William Drury
ENGL 1A
Instructor Knapp
27 November 2012
Dear fellow human
being,
I’m writing to you on behalf of truly significant yet
often overlooked matters. To truly deliver the message of this letter, I would
like for you to focus on your core principles and values society. I’ve referred
to you as a fellow human being, rather than using the word person, because the
word person may provide a faulty meaning. A person, whether male or female,
usually falls to pressures imposed on by society, for society sets standardsfor
women and men. Consequently, society determines a person’s values based on his
or her gender. So, I’m reminding you to not lose yourself in society; to not
become the ordinary “person” who may give up his or her true principles and values
just to fit into society’s demanding rules. I’m writing to you personally, as a
fellow human being, to encourage you to stay true to yourself.
To begin, several aspects of society apply pressure on
men. In one prevalent area of society, popular culture, wealth advocated to
measure a man’s status. For example, Lil Wayne, a hip-hop icon, influences
society on his view of society. Because Lil Wayne’s song “Got Money” ranked
thirty-third in American pop music and second for hip-hop in 2008, he holds a prominent
influence in popular culture (Wikipedia). From the lyrics in his song “Got
Money,” Lil Wayneemphasizes that monetary wealth equates to personal value: “I
need a Winn Dixie grocery bag full of money right now to the VIP section.” By
connecting money to a VIP(very important person) status, Lil Wayne expresses
that money can make a person valuable, important,
significant, or even
powerful, which may influence listeners to take action to obtain money..Consequently,
as male fans admire Lil Wayne’s persona, they may inherit his viewof economic
wealth determining personal importance. Also, as male fans praise Lil Wayne’s
dominant position in society, male fans may not only perceive economic wealth
as a determinant of personal value, but also as a masculinity factor. Thus, Lil
Wayne’s fans, in order to amplify personal and masculine value, may take action
to obtain money. Acquiring fiscal power may prove very beneficial, but because
some individuals may pursue economic wealth mainly from society’s influence,
they may actually lose value in themselves. By submitting to Lil Wayne’s view
of making money to increase personal value, individuals may disregard their own
views on what constitutes a man’s importance.
On
the contrary, economic wealth represents personal value and masculinity, thenlack
of wealth must represent failure. For instance, if men drive clunkers and wear
lousy suits, as opposed to driving lavish cars and wearing high-end suits, they
may feel as if they have a low value in society. As a result, low-income men
may have a low self-esteem, and to overcome that low sense of self, they apply
serious effort into gaining material wealth. Some men may be influenced to work
long hours on a hard-working job to ensure that they have enough fiscal power
to be considered manly. Consequently, as desperate men consume their time into
obtaining money, they may abandon their former dreams or goals.
Moreover,
society sets a standard for men to be successful. Personally, I have
experienced the standard that young men should be going to a university to be
considered successful. Shortly after my high school graduation, former
classmates and I gathered at a party. I began conversing with a girl named
Jenna and a few of her friends. After I told them that I was simply working at
a warehouse, they laughed. Then Jenna commented to her friends, “He’s not like
those other guys. They’re going to UCLA, they’re going somewhere.” Immediately,
I felt the impact of Jenna’s message: I should be going to a university to be a
successful young man. During the party, my peers expressed their feelings of
accomplishment by sporting university apparel, discussing university sports,
and conversing about university courses.Both the university-setting of the
party and Jenna’s comment left me feeling inferior. My job title as a warehouseman
opposed the idea of a young man’s status in my local community, and my peers However, I realized that this standard for
young men failed to truly measure success., but attendance at a university
failed to measure my success. By working full-time and earning money, I was
accomplishing a personal goal of mine, which truly measured my success.
Furthermore,
men are pressured to exemplify power. In some communities, young men join gangs
to display power. Gangs commonly exist in America, especially in urban areas.
As the gang population increases, it appeals to more young men in society.
Gangs mostly consist of males from eighteen to twenty two years of age, all of
whom participate in dangerous activities to gain power as credit to their
manhood. To fit into gangs, members may fight several other gang members at the
same time and participate in robbery and murder. In order to find reason to a
gang member’s existence, I asked my friend Jonathan, a former gang member, why
he would join such a brutal group. He replied, “In some areas, that’s how us
young males prove our manhood. When I finally joined my gang, I had power among
the other men in my community.” Jonathan’s answer expressed that his community
pressured him into joining his former gang. Jonathan may not have wanted to
join a gang, but his goal to express power compelled him to do so. As evinced
by Jonathan’s former gang membership, society may influence men to have power. Men across the globe may similarly be
influenced to participate in extremities, such as gang activity, to be
considered powerful.
In
addition, society influences women to hold a certain degree of beauty.
Advertisement, such as in magazines, billboards, and television commercials,
influence women to expose beauty. For example, T-mobile, a
telecommunications company, influences young girls to be pretty. T-mobile uses
Carly Foulkes, a young, attractive female model, to represent their company. In
one particular television commercial, T-mobile simply displays Carly Foulkes, a
cellular phone, and a white background (Tschorn). Other than her physical
allure in a pink dress, pink lipstick, and pink high heels, the commercial does
not reveal anything about Foulkes. Thus, T-mobile primarily uses Foulkes's physical
beauty to sell their product. By advertising Foulkes's beauty to attract
viewers, T-mobile sets a standard of beauty among women, for T-mobile's
advertisements reach a significantly large audience. As young women view and
potentially admire Foulkes's image, they may be influenced to display a
physical appearance to that of Foulkes's. Not all girls may pursue Foulkes's
archetypal image, but because T-mobile's advertisements extensively appear in
society, they imply that young women should appear as beautiful. Thus, young
women may feel pressured to flaunt the ideal degree of beauty as displayed by
Foulkes.
Next,
society may encourage women to undergo extreme measures to satisfy their view
on their physical appearances. For example, several women acquire cosmetic
surgery to obtain beauty. In the year of 2004, American surgeons executed
nearly nine million cosmetic surgeries, which included breast augmentations,
tummy tucks, and liposuction (Friedman). In her article Cosmetic Surgery, author
Jane Friedman expressed the influence of television makeover shows on cosmetic
surgery: "...TV makeover shows downplay the risks of cosmetic surgery and
give girls and women the unhealthy message that they should be physically
perfect" (Friedman). Resultantly, because television makeover shows fail
to warn of potential dangers associated with cosmetic surgery, female viewers
may comfortably acquire cosmetic surgery to obtain physical excellence. This
idea of physical excellence, set forth
by television makeover shows, may reach a substantial amount of female viewers.
In today's world, people view television on such a regular basis that
television may comprise a large aspect of society. Therefore, as television
makeover shows influence female viewers to pursue physical excellence, society
inflicts a standard of beauty upon women. As women pursue this idea of beauty,
such as those of the nine million who participated in cosmetic surgery in 2004,
they may abandon personal comfort by doing so, for any type of surgery may
appear daunting for a human being. Women who undergo cosmetic surgery may do so
to reach a form of beauty, but reaching for beauty through cosmetic surgery
truly calls for desperation and fear, both of which contradict values within
beauty.
In
conclusion, the world seems to pressure people into having certain values. Men
are influenced to have money, power, and success, whereas women are influenced
to have a nearly impeccable degree of beauty.
Not all men and women may concur with the expected behavior of their
genders, but because society sets criteria of what is right for certain gender
roles, it must be difficult to oppose society's desired ways. Societal impact
on gender remains significant because it applies to every human being. The world should not pressure individuals into
carrying certain values, for every individual has unique characteristics and
should live with what they inherently have. Finally, I've listed the previous
details of societal impact in order to remind you to stay true to yourself.
Although society may influence people to have certain values, human beings
should not feel pressured to fit into society.
William Drury
ENGL 1A
Instructor Knapp
30 November 2012
Works
Cited
"Got Money." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
The source "Got Money"
provides information on Lil Wayne and his song "Got Money". The
article provide information on how successful Lil Wayne placed on the music charts.
The article's information proved valuable because it gives readers details on
Lil Wayne, which helps readers understand him.
Friedman, Jane.
"Cosmetic Surgery." CQ
Researcher 15 Apr. 2005: 317-44. Web. 22 Nov. 2012.
The article "Cosmetic Surgery" provides details
on cosmetic Surgery. Author Jane Friedman
listed reasons, outcomes, and potential dangers from cosmetic surgery. The article connects the media's influence
on cosmetic surgery. Friedman provides statistics to
support her data.
