i.c.

As I was sitting in school waiting to get picked up, and I had an "identity and culture" moment. I was sitting by a bunch of middle school kids and was listening to them talk. Yes, I know its bad to eavesdrop, but I could not help myself. In the beginning, there were two girls and they were talking about a girl, who I will call Amy. They were talking about how even though so many people hated Amy, they did not think she was so bad. They actually said they liked her, and were talking about how bad they felt that people did not take the chance to get to know her. They just listened to what other people say about her and the reputation, and accept that it is correct. This reminded me about how in the identity and culture class, we talked stereotypes. A lot of us are stereotyped and there is nothing we can do about it. People just stereotype you and do not take the chance to find out who is the real you. They just accept that is who you are. The same is with this girl and her reputation. She was just given the reputation and even though it might not be true there is really nothing she can do about it. Just like stereotypes, people cannot choose what stereotypes they are given. I think that is totally unfair. It was also interesting because while these two girls were talking about how Amy was not that bad of a person, some more of their friends came and talked to them. Two more girls came up and sat next to them. These two new girls started to talk smack about Amy. They did not really know who she was but they still talked smack about her. The other two girls that were originally talking about how Amy was not that bad of a person, did not even stand up for Amy. They just sat there and nodded their heads. This reminded me about the identity and culture class, when we talked about how the people around you make up who you are. It made me think if I act this way. i know I act differently around certain people, like my parents and my friends. I do not think that acting differently around certain people is a problem. i think it would be a problem if i did certain things or said certain things that were not true to myself. Like these girls in my identity and culture moment. It made me question how much of myself is really me? Is this really who i am and how i feel, or do i let others shape who i am and how i feel. its was scary to think about that ? :/