Malcolm Kelly

The Flows With Socialization

Socialization is how we are told to think of ourselves, it also dictates how we should act.
In the reading The Cycle of Socialization, it states that Our socialization begins before we are
born, with no choice on your [sic] part. We are socialized in different categories, these are
called identity categories. There are two major identity categories that we are socialized in, these
are race and gender. Some of the main agents of socialization are the education system,
socioeconomic class, and the media. Merriam Webster defines race as a category of humankind
that shares certain distinctive physical traits. Because we are categorized by our race, there is a
group on top and one that is lower. The dominant group is called the agent group, the nondominant group is called the target group. Race is not the only thing that socializes us, our
gender also socializes us. In America we are socialized to think that there are only two genders
and there are specific things that each gender supposed to do. If we are realistic, we don't fit
perfectly into any of these specific gender roles. I have been socialized by my race and gender to
think and act in specific ways. For example, I have been socialised to think that I need to go to
college because that's what white upper-middle class men are expected to do and that I will be
given the opportunity to get ahead economically. Another example is that the media has
socialised me to think that I need to be tall, strong, and tough; this is how men are suppose to
look and act. The majority of our socialization through our race and gender is detrimental to
ourselves and others, the cycle of socialization needs to be examined and changed.
As a young man moving through high school I have beliefs and dreams of what I want to
do with my life, at the same time I am expected to go to college because that is what middle and
upper class men are supposed to do. The message of having to go to college has been drilled into
me by the media and family, but mostly people that I don't even know. They dont say You need
to go to college, what they say is Do you know what college you want to go to? I find it
strange that people assume that I will be going to college. Let's say for a moment that I was of a
different race. Lets say I am a poor hispanic man in high school, would people still assume that
I was going to college? In the documentary Precious Knowledge one of the teachers says
"50% of hispanic students drop out of school year after year. If I was part of the hispanic
population I may not be expected to graduate from school because other people dont think that I
can do it, which would put me in the 50% dropout rate. Why do half of hispanic students drop
out of school? I feel that it is not because they are stupid, lazy, and careless, but more likely
because they have important reasons to drop out. If I were poor and hispanic, I might drop out to
help my family pay the bills. I feel that if someone showed me that I would have more
opportunity to make more money and help my family by staying in school, and then going to
secondary school, I would. I see how it would be hard for someone that has a family that is close
to or under the poverty line to afford go to college.
Peoples race can dictate their socioeconomic class. The way that wealth is divided in the
USA, people are split into different classes called socioeconomic classes. There is something
called the poverty line which is the estimated minimum level of income needed to secure the
necessities of life. This means that if your are below this line it is difficult to sustain your
wellbeing. I am in a class that is called the upper-middle class, my family and I are not poor but
we are not wealthy. This has taught me how to work hard and has shown me that it is possible for
me to get ahead, go to college, have a family and have all of these opportunities for my kids. As I
was researching, I found a fact about the people who are living below the poverty line. Among

racial and ethnic groups, African Americans had the highest poverty rate, 27.4 percent, followed
by Hispanics at 26.6 percent and whites at 9.9 percent. This was from the State of Working
America in an article titled Poverty. Why is it that 90.1% of people living under the poverty line
are not white? My opinion is that it is because the system favors whites. This is not saying that it
is not possible for minorities it get ahead, it is just harder because we are not starting on the same
playing field. Whites have had generations of being ahead to help them stay ahead, on the other
hand, minorities have had generations of oppression and inequality preventing them from
starting ahead. If I was born into a family of color that was living under the poverty line, I
probably would want to go to college but would not be able to afford it, which would put me
behind my competitors applying for jobs. We, as a society, have really hit a rut with this because
it is so hard to get ahead if you are behind. In my experience if you were lucky and were born
ahead like I was there would be things you would be expected to do with your life to keep your
socioeconomic class.
My race is not the only thing that socializes me, another major thing that socializes me is
my gender. I am male, that is the gender that I identify with, this means that there are certain
things that I can and can't do. As a male I have been socialized to think that I need to be strong,
tough, physical, and even violent. The main agent of socialization that his shaped these behaviors
in my mind is the media. The media is television, social media, magazines, and books. I feel that
the media contributes the most to my socialization as a man because it is reinforcing a thing
called the Man Box which is a set of guidelines of how men should act. I am not the only one
that has been socialized this way, in the Ted Talk, A Call To Men, Tony Porter states, Growing
up as a boy, we were taught that men had to be tough, had to be strong, had to be courageous,
dominating -- no pain, no emotions, with the exception of anger -- and definitely no fear; that
men are in charge, which means women are not; that men lead, and you should just follow and
do what we say; that men are superior; women are inferior; that men are strong; women are
weak; that women are of less value, property of men, and objects, particularly sexual objects. I've
later come to know that to be the collective socialization of men." The expectations that the Man
Box puts on men are too constraining and too unrealistic. I feel that this is part of the reason that
men are violent towards each other and women, because if we are only allowed to express
ourselves through anger then we will be angry all the time. Another message that men get
through the media, especially advertisements, is that men need to be strong, fit, tough, etc, and if
you are these things you will be desired and accepted. Tough is a concept that came up a lot as I
researched this topic. I know that I go around with a tough guy attitude and that means that I
am hiding who I really am. I know that when I put up my tough mask I am fitting the Man Box
almost exactly, I find this really interesting. I put this mask on subconsciously, I put it on at
school, with my friends, even with my family. I find myself hiding behind this wall of
suppressed emotion that I make unbreakable, for anyone. When I watch young kids, I see that
they have no regard to these set of rules, they are free. If we teach our sons, brothers, and
ourselves to be who we are and that we dont need to hide behind our tough guy masks the
world would be a nicer, kinder and safer place.
This topic of socialization is important because we all have it in common, we are all
socialized, and many of the messages that we are given are negative towards ourselves and
others. We need to change this, and soon. The boys and girls in this culture are being raised with
false images of how they should act and look. If we accepted people for who they are we would
change our culture, it would be a much more pleasant and happier place to live. Why haven't we
changed our attitude to this problem? It will benefit all of us if we change the way we think

about ourselves and each other. Just imagine if the next generation were socialised to think that
everyone is attractive in their own way, and that it's ok to express your real feelings. The fact
that this is still a problem is unbelievable. We need to work together to break the bonds of
negative socialization,

Walls
This mask shows the tough guy mask that I wear and what I hide behind my mask. My mask
also shows what men and boys are told about themselves and how they are supposed to act. To
represent the tough guy mask I chose to paint a brick wall to show the emotions that I put up to
hide behind. There are holes in the wall to show the emotions that I suppress. I have made part
of my mask magnetic and have created magnet words. Any man can create a phrase out of
magnet words and attach it to my mask to show what he was taught through the cycle of
socialization.