my friend had a sociology project to do this weekend; basically, she had to violate a norm.
so we went to Santana Row dressed like that (up there). [Santana Row= Urban Outfitters, Gucci, Burberry..]
People didn't stare as much as we thought they would... the few that did stare were quick to turn away. We figured that they acted this way because they had "manners" and "knew better than to stare."
Afterwards, we went to Eastridge Mall (a shopping area that's SUPPOSEDLY meant for people with less money than the people who shop at Santana Row; ie. JCpenny, Sears, Papaya)... THERE we got stares as early on as in the parking lot. It was really a significant difference from the number of stares we had recieved in Santana Row. Everyone in the food court turned to look at us... they stared for over 5 seconds at a time... oddly, it made me happy =]
before this "experiment" i had set up a stereotype towards "wealthy people," i thought that they were "snobby" and less "accepting" than non-wealthy people. This "experiement" kind of proved me wrong. The "wealthy people" were far more "accepting" than the "less-wealthy" people.
Something else i noticed was that there was a far larger percentage of minorities at Eastridge, while there was a far larger percentage of Caucasians at Santana Row. Minorities often crave to be "accepted" and "treated equally" without taking into consideration that they "look different" and yet, throughout this experiment, they proved to be less "accepting" than the people who they often claim are less accepting. How can you constanly ask to be accepted if you yourself are not accepting?... or have you grown to be nonaccepting because of how often you yourself are not accepted??..
Anyway, i'm tired of writing this blog. it's dumb. i don't know what i'm saying or where i'm getting at. I'm making too many judgements and following too many stereotypes... it's disgusting.
peace out.
p.s. i know. i'm a hypocrite.
3 comments:
I love how you not only pushed social norms in one situation but in two very different ones and then compared the two. I had never thought about analyzing it the way that you did, definitely made me think out of the box. I had the same type of thinking you had before you went to Santa Row, I even thought someone might have even came over and said something to you. Definitely food for thought when I take on this challenge. =)
-Sarah
thanks sarah; i'm glad it made you think outside the box. And actually, from the start we had only planned to go to Santana Row, thinking that the reactions toward us would be sufficient for my friend's paper... but when the day to actually do it came along, i thought, you know, it'd be really interesting to go to two, or even 3, different areas. And yeah, it turned out to be better that way =]
I actually did not have a chance to read this post and wish I had when I got this as an assignment! Now that I've experienced this I had a similar yet different experience. I went to the mall dressed in my snowboarding gear. I'm talking about gloves, goggles and boots! Although it was very hot, I realized people did not stare for long. I had thought I was going to get a lot of attention but instead I was being avoided. (perhaps it was the goggles, haha) I think people were under the assumption I was crazy and decided to look and move away. As I posted this assignment I mentioned my boyfriend trying to take a picture of me was attracting more attention than I was. Kind of funny how that worked out. I'm a hypocrite as well but honestly speaking, after this assignment I realized I was more accepting and made less judgements based on what was considered out of the ordinary. I liked how you made the judgement and comparison with wealthy and the non-wealthy. I was also under the belief the wealthy were considered "snobby". I now believe the wealthy are too busy thinking about other things than take the time to judge someone on the street where as maybe, the lower or middle class does not have anything better to do. This was definitely a interesting 'experiment'.
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