Personal Space And Understanding Of Proxemics

* Our growing understanding of the belonging concept: The desire to be included is strong and the action of being excluded is humiliating:

As a society, we feed off of each other for what a proper response to something may be. As children, we first look to see our mother’s reaction after falling down; if she is calm, I should also be. We look to each other for what a definition of things should be, as well. In the 1950’s, it was generally obscene for a woman on television to show her belly button, whereas today we will show nude breasts on primetime programming. This follows the sociological theory of symbolic interactionism, where society and individual social interaction provides a subjective meaning to deviant behavior. Many social definitions change for the better, however some change for the worse. One such example was once viewed as normal, with no second thoughts given to it, but now is seen as an actual social problem affecting some groups aversely. This is the topic of homosexuality, a subject that has been on the receiving end of both accepting and discriminating cultures for thousands of years.

What does avoiding problems lead to? Generally speaking, it won’t do anything, if not it will make matters worse. Avoidance or ignorance of a problem will only hinder the truth and we will find ourselves stuck in a mutt. Miss Brill in Katherine’s “Miss Brill” and Sandra in Connie’s “The Man Who Followed His Hand” go through similar experiences of isolation. They are faced with many difficulties, but they turn their heads and look the other way. The problems only follow their steps and catch up to hit them even harder than they would have.

In the beginning of this article, Andrew Reiner described his experience with having a son. He stated, “I was faced with one of my biggest fears about parenthood: having a son” (Reiner, 2016, para. 6). Reiner elaborated on the growing trend of parents wanting female children instead of males. The article mentioned that adoptive parents are even willing to pay an average of $16,000 more in finalization cost for a girl instead of a boy (Reiner, 2016, para. 10). Reiner also noted that the boys-will-be-boys behavior does not originate with them (Reiner, 2016, para. 12). Instead, it is a product of their environment. He cited “... parents tend to touch infant boys less often and more roughly than infant daughters and that daughters are handled more gently and protectively… (Reiner, 2016, para. 12)” This displayed how societal norms shape behavior attributes that can be seen as non advantageous. Towards the end of the article, Reiner emphasized that we should empower our daughters and empower our sons with the same emotional literacy skill set and expansive worldview we teach our daughter (Reiner, 2016, para. 18). He finished the article with a short anecdote about how his son only wanted his attention and that is why he was acting out.

Nevertheless, as we grew, my classmates and I no longer had the same attitude towards each other. These unaware toddlers, subliminally primed to perceive the world around them as their parents regard as fit, discerned the social ranking of each person in the room. I existed as the lonely piece in the puzzle box that didn’t fit anywhere, an estranged visitor who misplaced herself into their little bubble of friends. I hardly received any invitations to affairs, such as American Girl Doll parties and pool parties, as result of the monetary gap of what I could afford and the moral differences between my family and that of my peers. My mom pushed me to ask if I could attend and suggested I bring one of my stuffed animals instead, which of course came off as an atrocious idea to me at age 7. I did not desire the connotation that bringing a regular stuffed animal to a party with girls who had hundred dollar dolls would cause. Sour and ungrateful feelings began to plague my head due to what I had, in comparison to those around me, did not constitute enough. I only became increasingly alien to those around me as we all grew together and the separating factors in our lives were no longer shallow material attributes as in what plantations a person’s ancestors owned, how much money a person’s family had, or where a person had lived all their life. I could only imagine how unfathomable nonreligious views appear to those who have been

“Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This is illustrated during the famous Bobo doll experiment Children pay attention to what adults do and observe their behavior. After, they may imitate the behavior they have observed. They may do this regardless of whether the behavior is ‘gender appropriate ' or not, but there are a number of processes that make it more likely that a child will reproduce the behavior that its society deems appropriate for its sex” (Bandura, 1961). Certain situations impact a person life leading them to different paths.

Once a child is born, he or she learns to view the world based on the behaviors of others. The child’s primary caregivers, usually the parents, and others present in the child’s environment, such as siblings, peers, teachers, and even the media, contribute to the development of the child’s perception of himself, those around him, and society overall. This concept is called socialization. “The way we are, behave and think is the final product of socialization” and it is through socialization that we “learn what is appropriate and improper for both genders” (Crespi, 2004). This concept of gender socialization leads to the inescapable

Atmosphere is used to induce an emotion or feeling in the audience; authors integrate mood into their work using descriptions of the setting and dialogue between the characters. Ray Bradbury’s short speculative fiction “The Pedestrian” uses narration and imagery to portray the mood of isolation. The protagonist, Leonard Mead, is known to take lengthy walks without any discernible direction; he is depicted walking down a “silent and long and empty” street. The imagery of the silence and length of the darkened street imply that Leonard is at a significant distance, whether physically or mentally, away from the closest person. He cannot see another human being, which further perpetuates the mood of isolation.

For many, the relationship they form with their parents establishes the standard for how the majority of their other connections will cultivate in their life. According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, these relationships -whether positive or negative- have a tremendous impact on how people comport themselves with others later in life. Additionally, the relationships maintained with ones’ parental figures become somewhat of a mirror of how one will act themselves in their adult life, any sort of trauma experienced during childhood can compromise your behavior. This Freudian analysis is apparent in the novel, We the Animals by Justin Torres. “Paps” as his own children tenderly refer him, is suggested to have

The upbringing of a child is no small task. Parents have the responsibility to form a loving relationship with their child and raise the child to be a functional adult. Unfortunately, many times parents do not see the need to have these close relationships with their offspring. A perfect example of the negative effects that this neglect can have on the child can be found in the book “Speak”. Even though Melinda's parents showed her attention at times, Melinda's detached family life caused her to develop more slowly in a social aspect, made it difficult for her to form relationships, and has slowed her recovery from sexual assault.

The moment a child is born and is labeled by its gender is the moment gender policing begins. Gender Policing shapes the child’s character, males being masculine and females being feminine. There must not be any other difference and essentially aren’t any differences demonstrated in a variety of products, advertisement, clothing, and toys. A child’s masculinity is influenced by their parents’ guidance like purchasing violent toys like Nerf guns, playing aggressive games like foam bats, or presenting revealing images or body parts of a female demonstrated on action figures.

In a similar way, just as Bowen sees differentiation in the context of the emotional capacity of the individual, Whitaker also takes an emotional approach when he posits that problems arise when individuals learn to suppress their emotions. As Bowen describes the individual’s struggle to define themselves and stand firmly amidst emotional pressures from others, Whitaker suggests that children can become estranged from themselves by learning to blunt their emotions to avoid criticism from their parents, who end up trying to curb bad behavior by inadvertently controlling or discouraging the child’s emotions (Nichols, 2013). Indeed, perhaps what both theorists are really describing is the struggle to be in touch with oneself and one’s feelings in the midst of pressures from the family unit. In addition, both these theorists address intimacy in their own ways in that the ultimate goal seems to be for individuals to be able to share safe and healthy intimacy with their family unit while maintaining and experiencing their own feelings. However, Whitaker distinguishes himself from the others in that he is less interested in interactional patterns as he is in experiencing and expressing emotions in the present. Though seemingly different in their approaches, it’s possible to make further connections between Haley and Minuchin’s focus on family structure and members’ ability to navigate these systems, and Bowen and Whitaker’s focus on

Norms in society do not just come about randomly in one’s life, they start once a child is born. To emphasize, directly from infancy, children

Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.

I chose Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of child development to reflect on my stages of development. In the microsystem of Bronfenbrenner’s model, my early childhood family structure included my uncle, his wife and their five children. I went to live with my uncle after my mother passed away. By middle childhood, my uncle and his wife migrated to the United Sates and I went to live with one of his daughters( Erica) and her two children. They became my construct of what a family represent. Although I was welcomed in Erica’s family, I felt as if I did not belong in their family. The only place I felt accepted was at school. The classroom represented a place where I expressed my feelings without being ignored or judged by my peers. Also, I had very observant and understanding teachers who had the best of my interest. I had one teacher , Mr. Francis, who believed that I was capable of improving academically. At the end of his class, he noted in my report card that I had potential to be academically competent, however, I needed to settle down and apply myself to learning. His comments motivated me to do my best throughout elementary school. During elementary school, I maintained healthy relationships with my peers. There were never any reports of misconduct of any misunderstanding amongst my peers. In fact, interactions with them thought me how to engage in fair play, wait my turn, build trust and explore my environment. In exploring my environment, I