lilrambles

lil girl with lil rambles

[lilrambles]

Social Injustice

In one of our Social Science classes, we’ve learned to accept that equality is difficult to achieve and accomplish, and that inequality is actually normal in society. However, injustice, is something that shouldn’t be considered as natural, and is greatly maintained by believing in beliefs that propagate it. There are 5 Tenets of Injustice:

Elitism is efficient.

Exclusion is necessary.

Greed is good.

Prejudice is natural.

Despair is inevitable. 

And although we can collectively agree that injustice is never good, we still see it happening around us, even in big and powerful social institutions. They manage to inject these beliefs subtly, yet not many of us can be fooled.

Here are examples of pictures/articles promoting injustice:

1. Belo advertisement promoting colorism and elitism by implying that being lighter is correlated to you being more sosyal and having the luxurious or better things in life.

2. MMK, a popular show on ABS-CBN, using “Blackface” and hiring actors that are fair skinned and not of Aeta descent to represent Aeta characters.

3. Schools excluding children with disabilities, even when they promote themselves as being inclusive to all children, such as this article from Lebanon.

As I was looking around for these articles and images, I remembered just how many mistakes big companies made in creating advertisements in general. Usually, these mistakes were addressed as being racist or sexist, and these mistakes gave these big names some backlash. Then I remembered just how corrupt and greedy some Philippine government officials could be, and realised that injustice can really hit close to home. I thought about how privileged I actually was in some areas - there were many injustices done and directed towards other people that I certainly wasn’t completely affected by. For example, since I am not a farmer or a close relative of a farmer, I am not directly affected by the Rice Liberalisation Law that eases entry of imported rice and leads to the possible lowering of the rice prices of our own struggling Filipino farmers. However, even when I’m not directly affected, I could still detect the injustice in these issues and feel angry about it. 

When that happens, that is my human agency speaking. I don’t necessarily have to be directly involved with certain forms of injustice - there’s just something in me that notices and realises that this is a form of injustice, and it doesn’t feel right. Speaking up for those who feel like they cannot speak up, and allowing myself to be heard is one way to utilise my human agency for the greater good. Even being vocal on social media about issues that I feel strongly about could help in informing other people who are not aware of these issues. Our thoughts just remain thoughts if we do not do something about it, and in this day and age, I think that it’s about time that we call out injustices that we are exposed to everyday. 

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Breaking Through the Binary

Our new lesson for Social Science class is all about Relationships and Sex and how it affects our identity - a topic that I was really interested in. The task for this post was to watch the full feature done by TLC Southeast Asia on The Kings, a couple with an unconventional love story.

Based on what I understood from the video, here are genderbread representations of Angie King and Joey King respectively:

Fig 1. Angie King’s Genderbread Person

Fig 2. Joey King’s Genderbread Person

For Angie King, I saw that her gender identity was that of a Woman’s, her gender expression was Femme, her biological sex was that of a MtF Female, and she was sexually and romantically attracted to Women. 

For Joey King, her gender identity was that of a Woman’s, she expressed that her gender expression could be Gender Neutral, her biological sex was Female, and she was predominantly sexually and romantically attracted to Men.

While I was watching the video, I felt very intrigued with their set-up and their situation. I found it amazing how Joey learned to accept and love Angie, even though she married Angie while Angie was still Ian. I felt the love that they poured out for each other, and the struggles that they faced with the confusion of their relationship. 

It made me realise that gender wasn’t exactly just black or white - there are so many aspects to it that should be considered. And even when we feel like we have it all figured out, there is still that overwhelming sense of confusion that is brought by it - a confusion that should be acknowledged by everyone. The feature also highlighted the fact that gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation are independent from one another. This was seen by how Angie identifies as a Woman, but unlike the usual sexual preference of women for men, Angie still sexually and romantically prefers women. 

This feature made me realise how difficult it could be to truly identify who you are. At this point, I identify as cisgender, and I truly acknowledge the privilege that I have for being cisgender and what most of society would perceive as “normal”. However, I also feel like I stand for those who are struggling with their views on gender and identity. I actually truly believe that love knows no gender, and although I hold no confusion towards my gender, I know that my concept of love will not change just because of it. Even with their unorthodox situation, I applaud The Kings for maintaining the love they have for each other, and for making their relationship work.

[lilrambles]

My Map to Ateneo de Manila University

In honor of Mean Girls (and our recent Social Science topic... but mostly in honor of Mean Girls), I’ve created my own social map of ADMU. 

NOTE: This is only for pure fun, and most of these are exaggerated, so please don’t take these to heart! :)

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Identity Formation

Who am I, really?

In order to learn more about The Looking Glass Self, and in an attempt to identify ourselves further, we were tasked with this Identity Formation activity. We had to ask people from our different microsystem groups for words/phrases that would describe us. Here’s what my microsystem says about me:

Blockmates

My blockmates have been my solid buddies so far, and have kept me sane throughout this academic load. I asked three of my closest blockies, Ciara, Clarz, and Sam, for words that they would use to describe me, and they answered with the following: charismatic, outgoing, sociable, kind, and collected.

Roommates

When I get back to the dorm after school, it’s never dull with my roomies around! Amyll and Karen make me a little less homesick, and they always have some food and kuwento to share. Here’s what they said about me: I’m determined, loyal, and extroverted. 

Family

And of course- family, the most important microsystem in my life. I owe a lot to my mom, dad, and little sister, and they have done a great deal in shaping who I am today. They said I was: sociable, confident, and good at singing.

From all that they’ve said about me, I created a list of those that I agreed and disagreed with:

I have always known that the people I interacted with often (my microsystem) have played a huge role in shaping who I am today. I feel that the most with my family. My family is my main support system, and my parents are my first educators – they’ve taught me how to act in certain social situations, they’ve passed on their religion and beliefs, and they’ve also influenced me with the things that I love even until now, like how they bought me many books as a kid in the hopes that I’d end up loving to read (I still do love to read, but unfortunately, I have to use my own money when I buy my books). However, as I grew older, I’ve learned to pave my own path, with my own updated set of beliefs and ideals. Who I am today is just the new and improved Jillian – and I’m pretty sure I will keep updating myself along the way (just like how Apple consistently brings out a new iPhone… with features just slightly enhanced from the past one).

I’ve also realized that what people say about me can influence how I see myself and how I portray myself. However, it isn’t the best thing for me to just be whatever people say I am. If that’s the case, it’d be quite sad to know that your identity is just a mere reflection of what other people say you are. I get to choose what I agree with and what I disagree with – just like how some people say I’m confident. I guess I can look confident in the outside, but honestly I just usually fake it ‘til I make it. I am not quite confident, cool, and collected, in fact, I deal with my own set of hidden anxieties! 

Finally, besides these insights and reflections, I’ve also learned a lot about my self-esteem, and how people’s validations can either bring that up, or break it down. Take, for instance, how people say that I’m good at singing. Before, I’d base this solely on how my family and relatives would praise me and say that actually good at singing. But now, my inner self-esteem is built through a sense of achievement, such as being asked to perform in an event, or winning a singing contest back in high school. In this case, the inner and outer self-esteem have overlapped, and I’ve decided to integrate that as part of my identity and part of who I am: someone who loves to sing, and is actually pretty good at it. 

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Intergenerational Interview

As part of deepening our understanding on the Psychodynamic Theory, we were tasked to interview a parent/guardian. I decided to interview my dad while we were talking over lunch. These were the questions I asked, and here are his responses:

What was it like for you growing up?

My dad mentioned that he had a fun childhood. Being with six siblings was a load of fun for him, especially since their age gap wasn’t huge at all. He also remembers some disciplinary actions that Lolo took up with him. He remembers how he and a cousin were caught trying to light up a cigarette when they were younger. Lolo caught them and had them sit in a corner for two hours doing absolutely nothing.

What is the most memorable story (for you) about me growing up?

His most memorable story of me was when I was around 4 or 5 years old and I entered an Easter egg painting contest with my then 9 year old cousin. My cousin won a prize, and I didn’t. I then threw a tantrum and threw the paintbrushes around, crying and complaining that it wasn’t fair how the little kids had to compete with the big kids (which actually made sense, tbh). I was spanked for the first time that day- my dad had me hold out my hands and I was spanked with his belt. 

From these questions, I learned a little more about my dad, and also about how I was raised. I realised that my dad had access to a fun and happy childhood, but Lolo was also a lot more strict towards his children. My Lolo was a disciplinarian, which, I guess, was how most parents were back in the day. My dad, in turn, carried this trait with him on his journey as a parent, although his is a watered down version of Lolo’s. My dad is considerably less strict, and did not physically discipline me as much as Lolo did to his children. Although, I do remember moments wherein my dad would ask me to take out my hands as he spanked them with a belt, I also remember instances wherein he would resort to giving me a talk instead of a spanking. My dad says that he remembered Lolo’s lessons when he remembered the slight pain of the spanking, and I suppose he thought I would benefit from that as well. I do believe that the spanking considerably made me remember the wrongs that I have done, yet, I think I wouldn’t want my children to recall their mistakes through physical discipline.  Overall, I think that my dad’s parenting had done me some good - I’ve grown to learn from these mistakes all while still bringing in some fun in my life. 

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Self-Care

Self-care is an important aspect of human life and human survival. One of our activities was to write down what kind of care we need, and actually fulfill that need. Here’s what I decided to write down on my “self-care” paper:

1) Positivity! Meet up with friends, and have fun! 

Here’s a photo of me and my high school friends meeting up and having dinner in UPTC! 

2) A little more self-love (treat myself to coffee or milk tea, eat my favorite food, or go to a salon)!

Decided to splurge a little more and have some well-deserved milk tea at JSEC.

3) Music therapy! (Sing, jam with friends, write a song!)

Borrowed a friend’s ukulele and made a song (that then became my output for my other SocSc11 homework.  

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The Thinking & Feeling Self

The task given to us was to write about a personal experience or challenge that we have overcome, and I’ve decided to write about a little “love” story. Done in the form of a song, I’m posting my lyrics up here:

Hindsight

She told herself that she Would never be bent By a man who seemed to love Nobody but himself But she craved the way that he Smiled back at her Through glasses tinted rose She lived in a dream

She answers yes, She does love him But her mind Seems to wonder If he ever loved her too

She knew it from the start He was gonna break her heart Yet she kept holding on And when he leaves her For another It’s just her luck She fell in love With a walking disaster

Now when she sees him It’s no happy feeling A fit of rage, how dare he Show himself straight up to her face? Face tinged with red, she Pretends she doesn’t see Her broken heart Torn apart, yet he looks too happy

She once answered yes, She loved him But her mind Found the answer Because he never loved her too

She knew it from the start He was gonna break her heart Yet she kept holding on And when he leaves her For another It’s just her luck She fell in love With a walking disaster

There’s really no other way, But to keep moving up People fall out of love But that never meant She was never enough

She knew it from the start He was gonna break her heart Yet she kept holding on And when he leaves her For another It’s just her luck She fell in love With a walking disaster

________________________________________________________________

We were also tasked to integrate some lessons learned from the lessons we’ve learned from the Thinking and Feeling Self. We see the dynamic between System 1, the automatic response of love, and System 2, the need to analyze that love in the following lyrics:

“She answers yes, She does love him But her mind Seems to wonder If he ever loved her too”

The title of the song also refers to the “Hindsight Cognitive Bias” wherein the girl in the song believes that she knew the guy she fell in love with was trouble from the start. The emotion of anger was also showcased in the song, as well as its antecedent (cheating on her and leaving her for another), the belief (the thought that she can’t believe he’s showing his face), and the conclusion (her physiological reaction and her decision to avoid and pretend she didn’t see).

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My Bioecological System According to Bronfenbrenner’s Model

For our first actual discussion in SOCSC11, we tackled the topic of Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological System Model and how this model could be used for our own personal experiences. I filled up a blank model and added examples based on my experiences: 

Through listing the contents of my bioecological system, I learned more about how certain interactions and experiences have shaped who I am today. My environment and how I’ve dealt with it has contributed to my identity. This just goes to show how important it is to have a good and secure environment surrounding you. Having toxic relationships with people can heavily impact your growth in a negative manner. With that being said, I’m thankful that the people I have surrounded myself with have brought positive changes into my life.