Aug 26 - Write about an experience when someone assumed something about you because of a stereotype. What was the situation, and what did you do?


Response: When I was hanging out with my old friends after school one day, there was a basketball court in the direction we were walking. I have never been good at basketball, let alone having never played it before at all. I just don't have any interest in the sport. All my friends who were hispanic, asian, white, and also black really wanted to play basketball. I decided to sit out and just watch them play, to which they asked me, "Aren't you supposed to be good at this game, Vinny? It's in your blood after all." Just like my dad, I never learned how to play basketball or really any other kind of sport, for that matter. It's just a norm in my family that we're not the most athletic or sporty people. I responded by saying, "I just don't like to play basketball, that's all, bro." They kept pestering me, asking to play, but I just kept denying their requests and went on my phone. I think the way that I handle conflicts like these is to just brush it off and pretend it doesn't mean anything while laughing it off.

Summary: Today, we looked at different kinds of stereotypes for different cultures.

Reflection: Stereotypes are basic and simplified characteristics of a culture that aren't always accurate and can be offensive. I feel like we all stereotype people, whether it's intentionally or not.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dec 2 - In Letters 46–50, Celie begins to see Albert more clearly—his flaws, his regrets, and the ways he changes when he is no longer in complete control of her. Their relationship slowly shifts from fear and dominance to honesty and distance. Write about a relationship in your life that changed over time as you grew older or more aware. What made the dynamic shift, and how did your understanding of that person evolve?

Response: As I grew older, or more accurately, once my parents split up, I started to see the big flaws that my "perfect" parents had in their lives. This change was especially noticeable in my dad, as I could finally start to see inside the little cracks that had been appearing in his personality over the years. This big, strong man in my life was really just an insecure and weak boy who had been pretending to be strong all this time. I admired him for trying to be strong at first, but then it quickly turned into motivation for me to become a better man than he ever was. My relationship with him has totally shifted from respect and admiration to hatred and pity. Summary: Today, we read letters from The Color Purple Reflection: It can be strange seeing people in our lives' flaws and weaknesses. It can either bring you two closer together or farther apart.
Read more

Aug 27 - Judith Ortiz Cofer says, “The Island travels with you.” What part of your culture, family, or identity do you feel “travels” with you everywhere you go?

Response: As someone who is also from Puerto Rico, I understand what Cofer is saying that the Island "travels" with you wherever you go. Everywhere I go, people will still look at me the same way based on how I look. Not just my skin color, but also by what I wear and how I carry myself. No matter how much I feel like my identity has changed, I will still be the same person no matter what. The best example I can give is when I moved schools to Lakeside, I found that most of the friends that I was making were asking the same kind of questions as the people at my old school were. They would ask why I talked to so "white" and why my interests were so different from where I was from. They would call me "whitewashed" or say that my parents failed to raise me by not teaching me Spanish from a young age. They all had good intentions to make me laugh, but there was still some truth behind it. I will never be able to escape the stereotypes people make about me beca...
Read more

Nov 19 - As Celie’s world expands in these letters, she begins noticing new things about the people in her life. Write about a moment when you suddenly noticed something funny, shocking, or unexpected about someone you see every day (a family member, a classmate, or even a teacher). How did that new discovery change the way you saw them?

Response: I had discovered that my mom doesn't eat breakfast in the morning, even though she makes some for my sister and me every morning. She told me that she does this because food in the morning hurts her head and stomach, but when I heard this discovery, it made me feel worried about her and her health because she may not be getting enough food throughout her day. This discovery changed the way I saw my mom in the mornings, because she does all this effort for my sister and me to get us out the door, but nothing for herself.  Summary: Today, we did an assignment in Writable. Reflection: Even though we see the same people every day, sometimes we don't notice little things about them until way later in life.
Read more