Application of the Looking Glass Self

Although many people do not often realize it, we are constantly seeing ourselves through other’s eyes.  This is the main theme for Charles Horton Cooley’s the looking-glass self.  Cooley states that "we imagine our appearance to others, imagine their judgments of us, and then have self-feelings resulting from those judgments."  In Stretesky and Pogrebin’s “Gang-Related Gun Violence and the Self,” the ways in which other’s views influence the actions of gang members is observed.  Gang members feel a need to become a certain type of male in order to be viewed a certain way by fellow gang members.  I experienced a similar need to adopt a particular appearance when obtaining a job at Anytime Fitness.

Even though I am studying exercise physiology and have participated in athletics all of my life, I felt a need to be seen as an athletic fitness guru to the members of Anytime Fitness, in order to boost my confidence while working there and feel as though I “fit in.”  Similarly, gang members felt a need to portray themselves as masculine, stating, “masculinity was constantly invoked in relation to self and identity” (176).  In order to achieve this fitness status, I felt a need to dress in athletic apparel (e.g. Under Armour or Nike) so that those working out at Anytime Fitness would identify me as being knowledgeable in the fitness realm.  Following Cooley’s the looking-glass self, I would imagine how I appeared to others in the fitness gear, imagine their judgments, and then have self-feelings that I was appropriate for the job.  Even though many people state that they do not care what others think about them, viewing other’s judgments of us is part of everyday life.  Its impact can even result in us changing or modifying our behavior in order to appear a particular way.

Racial Segregation In Education

Although many people like to believe racial segregation is a thing of the past, it is still very prevalent in today’s world.  Education systems, including teachers during class instruction, often reinforce racial segregation, even though they may not realize they are doing so.  I experienced such segregation when attending a Catholic school for nine years; this school was mainly composed of white students.  Although most teachers at my school were not outright racist, they did subtly treat the few black students at my school differently.

When explaining a topic in class, teachers were often less patient with black students.  If they did not understand what the teacher was explaining, the teachers would often act annoyed and reluctant to explain it to them again.  On the other hand, if a white student did not understand, they would say “that’s okay, let me explain it a different way” and then try to effectively help the student.  I was never sure whether or not my teachers realized what they were doing, but either way, I do not believe they realized that they were shaping children’s views on race.

As stated by Van Ausdale and Feagin, “adult definitions and reconstructions of children’s activities have a strong influence on children’s lived realities” (39).  If teachers are becoming frustrated with black students or belittling their ability to learn, this can heavily influence white students’ views of blacks.  “Children as young as three invent complex combination as racial meaning for themselves and for others,” and if teachers are depicting black students as less intelligent, students may also begin to believe this racial categorization (38).  This can result in accidental racism in children’s views of whites and blacks.  Thus, teacher’s and other adult’s interactions with others can heavily influence the racial views of those around them.  A teacher must take caution to treat all students fairly and avoid accidental or purposeful racism and unfair treatment, so as to not influence the racial views of his/her students.

Gender Inequality In the Workplace

Inequality can be seen in all aspects of life, including the workplace; Christine L. Williams discusses such inequality in her book Inside Toyland.  In order to conduct research on social inequality, Williams obtained jobs at two toy stores and found clear cut evidence of inequality, including gender inequality.  Some of the happenings she observed are things that I, myself, have experience throughout my various jobs.  The most prominent being gender separation of tasks and her reasoning for this separation.

Throughout high school I worked at a local country club as a hostess in the dining area; I was one of three hostesses, all female.  A hostess in any restaurant setting is typically a female and is often seen as “female work.”  Williams refers to this phenomenon as “gendered” jobs, meaning that “qualities culturally associated” with men and women are built into job descriptions (54).  Women are often associated with “dexterity, passivity, [and] nurturing orientation” (54).  Due to this fact, women are often hostesses because society believes that they can make guests feel more welcome and communicate with them, due to their nurturing demeanor.  Williams also experienced this in her experience at the toy stores; she states that, “only women were regularly assigned to work as cashiers at the Toy Warehouse” (56).  Interaction at stores mainly occurs with cashiers as people are purchasing their items, thus women are seen as “more fit” for this job.

I also experience the appeal of women’s “nurturing behavior” when working at The University of Illinois in the summer camps department.  Parents would often call with complaints, and when a parent was angry enough, my boss (a male) would often ask if I would be willing to speak with them.  This was not because he was avoiding a conflict, but rather because people often respond to females better in an argumentative setting.  Men are portrayed as having the characteristics of “leadership, physical strength, and aggression,” and due to this, they can often be seen as attacking a customer (54).  By having a “nurturing” female speak with an upset customer, the problem may be resolved easier and more calmly.

This desire to have women as the front-stage workers, who work with customers, comes from the societal expectations of all who are involved in the customer service experience.  Thus, “job segregation…reflects the dynamic outcome of conflict between workers’ desires, managers’ interests, and customers’ expectations” (56).  In other words, despite what positions workers may wish to have, customers believe women should be hostesses or cashiers, and thus managers assign them to such positions.

The Effects of Borderwork

Gender characteristics are established at a very young age; these characteristics and gender views then follow us throughout our lifetime.  As children, we are taught to act, dress, and view the opposite gender in a particular way.  In my sociology of sport class, it was made apparent that the rather stereotypical views of gender we learn at a young age are prevalent as we age.  This process is known as borderwork, or “interaction based on and even strengthening gender boundaries” (Thorne, 344).   This borderwork creates memorable gender views that were evident in my sociology of sport class.

As children we are influenced by an “exaggeration of gender difference and disregard for the presence of crosscutting variation and sources of commonality” (Thorne, 349).  In other words, we are taught that girls and boys should be separated from one another in activities because they “are separate and fundamentally different, as individuals and as groups” (Thorne, 350).  In my sociology of sport class we discussed the idea of girls and boys playing on the same team together, and the reaction was very negative, especially from the boys in my class.  They stated that girls and boys should not be mixed with one another when playing sports because girls are not as athletic as boys.  This view most likely stems from their childhood and the involvement of boys in sports, while girls participated in other “female appropriate” activities.

This superiority of males over females is a common power dynamic in gender, and was also present when the males in my class interacted with my female teacher.  When dealing with gender “the masculine is often valued over the feminine,” and many boys in my class believed this to be true.  When my female teacher made comments about equality between men and women, her statements were often challenged by my male classmates, even if she had legitimate proof and evidence to back them up.  This disrespect of her teaching ability and legitimacy as a teacher was also called into question throughout the entire semester, no matter what the topic was.  In past years, a male professor taught this class and, even though he taught the same material, his statements were never questioned.  This occurrence makes evident that, even when dealing with an authority figured, gender discrimination and power differences are still prevalent.  Thus, the gender borderwork we experience as children can have a great effect on our views as adults.

Halloween Sadism, Paranoia, & The Loss of Community

The development of the Halloween Sadist has grown largely over the past few years as people’s fears about Halloween continue to grow.  As stated by Horiuchi and Best, “Halloween sadism is thought to involve random, vicious, unprovoked attacks against small children” (488).  I knew the prevalence of the fear of the Halloween Sadist was growing; however, I didn’t witness its true effect until this Halloween.  A friend of mine works at a daycare and was shocked when she discovered the plans of many of the children at the daycare center.  Instead of trick-or-treating, as most kids did when I was a child, many of the children were having small Halloween parties at their house because their parents didn’t want them out at night.  The causes and effects of this fear can be attributed to societal changes as well as the influence of the media.

The past years have brought about stories of children finding razor blades in their apples or poison in their candy on Halloween night.  These stories have inflicted fear in many parents around the world, largely due to the media’s portrayal of these stories.  Although the few incidents that have occurred were done by family members of these children, the media portrays these stories as strangers attacking young children for no apparent reason.  Due to the media’s portrayal of this, societal views have greatly changed.  People are now becoming more paranoid of others around them and feel as though they can no longer trust their neighbors; this has resulted in a decrease of community feeling amongst neighbors.  Due to the fact that “holiday celebrations reflect the larger culture,” Halloween traditions have been negatively affected by this growing societal paranoia (Best & Horiuchi).  Parents now fear to allow their children to trick-or-treat, times for trick-or-treating have continued to be moved back so that children will only be out in the daylight, and, in the case of the children at the daycare, some parents are keeping their children inside at all times on Halloween.  This paranoia not only negatively affects children’s Halloween traditions, but it can lead to larger social consequences.

If members of this society continue to fear those around them, communities in general will become obsolete.  The trend to become “neighborly” with those around us has already began to decrease; if this continues, people will fail to know those around them, thus resulting in an even greater paranoia.  This cyclical pattern of avoidance and the resulting paranoia will only bring members of today’s society further apart.  In order to avoid this, members of a community must not solely depend on the media’s portrayal of occurrences in today’s world, but rather depend on each other and rebuild this lost sense of community.

The Unique Development & Traits of Electronic Identities

An electronic identity, whether it be a Facebook profile, chat screen name, etc, is unique in its development and traits.  Unlike other identities, with an electronic identity, “everything must be communicated; all elements of selfhood must be presented to others; one must literally write one’s self into existence” (Waskul, 204).  The development and traits of an electronic identity were perfectly portrayed through Ariel Schulman’s documentary Catfish.  In this documentary, Ariel documents his growing Facebook friendship with a girl, who he does not know outside of Facebook, named Megan.  Throughout this documentary, he comes to find out that Megan, her pictures, her family, and her friends were all false identities.  None of these people existed; rather, they were electronic identities created and managed by a woman named Angela Wesselman.  Wesselman’s ability to create hundreds of believable electronic identities can be explained through the unique traits of electronic identities.

An importance difference between an electronic identity and other identities is that “self-claims in online chat are much more difficult to verify” (Waskul, 204).  This lack of verification allows one to create false information about themselves, or on a much grander scale, in Wesselman’s case, create several false identities in which none of the information is true.  Due to the fact that Ariel only knew Megan and these other identities through Facebook, he could not disprove any of their information.  With an electronic identity, there is no face-to-face interaction, thus one must take others’ statements as true because they have no means of challenging their validity.

Angela Wesselman (right) and one of her many false electronic identities (left)

Wesselman’s ability to produce several false identities can be explained through the concept of hyperfluidity.  As pointed out by Waskul, “online chat dislocates selfhood from the constraints of the body; self is not contained or affixed to any physical form” (205).  In other words, those using electronic identities can become hyperfluid; this allows them to switch between several identities because these identities are not associated with their bodily self.  Wesselman’s actions heavily portray the prevalence of hyperfluidity in electronic identities; she was able to maintain several identities and rapidly switch between them.  This is not a novel concept, but rather, one that is used by several people with electronic identities, because “on the internet the art of the con is reduced to relatively simple techniques that most people can reasonably manage to use them” (Waskul, 206).  This concept of hyperfluidity, along with the diminished ability to challenge the validity of electronic identities, allows for the creation of a unique identity in which one can create several false selves.  

Disney World Per Goffman

Erving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy, which he uses to explain the self and social interaction, largely applies to the operations of Disney World and its success.  Goffman’s view is that “all the world is not, of course, a stage, but the crucial ways in which it isn’t are not easy to specify.” Thus, people in social interaction put on various performances to control the impression they have on others in order to have smooth interactions; this is also known as impression management.  The employees of Disney World work very hard at impression management; the use of this concept is essential for the success of their business.  They must act in a certain manner, and sometimes even become a completely different person, in order to maintain Disney World’s visitors’ definition of the situation.  Visitors, especially children, come to Disney World expecting to meet various Disney characters and interact with others who are bright and cheerful, because it is, after all, the happiest place on earth. 

The use of an underground system in Disney World largely establishes this ability to put on a performance and successfully incorporate impression management.  Instead of walking to a nearby building to switch out characters or other workers, an underground town with hidden entrances into it has been built beneath Disney World.  Goffman points out that “the initial definition of the situation projected by an individual tends to provide a plan for the co-operative activity that follows” (Goffman, 196).  Thus, although several people, including employees and visitors of Disney World, may know of this underground town, they choose to dismiss this fact in order to maintain their definition of Disney World and have smooth interactions. 

This underground system also enables impression management by allowing those dressed up as Disney characters to appear real to visitors, especially children.  Goffman states “when an individual plays a part, he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them” (197).  When an employee of Disney World is dressed up as a Disney character, their goal is to make others believe that they are truly this character.  Also, they expect visitors to trust in this impression and to not question its validity.  This reciprocal interaction allows employees to become Disney characters and not just a man behind a mask.  Thus, the use of impression management and the definition of the situation maintain the magic and awe, and overall success, of Disney World.

Defining Religion: Catholicism vs. Snake-Handling Churches

In Dennis Covington’s book Salvation on Sand Mountain, he gives insight into the snake-handling churches throughout Appalachia and other locations: his primary focus being The Church of Jesus with Signs Following.  His accounts of the practices of this church have established some clear similarities and differences between them and my religious practice, Catholicism.

Many people may wonder how a religion that takes up snakes to represent God’s power, drinks strychnine, and speaks in tongues could share any similarities with the Catholic faith; there are, however, several similarities.  The services held at The Church of Jesus with Signs Following always include songs to worship God, a preacher who’s “sermon echoed the theme,” prayers for those who are in need of help, and often times an offering is collected (Covingtion, 72).  All of these aspects can be viewed during a typical Catholic service.  Throughout various points in Mass, we also sing songs to worship God, a priest always gives a sermon from which we can learn a lesson, prayer intentions are said for those who need the prayers of everyone, and an offering is collected during Mass. 

There are, however, some obvious differences between The Church of Jesus with Signs Following and the Catholic Mass.  Although we both worship God, snake-handling churches are more outspoken with their worship.  They often sing, dance, speak aloud, etc… during their services; Catholicism is much more reserved, however.  It would be viewed as disrespectful if a person were to shout, dance throughout the aisles, or sing while the priest is speaking during Mass.  Another main difference is the rituals performed during these two services.  In a Catholic Church, Communion is served at every service; however, “Rituals like Communion are rare events in snake-handling churches” (Covington, 115).  Also, the Catholic Church does not take up snakes or drink poison throughout our Mass; where as in a snake-handling church, this ritual is performed during almost every service.

Although there are differences between these religious practices, their legitimacy as a religion is equal.  Both religions exhibit the elementary forms of religious life per Durkheim, thus falling under the definition of a religion.  Totems, or sacred images/objects that represent shared spiritual beliefs, are present in both practices.  The Church of Jesus with Signs Following uses snakes to represent their shared belief that God is with them; Catholicism uses the Eucharist to represent this (Durkheim).  Also, the followers of these religions maintain a collective consciousness, or a group mind resulting from shared beliefs and rituals (Durkheim).  Lastly, effervescence, a heightened emotional feeling from being in a group, is exhibited in both religions (Durkheim).  Although they exhibit this effervescence in different ways - snake-handling churches being more open about it, while Catholics are more reserved and tend to internalize it - they still both partake in this elementary form.  Thus, although we may not share every ritual and practice with another religion, or perhaps, even lack understanding of another religion, it does not illegitimatize the validity of any religion.  As long as a belief system has followers that come together to practice said faith, the definition of this belief as a religion will be maintained.

Occupy Wall Street -- exploring mass behavior

There have been countless mass/collective movements throughout our history, one of the most recent being Occupy Wall Street.  Citizens involved in this movement are protesting the present conditions in which 1% of the population, namely the wealthiest individuals, hold all of the power, while the other 99% hold no power in today’s world.  The formation of this mass behavior cannot be attributed to random occurrence, but rather, there are sociological explanations for why individuals feel compelled to take part in these collective actions, and how these collective actions grow as a whole. 

As discussed in Robert Jay Lifton’s article, Nazi Doctors at Auschwitz, which explores the reasons to why ordinary individuals partook in the Auschwitz Holocaust practices, there is a “‘coherent community’ and ‘common effort’…in discussing…commitment to overcoming staggering national problems” (Lifton, 441).  Thus, individuals who share a generalized belief, or a belief about what needs to be changed, feel compelled to join together to fight for what they believe in (Smelser).  Also, mass hysteria causes individuals to lose their inhibitions.  In other words, those who may not normally protest on their own, feel more comfortable doing so in a group because their individual actions are incorporated into a larger system.

It may seem plausible to think that a large group, like the Occupy Wall Street group, will always have an effect on social order; however, other factors must be considered.  A collective group must have structural conduciveness, or avenues available for change, in order to work effectively (Smelser).  Also, one must consider the action of social control, or which people have social control (Smelser).  Although Occupy Wall Street has conducted expansive protests, these actions have not been given the attention, especially by the media, needed to make a worldwide statement, thus limiting their avenues for change.  This lack of media attention demonstrates the concept of action of social control.  The 1% of the population that Occupy Wall Street participants are protesting against are the same people that mediate media coverage, thus if they wish for this protest to be silenced and ignored by the media, they have control over that.  Even if media coverage is given, the people with social control (1% of the population) can dictate how this mass movement is depicted in media.  Thus, a shared belief among individuals, social order, resource availability, etc… all has an effect on the magnitude of mass behavior.

Weak Ties

Demonstration of how weak ties connect more people than strong ties do.

Many of us believe that it is our best friends, parents, etc… that we depend on everyday; much of this is due to the fact that society focuses on these strong bonds, or ties, that we create with those who are close to us.  I would like to challenge this dependence on strong ties, however, and take the stance that Mark Granovetter portrays with his article “The Strength of Weak Ties.”  Weak ties bring together individuals more often than strong ties do; we depend on these weak ties to get us through our daily activities.  We do not depend on our best friend to get us to campus, instruct our classes, take our money at the grocery store, and so on…  We depend on our weak ties with the bus driver, professor, or cashier to allow us to carry out our daily activities.  Although we do enjoy the strong ties we have created with others, it is the weak ties that greatly influence our day-to-day activities.

Yes, our strong ties may determine our overall intimate/enduring relationships in this world; however, it is weak ties that we depend on to connect us to a larger number of people.  Although these ties are “weak,” they can still have a significant impact on people’s lives; not only can they allow or prohibit a person from performing a daily task, they an also influence how a person acts on a daily basis.  This phenomenon can be seen in Liberty Mutual’s commercial (video below) in which a person who does a good deed causes another person to also perform a good deed.  Although we may perceive these ties as insignificant or weak, their consequences and impact are actually quite great. 

The Power of Authority: who decides our actions?

If someone instructed you to perform an action that went past your moral boundaries, would you?  What if it was a teacher, policeman, or a doctor?  Although many of us like to believe that we would not conform to what these individuals ask of us, in the end, most of us would heed to their wishes.  Why, you may ask, would a person perform an action that goes against what they believe in?  This phenomenon comes down to our perception of authority.  As Stanley Milgram demonstrated in his shock experiment, 26 out of the 40 (65%) participants shocked another subject with voltage that could kill someone, solely due to the fact that a person they perceived as having authority told them to do so (Milgram, 376). 

In our society, we often do not question authority; instead, we simply do what they ask without even thinking about it.  My psychology teacher in high school demonstrated society’s willingness to follow authoritative figures by simply asking the class to bring in a soda can the following day.  When we got to class the next day, he asked us why we all brought in the soda can; we saw this question as weird and somewhat obvious, and answered “well, because you told us to.”  My teacher made us see that, even though we had no idea why we would need the can, we simply obeyed his orders and did not question his request, due to the fact that he was a teacher and thus, in our eyes, had authority.

This phenomenon of authority and obedience not only explains why we listen to teachers, doctors, policemen, etc; it also explains greater social occurrences that take place, e.g. the Holocaust.  Many of us question how so many people could follow Hitler and his malevolent requests of them.  The answer to this simply lies in the fact that, as a society, we feel the need to obey an authoritative figure.  Many of us believe that we would never obey a person that told us to kill another being; however, in Milgram’s experiment 26 out of the 40 ordinary, everyday men, heeded to doing just that by delivering a lethal shock (Milgram, 376).  Although the shock was not real, none of the participants knew this at the time it was delivered.  Thus, obedience does not only affect the “weak-willed” or “mean-hearted,” everyone is subject to conformity and obedience, because society tells us that authority must be upheld.

How Are You Really Feeling?

In a world filled with emotion, people commonly view them as “natural,” i.e. everyone feels happy, sad, angry, frustrated, etc…  However, have you ever stopped to think how/why/what regulates your emotion in a variety of circumstances?  Most people experience several emotions throughout the day; however, they do not outwardly express all of them, and in some situations, one may feel required to exhibit an emotion that is the exact opposite of the emotion they are internally feeling.  This is emotion work, or “the act of trying to change in degree or quality an emotion or feeling” (Hochschild, 53).  In several situations, we feel compelled to manage or change our emotions because it is inappropriate to exhibit what we are currently feeling.  This need to feel a certain way in different situations demonstrates the concept of feeling rules.  Feeling rules are “the social guidelines that direct how we want to try to feel” (Hochschild, 54).   Although emotions may feel “natural” to us, it is society that regulates how and when to feel emotion; it is not our biological makeup that results in a need for us to regulate our emotions, but rather it is society that dictates which emotions are proper and improper.

All of us are subject to society’s regulation of our emotion, myself included.  Throughout high school, I was a hostess at a local country club, and thus had the job of greeting customers and always maintaining a polite and cheerful demeanor.  Although at times I may have been in a not-so-cheerful mood, I felt obligated to exhibit a certain outward appearance to customers, or as Hochschild states, “surface act”  (Hochschild, 52).  So, even though I wasn’t feeling cheerful, or was perhaps dealing with a customer who was unhappy himself or herself, I had to maintain a pleasant demeanor because it was expected of me, by myself and the customer, because society told us so.  

Making Sense of Our World

Have you ever stopped to think how, in a world with so many things surrounding us, you are able to organize it and make sense of it?  Or even on a much smaller scale, how when walking into a movie rental place (e.g. Blockbuster) you immediately know which section of the store to look at for the movie you wish to view?  When I was in Blockbuster the other day, I caught myself almost mindless walking to the comedy section and finding the movie I wanted.  Although I may want to believe that it was my own creative mental thinking that created this category of comedy and placed this movie under it, it is actually “society that underlies the way we generate meaningful mental entities” (Zerubavel, 25).  It is society that has come up with the categories of comedy, drama, family, action, romance etc…  Thus, when a movie has the primary intent of making the audience laugh, we immediately place it under comedy.

This societal categorization is how we make sense of the world; we organize it into schemas or “mental maps.”  So that even though “reality is not made up of insular chunks…but rather, of vague, blurred-edge essences that often ‘spill over' into one another” we are still able to have a fairly well defined map to follow in order to organize our world (Zerubavel, 25).  A movie may include both comedy and action, but despite this “blurred-edge” we are still able to limit our range of searching for this movie by lumping it into just two categories.  We know that if we cannot find it in the comedy section, it will be in the action section.  By creating these schemas we are able to eliminate searching for a single movie among thousands; likewise, we are able to organize our entire world into much smaller, more specified chunks.

Remembering 9/11

The view of 9/11 has changed drastically over the past ten years, especially in the way it has been portrayed through the media.  When this tragic event first struck America, scenes of the horrific crash into the World Trade Center were played repeatedly on news stations throughout the world.  However, ten years later, the light now shines on those who lost their lives, more than on the attack itself.  As Wagner-Pacifici and Schwartz write in “Commemorating America’s Involvement in Vietnam,” the goal of the Vietnam War Memorial was to “promote unity by separating the event from its men;” I believe this is what the media is trying to do today with the 9/11 attack and its victims (395).

Even now, after ten years, I can still picture the footage of the attack and remember where I was at the exact moment of receiving the news.  Although I do believe 9/11 has revealed the true patriotism that America is capable of, I cannot help but remember it as a tragic attack that cost many innocent people their lives.  I think it is absolutely necessary to remember those that passed during the attack; however, I believe that by separating them from the attack itself, the media is romanticizing the true impact that 9/11 has had on American lives.

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the array of news media that I viewed spoke largely about the victims of 9/11 and the American bravery and patriotism that has been shown following the attack.   An article (below) in the New York Times, which includes several interviews from families of victims, portrays this shift in media from the attack itself to the victims of the attack.  This shift is exemplified by a family member who states in the article that, "Rather than attending  9/11 family hearings or ground zero rallies, she determinedly focused on honoring F.T.’s  puckish spirit" ("Living With Loss").  Although 9/11 resulted in the loss of innocent lives and has unified many Americans in our fight against terrorism, it has also sent several troops and civilians overseas.  Rarely was there a word spoken about the actual plane crashes or our current situation that has been the cause of these attacks.  In order to fully represent the event that was 9/11, I believe the media should speak of the victims, not separate from the attack, but connected to it, as well as speaking about the outcomes of the attack, including both positive and negative outcomes.  Until this happens, the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives, and the impact of 9/11 as a whole, will continue to be trivialized.

New York Times Article

Nature & Nurture -- the great debate.

In recent times, it has been decided that nature and nurture act together in one’s development.  I believe this statement to be true, not only from what has been discussed in classroom settings, but also from what I have experienced in my daily life.

A prime example of the interaction of nature & nurture is the use of our senses.  It is obvious that our biological framework creates the networks within our brain and body that allow us to use these senses in our everyday life; however, it is the social world we are raised in that establishes meaning within these senses.  In other words, “we do not react automatically to physical sensation but define & interpret them” (Waskul & Vannini, 42).

Society’s influence on the use of our senses is demonstrated in the commercial for Febreze.  In the commercial (video below) people are blindfolded and led into a room that is visually very uncleanly; however, it has been sprayed with Febreze, and thus smells clean.  

Those in the commercial associate this clean smell with things society has told us are hygienic and fresh: a beach, fresh linen, etc…  This event can be described as somatic escalation, or “conditions in which the denotation and connotation of an odor are blurred into one immediate ‘common-sense perception’” (Waskul & Vannini, 47).  That is to say, that we perceive our reaction to sensations as “natural;” however, they are actually created by society and the rules of society. We are told that it is proper to maintain a level of hygiene, and that anything that is unhygienic is “negative” and “dirty,” and thus, smells unpleasant.   Therefore, once the blindfold is removed, they are shocked to see that the room is actually covered in dirt.  If these participants had seen the room before smelling it, they would have most likely associated it with dirty and negative smelling things, because they were taught to by society.  Their shocked reactions prove that the reality and rules society has created for them has been challenged; a clean smell was applied to a dirty environment, instead of the typical clean environment. 

This idea of our senses being shaped by nature and nurture can be applied to our everyday life, not just in the media.  Although it is abnormal to do, if one thinks about why they picture “sweet” smells when seeing a strawberry, or “unappealing” smells when seeing rancid food, it will become apparent that it is because we were raised to do so.  We were born with the ability to use our senses; however we were not born with the innate ability to interpret them in a specific manner, this interpretation has been taught to us as we develop.