Socialization and Mask Project:
This project was on socialization. We learned about the different ways that we have both consciously and subconsciously been socialized. We learned about the cycle of socialization and agent groups/target groups, etc. We then wrote essays and made masks that show how we have been socialized. At the end of the project, we had an exhibition, but we incorporated an action piece into the exhibition. We created an interactive and engaging simulation type exhibition that forced the users to think deeply about the ways socialization has shaped them and others. Throughout the process of designing the exhibition, we were able to use design thinking concepts and protocols.
Essay:
The prompt that I chose for my essay was, "What is the Perfect Person?". I focused more on the perfect woman instead. As I was writing my essay, I noticed that it started to become about the perfect woman and according to the media. I then did more research, and I ended up basing my entire essay off of this concept.
Mask:
For my mask I decided to use both positive and negatives messages that I have received from socialization. The negative part of my mask relates to my essay. The pieces of the face are what society has told me I need to be like. The cracks around the face sections represent a broken reality or how that message is negative. Underneath, or the background, is the positive message. My family has taught me to be true to myself and to follow the Virtues, which are the words written in the background. Examples of Virtues include: respect, tact, trust, determination, modesty, love, etc. The first step I took in designing my mask was making it,next came painting it. I painted my mask with a few coats of a peachy, white flesh tone color. Then I printed out a picture of a girl with heavy makeup on. I cut of pieces of the picture. Next I used modge podge to seal the picture onto the mask. Once I started to use the modge podge, the ink from the picture started to bleed, leaving the picture heavily smeared and disoriented. I used paint to go over what was left of the picture, trying to make it look close to the original picture. I then decided to exaggerate the makeup even more and I also painted on some pearl shimmer powder to help it look more realistic. Once I finished adding small details like drawing the eyelashes and painting them a little, I was able to start on the writing. Using a list of all the Virtues, I used a thin tip Sharpie to fill in the rest of the space with words.
Progress/Pictures:
Project Reflection:
Overall, I think that this project went really well. I think that I made a lot of growth, in multiple areas. I think that as a grade/class we all worked really well together for the exhibition. I also am pleased with the work that I produced for this project.
Throughout this project, mainly the essay piece, I think I definitely grew as a writer. The way I think that I most grew as a writer would probably be with revision. In writing assignments that I have done in the past, I was expected to produce quality work in just one or two drafts of work. This writing project taught me that I can use revision to make my work better, and obviously, more refined. I made around four drafts of my essay before I was finished. Now I see refinement as a skill/tool that I can use in the future to produce better quality work that I am proud of. A tool I used to refine my essay was the RADaR system for revision. RADaR is an acronym that stands for Replace, Add, Delete, and Reorder. I think this system was really useful especially for determining what parts of my writing were really necessary and what parts were not. I also I used the suggestive editing tool on Google Docs to further refine my essay. This allowed me to see the changes before I made them final. This was a tool that I found really helpful to use especially in conjunction with the RADaR system. Another strategy that I used to refine my essay was gathering feedback. I shared my essay with my teacher (Stephen) and also a classmate. They provided valuable feedback and edits that helped me to make my essay stronger.
Below is an example a paragraph from my first draft of my essay, and that same paragraph from the final draft from my essay.
First Draft:
This is not to say that there is only one variation of the ‘perfect woman’. Depending on your background, your socialization, you will have been taught a different standard. The mainstream image can be defined by what we most commonly see. Celebrities sit on a throne with millions of us trailing behind, with a desire to look like them, act like them, be them. Models are the epitome of perfection, in our eyes. We as a society do not realize that we are assisting in the self destruction of our reality, our happiness.
Final Draft:
This is not to say that there is only one variation of the “perfect woman.” Depending on your background, your socialization, you will have been taught a different standard. The mainstream image can be defined by what we most commonly see, and what surrounds us in our daily lives. The mainstream image is of “agents.” Agents are the dominant group in society. They usually have more social power and are considered to have an advantage at birth. Agent groups include: men, whites, heterosexuals, middle to upper-class people, etc. These are the people that the media shows us. Celebrities sit on a throne with millions of “followers” trailing behind blindly, with a desire to look like them, act like them, and be them. Models are the epitome of perfection, in our eyes. We as a society do not realize that we are assisting in the self-destruction of our reality--our true happiness.
I think that my biggest takeaway from this project was probably the exhibition. The concept for our exhibition was really big and at first I wasn’t sure that we could pull it off. I think that I was shown that with a lot of effort and teamwork, a lot can be accomplished. The exhibition turned out to be really successful and it felt really good to be a part of something that had such a big impact on our community. I also learned a lot while we were in the process of creating the exhibition. I was able to use the design thinking process, which was something that was new to me. I had never really been through the process of creating prototypes and collecting feedback from people other than my peers and teachers. To be honest, I do think that the prototyping took a long time, but I think that it payed off in the end. Now I am able to look back on the project and see different elements that were incorporated into the final exhibition that came from our prototypes. I liked seeing the growth from the original idea to the end idea and how the design thinking process helped it evolve.
The original goal that I had for group work was communication. *My goal can be found in Blog Post #3* Although I do think that I could of done better with communicating with my group, specifically during the brainstorming/prototyping process, I think that I did improve. I saw improvement mainly when we were working on the exhibition prep work. I think that I did a good job at at communicating with other groups. When I finished the work for my group, I went to other groups and asked what I could help with. I also tried to communicate with project managers on what things still needed to be finished before the exhibition, so that I could make sure I was helping as much as I could.
I think that contributed to the group by mainly just trying my best to help whenever I could. I was able to help with a lot of the small jobs that groups didn’t necessarily have time to complete. By doing this I think I helped in making the exhibition look really finished and professional (for example: I helped with peeling a lot of the tape of the ground before the exhibition). I think that I would grade my effort as an A. I think this because I was really trying my hardest to help whenever I could. I worked really hard in contributing to this exhibition and I also had to step outside of my comfort zone a little.
I think that as a group, we set the bar really high for future exhibitions and projects, and I think that as an individual, I started the year off really good with the work I produced for this project.
Throughout this project, mainly the essay piece, I think I definitely grew as a writer. The way I think that I most grew as a writer would probably be with revision. In writing assignments that I have done in the past, I was expected to produce quality work in just one or two drafts of work. This writing project taught me that I can use revision to make my work better, and obviously, more refined. I made around four drafts of my essay before I was finished. Now I see refinement as a skill/tool that I can use in the future to produce better quality work that I am proud of. A tool I used to refine my essay was the RADaR system for revision. RADaR is an acronym that stands for Replace, Add, Delete, and Reorder. I think this system was really useful especially for determining what parts of my writing were really necessary and what parts were not. I also I used the suggestive editing tool on Google Docs to further refine my essay. This allowed me to see the changes before I made them final. This was a tool that I found really helpful to use especially in conjunction with the RADaR system. Another strategy that I used to refine my essay was gathering feedback. I shared my essay with my teacher (Stephen) and also a classmate. They provided valuable feedback and edits that helped me to make my essay stronger.
Below is an example a paragraph from my first draft of my essay, and that same paragraph from the final draft from my essay.
First Draft:
This is not to say that there is only one variation of the ‘perfect woman’. Depending on your background, your socialization, you will have been taught a different standard. The mainstream image can be defined by what we most commonly see. Celebrities sit on a throne with millions of us trailing behind, with a desire to look like them, act like them, be them. Models are the epitome of perfection, in our eyes. We as a society do not realize that we are assisting in the self destruction of our reality, our happiness.
Final Draft:
This is not to say that there is only one variation of the “perfect woman.” Depending on your background, your socialization, you will have been taught a different standard. The mainstream image can be defined by what we most commonly see, and what surrounds us in our daily lives. The mainstream image is of “agents.” Agents are the dominant group in society. They usually have more social power and are considered to have an advantage at birth. Agent groups include: men, whites, heterosexuals, middle to upper-class people, etc. These are the people that the media shows us. Celebrities sit on a throne with millions of “followers” trailing behind blindly, with a desire to look like them, act like them, and be them. Models are the epitome of perfection, in our eyes. We as a society do not realize that we are assisting in the self-destruction of our reality--our true happiness.
I think that my biggest takeaway from this project was probably the exhibition. The concept for our exhibition was really big and at first I wasn’t sure that we could pull it off. I think that I was shown that with a lot of effort and teamwork, a lot can be accomplished. The exhibition turned out to be really successful and it felt really good to be a part of something that had such a big impact on our community. I also learned a lot while we were in the process of creating the exhibition. I was able to use the design thinking process, which was something that was new to me. I had never really been through the process of creating prototypes and collecting feedback from people other than my peers and teachers. To be honest, I do think that the prototyping took a long time, but I think that it payed off in the end. Now I am able to look back on the project and see different elements that were incorporated into the final exhibition that came from our prototypes. I liked seeing the growth from the original idea to the end idea and how the design thinking process helped it evolve.
The original goal that I had for group work was communication. *My goal can be found in Blog Post #3* Although I do think that I could of done better with communicating with my group, specifically during the brainstorming/prototyping process, I think that I did improve. I saw improvement mainly when we were working on the exhibition prep work. I think that I did a good job at at communicating with other groups. When I finished the work for my group, I went to other groups and asked what I could help with. I also tried to communicate with project managers on what things still needed to be finished before the exhibition, so that I could make sure I was helping as much as I could.
I think that contributed to the group by mainly just trying my best to help whenever I could. I was able to help with a lot of the small jobs that groups didn’t necessarily have time to complete. By doing this I think I helped in making the exhibition look really finished and professional (for example: I helped with peeling a lot of the tape of the ground before the exhibition). I think that I would grade my effort as an A. I think this because I was really trying my hardest to help whenever I could. I worked really hard in contributing to this exhibition and I also had to step outside of my comfort zone a little.
I think that as a group, we set the bar really high for future exhibitions and projects, and I think that as an individual, I started the year off really good with the work I produced for this project.