Mask Identity Project
Mask Reflection
In the mask project I constructed a mask of my face out of plaster, and then took many steps to refining it like sanding, and applying plaster of pairs. Meanwhile I was thinking about who I was and how I wanted to display my socialization on it. I came up with many drafts of my mask. When I had a solid Idea I started to write and the words poured out, I was full of thoughts and concepts. I took many leaps of faith and ended up crafting a beautiful easy. I than shared my project with a graduate school class of soon to be social workers in DU, here at the southwest commons building. I captured many concepts of socialization in this project. The creation of my mask pushed me to look at myself and in doing that I realized my socialization. Part of being socialized is being expected to not look at the problems or question the norms. I believe this project ripped apart the lens of society and the lens we have of ourselves apart. I feel much more empowered to speak of myself now and I have less fear to talk to people with truth because I have my truth. Some of the most important lessons I learned about society is about me. I learned that someone, especially with a large privilege must be able to understand how they function in the world if they want change to happen, self-reflection is key to break the cycle of socialization agents must be willing to become true agents. I learned that to openly share who you think you are earns allot of respect from people in a safe environment. To take a leap of faith creates a feeling of hope and trust in people, people than want to connect with you. Society is set up by the privileged and kept the way it works for them it hurts to stand up and make change but I believe it hurts even more to be silent for eternity. I learned that I am a beautiful individual with real struggles and real privileges. I learned I am good at being honest and that my fear of judgment is false if I am brave, from the people I love and respect. I learned about my gifts and flaws as one and started creating a strong view on the world. I realized I am loved and I can be a true love warrior. I am most proud of realizing I am beautiful and have a lot to offer this world. I am proud of being honest and true in my imperfection. I am proud of presenting with integrity and compassion I am proud that I took refinement and beauty into my work like nothing else I have created. I am proud that I shared with enough wisdom about myself to bring tears to people’s eyes and I am also grateful for their tears, and wisdom, they bring hope to my heart for me and the rest of the world. I will improve my work in the future by working on making my aesthetics more pleasing, and my language usage beater. I will become better at my refinement as a hole. I will also continue to deeply assess my views, filters, and positions in the world. Over all I have great gratitude to this project. |
Oppressed, Learned, and Blessed
My mask speaks of me; it relates me to the systems of society and shows who I am as a born human being. There are things on my mask that I would openly love and things that I would rather not share. But I choose to share who I am because, I believe that the first step to a world full of tolerance and peace, is to hold faith and trust in the beautiful individuals we walk this earth with, and to educate and learn even if it feels like pounding our head against the wall. My eyes are what I see the world through what I believe in what my aspirations are. They point me forward into the future (I have been socialized to believe this). In one eye I have the whirling rainbow, a symbol for the Navajo and Hopi people of a peace prophecy. It speaks of all people being equal and united. I believe in this prophecy because it gives me hope in the world and in myself. As a white male, I am an oppressor. I do not like this reality and I want to change it. Although I realize accepting it is more helpful and safe then pretending I am perfect. If I tell myself nothing is wrong with me I will become dangerous because my eyes cannot open to self-image and improvement. People will fear me because I will not be aiding them correctly; if you hide realty you will end up hurting lots of people. The prophecy of the whirling rainbow offers me an escape from who I am framed to be it speaks of all colors assisting to the change. The problem with white culture for me, is that there are barely any traditions I value. I want to learn from my elders and represent my people. But all I’ve been taught is I am the best, I am the norm. I don’t need to be ethnic or look at myself. I have the right to do as I please. I have been taught to keep others down, and in the process I kept myself quiet not learning from people because I don’t want to look mean. I don’t value this. The whirling rainbow speaks of warriors of love and change. This gives me hope and direction because it speaks of imperfect people being heroes. I feel like I can aspire because I know I am not always peaceful or perfect. The eagle in my other eye shows my desire to see the world in clear realty. I want to see with the eyes of an eagle. It also shows my belief that I can fly high and accomplish things. The eagle is a symbol of illumination and it reveals truth of joy. I believe I can shine and soar as high as an eagle. Even when my feathers are scorched by the sun, like society trying to send me back down. The eagle inside me is my running, my passion to help people, and my ability to see beauty in the world. I also want to have the attributes of an eagle like protection and wisdom. I want to be loyal like an eagle mating for life. My mouth, nose and eyebrows show the agent and target groups I belong to. I have the Star of David on my nose; this represents me being a Jew. I often feel like this is not at all important to me. I mean I don’t even practice Judaism. I only celebrate Hanukah and the Jewish New Year, and I really don’t know how to celebrate either of these. But that’s why I value being Jewish; the persecution of Jews in world war two, is more than physical, the Nazis were trying to eradicate the existence of our culture. The Jews were forced to be kept quiet and scared so their fire would die. The diaspora separated the Jews, allowing for their culture to die as well. The legacy lives on today. My grandmother used to make potato latkes with my mom but called them potato pancakes because she did not want to be seen as Jewish. She did not identify with it because the culture was lost to her and replaced with a weak victimized image. One of my friends who is Jewish calls himself a physiological Jew when he steals. I see him oppressing himself because there is no reality for him to have knowledge off. I have been socialized the same way. Even my dad thinks I am not Jewish. He has not celebrated Hanukah with my mom, brother and I. I have experienced the concept of being oppressed but not recognized as a target. My family has been forced to move many times and I am also seen as different. Being Jewish is like being gay, people expect you to change it and hurt you when you can’t. I believe the Jewish diaspora is represented inside me. |