Self Image: Activity 3

Consider some of the social pressures that you think may shape your behavior and personal image. List the images most commonly associated with the categories or ‘boxes’ you have already listed in Activity 1.

How have you responded to social pressures to conform by adopting an appearance that relates to the categories that you feel you have placed in or have chosen?

1. Age/Generation - There are many associations made about teenagers today. For example, some people believe that teens are irresponsible and careless about school, possessions, and their actions, and that they are incapable of making their own decisions. Parents tend to think that teenagers should be grateful for how easy they have it "just going to school".
2. Gender - Women's social pressures include simply being "feminine" to counter a man's masculinity. Females are suppose to dress feminine by wearing dresses, skirts, and blouses, in order to show skin and "dress to impress". They also are expected to be model-beautiful, wear make up (but not too much to be fake), and let themselves be sexualized.
3. Race - When someone is Hispanic, as I am, people tend to think that they have travelled over the border and illegally immigrated into the United States. Hispanics tend to be looked at as unintelligent and incapable of getting a degree, only to be working at minimum wage their entire lives and struggling at the very bottom of the economic class.

For the age/generation category, I feel annoyed at the image people have for teenagers. Personally, I am a very responsible student, but I struggle greatly with school work and the struggling and pressure has caused many problems in my life. I look forward to getting out of high school so that I can have some individuality and independence, and not worry day and night about how my future will be set up. In the gender category, I am quite the opposite of what is expected. I am not feminine; I do not even own a dress that fits me, I do not own any skirts, and the minimal amount of make-up I wear is for myself. What I look like and how I act is not to impress anyone else. The the social image of my race actually offends me a lot. I am a very smart person, proudly born in the United States, and I strive to break the stereotype that Hispanics cannot be successful and well-off.