Agency

With the current crisis in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting death of a young African American teenager by a police officer, I have been thinking from a historical perspective. This conflict which has escalated to riots, destruction of property (at least one building has been burned to the ground as of August 13th), and "crowd control" techniques from police officers, to me, is a marker of our current culture in several ways. 

1)- it shows the prevalence of violence in American culture. From the incident itself, a young man killed by a police officer, to the riots that followed, we can see that violence is the answer in America. Whether the police are trigger happy because of a power trip or because they have dealt with so much violence that they are nervous. In response, protesters looted businesses, burned down buildings, and held riots. Instead of peaceful protesting, their first response was violence. Then the followed response from the police was caution and more violence when it appeared the protesters might get violent again. 

This truly shows the vicious cycle of violence in America. We as a culture tend to answer violence with violence and hope that one act of such violence will cancel out the other, or end the cycle. But it never truly ends. Instead, the violence remains in our mind and years later, we justify our most recent act of violence upon the previous act. This discourse of violence is perpetuated by films, media, video games. 

2) the second issue that is brought into sharp focus with this crisis is that of inequality in America. It is very true that inequality still exists within this country and culture. Minorities including women, Hispanics, and African Americans are the primary victims of this system. For the record, I am writing as a 26 year old white woman. I understand that I do not face the same challenges as people of color, however, I can make observations from a historical perspective and I understand that there is a complex discourse which is ingrained in American culture. 

A discourse in this sense is a set of ideas which is wide spread by media, advertisements, books, films, music, and more. It teaches us all how we should act dependent upon our race, culture, sex, gender, and social status. It teaches us how to treat others and affects how we think about others and ourselves. It teaches women through visual clues, "girl toys," and films, etc that they are subservient to men. That you are required to dress and act a certain way to be a good woman and get a good man. It teaches people of color the ways they should dress, talk, and act. It teaches them what they should expect to do with their lives. It teaches them that it's okay to have a lower status of living. It teaches different values that those of Caucasian descent. At the same time, Caucasians are taught from a young age that they should act a certain way. They should expect certain ways of life. Some call this "White Privilege" and yes, they are privileged. It is a very real thing. 

That being said, all of this is because we are taught from birth that we should expect to do, say, and get certain things out of our lives based upon our bodies. We are all a product of a culture which is very slow to change. 

This brings into question the issue of "agency." We are also a culture in which you are expected to take responsibility for our actions. Many questions come to mind with this situation. I have already established the violence happy aspect of our culture and the discourses which direct how people learn to act and think of the world. How, where, and when do we determine who is responsible to their actions? 

Many argue that we are the master's of our own fate. People argue that people of color shouldn't be held to the stereotypes of their race. However, death threats are being made to the police officer? Is he not as much a product of his culture as the boy who was shot? Do we blame the boy for being where he shouldn't have been? Do we blame the officer who likely faces life and death situations every day? 

I am not condoning the way our American culture is. However, this is not something that can change over night. Its just not possible. However, we can all work to expedite the change by looking at ourselves and starting the change there. How can we expect others to treat us differently if we continue to act like our stereotypes? 

Discourse and gender in today's society

In light of various discussions with several people, I have put a lot of thought into the subject of discourse. That is, the way of thinking that has permeated society, in music, literature, tv, etc to the point that the society believe it to be the norm. For example, (and the example that many have argued with me recently) we can look at the status of women in today's society. The discourse is one that is complex, with many overlapping layers that many of us have been exposed to, despite different upbringings and life situations, that lead us to believe that even in 2012, women are viewed as second class to men in society. Women are portrayed in commercials, music, television shows, literature, and blockbuster movies, as being domestic, taking care of the kids, cleaning, cooking, etc. For example, how many commercials do you see that portray women as the primary buyers of cleaning products? Case in point, the swiffer commercials that imply that without that product, a woman has no time to do anything else, and when her time is freed up by the product, she reads, drinks coffee, or pampers herself with spa products. Never do we see men cleaning. More than often, it is the woman who is taking kids to soccer practice, or picking kids up from school in these commercials. Reinforcing the idea that this is the place for women.
Even when women are portrayed as strong and in the workplace in television or movies, she is still faced with opposition from men. Jokes run rampant over the internet that imply that a woman's place is in the kitchen. At the same time, women are taught not to go out alone at night because men will assault, kidnap, and rape them. Instead of teaching men not to do such things, we are teaching women to be afraid. And the discourse is so ingrained in our society that this seems normal to us. So much so that men often blame women for their own behavior. It is the 'feminists' fault that 'chivalry' is dead. Instead of taking responsibility for not treating women with respect, they blame women for wanting equality and respect. We live in an interesting world where men and women continue to participate in a discourse which maintains a patriarchal hierarchy and most don't even acknowledge it.

All of this came from a question about discourse. Our society is permeated with it. From gender, to race, to ageism, from politics to social media. I can't help but wonder what the future generations will look back on this time and say. What will the historians say about the early 21st century?