A Crayon Box
Oftentimes, to understand complex topics, they must be broken down into a series of simple ideas. To truly comprehend the current socio-cultural condition of the United States requires more than impassioned experts arguing on TV or reading a book. To understand the bigger picture, an individual must take a closer look at the microcosms, which consist of local communities. Therefore, to understand how various cultural gender roles have contributed to the patriarchy in the United States, there was no better place than my community.
When race and gender are in question, how simple are we allowed to get? It may perhaps be the kind of the simplicity you find in a Kindergarten classroom: a colorful box of crayons.
We are not a melting pot, but a box of crayons. We have our own distinct colors, shades, tints and hues. But things in the crayon box can get messy. Maybe one crayon scratched a bit of its color on another crayon, so that when you go to color, you have two colors, not one. Perhaps one crayon is dark and the other is bright. What will happen when you mix the two crayons together? Will they blend and make a new color or will they fail to combine? The United States is the crayon box and we are just crayons. Truly understanding our respective roots and our distinct cultural gender roles might just allow us to explain the patriarchal structure of our country.
When race and gender are in question, how simple are we allowed to get? It may perhaps be the kind of the simplicity you find in a Kindergarten classroom: a colorful box of crayons.
We are not a melting pot, but a box of crayons. We have our own distinct colors, shades, tints and hues. But things in the crayon box can get messy. Maybe one crayon scratched a bit of its color on another crayon, so that when you go to color, you have two colors, not one. Perhaps one crayon is dark and the other is bright. What will happen when you mix the two crayons together? Will they blend and make a new color or will they fail to combine? The United States is the crayon box and we are just crayons. Truly understanding our respective roots and our distinct cultural gender roles might just allow us to explain the patriarchal structure of our country.
My Microcosm
West Windsor-PlainsboroWest Windsor-Plainsboro is no ordinary part of New Jersey. For instance the Class Profile of the Class of 2018 states that both high schools:
"represents all major racial and cultural groups (68.6 percent Asian; 20.1 percent White; 5.1 percent Black; and 4.7 percent Hispanic). This diversity affords students excellent opportunities for intercultural understanding and provides them with a global view of world issues." Once again resorting to the bigger picture, there could have been no better place to truly understand how different crayons can interact with one another. Home to such a diverse population, understanding how race and gender functions at a small scale can help us comprehend how our country and, perhaps, even the world functions. |
Personal Research
To take advantage of my diverse community, I conducted research through a Public Google Form, which consisted of short questions and a rating survey posted on the Facebook group “WWP Peeps”. The aforementioned Facebook group consists of 7,000+ members of West Windsor and Plainsboro. I received 84 responses over the course of the two days the survey was up. Responses originated primarily from India, but also from Ecuador, Africa, Russia and other countries.
The Big Question
How do various cultural gender roles contribute to the patriarchy in the United States?
The Big Answer...?
Various cultural gender roles contribute to patriarchy in the United States through the blending of each culture’s interpretation of privilege, amplifying the imbalance of roles in the microcosm.
What is the patriarchy?
The patriarchy is a societal construct in which the oldest male has the most privilege. This privilege exists not just through social advantages but also through dominance – families are patrilineal, men are commonly thought of as physically stronger, etc. This social construct is not just limited to families but also larger institutions such as schools, workplaces, and the government.
The Project
Senior Legacy / 2019
The Senior Legacy project is completed by all Language Arts in the West Windsor Plainsboro Regional School District. The project encourages independent research of a topic of the students choosing, and serves as a final reinforcement of skills learned throughout the years. With the guidance of a teacher and an endless source of information, the project allows students to creatively present their work following the course of months of research. |