Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

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[edit] Studs, and Rings, and Piercings! Oh, My!

First impressions are often those that matter most. Various influences throughout our lives shape how we perceive people upon first glance. Often these preconceived notions are accurate; intuition is at times, reliable. However, this same premonition can lead to the development of biases. Certain groups of people, be it religious folk, supporters of various political ideas, sexual preference, or race can evoke a certain negative connotation in our minds simply because we are susceptible to these instinctive notions. Human instinct can be convincing, and the factors responsible for the development of such biases are often attached to emotions or memories experienced in early life. Because of this, humans will abandon all often abandon all logic in favor of their emotions and their natural instinct.

This being said, certain elements of fashion can evoke similar biases. For example, I recently had my right nostril pierced. Knowing how my parents would react, I decided immediately that I would neglect to tell them. Within three weeks of this undertaking, my mother had become aware that I had the piercing. She proceeded to threaten my stay at the University of Massachusetts, and to force me to seek psychological help. While one may find this reaction a bit outrageous, I had to place myself in my mother’s shoes. What could have caused my mother to react this way? My mother’s reasoning was that nose piercings were more characteristic of prostitutes and people of African-American descent than of an upstanding, educated young woman. This was big assumption made by my mother. One comment that struck me as particularly remarkable was when my mother said that my piercing “would inhibit me from gaining respect from society and getting a decent job”. My mother associated her own opinion of nose rings into her final judgment. These statements are a perfect illustration of how uneducated biases are in effect today.

Imagine walking down a street and passing by a person with gauges (stretching of ear lobe piercings) in their ears and a ring through their nose, what would be the first thing that popped into your mind? “I do not like being judgmental, but if I saw a person like that walking down the street I would be extremely intimidated. He would probably be the least likely person I’d walk up to and start a conversation with –Amy R.” Out of the thirty peers I talked to about piercing, twenty-three agreed that they would feel fear towards a particular individual with any sort of body art. “I just get the vibe that that particular person is trying to make a statement, and it is usually not a good one– Nicole A.” A possible contributor to these feelings could have to be because of body art and their association with the punk, heavy metal, and alternative cultures in the modern West. “Nose rings found new interest when young people (they were called hippies then) from the U.S. began traveling in India extensively looking for enlightenment in the 1960’s. They noticed the nostril rings that most women had been wearing there since the sixteenth century…For rebellious teens from America, it was a great form of rebellion.” (The History of Body Piercings) Music Bands such as Kiss and the Sex Pistols greatly influenced particular biases. Piercings and body art have not always had those connotations forever.

These stereotypes aside, piercing different areas of the body have their own histories and meanings that people, such as my parents, might not incorporate into their preconceived ideas. In the Indian culture, a woman usually gets the left nostril pierced because it is the spot associated with fertility. Tongue piercing was practiced in ritual form by ancient people who wished to create an altered state of consciousness in order for the priest to communicate with the gods. I find it fascinating that piercings, which began as innocent spiritual rituals, morphed into fear-inducing stereotypes.

A student who wished not to be identified stated: “Piercings and body art in general is a permanent way of masking your true identity.” Sure tattoos and piercings are a permanent modification to the body, but who is to say that it is “masking your true identity”? If you believe this statement to be true, could you not agree with the fact that makeup, clothing, and jewelry could be classified in the same category? Labeling a person with a nose ring as being rebellious is like labeling a person with blonde hair as being unintelligent. There are many people who prove the “dumb blonde” stereotype false including Lisa Kudrow (a biology major from Vassar), Kim Campbell (Canada’s first female prime minister), and Hillary Clinton (received a law degree from Yale University). In comparison, people like Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, and David Beckham proudly show off their body art. Are they considered unsuccessful and rebellious? The majority would say no. Jolie and Depp are frequently associated with their work for charities and Beckham is a world famous athlete. Apparently their tattoos and piercings have had no influence on their appearance to society.

Piercing my nose was not intended to be an act of rebellion; it was a personal way of enhancing a feature on my face that I felt self-conscious about. I am a freshman at the University of Massachusetts and I am planning on becoming a biology major. I have dreams of going to dental school and becoming an orthodontist. I find it hard to believe that a nose-piercing would prevent me from fulfilling my goals. In fact, “Two-thirds of employers surveyed said that body piercing would not strongly influence a hiring decision.” (The Truth About Blue Hair & Body-Piercing)

We are often told that first impressions are those that matter most, yet these premonitions are those that develop into certain biases. Just because you see a boy with gauges in his ears does not mean it is correct to assume he is a rebellious threat to society. There are famous people who proudly show off their body art, including Angelina Jolie and David Beckham. Stereotyping piercings with rebellion is just like stereotyping blondes as being unintelligent, or overweight individuals are always jolly. These stereotypes are not always found truthful. In conclusion, this essay is to meant enlighten people to a new perspective of body piercings. So, before you shout, “Studs, and rings, and piercings. Oh My!”, realize that these premonitions are not always accurate. There is a person “behind” the piercing. Who we are inside makes the person; it is not the piercing or the tattoo.

Ash 14:40, 6 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Reflection Letter: Round 2

Writing a reflection essay to Art Objects by Jeanne Winterson was not as easily achieved as I had expected. I wrote down on a piece of paper all the ways I could relate to the essay and all the ways I disagreed with the essay. In the end I chose to write about how the essay opened by eyes to a perspective of thinking. I am an artist; therefore I have always had a soft-spot towards the subject of art. It was an eye-opening experience when reading this essay because the author had a terrible time trying to appreciate art. I found it almost surprising that she had such a lack of appreciation because art is everywhere and it has such a huge impact on everyday life. So I wrote my essay on how Winterson's essay taught me something new; art is a learning experience.

I think the most trouble I had with the essay was trying to find enough material to write about. I talked to my teacher who made a good point that my essay was more of a response to Winterson's piece, rather than a reflection. I can definitely see where I took a wrong turn here. I think I saw how I was going to approach the essay and I just stuck with it, not thinking of other ways I could write the paper. I ended up with about two pages of writing.

Our teacher gave us a worksheet in order to help us with our essay. We were supposed to write down the quotes, messages, and responses in certain columns on one half of the sheet, while on the other half we were to write paragraph summaries. She gave us this in order to help us with our essay and improve our writing. I did not use this to my advantage. This being because back in high school my teachers used to assign the same thing as busy-work. I found that I was almost classically-conditioned into hating these worksheets. Maybe my feelings towards the worksheet would change if I was taught how to properly utilize them. It would be awesome could do an example one, maybe it could help me improve my writing.

One of the things our teacher had us do was peer-edit another classmate's paper. I found that the person who wrote about my essay was extremely helpful. Not only did she pick out parts that she liked, she critiqued parts that were not so great. She found a couple sentences that were extremely confusing that I had not seen. I really appreciated her critique. The same goes to my teacher's critique. I find her feedback extremely helpful. I am known to get tunnel-vision when it comes to my writing, but my teacher's comments help me look at approaching my essay in a new light.

I had a meeting with my teacher a couple days after I had gotten my Art Objects essay back. I was unsatisfied by grade, but my teacher helped me understand why I received the grade I did. Like I said before, she said that my essay was more of a response rather than a reflection. Now I can see that I have a better way of writing the essay. Either way this was a good learning experience. I learned how to use feedback to improve my writing, and that you cannot bang out a paper once and be happy with it. Editing a paper over and over again is normal.

[edit] Reflection Letter: Round 3

I have found that through every paper I write, I slowly improve my technique and style.

[edit] The Origin of Personality

Feedback

There are many events that have happened in Ashley’s life that shaped her personality and have created the wonderful person she is today. Ashley was born on April 10, 1989 in sunny West Palm Beach, Florida where she enjoyed long walks on the beach and late night bon fires. Eight years later, in 1997, she moved to Westford, Massachusetts where she has lived ever sense. She has 5 younger sisters Alexsis (16), Chelsey (14), Megan (12), Lauren (10), and Samantha (9). After moving to Massachusetts Ashley took up horseback riding were she competed in dressage and snow-jumping competitions. She also played field hockey, swimming, and volleyball in high school showing off her athletic abilities. After all of her schoolwork, sports, and taking care of her siblings Ashley somehow finds time to work at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Living in Westford, Massachusetts was hard for Ashley because it’s a small town where everyone knows who everyone else is. She has the girl next door vibe to her personality but sadly her town is thought of by surrounding towns as being the “preppy rich kid town”. This caused her to become more focused on her studies and athletics, while also being able to enjoy the more simple things in life that maybe a girl living in a big city could not experience opposed to a small town. To get a sense of who Ashley really is one needs to look into the source of where her personality traits originated. Growing up she struggled with the everyday conflict of having five siblings, never fully appreciating the importance they had on who she is as a person today. It took Ashley 17 years to realize what an extraordinary impact they had on her life, teaching her responsibility, patience, and the value of family.

A sense of responsibility is not a trait given at birth, responsibility is gained through experience. Ashley was fortunate enough to learn the quality of responsibility at a very young age, which all began when she would help her mother change her sisters’ diapers and prepare their bottles. Being the oldest meant babysitting late on Friday and Saturday nights, but Ashley did not complain because she knew her parents needed her. Her parents needed her most when tragedy suddenly struck her family. When Ashley had 4 younger sisters, her mom became pregnant with twins. Sadly they were prematurely born and one of the twins did not make it. Ashley was too young at the time to fully understand what went on and she also had the joy of having another younger sister to get the heartbreak off of her mind.

“Patience is a virtue”; this saying was repeated by Ashley’s grandmother throughout her childhood, and one she lives her life by. Growing up with five siblings allowed her to observe the very different personalities each of her sisters possesses. She learned to tolerate their different necessities and demands, thus allowing her to patiently address their needs. The value of patience had enabled her to approach a situation with a level head, meaning that she is able to analyze a situation in a mature and realistic fashion. For example, one day while working by herself, two cars crashed into each other in front of the store, but she was able to stay calm while running outside to check the victims. Both cars were heavily damaged, but thankfully no one was seriously hurt. She ran back into the store and immediately called the police for help. Through she had just witnessed a traumatic event, Ashley was able to handle the situation in a calm and mature fashion. She is able to overcome obstacles and deal with everyday circumstances just as she was able to while growing up with five younger sisters.

Having so many members of her family and being so close with all of them has made Ashley appreciate what she has. She realized that not many people are blessed to have five sisters all of whom look up to her and think of her as a role model. Her strong sense of family value has made her a well-rounded person in all facets of life. When asked who she thought she would have said the most influential person was in her life five years ago Ashley said she would have answered with a famous movie star or athlete. Today she is not able to answer that question with one person, the most influential people in her life are Alexsis, Chelsey, Megan, Lauren, and Samantha.

It is funny how you can look back into experiences people have had in the past and relate those to the personality traits they have today. Ashley’s best traits are responsibility, patience, and her value for her family, which are all due to the way she grew up. The best way to get a sense of who Ashley truly is, is not by giving an overview of her life and accomplishments, but by finding the source of how she has become who she is today.

Sshorr 16:03, 11 December 2007 (EDT)