Analysis of Everyday Life

I have called the United States of America my home for eighteen years, but that doesn’t mean it’s without flaws. Within almost all of our interactions there is underlying judgment between ourselves and those we choose to associate with. When asked, people may say that their predispositions of others come from their own personal views or family. However, upon further investigation it becomes apparent that our assumptions are the result of the society we live in and the structure we are made up of. Unconsciously, we learn about a variety of people from what we see on television or in magazines, instead of learning from each other. Also, when the structure we live within is created for the advancement of only a select few of people it can play tricks on your mind. If people poor, average, minorities are unable to get into college you may begin to believe that they don’t deserve to advance themselves because the system wasn’t intended for them. Its not until we sit down and think about how situations in each of our lives have help or harmed us in some way. At the most basic point we are all human beings, and sometimes the scariest thing to do is to analyze how much you have in common with those that you presumed to be subordinate to you.

Living on Campus

Moving into my dorm last year made me effervescent with the thought of finally being out on my own. I always wanted my own space far from my semi-overprotective parents. At first, I viewed living on campus as a gift that an institution gives its students for attending their college. I now view having on campus housing as more of a privilege or just luck since I have been here at the University of Maryland College Park. Before being accepted here I had no idea that this institution had such a horrible housing situation. I enjoy living on campus this year and next year, but I don’t know were I will live my junior and senior year. Luckily I am a resident of the state of Maryland and commuting is an option. However, I have already experienced a draw back when I go home on the weekends. Whenever I am at home my environment seems to hinder my ability to be productive in my studies. I have heard statistics from professors and counselors here that claim living at home improves a students’ ability to excel in academics. Contrary to what was previously stated, living on campus has been beneficial to me thus far and I hate the idea of having that privilege taken away.
The housing situation here at the University of Maryland leaves me powerless in several aspects. Upon coming here I was told that housing is only guaranteed to the incoming freshman classes. Upperclassmen have tried to help freshman and sophomores stay on campus by telling us to become Resident Assistants, because that way we are promised a place to live. I prefer making education my only priority and not the well being of other students, so being a Resident Assistant would not be a favorable choice for me. In addition, I am working on acquiring a minor in Japanese language so I applied to the Language House, which is a living learning program that provides a place to live and enhances language retention. I was turned down by the program for next year, which then leaves me scrambling for a place to live once again.
I am aware of the fact that it is difficult to get into this institution, but other barriers await just behind the acceptance letter. I am stuck in a situation that may only be described as a gift and a curse. I was fortunate to apply to this university and be accepted as a freshman in the fall, which makes me unmarked. However, because I am a regular student and not apart of any living learning programs, such as civics or honors, my housing is a lottery in itself. I view my alternate housing situation as making me marked. I feel as though housing wouldn’t be an issue for me if my intelligence was at a much higher caliber for this university, or if I was just lucky enough to have an extremely low priority housing number.

Being the Youngest
Growing up I always resented being the youngest. It didn’t matter to me that I only had one other sibling and being the youngest was inevitable. My older sister, Shayla, is almost seven years older than I am which contributed to the differences in our childhoods. I recall standing on the sidelines as she did everything before me because we were so far apart. When she learned Spanish, started driving, went to prom, and college I was angry that my sister managed to do all these great things before I left elementary school. It wasn’t until I began middle school that I didn’t feel like the youngest anymore; I began to feel like an only child. My sister was away at school and it was only my parents and I living at home. My parents were now fortunate to spend one on one time with me going out to dinner and watching my soccer games, because they no longer had to divide their time between two children. When I explain my situation to others it is often hard for them to understand how I can go from being the youngest to an only child.
At the point when my sister left for college and I became an only child, I transitioned from being marked to unmarked. Over time I began to realize that being an only child was a privilege. I had no one to fight over things with and no younger siblings to be responsible for. I believe that my parents’ undivided attention contributed to my excellent grades in school and high level of maturity. I often imagine that having more children in my family would have had a negative affect on who I am today. Another aspect that has contributed to my unmarked only child upbringing is my social class. Both of my parents work forty hours a week, but they seniority and experience that allows them to make their own schedule and go on seasonal vacations. I see the social class of my family as a contributing factor in how we are able to spend so much time together. Had my family been poorer, then recreational time would be spent working and making ends meet and not being together.
When I analyze families from a structural point of view, I notice that smaller families are often favored. There are vacation packages made for families of four who want to visit Disney World. How much money will the larger family have to pay if they want to take the same trip? The United States has pushed the idea of the nuclear family, consisting of mom, dad, and two kids, for several years. In the 1950’s shows like Leave it to Beaver glorified the family of four. When families bypass this “magical” number it becomes an economic inconvenience limiting the vacations, vehicles, or even kitchen table set. My small family may not have been a coincidence at all, my parents realized the advantage of having only two kids.

Religion
Within the United States religion can be viewed as a very hypocritical movement. Just this pass week the pope came to visit Washington DC and Catholics in the immediate area came to show their support and get a glance at their beloved clergy. Although, instead of praising the presence of the pope, some people took it as a chance to protest the current problems within the Catholic community. Victims of sexual abuse at the hands of their Archbishops stood on the mall in DC to rally for the protection of children in American Catholic churches. Religion is a complex subject that cannot be analyzed one-sidedly.
Often times I believe that I myself, don’t have a right to comment on religion because it plays almost no role within my life. Out of the four people in my family, my mother is the only person that regularly attends church as a Baptist. In addition, in my extended families, both mother and father’s side, no one is really a member of a particular church. Growing up I thought that I was a hypocrite because I celebrated Christmas and Easter even though I wasn’t sure if I even believed in a higher power. Coincidentally, over time I realized that there were many people in this country just like me. I was apart of a group of people that celebrated all major holidays in the United States, but didn’t partake in the religious aspect of them.
After referring to the Matrix of Domination hand out from class, it was hard a first glance to figure out where I belonged in terms of religion. To be considered unmarked one must be Xtian or Protestant. However, being of a marked religion is thought to be Buddhist, Moslem, Jewish, or Catholic. I just assumed that if you considered yourself to be atheist, then that made you marked. I view this small instance as an example to how the rest of the country operates. Even when religion is not discussed it is assumed that everyone has one, or even if they don’t attend church that at least you believe in God. It’s unfortunate that in this country people hold such strong assumptions about each other instead of being open to the fact that everyone isn’t exactly the same.

Physical Assumptions
Ever since I was little people have always had something to say about the way that I look. I have the lightest complexion out of the four people in my family, which over time I learned was a big deal in the African American community. When I was about eight years old I noticed that I started to get freckles on my face. It seemed like from that point on people always asked me what race I was and I always responded that I was black. Then, when I became a teenager people thought that I was lying when I said I was black. It wasn’t until I came to college that I stopped being angry about people questioning my race.
I was born and raised in an area that is about 60% black and it was effortless to spot the people that were non black or of mixed race. It even got to a point where people questioned if my sister and I had the same parents just because she’s darker than I. Sometimes a group of students would say things about white people then look at me and say “no offense”. I would get so angry that they would think that I was white, because there isn’t one white person in my family, and they came to this conclusion solemnly on that way that I look. When I began going to the University of Maryland it didn’t matter what race anyone was anymore. This university is so multicultural that there isn’t enough time to sit around and contemplate every student’s nationality.
The Matrix of Domination places the white ethnicity above all others, which I’m not surprised about. Within society other races seemed to be willing to believe that they’re subordinate to whites. For instance, within the African American community the media constantly glorifies people that aren’t considered completely black. In magazines and in movies you’ll see people that look like they’re African American, but they’ll have hair that isn’t usually associated with being black or they will say that they are of mixed heritage. I was surprised at how people of darker complexions would say that they wished they had lighter skin. These people believed that their darkness would make them more acceptable to society in terms of how they’re treated and perceived by others. Why is such a diverse country so quick to not sell a house, hire, or associate with people that physically look different?

Outlook
Before I began working on this assignment, one day my class explored the Matrix of Domination outside as a physical activity. My TA, Maren, told everyone to line up side by side and to take a step forward when a statement said was true or to step back when the statement was false. The only hard part of this exercise was the fact that we had to hold hands the entire time. It’s hard to hold hands when everyone has different answers to the questions, which can create several feet between two people who were previously standing side by side. The questions we were asked dealt with our families, incomes, and sexual orientation. After the activity was finished the class had a discussion and I was amazed by what we learned about ourselves from the questions asked.
Maren began the discussion by mentioning the fact that she had believed people would drop hands as the questions drew us further apart. Fortunately, that never happened because people unknowingly refused to leave each other behind. In the beginning of the exercise, Maren noticed that as a class we took larger steps forward and smaller steps back. I viewed this as a true statement because some of us were proud of our privileges and even looked around to see who was with us. Over time, the people being left behind became more important to us so we took smaller steps forward and larger steps back. Surprisingly, towards the end when people moved forward in response to statements that were true for them, they began to give reasons for why this was a true statement. The people that continually stepped forward weren’t being arrogant; they actually felt guilty and wanted to explain themselves to the people they were pulling forward.
Through writing this paper I have had the opportunity to explore where I fit into marked and unmarked categories. However, it was far more interesting to see how the people in my class responded to various questions. For instance, when Maren asked if our parents graduated from college or if we were American citizens our responses nearly split us apart. I loved that our discussion class only has about nine people, but we were so diverse for such a small scale. In addition, some questions provoked thoughts about our generation when it came to technology. Maren asked who had a cell phone in high school and everyone moved forward, which I thought was funny. If that same question had been asked of our parents they would have had to take a step back. When I evaluate where I stood on that activity I was almost directly in the middle. The class ended up looking like a scatter graph, which is a good metaphor in regards to the Matrix of Domination. There is no way to be completely marked or unmarked because each individual is privileged and oppressed throughout their life.

Tunnel of Oppression
The Tunnel of Oppression was a great way to finish up this assignment. In daily life we may notice that there is more access to hearing about people with great lives and opportunities. Very seldom do we sit back and analyze the large majority of people that have been disadvantaged by structural systems, instead of pretending they don’t exist. For example, when we learn about foreign countries we learn about the majority that inhabits the land and nothing about the minority. It was through the Tunnel of Oppression that I learned there were native people in Japan called the Ainu. In school you only learn about a select group of people and the media won’t discuss people that don’t posses high ranking power. Also, in general most of the things we know about China deal with their economy and not how they treat other nations. I learned on Thursday that China constantly threatens Taiwan and has banned pictures of the Dali Lama, which places a restriction on the religions Chinese people are allowed to practice.
Another great aspect of this exhibit was the way that it allowed me to analyze the confines that pop culture places on this country. One station had an interesting quote that I think could be further explored “Does the media reflect social norms or dictate them?” One way that I can prove this statement correct is by discussing the topic of weight. In the United States the average person is more likely to be slightly overweight or obese compared to the anorexic type girls that lie in the pages of a magazine or appear in the most popular movies. The media is creating its own norm and as a result, making people believe that they are abnormal for not resembling these exceptionally small women.
One controversial topic within this country is that of prisons. These structures have been around for years, but they hold such a bad representation within our culture. People don’t want prisons or jails to be around their community because these are dangerous people and it brings down property value. Although, for poor rural areas building a jail or prison is seen as a great business decision. These facilities provide regions with little to no resources with a surplus of job opportunities. Also, major companies benefit from the free labor of convicted criminals. When I learned that Dell and Microsoft used prison labor I wasn’t surprised because their products require large numbers of people to assemble their computers. On the other hand, I was shocked when I learned that Victoria’s Secret and McDonald’s use criminal labor to make their products. These companies produce underwear and food, why are they unable to pay people for these tasks?
All in all, the structural systems that everyone lives in are made to advance only a select few of people and not the entire population. I have come to this understand after completing the research and analysis necessary for this paper. The best way to prevent yourself from being submerged into full on oppression is to be aware of the political and economic systems that you live under. Also, don’t hesitate to question the media when you disagree with a song being played or an idea that they are trying to force upon people. If you reside in the United States of America you should take advantage of the freedom of speech, because deciding not to do anything about issues can be as bad as causing them.