mom, would never let my three-year-old brother dress up as a princess or own a pink princess shirt. She practically bit my head off when I painted his toes. It makes me think about why boys aren’t allowed to do what girls can. In our society, it’s perfectly normal for girls to be tomboys or really into sports, but boys? They can’t even like the color pink. It’s extremely sexist and unacceptable.

            Julie’s son should have been able to be a princess for Halloween without the fear that she might be ridiculed because of it. Society’s gender rules shouldn’t even be taught to young children. If a boy wants to have his nails painted and have a princess comforter, he shouldn’t be looked down upon. He’s only a kid and after all, children don’t judge. So my only question is why do we?

Impossible Wants

                 All of a sudden, I found myself thinking sociology when I was watching law and order: SVU unit. In this episode, Stabler learns what it's like to be in the "hole". The "hole" is basically like being in solitary confinement. A criminal tells Stabler that he can't talk about what it's like to be in the "hole" if he himself has never been there. So, Stabler decides to go to the "hole" for three days. He slowly starts to lose his mind. He does crunches and sleeps all day long. He tries everything possible to keep himself occupied, but soon, he runs out of things to do. He starts to hear voices in his head and he tries to talk to the officer that delivers his food. He's desperate for the company of another person.

                This reminded me of Genie's story. A lot of people in solitary confinement probably feel alone, scared, starving for human interaction, and bored out of their minds. I imagine Genie must have felt the same, except that she didn't know what bored was because she never experienced fun. I can't imagine being locked in a room for thirteen years, but then again, I'm already socialized. I, like Stabler, know the love of a mother. I, like Stabler, know how it feels to have human interaction. I understand everything that Genie never will. I've known a life, that Genie will never get to have.

Mmm Peaches...

                All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociology when I was volunteering at the People's Resource Center in Wheaton. I was assigned to give canned fruits to people. Also to give peanut butter to families that have five or more people. Many people walked through to get food for their families. I  noticed that a lot of the families couldn't speak much English so, I assumed that most of them were immigrants. Since, I am in Spanish four, I used some of my skills to communicate with the people. Out of all of the people that came through, only one person really stuck out to me.  

                The man was breaking a few folkways. To start, he had should-length purple hair. In our society, it is socially unacceptable for a man to have long hair, let alone have it colored purple! He was also wearing a skirt. I'm not sure whether he was a transvestite or a drag queen. Either way, it's looked down upon in our society for men to wear skirts (unless they're kilts). This man broke society's unwritten rules. I knew that it was wrong to judge, but I couldn't help myself. There's just something about a man with purple hair wearing a skirt that disturbs me.    

Double Standard

            All of a sudden I found myself thinking sociology when I was talking to my friend at lunch. She was talking about how her crush randomly stopped talking to her. Since I am in one of his classes, she asked me to approach him during our class. When the hour came, I calmly went up to him and asked him why he was mad at my friend. Seeing as how my friend and her crush had recently kissed at a party, I was not prepared for his response. He said that she took advantage of him and that he doesn’t like her. I was so confused. Why would he be saying that if he had kissed her that night? He not only kissed that night, but also many other numerous times. I later found out why he was so outraged by their kiss. He found out about the other guys that my friend had kissed, and he didn’t want anyone’s “sloppy seconds.”

            I really don’t understand the social norm that when a guy hooks up with numerous people, he’s known as a player, but when a girl acts in the same way, she is seen as a slut. My friend is single and has every right to kiss whomever she pleases, and she shouldn’t get people saying that she has “been around.” The double standard is so unfair and it makes it difficult for girls to be single, date, and have fun. This is America, and if boys can go around and hook up with as many people as they want, girls should be able to do the same.